Power of the Pen Regional Competition

Happy Sunday! Yesterday I spent the day being a parent chaperone for Rebecca's Middle School's Power of the Pen team as they headed to the Regional Competition. 2 weeks ago, they competed at District's and 11 out of their 12 writers advanced to Regionals. Rebecca was one of the 11 who moved on. 

Regionals were held at Otterbein University in Columbus and there were over 150 kids there representing 40 different schools. While the kids were off writing, I walked around campus for 2 hours. The weather was perfect. It started off cold but the sun was out and then it warmed up to the 50s. Felt so good to be in the sunshine and just enjoy the atmosphere. I *almost* felt guilty as these kids and the judges were in classrooms and I was out taking advantage of the sun. LOL 

This building was gorgeous and where Rebecca spent her time writing! 

I loved the look of this building.

Where the kids and I had lunch.

Back to the writers....They had 3 different 40 minute writing sessions. Then was lunch and waiting for the final results before the awards ceremony. You could tell that the kids were relieved at lunch. We had lunch at Otterbein's student cafeteria. The food was ok... alot better than what I remembered college food being like when I was a college student. LOL 

Rebecca and her friend Zoey 

After lunch, it was time to return for the award's ceremony. They started off with the 7th grade individual awards. They award medals to the top 12 and those 12 automatically get a spot in the state finals. Rebecca took home 12th place!! She was so excited. She was the only writer from her school to place in the top 12. 

Waiting for the awards ceremony to start

12th place!!

After the individual and team awards, they then awarded "Best of Round" awards from the District competitions. For these awards, they take all the writing ranked with a 1 in the each round and send them off to another group of judges who read them and discuss and basically take time to decide which one is the best. Well, Rebecca won "Best of Round 1" from Districts for her story!! That was a nice surprise as she didn't think she did that great of writing in Districts. 

I am so freaking proud of her! Now she has almost 2 months to get ready for the State competition. I love that she is so creative and loves to write and I love that she is seeing success. 

Today we have gone to PSR and Church. Rebecca is now doing homework and Jacob and Ben are playing. Later we will head to my parents' house as my Dad wants to have a little pizza party to celebrate Rebecca's accomplishments yesterday. 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! 

Another busy weekend!

Happy Monday! First off, I want to say don't mind the dust around here. I am tweaking how the blog looks and have a few minutes here and there to work on it. So over the next week it may look a little different. I am hoping by this weekend to have it looking the way that I want! 

BACK TO REGULAR PROGRAMMING: I hope you are having a great day so far wherever you are. Here it is raining and dreary outside and very Monday-ish if you know what I mean. LOL I am taking a break from puttering around the house to actually put up another post. 

We had a pretty busy weekend. Friday night I had to take Rebecca to her American Heritage Girls lock-in that her level was hosting. For the lock-in each girl had to present about a country and Rebecca chose Greece. She made a poster and taught the girls how to make art out of plaster. She also had to take in a dish to share for dinner-- I made a Greek salad for her to take. The salad was okay but the dressing was not very good.  She couldn't stay for the whole thing as she was traveling to the Ohio Statehouse the next day for History Day Regional Competition. I picked her up at 9 that night as she had to be up and out the door early the next morning around 6:30ish.

Saturday, Bill took Rebecca to Columbus to compete in the History Day Regional Competition. She had to be there at 8AM for set up, her judging was at 10:15, and then they waited for the closing which wasn't until 3. Lots of waiting but good bonding time with her dad. After setting up, they went to Starbucks with a friend that was there. Then back for judging. 

Then they went to a pizza place for lunch. 

Then they walked around the statehouse and actually got to meet a state representative at one point. Rebecca did not place in the competition so her run at History Day is done. I think she is disappointed, although she said she was fine with it. They got home around 4:30ish. 

While Bill and Rebecca were in Columbus, I took the boys to their final basketball games of the year for Upward. Ben played at 11:10. He had so much fun this year. 

Jacob played at 1:20. He did really well in his game. 

After each boy's game, we went to the church's sanctuary for the end of year presentation. The boys got backpacks from Upward, a coupon for a free large pizza from Dominoes, a cookie, and a medal since this was the church's 20th year doing Upward basketball.

All in all it was a good year for the boys and I know that they will miss playing. 

When we came home, I cut the boy's hair. They both wanted mohawks. LOL I think their haircuts make them look much older. 

On Sunday, we had PSR (kids had class and I taught my class) and church in the morning. Then we went to Aldi and Walmart to stock up on some stuff, get groceries for the week, and pick up Bill's blood pressure meds. I am trying to be cautious with the spread of the coronavirus. There are no known cases as of today in Ohio, however it is spreading fast. I am trying to just be prepared. I am following the recommendation to have at least 2 weeks of food in your house in case you are quarantined. So I stocked up on things that we eat. I also did buy some canned fruit to have on hand as we tend to eat more fresh stuff, but if we can't go out then we would still have an option. I was surprised at the lack of items on the store shelves, whether that is because people are overbuying or if it is because of getting things from overseas. I am not sure. But in any case, we are stocked for a few weeks in case we can't go to the store. That trip took almost 2.5 hours. 

The rest of Sunday was a blur. Bill took the kids outside to play as it was around 50 degrees and sunny. I made a shepard's pie for dinner. It was okay but I really need to tweak the recipe. (Rebecca had it at her lock-in and requested I make one. I had never made one before.) I worked on tutoring stuff and getting the pantry organized.

Today I took the kids to school and then I had to run a couple more errands-- to Dollar Tree to get some hand sanitizer for the kids' backpacks, to Kroger to get milk (as that is the only brand Bill will drink), and to Dollar General to get laundry detergent (cheapest place to get it) and a pack of paper towels that were on sale super cheap. I have done laundry and made a pasta bake for dinner as we have a busy afternoon and evening. Rebecca has her 3rd quarter choir concert tonight and I have babysitting and back-to-back tutoring tonight as well. I just heard the dryer go off, so I need to end this and get off of the computer. 

Hope you have a great Monday! 

Catch-Up Post

It's been almost 2 weeks since I last posted. Really the lack of posting is not because there is nothing going on, but rather because there is so much going on. So I thought I would hop on here and do a little catch-up post and get up to date. 

Thankfully, since the last time I posted I am feeling better physically. I still have a dry cough, but the 2nd round of antibiotics seemed to clear up the congestion and crap that I was dealing with for over a month. Just in time for life to get really crazy busy. So let's hit the highlights::

• The boys have continued with Upward basketball. Practices every Monday and games every Saturday. (This coming Saturday is their last games of the year.) They have enjoyed themselves again. Ben made his first basket a couple weekends ago. Jacob fouled out of a game a couple weekends ago, but also made his first 2 baskets including a 3 point shot! They will be sad when the season ends. 

• We took a walk on the bike path. The weather was decent (mid 30s and we had been cooped up for way too long.) The kids were going stir crazy. We walked 2 miles and it felt good to be outside. 

• While I was down with my illness, I came to realize that the kids should be doing more around the house and that I SHOULD NOT be doing everything. So I did some research online and on Pinterest and came up with clipboard chore charts for the kids. So far they are working reasonably well. 

• It's been getting lighter earlier in the mornings. I took this picture right after I dropped Rebecca off at school one morning. I just love the sky in this picture. 

• Speaking of Rebecca, I chaperoned her Power of the Pen team trip to the district competition. Rebecca made the 7th grade team and they have been practicing writing after school twice a week for the past several months. Last Saturday was their district competition. Her middle school was going up against 23 other schools at this competition. She (nor any of her teammates) did not place in the top 12 individually, however the team took home the overall 4th place team trophy! She was pretty excited even though it was a long day (we were on the bus at 6:45 AM and got home around 4:00 PM). She is even more excited because she earned an individual spot at the Regional tournament which is next Saturday! 

• Sunday morning I was startled awake at 5AM by the cats chasing a bat in my bedroom! Nothing like hearing a high pitched squealing and the cats jumping up at the wall to get you to be wide awake quickly. LOL We ended up calling our local police department as we couldn't get it out and an officer came out and said this was the 3rd bat call she had been on that week! Thankfully, she caught it and we have hopefully plugged the hole from our attic that we found so hopefully no more flying creatures in our house! 

•  Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. I have decided to give up junk food and pop this Lent and focus on eating for health and taking care of me. The junk food hasn't been too bad, but let me tell you, all day yesterday and today I have been craving a Dr. Pepper.

• Finally, Rebecca decided to get her hair cut! She came to me on Monday morning and said really seriously that she wanted to ask me about something that she had been thinking about for quite some time. Inwardly I was panicking. Then she proceeded to tell me that she thought it was time to cut her hair and could she. As I exhaled, I told her that I didn't have a problem with her getting her hair cut. I asked if she wanted me to take her to a salon to get it cut or if she just wanted a basic cut I could do it. She said she didn't trust anyone else except me to cut her hair. So last night, I cut off almost 14 inches of her hair. She is going to donate it. She seems to really like it and she even wore it down to go to school today! 

So there you have the highlights of the past 2 weeks. In between all those things, I have been working my butt off babysitting and tutoring and taking kids to their activities. Bill is currently job hunting again as he hates his job and it is causing him a lot of physical issues.

Well, my time on here is up. I have to get Rebecca from school and start my afternoon/evening activities. Hopefully, it won't be 2 more weeks before I write! Hope everyone is having a great day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Friday and Happy Valentine's Day! The sun is out today and I am feeling a little bit better. Still coughing and have not a lot of energy, but am better than I was. 

Today the kids are home from school for a teacher work day (actually they have a 4 day weekend as they are off on Monday for President's Day as well). That meant that yesterday the boys had their Valentine's Day parties at school. Thankfully, they did their class valentine's last weekend (and it should be no surprise they picked out WWE wrestling ones!). This was good as I have not felt well all week. However, we did have to do Valentine's boxes and those got done on Wednesday night right before they went to bed. Both boys wanted a wrestling theme and both decided to decorate their boxes as a wrestler. 

Jacob made a Hulk Hogan box.

Ben made a Rey Mysterio box.

They had a lot of fun at their school parties although Jacob ate way too much sugar and was dealing with an upset stomach all evening. When the kids got home, I made them get their snow suits on and go out and play in the snow. We had gotten about 2 inches the night before. It was perfect packing snow. Rebecca and Ben decided to make a snowman. Jacob had fun throwing snowballs at people. 

Today, we have just been hanging out at home. I surprised Bill with a card and a Reese's heart when he came home from work this morning. Bill surprised me with some fun gifts-- a sloth, chocolate, a nice warm blanket for relaxing, a puzzle and a sweet tea.

It has been a good day so far. I am going to attempt to make heart shaped pizzas for the kids for dinner. I think Bill and I are going to get subs from the nearby pizza place for dinner. I hope that wherever you are you are having a good Friday as well!

Sick again

SOURCE

Just a quick note to say that I am still sick. I was feeling better for about a couple of days and then Sunday my throat started hurting again and last night I woke up with ear pain. Back to the doctor this morning. Diagnosis: Upper Respiratory Infection, Lower Respiratory infection AND the beginnings of bronchitis! Ugh. Hopefully this new (second) round of antibiotics will do the trick. Doc also told me that I need to rest. Hope everyone else is having a healthy week!  

Sickness, History Day, Basketball, and Snow Days

Happy Saturday night! Well it has been a week and a half since I last posted. At last post, I was sick as was Bill. Here we later and I am still dealing with a sore throat but all other symptoms are gone. Bill ended up getting the flu last weekend on top of the other stuff he had going on. He is doing better thankfully but being sick has sucked. The boys have had runny noses but thankfully nothing beyond that. Rebecca somehow has stayed healthy. 

There is so much sickness going around. Schools around us have been closing due to excessive absences in kids and staff. At the boys' school, they are averaging 12-15% of the students out each day. Last Thursday they had 69 kids out of the school! The middle school has been averaging between 120-150 kids out each day due to illness. Strep Throat, Flu A and Flu B are running rampant. I know so many people that are sick it isn't funny. 

With all the sickness life has gone on. Last Friday evening I took Rebecca to her middle school for her History Day fair and judging. Each child had to do a project on a person who took part in "Breaking Barriers." Rebecca earned a Superior on her project and judging and gets to move on to the district tournament which will take place in a few weeks at the Statehouse in Columbus. We are super proud of her. 

Last weekend was basketball games for the boys. I took them as Bill stayed home as he had a fever. Both boys had lots of fun.

This week was super hard with Ben misbehaving and just being a terror. He is going through a HUGE defiant stage and there has been lots of yelling from both him and I. He reacts poorly to being told what to do by me AND he has been picking on his brother. I have been in tears several days this past week due to his behavior and it has been very stressful. 

I was only able to tutor one time this week due to illness to other clients. It was just an odd week. 

Yesterday, the kids had a snow day. We got about 2 inches of snow and ice and they decided to close schools. I think they were looking for an excuse so that they could clean the schools as well. The kids were able to go out and play for the first time this winter. 

Today was another basketball Saturday for the boys. Today Ben made his first basket! He was so excited. Jacob didn't score today, however he did foul out of a quarter of his game. (If a player gets 2 fouls in a period he has to come out of that period.) Jacob ended up having 4 total fouls today! 

Tomorrow we have church, PSR and the boys will work on their Valentine's cards for their classes. I am hoping to maybe get a nap in tomorrow as well! LOL Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far! 

Pink Eye, Strep Throat, Oh my!

Sorry for the lack of posting since last Thursday. (By the way thanks for all the great Vacation ideas!) So what has been going on? 

Well, ever since last Wednesday I have been dealing with some head cold symptoms (runny nose, congestion). Saturday, I woke up with a lovely surprise in that I couldn't open my eye without wiping out a lot of crud. Off to Urgent Care and diagnosed with pink eye and an upper respiratory infection. 

I was kind of surprised they didn't give me an antibiotic given the fact that I was congested as well. Instead I was sent home with eye drops and 2 cough meds which really didn't help much except during the day. 

I stayed home from the boys' basketball games on Saturday and church and teaching on Sunday. Yesterday I still felt like crap but life goes on when you are a mom. And honestly Bill was feeling worse than I was so I made him go to the doctor. He got diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection, lower respiratory infection, a throat infection, AND a bad ear infection. (He has been sick for like 3 weeks and his doc had put him on a z-pack for antibiotics but they did not work at all.) 

Well, late last night my throat starting killing me. It felt like someone was taking a fiery knife and stabbing my throat. This morning I took Rebecca to school and then asked Bill to take the boys to school so I could go back to Urgent Care. To let you know how much sickness is running rampant in this town, I got there at 7:55 (they open officially at 8). There were 3 people ahead of me and when they called me back at 8:20 the nurse said there were 10 people in queue behind me. Anyways.... the rapid strep throat test came back negative but I showed all signs of strep. 

So I am an amped up dose of amoxicillin for the next 10 days and a 5 day supply of presnidone to reduce the swelling in my throat. I took it a little bit ago and I already can tell a difference in my throat. It still hurts but not the stabbing pain. 

I just hope this medicine works and I am finally on the path of feeling better. I probably won't do any of my normal posts this week (goals post, etc). I am planning on resting as much as possible so maybe February can start out healthier. 

Hope everyone is having a great and HEALTHY Tuesday! 

Vacation ideas needed!

Source

So as I mentioned in my 12 goals for 2020, I would like to be able to go on a vacation with Bill and the kids. We are in the beginning processes of thinking about where we want to go. Basically some of our parameters are:

1. Within driving distance. We are willing to drive up to 12 hours from Columbus, Ohio. 
2. Family friendly-- remember we have Bill, myself, and a 13 year old, 10 year old and 8 year old. 
3. Budget friendly
4. Things to do like aquariums, zoos, nature hikes, etc would be great.
5. Timeline: Summer (after kids get out of school at the end of May and before they go back in the middle of August). Ideally we would like to go away for a week. 

We would love to go back to Indian Beach, North Carolina but not sure we can make the budget work. Some other places we have gone in the past include Gatlinburg (several times), Pittsburgh (several times), Indianapolis, Traverse City Michigan. I would love to maybe go to a state I have never been too--- Minnesota, Georgia, Alabama, New York come to mind. I am just not feeling inspired today. 

So I am asking for ideas. If you live in an area that you would recommend or have an area you have visited in the past that you would recommend could you let me know in the comments? Thanks so much in advance! 

Update #3 of 12 goals for 2020

Happy Wednesday! I am the midst of a cold, busy week but I thought I would pop on here for a few to do my update on my 2020 goals before I get to babysit "A". So how did I do last week? 

1. Read at least 5 chapters in a book a week. 

I am happy to say that I finished The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais. I started reading St. Rita of Cascia: Saint of the Impossible by Fr. Joseph Sicardo, O.S.A. (So far I am 68 pages in). I am finding time to read before bed instead of playing games on my tablet or watching T.V. And on another note, I added a page to this blog (up at the top under the header) to show the books that I have read this year. If you click on the heading it will take you to that page where you can see all the books I have read this year! :) 

2.Exercise 5 times a week. 

Um...back to 0 days :(   

3.Carb-cycle. 

I didn't do very well on this last week. By the end of the week I found myself snacking more and craving things like wheat thins on low carb days. Will try again this week.

4. Lose weight. 

I started at 256 pounds! Last week I was 254.4. This week I was back up to 255.6. :(  

5. At least 2 date nights with Bill each month. 

Nothing this week. Total for January 2020: 2 specific date nights so completed for January.

6. Self-care. 

Gave myself permission to rest on Saturday after waking up with a huge headache. 

7. Bake a treat for the family at least 2 times a month 

This goal was already completed for January entering this week. However, I did make a chocolate cake (which Rebecca decorated) and pumpkin bread for breakfasts. 

8. Declutter every room in the house. 

I decluttered and deep cleaned my desk on Monday. It looks so much better! 

Before

After

9. Go on a family vacation with Bill and the kids.

We have talked about this and may have an idea and dates to consider. Now to see if we can financially make it work. 

10. Be more social. 

I went out to dinner with a friend. I need to text another friend to find a date to have a game/taco night.    

11. Utilize Swagbucks to earn gift cards to help with gift giving costs. My goal is to get at least 20 Swagbucks a day. Last week I earned 505 swagbucks which averages to around 72 a day for last week! 

12. Write on this here blog at least 3 times a week. 

Including today I have written 4 times over the last week. :) 

So some good things and some bad things as far as progression this week! If you are working on goals for the New Year how are you faring? Hope you have a great Wednesday!