Friday Five

This week marks the first week of students on campus with masks optional. My boys do wear their masks at school (and Isaac and I do as well).

I'm sure it isn't a coincidence that we had the first major cold for everyone but me this week. It seems to have started with Jack, but it landed hard with Shawn and Isaac. :(

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Well, the big boys are officially registered for high school. Gulp.

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And with that, the baby is officially enrolled in middle school for next year. Double gulp.

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Speaking of the baby in the family, he took promotion pictures at school this week. We haven't had the option for that before, so this is kind of fun. Jack had his picture taken wearing a blue promotion gown. Awwww...

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Shawn earned a Target gift card at school this week. He thinks it is really cool. He couldn't wait to go and spend it today!

Friday Five

Only 3 weeks until spring break. YAY!

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Today is the last day of mandated mask-wearing in schools. We're a bit nervous about the implications of this because we are still vigilantly trying to keep us all healthy and avoid COVID. I sure hope it goes better than I fear. Sigh.

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Jack earned an AR Star t-shirt this week! He is so proud of it!

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Jack continues to count down to his birthday. He has not 1, not 2, but 3 birthday lists going on his iPad. They're each filled with an eclectic mix of gift ideas, too. He even has a cuckoo clock on there! It is so fun to see the things he finds cool. 

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The time change is coming this weekend. I am looking forward to the later sunset, but I am not looking forward to getting up in the dark. It's hard enough for us to get going in the morning without it being dark out!

Friday Five

Another week down. I think we've now completed our 24th week of school. Yay!

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It looks like the big boys get their pictures taken for earning 4.0 gpa. Pretty awesome.

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Jack had a good time celebrating Read Across America week with different dress-up days. His favorite day was favorite character dress up day. 

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I still haven't registered the big boys in their high school district yet. We had to track down their immunization records. That is on the agenda for next week.

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Now that we are in March, Jack's birthday list has become the daily topic of discussion. His newest obsession is...drum roll...a coocoo clock. LOL! He says he wants it on the wall of his room, but I'm not sure Shawn will go for it. It's going to be interesting!

Dress Up Day

He told me just before he went to bed that he wanted to dress up for Favorite Book character day. So, we found an old Cat in the Hat game, fashioned a bow tie out of felt, used double-sided tape to attach it to one of Shawn's t-shirts, added his black jacket, and called it a day. 

 

Lost & Found

Tonight we couldn't find Jack’s school folder that “must have been stolen!” here at the house because he “put it back in his backpack!” We went back and forth over whether he had, in fact, actually brought the folder home. I thought I had seen it but wasn't sure I had seen it today or yesterday. In the end, there was a paper missing that he was going to put into the folder, we figured it was definitely here.

We searched for 45 minutes. It was only by extreme chance that we found it, too. That sucker was on the bottom shelf of the buffet. He had no memory of putting it there. Who knows how long that folder would have been there before it was found!

🤦🏼‍♀️ Sheesh.

I suppose we had a really good run going because this was the first time we've lost something. I sure hope it's the last!

Friday Five

Short week - the same amount of crazy bottled up into fewer days. We're all tired!

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This week the big boys got to pick their elective class for next year. It is exciting and scary all rolled up into one. Now all I need to do is actually enroll them, and they'll be set. 

Also...HOW CAN THEY BE NEARING HIGH SCHOOL???? Ahem.

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Jack continues his campaign for us to go to Disneyland tomorrow. Or the next day. Soon. He isn't clear on the when beyond "RIGHT NOW!" Lol. He just can't wait until he can ride The Pirates of the Caribbean. 

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This week has been very cold. So cold, in fact, that it was really hard on Shawn. He ended up coming home early two days because the muscles in his legs were so tight and cramped. :( Thankfully, Friday was a bit warmer and things went back to normal for him. 

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Jack got to present his Martin Luther King Jr. presentation to his class. He was quite please because the other students asked questions, and he knew the answers! Too funny!

Friday Five

Yay for four day weekends! We are ALL so glad for this long weekend.

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Today is a lazy day. We woke up late, ate late, had a late trip to Target. It was wonderful!

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Jack had a report to do on Martin Luther King Jr. this week. He did a really good job on it, too, but apparently forgot to turn it in on the due date. 🤦 Oops!

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Jason and Shawn got their report cards this week. Both boys did well. We're so proud of them!

Both got all A's with one B+, although their B+s are in different subjects. It's so funny how similar yet opposite they are. 

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This weekend we'll be working outside in the garden, getting it ready for our spring planting. It has been so long since we've been out there to work on it, so I am not even sure what we're going to find when we get started. 

Friday Five

Jack is counting down to his birthday. He is asking on the regular to go somewhere. The location changes with his mood, but the going part stays the same. lol. I don't blame him. It has been a long time since we last did anything.

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We are all looking forward to next week's four day weekend. Can't wait!

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The big boys went on a field trip to the high school this week. Gulp. I'm not sure I am ready for that leap, but it is coming nonetheless. Both said the day went okay and that the high school is big. 

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It's been warm and sunny this week. Had to chuckle when two of the boys came home with mask tans on their faces! Never would have seen that one coming pre-pandemic. lol

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Jason got a nerf gun for his Homecoming Day. He and Isaac were outside having a full-on war this afternoon. It was too, funny! They were quite intense and competitive.

Homework Time

Jack was working hard on his math homework tonight. I thought he looked so serious. I had to take a picture of him. 

Spelling Bee!

This guy spelled his way to 2nd place in the schoolwide Spelling Bee! Congratulations, Jack! We are so proud of you!

Friday Five - on Saturday

Yay - week #20 is in the books! We are all officially counting down to the next 4 day weekend. lol

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Jason had the final for his dance unit in PE this week. He was stressed about it, but I think everything went okay. He says he's glad it's over, so yay for that!

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The big boys have a field trip to the local high school on Wednesday. They get to go and check out the school and find out more about it. Shawn is very excited. Jason is quiet about it.

All I can say is ... well, gulp. How can this be?

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Jack has the school Spelling Bee next week. He is so excited!

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Jack has been asking for short hair this week. He may be getting it cut this weekend. 🤞

Friday Five

We've had an eventful week, so we are glad to be back to the weekend.

Thankfully, Jack's rash has gone. He broke out three days in a row, and then it went away. 

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Shawn had such a fun time at his Homecoming celebration. He has talked about it every day since his party. It's so cute.

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Jason's Homecoming Day is next week! He's picked out a red velvet cake for his day. Yum!

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Jack said he won the class Spelling Bee. The school-wide Bee will be in two weeks. Yay!

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Today, Jack did not want to go to Target. He wanted to stay home and play Wii in peace and quiet. LOL

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Just after we got everyone back to school, we got word that Shawn's aide at school tested positive. She had been with him the day she tested positive and two days before. Sigh. So far he continues to test negative, but I have to say that it's getting old. Sigh.

Back in the Saddle Again!

Well, not saddle so much as school. LOL!

Jack has finally tested negative today. That means he can go back to school tomorrow. YAY! Somehow, the rest of us have managed to avoid our own positives this week. I'm really not sure how we did it, either. 

It will be nice to get back to "normal" again, though.

Friday Five

Well, after all of our hard work at avoiding the plague, it caught up to us. Wednesday morning we woke up to Jack sniffing and clearing his throat. He said his throat was sore. I just knew in the pit of my stomach that he was going to be positive.  

Sure enough, he was positive immediately as soon as the fluid moved past the test line, it was already dark pink. Sigh. 

The rest of us took tests. No one else was positive, and no one else had symptoms.

Out of an abundance of caution, all the boys stayed home from school.

Jack has to be out of school through Monday. He can return on Tuesday with a negative test.

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On Thursday, the four of us tested again. Everyone else was still negative, and we were still symptom free. According to our decision trees, that meant that the big boys were headed to school.

The same happened for today. Still negative and still no symptoms. Fingers crossed it stays that way!

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Jack had to stay home from the weekly trip to Target. He was bummed, until he found the Wii. lol.

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Jack is still congested and sounds sick. He will still say his throat bugs him off and on, but Advil has helped when needed.

He has been a bit clingier than his norm, but he's handling things okay overall.

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This week has been stressful. 

No School

There was no school today due to Martin Luther King Jr. day. We had a nice relaxing day lounging around. The boys wanted to spend the day playing iPad, which was fine by me.

Friday Five

Well, the boys made it through their first week back at school. It was a long week, though, and we were all ready for a three-day weekend.

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Our Gracie girl has an abscess on her face today. Poor thing. She's doing okay, but it sure does look yucky.

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Jason's new walker came in this week! It came all the way from Canada, too. It is taking some getting used to, but it is amazing how much a few inches can really change his gait. 

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We are still waiting for Shawn's glasses. I'm frustrated that it is taking this long, and the mail service used hasn't been the most forthright with information. I think they are now in Whittier...maybe they'll get here before the end of the week. 

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After not getting a single notification about COVID at the boys' schools, we got exposure notice calls both Thursday and Friday this week. We aren't exactly sure who was exposed (don't get me started on that), but we haven't seen any symptoms in anyone yet. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

Friday Five

Today was a great day! The big boys got their Covid boosters today! We are all relieved that they were able to get their shot before heading back to class next week. 

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Speaking of heading back to class next week, I returned to work this week. I had large numbers of students absent every day, so I suspect it will be the same for the boys when they return. If I am honest, I really wish we would all go back to online learning for a few weeks until this latest wave of Covid passes. Sigh. Fingers crossed that everyone stays healthy.

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I was able to find a new, larger walker for Jason, which is very exciting. He loves his walker and needs a new larger size, but the company itself no longer sells this brand in the United States. I found a used one on eBay, and we are hoping it will be exactly what we are looking for. It is supposed to be here on the 11th.

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We are also waiting for Shawn's new glasses to arrive. The tracking information has been lacking, so I am not sure exactly when they'll get here. Hopefully soon!

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Somehow Jack managed to lose 2 school library books. I suspect that maybe they were put back on the shelves without being scanned, but however they were lost, he now has to replace them. We found new copies of the books on Amazon, and he is SO excited to take the new books back to the librarian. It really is pretty sweet.

Friday Five

Woohoo! We are on winter break! The boys have 3 weeks off; I have 2 weeks off. Let the Christmas fun begin!

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Shawn's glasses broke this week. We scrambled to find another pair of frames for us to pop the lenses into, but this was not something we needed on our plates this time of year. I guess it is time for us to make an appointment for an eye exam, too.

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Our elf has been having a blast leaving gifts and getting into mischief around the house. The first thing Jack does in the morning is search for Elfie to see what he was up to. So fun!

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It rained again this week, so the boys got to take another day off of school. This time, I took a day off, too! It was so lovely to get a little winter break preview! It was also lovely to not have to be out in the rain - it came down hard most of the day!

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Jack's highlight this week was getting to wear his Christmas PJs to school today. It's the little things that make school fun, I guess. LOL

Working Hard

8th grade brings with it lots of homework, especially math.

 

Friday Four

One more week to go before break! Everyone is counting down.

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It rained on Thursday, so we ended up having the boys stay home from school. The big boy's middle school is not exactly equipped for walkers when it rains. They have some bad drainage issues, so the solution was to simply lay plywood over the puddles. That makes it hard to maneuver with the walkers. Beyond that, rain means that everyone has to eat indoors. We're not thrilled about them being maskless while they eat. So, home it is. 

Let's just say they were not sad. LOL

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We had yet another meeting with the school to finalize an IEP for one of the boys. While I think we have everything ironed out as far as what it should say, we are still waiting for the final copy to sign. It's already been 2 days...and nothing.

We have also heard that they are still processing the state complaint we submitted. Sigh.

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Jason gets to go this weekend to pick out his presents for his brothers. He's excited.

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It's a Friday Four kind of day today. We're pooped!