Seminole County Environmental Center and PTA Pasta Dinner

I managed to break my watch band off of my watch this past week.  This is the second time I've done this in less than a year.  So, my fix-it-guy tried to fix it and ended up just getting a replacement band. 

Megan loves to leave sticky notes with messages on her door.  I briefly entertained the idea of painting her door in chalkboard paint (or at least framing out a little part of it that way), but then I came to my senses when I remembered just how dusty chalk is.

Her notes above say "Megan is not here", as you can clearly hear her playing in her room.  Perhaps she needed some time alone. 

Daniel and I went to a party at the roller skating rink for one of his little classmates.  I was so glad to run into two of my friends there (one as a party mom as well, and one who just happened to bring her kids there that day).  It was nice to chit-chat and listen to some groovy music. 

Daniel skated much better on the carpet than the wood floor. 

Daniel and a friend from school watching the competition out on the big floor.  There were races and the hokey-pokey and the Cha-Cha Slide, which seems to be this generation's Electric Slide. 

Really? 

We had a great time.  I was really impressed with how well Daniel did in the practice rink.  

Daniel caught a caterpillar and it has now formed a cocoon.  He's reading a butterfly book to determine what his butterfly is going to look like. 

   

Keith finally got my watch back in working condition...thank goodness.  I feel like I never know what time it is, or what day it is.  Working night shift is rough on my orientation to time. 

Daniel earned a quarter and used it for the ring machine this week when we were picking up some take-out for dinner.  I can remember my mom shopping at Zayre's in Massachusetts and Candy and I would turn all the knobs to see if anyone left any money in the machines.  

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of joining Daniel's class on a field trip to the Seminole County Environmental Center to look at trees and animals.  I didn't even know this place existed and it is so cool!!

Sitting in Daniel's classroom waiting to get ready to go.  After the principal gave the morning announcements I recognized a sweet voice saying the Pledge of Allegiance over the loudspeaker, and sure enough, it was Megan who got to help lead the whole school in the pledge that morning.  

After a quick bus ride, we arrived at the SCEC. 

We got to learn about some live animals and some taxidermied animals.  All of the animals we saw are native to Florida. 

There is a tiny owl in that big cage.  She's so cute. 

Then we hiked the grounds with our guide and she showed us 5 different trees, the different caterpillars that live on those trees (Daniel was in heaven!) and told the kids all about what the indians that used to live in this area used the trees for.  

We learned about the aquifer under our county, and why it's everyone's job to conserve water. 

My three amigos for the day.  Such sweet boys. 

All smiles because he was able to talk to our tourguide for a few minutes about how to best take care of his caterpillar.  

I will say that earlier that morning, I grumped and fussed about what a pain it is to take an all-disposable lunch on field trips and the irony of not being able to take a reusable container to the environmental center. Well, after lunch, our guide had the kids bring up their trash and she showed them how nearly everything they had was recyclable.  Oh, gosh, just add that to my list of things we'll be doing once I finish grad school.  We need a super-cool recycle center. I'd say at our house we are really good at reducing, reusing and recycling already. 

His leaf collection and leaf rubbing. 

My sweet boy and I on our way home riding the school bus. 

I finally got to see Daniel's Flat Stanley project that he sent up to Kodiak, Alaska.  So cute!!!

Megan made a nearly life sized version of Daniel.  Complete with green backpack, RedSox shirt, pringles snack container and American flag.  

It's official, we have 2 football players and 1 cheerleader all signed up for fall Pop Warner Football.  Go Patriots!!

I have my annual evaluation coming up at work and I have no idea what happened to my CPR card, so this week I ran up to the American Heart Association and showed them my skilz and got a replacement card.  I also signed up for another class that I need to get done, so that will take up two full days next week.  

The PTA at Forest City Elementary hosted a spaghetti dinner catered by Carraba's.  There was also an art show during the dinner.  It was such a nice time!  Daniel stayed home from school sick today - he proudly told me that he vomited 13 times today.  So, with an extra ticket to the event, we picked up one of Megan's friends and off we went. 

Joshua's artwork. 

Megan's artwork. 

Then we went into the cafeteria to eat a delicious dinner and listen to Italian music.  The DJ had a slide show of places in Italy showing on the big screen and also a laser show on the cafeteria ceiling.  

The kids enjoyed socializing with their friends and eating a yummy dinner.  Joshua loved the chicken marsala and wants me to make that here at the house.  

A glimpse of the adorable sidewalk art leading up to the art show. 

All the kids brought home progress reports this week...

Joshua earned all "A"s.

Daniel earned all "S"s.

Megan earned one "A". two "B"s and two "C"s.  

I'm really proud of all of them for doing their best! 

I managed to take a rather long open-book test for Pharmacology, and wrote 2 papers for Health Promotion this week.  Next week, I need to spend some time reading and making flash cards for a Pharmacology exam.  

Grease is the Word

How did I get two weeks behind again?

Oh, yeah, that's right....

My Spring term of grad school started a couple of weeks ago.  This is now Term 4 for me and I'm preparing to return to Hyden, Kentucky in October for 8 required days of campus-based learning.  

This semester, I'm taking Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Pharmacology for Advanced Practice.  

As I was working through getting organized for the semester, the big kids had FCATs.  I think all of our stress levels had hit an all-time high.  

As FCAT week came to a close, we stopped at Sweet Frogs for a yogurt treat on the way home from school.  We ran into some old classmates of Joshua's from his previous school and sat chatting for a while. 

That weekend, the local high school drama team was putting on their spring performance.  We've gone to a few of Lake Brantley High School's performances and have always been impressed.  Joshua wasn't feeling too great, so he wanted to stay home.  I brought Daniel and Megan and one of her BFF's Eliana.  

When we arrived at the school, we were greeted by the cast hanging out at the ticket counter.  Immediately, I noticed the [fake] cigarettes that the T-Birds were smoking (think James Dean type crowd - jeans, white t-shirt, leather jacket, greased hair).  While in line, Daniel noticed the smoking first, and commented about how bad it is for you.  The girls chimed in with how gross it was.  Our kids have seen movies like Apollo 13, where it's set back in the days before we knew how bad smoking really is, and so they've had this conversation many times before. 

While in line to get in, someone had bought advanced tickets to see her daughter perform and her husband was unable to make it to the play, so she turned around and gave me her ticket.  Sweet! 

We found our seats and were just settling in, when I reached for my phone to turn it to vibrate and saw that I had a text from Keith.  Apparently, when he went to pull some wood out of the box near the fireplace in the playroom [to take out front for the firepit], he bumped into the mini-trampoline that was propped up against the wall, and it came down at a funny enough angle that it cut his face.  I texted back to ask if he thought he needed stitches, but he said it was pretty shallow and the edges were well approximated.  He texted me a picture, but I'll spare you the blood!

Overall, the show was fabulous.  The cast of kids were so talented and the singing was amazing.  Of course, some of the plot goes over the kids' heads for now, thank goodness.  But they loved it!  I love that they enjoy live performances.  

Grease is one of my favorite musicals.  In fact, I sang "Reproduction" from Grease 2, on that very same stage when I was a senior in high school.  Wow, thank goodness that was before the days of You-tube and other forms of social media.  

During intermission, I went to go get a snack for everyone, and ran into one of Megan's friends from our old school.  She and Rachel just chatted away, so happy to see each other!!

My theater partner!  He ended up on my lap for some of the play so he could see better. 

One of the toughest things about working night-shift is that I've become a bit nocturnal.  After everyone goes to bed, the silence is so nice that I get caught up studying late into the wee hours on my nights off of work.  I have my trusty Lilly-girl to keep me company. 

Although, truth be told, most of my nights off start out with Keith and I sitting out front on our patio watching the world pass us by.  The weather had been so nice in the evenings, that it is perfect for chilling out right after the kids go to bed and spending some time hanging out technology-free.  

I sent Keith a picture last week of me..you know it's going to be one of those nights when it is only 15 minutes into my shift and I've already had to change scrubs.  And into totally wrinkled surgical scrubs at that. Ugh....I can't stand looking messy at work.  

The following morning I came home to this....

Why is there a small person sleeping right in the middle of my bed?  Oh, because he has a 102.7 temperature and is feeling yucky.  Well, move on over cuddle bug, because night shift work means I need some sleep in the morning.  I'm happy to report that he got over his illness pretty quickly. 

Joshua recently earned his Brown Ribbon in Gymnastics and is thinking about performing in this year's Rainbow Classic to showcase his gymnastics skills.  This from the kids who moaned and groaned when I signed him up for gymnastics! 

And one more picture of my sweet, sweet girl chilling out with me on the couch.