fri, 5/7...day 127

Cory and Niall are both home sick today (just colds). Poor Cory: on his birthday, and on the day he was going to perform in his class Spanish play (as the number "Siete").

But his cold got much worse yesterday afternoon and now his cough has really ramped up, so he really couldn't go to school. Sigh. Hopefully someone took video of the little play so we can see it.

This is a photo of Cory at home practicing catapult with...Lego heads. Hmm. He doesn't think it's grisly, clearly, but it makes me think of a scene from The Return of the King (and no, I'm not going to go into details!)

thu, 5/6...day 126

Cory celebrated his birthday in class today because tomorrow has a lot going on. So Joyce brought out the birthday teepee, as is traditional for them.

Coincidentally, Kellen came with us this morning (to spend the day at work with me because we both have midday appointments in the same place), and this is the teepee that was the class auction project when he was in Barbara's class - many eons ago. So fun to have a photo of Cory together with him and the teepee (right where his name is, too!).

In other "banner day" news, Tynor got his braces off. He wasn't particularly excited about it...but I was! Not quite two years of having braces, and now he's finally done.

His pearly whites look great, at least from a layman's perspective.

wed, 5/5...day 125

Our new couch arrived this week! Actually came on Monday, but here's a photo of it with an excited Cory demonstrating how to use it.

He was so funny when the delivery people came. Kept creeping around, sneaking peeks around corners, whispering to me this and that. They quickly brought in all the pieces, screwed on the feet, attached the ends, loaded the cushions and off they went.

Now I just need to clean out the other half of the living room and it will be a really pleasant space for us to enjoy.

tue, 5/4...day 124

Today Cory and I went looking for the next Magic Treehouse book, which we were sure the TLS library would have. Sure enough, we found it - and a bunch of other more recent MTH books that we don't have at home and haven't read! We checked out a bunch of them. Fun!

This is one of Niall's favorite places: a little reading couch in the library. I love to see him peacefully reading away when I come to pick him up from Extended Day. Lovely way to relax and unwind after a busy day working, engaging, thinking, and playing at school.

mon, 5/3...day 123

It was my Observation Day in Niall's class, which coincidentally was at the same time as the annual TLS May Day Parade. I've only missed one, I think, in all these years - when all parents were inexplicably banned from school grounds! "It's a kids-only event." Pfft.

As usual, the sun came out for all the marching children and teachers, with colorful hats made in the classroom, musical instruments of various kinds adding a cheerful clanging and banging to the production, and older children helping guide little ones as they walked down the steps and in a circle around the Big Field.

Most years they stop in the Big Field and there's some kind of performance in the center: gymnastics, drumming, etc. But this year was a very quick parade: just down, around the field twice, and back up the steps.

I'm glad I got to see it yet again. It's one of my favorite traditions at the school.

sun, 5/2...day 122

Today, at long last, Cory and I did a few of the experiments in the Science Lab he got for Christmas. These were classic acid-and-alkaline fizzy and color-changing experiments. Great fun. He got to measure, pour, stir, and exclaim over the fun changes we saw.

And there are more to do another day, too.

sat, 5/1...day 121

Swung by Grandma's house to pick up library DVDs to return, and found that my nephew Rolly was visiting and helping plant flowers.

He was so cute. Such the 3-year-old! He moved some dirt, plopped some flowers in place, poured some water on them, and clearly felt he'd completed all the steps. :D

Grandma and I patted some more dirt around the exposed flower root balls, so maybe they'll survive.