Sam's Basketball Game

Sam is playing basketball again this winter, on the same team with the same coach as last year. And he enjoys it once he gets there, but is not always eager to jump out of bed early on a cold winter Saturday morning. He is having a good year - always scores a few baskets at each game. But because every other week Sam and Maria play at the same time, and due to other commitments there is always only one parent to watch each kid play. The kids don't seem too upset about that, though.

Today Ben watched Sam while I took Maria (they play at different gyms - Sam at the old elementary, Maria at middle or high school). And he took some pictures, although most were blurry. Sam made 6 baskets this morning - 12 points!

Valentine's Day

Friday the kids had their Valentines Day parties at school. here they are before school with their boxes that we made at home. Sam put a little more effort into this box this year. it was nice seeing him take a little more interest in doing his own Valentines this year, but on the other hand a little sad as this is Maria's last year in elementary school and so her last school Valentines party.

Friday evening we gave them each a little gift that they had mentioned since Christmas and now - a stuffed Perry the Platypus for Sam and a knitting loom for Maria. This morning after basketball we also gave them each a card with a little bit of money, and then took them shopping to Easton to spend the money - Sam got some Legos, Maria bought two shirts and a bag at Justice, but ended up using a gift card from Christmas and did not spend any of her money. She is very frugal when it comes to her own money. And we ate at California Pizza Kitchen - the kids' favorite restaurant.

Evil, Evil Social Media

Okay, here we go. I'm going to vent. I try not to do this too much on the blog - I would like to be a positive person. But I need to get something written so that I can feel better about it. And maybe someone out there agrees with me and that will make me feel even better!

Ben and I eat lunch with 6 other women. There are 8 of us total, and due to a scheduling quirk (and the negative attitude of these people), Ben is usually the only male. But if we chose not to eat with the crowd, we would not have any adult interaction each day, and that makes getting through the day very difficult. (Not to mention the daily gossip - the only way we ever hear what's going on.) The age of 5/6 of these women is 55+, and most have been teaching a very long time. And I do believe that most of them are still pretty decent classroom teachers. But their disconnect from the generation they are teaching (even my generation) is alarming. And I know this disconnect is not only because of their age - my parents and Ben's parents are all older, and all embrace at least some forms of technology that these people feel is evil.

The annoying part about all of this is that they refuse to see the benefits of this technology for others, even if they choose not to use it. I agree, policing teenagers for cell phones in class is a pain. When Facebook and Twitter are used for bullying it's a horrible and hurtful abuse of the system. Students putting up inappropriate pictures of themselves, leading to possible disciplinary action, is just another example of students not thinking ahead, which, by the way, has been a trait almost all teenagers have possessed for many, many years. We now have scientific knowledge that their brains don't allow them to foresee consequences in the same way an adult can, so I don't think it's the fault of Facebook that these kids are making poor decisions.

I agree, we are living in a very different world then the one I grew up in, let alone the one these women grew up in. But that doesn't make it worse, only different. And that's the part these people refuse to acknowledge. When Ben, Kara (only other teacher below the age of 50 in our lunch- she's 30) and I admitted that we frequently use Facebook, we were asked things like "Why would you want to do that?" When we talked about how it has allowed us to stay in touch with lots of people - many of whom we had lost touch with, they go into the "What's wrong with using the telephone - people are losing the art of face to face communication" lecture. Texting is ridiculous to them - you don't need to stay in that close of contact with someone (like when Ben and I text each other on when we'll be home, when dinner will be ready, etc). Maybe we don't need to, but it sure makes our busy lives easier. One of these women refuses to even get a cell phone, because if people need to get in touch with her they can catch her at home, and if she misses a call it must not have been that important.

What I noticed today (lunch conversation: "Kids these days don't play outside anymore, they're too spoiled, have too much stuff, video games are the devil, etc") is that their refusal to use any form of social technology is a rebellion. They are refusing to use these forms of technology - won't even try - because they feel they are better than those of us who succumb to the temptation. But they are displaying the very behavior that they fight against in the classroom each and every day.

And that has made this whole thing a little less annoying and a little more entertaining for me to witness.

Snow Days Update

We're home again today. Monday school was called off due to icy back roads and some very thick freezing fog. We did have 15+ inches of snow between Friday and Saturday, so it wasn't entirely surprising that we would at least have a delay on Monday. But then early Tuesday morning another storm rolled through, bringing about 5 additional inches yesterday. We had a 2-hour delay on Monday night, but didn't cancel until about 6:15 Tuesday morning (I was already up and in the shower). Then the second round of the storm came through last night - more snow, and winds of 30+ miles per hour. Ben and Andy took the Element out yesterday around 5:30 to pick up pizza and get some items at Kroger, and said some roads were starting to drift over. We got the call about school being cancelled while they were out, and when I told the kids, they weren't even that excited. Usually a snow day called the night before is cause for celebration, but they're so used to it this week it was par for the course.

Ben is stressing about missing his first two pit rehearsals this week for the musical - Monday was supposed to be his first. And Maria is very concerned about missing Destination Imagination- they're running out of time as the competition is March 6. They have DI every Monday and Thursday after school, so as long as we have school tomorrow she'll be OK. And tonight is parent observation night at dance and gymnastics - if it gets cancelled, it'll be next week, and I have a LONG meeting after school next week that may make it impossible for me to attend. So we would all be happier if this snow stops and we can get back to normal around here. In the meantime, the kids are keeping busy with crochet (Maria) and Legos (Sam), and playing outside with Mason several times a day. Mason always comes over at snow playing, so he's here a lot as well. Ben is doing a lot of snow blowing. I am having trouble motivating to do much of anything anymore - with the drywall everything is dusty all the time, so no point in cleaning anything. And I baked a coffee cake from scratch Saturday, and talk about doing more baking, but so far I haven't actually done it. Which is better for our waistlines, at least.

Staying Busy

Sam is staying busy with LEGO project after LEGO project. Here's his latest.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Front Room Makeover

When Ben and I decided to put the leather couch and chair that used to be in the front room in the basement for when it was finished, it set a series of events into motion. We knew we needed to get the leather furniture into the basement and behind the plastic walls before the drywall started - it's big furniture and we didn't want to dent the new walls carrying it down the stairs. But we also needed to have something to sit on in the front room - since the basement is not usable we spend more time out there now. So we ordered new furniture for the front room from IKEA several weeks ago, and knew it wouldn't be here for a few weeks. We waited until the last possible minute to put the leather furniture downstairs, and moved it after insulation was complete - only 2 days before drywall started. At that point we had a bean bag chair and the old pillow chair in the front room to sit on.

Then we got a surprise call from IKEA the very next day, saying they had an opening in their delivery schedule and could they come they next morning? So we called our neighbor, who was great about coming over to meet the truck since Ben and I both needed to be at school. Then we spent all afternoon after school Tuesday putting the couch and chair together (they also delivered more stuff we'll use for the basement when it's done). So now we had stuff to sit on out in the front room, but it was still very much unfinished, mainly because of the treadmill and Legos that need to wait until the basement is done. So we were snowed in all weekend, spending a lot of time in the new front room and planning how we would re-arrange things when the basement is finally completely finished.

Sunday night, right after dinner, Ben decided he'd like to go ahead and change things around - if I was game. We were so bored after being inside all weekend I didn't mind spending an hour moving furniture - I have honestly moved more stuff in the last 3 months then my whole life combined, I think. So we moved the desk into the front room, the treadmill to the family room (I can't wait to get it in the basement but we use it daily so it can't go down until the last minute), and the piano to the wall right beside the basement. And what the pictures show is the almost complete grown-up room. The TV in the pictures is actually the new one for the basement - it will be replaced with the old one eventually. And the Lego drawers next to the window will eventually go downstairs as well. The idea is this will be a reading, working at the desk type of room - serious TV watching and game playing will take place in basement or family room. But since it is new, everyone is hanging out here a lot right now.

Snow Fort

For the last 24 hours, the time outside in the snow has been spent working on an underground fort. Or at least under the surface of the snow. 18 inches of snow, combined with 25 mile per hour winds yesterday, has made for some huge drifts in out yard. The biggest is between us and the Shoots's house next door, and Maria, Sam and Mason have been working for hours (with breaks spent inside) digging and moving snow to make a fort inside. We rarely get this much snow - only every few years - so I'm glad they're having so much fun in it. I am getting tired of dealing with the wet clothes when they come in - since they're in a snow fort taller than they are, they are covered form head to toe, and the snow gets inside all their snow clothes too.

Ben has been out today - our road wasn't plowed until late afternoon yesterday so he never ventured out. But he said roads aren't too bad today, and ones that have been plowed well are starting to melt on the pavement. We were already called with a 2 hour delay for tomorrow, and assume we'll go, but Tuesday-Wednesday looks iffy with 2-4 more on Tuesday and 1-3 more predicted on Wednesday. If there's any wind, combined with the snow we already have, it could get interesting. We're fine with that - we have 4 more snow days to give this year, before the state starts to decrease our allowed amount to 3, then to 1, beginning next year. Let's use our free days!

Drywall

Thursday and Friday the drywall in the basement was installed. They started on the ceiling Thursday and then finished everything up on Friday, and left right before we got home early (school was released at 1:00 due to the snow). It's a real mess down there, but a necessary mess, and I'm pretty sure it'll get worse before it gets better. The top picture shows the half-bath and the doorway to the storage area directly to the right. The middle picture shows the doorway to the unfinished game area. We're hoping the mudding and sanding takes place this week and Ben can get it painted during our three day weekend next week.

Snow Storm 2010!

We think we ended up with about 15 inches between yesterday and this morning. We were released from school at 1:00 yesterday, and I honestly think if it had been doing anything before school started we would have cancelled just based on the forecast. But there wasn't a flake in the sky until about 9:00, so we ended up going and then being released early.

The kids played outside with Mason twice yesterday and twice so far today. We spent the evening at the Smiths, ordered Chinese and played Uno with the kids, and watched High School Musical 3. Ben and Andy had fun braving the weather in the Element to pick up dinner. We came home about 10:30.

This morning everyone slept in and we woke up to a winter wonderland. These pictures were all taken this morning. Our road still has not been plowed, and we've seen a couple of cars get stuck or turn around, so we're assuming there's a huge drift at the end of the road. Scout Sunday for tomorrow has already been cancelled. We're hoping Ben can get out and get groceries in the morning - we won't starve, but may have some clean-out-the-pantry meals if we can't get out tomorrow.

What's New

A lot has been happening this week, but we've almost been too busy to even write about it. So here's the updates:

Basement: Ben and Darrell's insulation passed inspection Tuesday, and the drywall was dropped off yesterday. That brought the biggest changes to the upstairs so far - the basement door has been removed, the craft table had to be moved, and there are drop clothes and plastic liners over the entire hallway carpet and the walkway through the kitchen and dining room. Its no longer possible to pretend its not a construction zone once the workers leave. And I know it will be much worse once they start to hang the drywall- hopefully today.

Furniture: The new furniture that we ordered from IKEA a few weeks ago was surprisingly dropped off a week early on Tuesday - they called Monday and said they had an open spot in their schedule so we took it. Our neighbor Sherry was there to sign for it - of course it's put-together-yourself furniture, so Ben and I had to bring in many large boxes from the garage into the house, then spend the afternoon putting it together. Luckily we had already moved the current living room furniture into the part of the basement that is not being finished - we wanted to get it down there before the drywall started. Have I mentioned how tired we are of moving stuff up and down those stairs?! The new furniture looks awesome in the living room and is very comfortable - still need to get treadmill and Legos downstairs, then it will be like an actual living room.

Furnace: It quit again last night. The heat pump was making the same awful noise it did in December - its right outside our bedroom, so we could hear it well. Soon the thermostat quit as well, just like last time. It wasn't nearly as cold in the house as the last time it happened, though. I'm confident the local guys can out a new fuse in the thermostat today - and then we use emergency propane heat, but getting Sears out to fix the main problem in the heat pump - which they supposedly fixed in January - will be a much bigger hassle. So frustrating that this new furnace/heat pump that cost us $8000 three years ago is supposed to be saving us money and has done nothing but cost us money this year.

Musical: Maria started her first week of musical rehearsal and she is loving it. her schedule is crazy - and ours got crazier as well since we have to taxi her places - but she is handling it fine, although I can tell she is exhausted at night. Here's her Monday-Thursday schedule:
Monday - Destination Imagination after school until 5:00
Tuesday - Musical until 5:15, then straight to piano at 5:30- 6:00 -then we meet the boys at home, have dinner, then Ben and Sam go to Boy Scouts 7-8
Wednesday - Musical until 5:15, home for dinner, dance/gymnastics 6:30-8:30
Thursday - DI until 5:00

Luckily, she has a study center every day except Monday so we're hoping she can keep up with homework. And she says the musical is a lot of fun, so I think it will be worth it.