Ups and Downs

Ups
- Four more weeks of school -13 more work days for me. (normally I would put this under the "downs" but read previous post for details).
- Mom and dad are coming on Sunday
- C.J. comes on May 9 (woot woot)
- It's comfy day today - nothing like wearing pajamas to school to make school seem like fun
- Events have transpired that will delay our move to Florida by a year.  I will be able to spend another year with my best friend and with the students I love so much
- Tomorrow is my day off
- The grass is finally turning green


Downs:
- Events have transpired that will delay our move to Florida by a year.  Yes I am writing this under both because the thought of spending another winter here is downright depressing and I was looking so forward to living near my sons again.
- The weather = YUCK!!!!! All week!!!!!
- Basketball on in my house every waking moment is fixing to drive me insane... especially since there is at least 7 weeks left of the playoffs!

I Guess They've Had Enough

We have four weeks left in the school year.  At this point...it can't come soon enough.  

I think the issue here is that we had Spring Break too early (first week of March) and so now, seven weeks later, I think the student's have had enough of each other, they have had enough of the teacher's, and they have had enough of schoolwork.

This week has been a combination of student's saying mean things to each other, fighting, using inappropriate language, and being just plain fed up and over everything!!!!

Hopefully a weekend is all that is needed to readjust attitudes so we can all focus on forging through the last four weeks and end the school year on a positive note.

Witness

***All the pictures in this post were taken by Back Row Photography and are from the musical The Witness***

Jesus paid a debt he did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay...saw that on Facebook today.  

Every time I see this play it affects me profoundly.  This is the eighth year and each year they add something to the play to make it feel and seem more personal and real.  In fact, the crucifixion scene is so real, several of the actors can be seen actually crying.  

One of the things I love about watching this play is that all the actors' love of Jesus really comes through on stage.  This is especially true of the man who plays Peter. As many times as he has performed this role, he never becomes desensitized and continues to shed tears and show his love and appreciation for Jesus through song.  

I am so glad I got to go this year as next year I may not be here to see it again.  

Thursday

Zack's computer decided to stop working this past week.  I had been thinking for a while now of getting him a small acer computer just for the internet...so I guess this was a good time.  

We went to Best Buy as soon as school was out for the day (it was a half day so we were done at noon) and quickly found what we were looking for.  Unfortunately they were out of stock.  After calling around we discovered Fond-du-lac had one so I paid for it and had them hold it for me. 

 Later on in the evening we went to pick it up and then, as long as we were out, decided to stop at Applebee's for dinner.

Zack's new computer

Zack's leftover onions from the onion rings

It Could Be Worse

It could be this...

All our snow has now melted.  But just three hours north of here it looks like this:

***All photos were taken by my brother-in-law Mark. ***

Basketball Banquet

Basketball season has been over for a while now but just last week I finally received an e-mail about a ceremony marking the occasion. 

 This year they decided to do something different and not only was it a wonderful night, it was an unbelievably generous gesture on the part of their coach (I believe I have mentioned him a couple thousand times already).

Coach G. invited everyone to the restaurant he owns for dinner.  They put out a buffet of spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, turkey, and potatoes.  He also offered anything off the menu for free for those not liking the buffet choices.  AND the kids all got an ice cream cone for dessert. 

At the end of dinner coach brought the A&B team together and talked about them as a team rather than recognizing each one individually and giving out titles and medals as he had in past years.

Well...there was one child he brought forward and recognized individually.

I held back tears as coach talked about how much his relationship with Zack has meant to him.  These two sure do have a special bond and I am beyond grateful that he has been an amazing, godly role model for Zack.

Trust me, had I not been focused on taking these poor-quality, blurry photos I would have been a sobbing mess.  

It Snowed Today

How nice...

Welcome to April in Wisconsin

It Rained Today

And rained...and rained...and rained!

The backyard:

The front yard:

Our driveway:

Looking at our house from the street:

So...It Happened Again

A few years ago, just about this time of the year, I needed to take Zack to the doctor for a follow-up appointment because he had had an ear infection.  While we were there, almost as an after thought, I mentioned that he had complained about his throat a couple times over the course of a few days and asked the doctor to look at it.  I was beyond surprised when the strep test came back positive because he had been eating, talking, playing, and acting otherwise normal.

Fast forward to today:

I had to bring him to the doctor for a medication check (he needs this every three months to remain on Concerta) and he also needed a vaccine.  Height, weight,  and blood pressure check were all perfect.  Temperature check was 99.6*.  Hmm.  This was surprising.  Zack immediately said, "that's weird, I'm not sick."  And then added...almost as an afterthought, "well, my throat kinda hurts in the morning when I wake up."  The nurse left and the doctor came in.  We chatted about the effectiveness of the Concerta and made some small talk.  I looked over at Zack who was, of course, chewing his fingernails and remembered the throat.  "Oh yeah doc, could you look in his throat."  Yep...strep test was positive!!!

I haven't had strep in years, like probably at least ten years or more, but when I've had strep.  I. AM. SICK!!!  I mean feel-like-I've-been-hit-by-a-car sick.  High fever, can't talk or eat, and I always throw up when I have strep.  It is unbelievable to me that someone can have strep and look and act completely normal.  

Since we've been home he's eaten dinner and been outside playing basketball and actually having a great ole time because, not only must he feel fine, he also cannot go to school tomorrow!  You can be sure if I get strep, I will feel like death warmed over!  Not fair.

Return of the Nightly Walk

Last week we actually had a couple of semi-nice days and I could tell Ollie was thinking about walks around the yard but it wasn't quite nice enough for me so I was able to ignore him and put him off.

Not so today.  

This is what he does:

He stands at the door looking outside...then looks at me...then back outside...and so on.

And so...we go outside where he can run around and sniff for mice and jam his face in holes in the ground.

Now he could also do this without needing me to walk along with him but - NO - he NEEDS me...ya know.

I guess the nightly walks have begun

Just My Opinions

My Florida Gators have had an amazing basketball season.


They won 30 in a row, went undefeated in the SEC, were ranked number one for a better part of the year, and made it to the Final Four.


Once they made it to the Final Four, I was satisfied that their season was a success and didn't really care if they made it to the Championship game or not.  And, as it turned out, they did not.  They picked the game last night to have one of their poorest shooting performances of the year...going 1 for 8 from behind the arc.  As a team, they shoot about 60% from three point range so this was really bad!

But, I was okay with this.  This team surpassed all expectations so, to me, it was still a success.  

Thanks for the memories, Gators.

The Wisconsin Badgers were playing Kentucky and they were the team that I really wanted to win (unfortunately, they didn't)!!! I like the Badgers...but the bigger reason was...I hate Kentucky!  



This is where my opinions come in:


Kentucky starts 5 freshman. They are otherwise known as "one and dones" because they plan to play college basketball for only one year and then head to the NBA.  This is not Kentucky's first year with a "one and done" team, in fact this is their coach's MO.

Am I the only one who thinks that this is not in line with college basketball?  Where is the college part of this?  These 5 are not at Kentucky for college.  They are there for one reason only...as a stepping stone into the NBA.  This is a sham!

How can the NCAA continue to allow one coach to turn college basketball into a showcase of one year players who all have the talent to be first round draft picks in the NBA?  

I understand that this is an impossible thing to monitor and control but it still bothers me tremendously.  

Oh well, Kentucky may be going to the championship game after a one point victory over Wisconsin, but at least I have the satisfaction of saying that the Gators beat them 3 times this season!!

Brother Time

Perkins

Way back when we lived in Florida, the boys and I would meet my parents at Perkins every Tuesday night.  Kids ate free that night with an adult purchase so mom, dad, and I would get the adult meals and the boys would eat free - great deal!

Well...needless to say, we outgrew the kid's meal phase -  and the kids eat free phase - and I don't even know whether Perkins still offers that deal.  At any rate, we just don't go there anymore.

Last week Jon asked me if I could take them there sometime as he really missed the days where we would go every Tuesday and so, long story in...we went tonight.

Zack making a mustache with the straw wrapper

We won't be doing this very often as I was SHOCKED when the bill arrived.  It was over $10.00 more than when we go to BWW or Tortilla Flats.  But, I do love treating my boys to dinner and the fact that we can sit and talk about things.