thu, 1/21...day 21

The horror of the aftermath of Haiti's recent 7.0 earthquake is hard to even comprehend. Tens of thousands of people killed, many more than that without homes, food, or even water.

What a jarring juxtaposition this era we live in is, when so few have so much and so many who were already making do with so much less suddenly have next to nothing.

wed, 1/20...day 20

When I arrived at Extended Day today, John and Niall were busy painting.

What were these two big boys painting, pray tell? A lovely picture of the two of them, throwing up very colorfully on each other.

Niiiiice.

tue, 1/19...day 19

The other day in Extended Day, Cory made a "whiteboard" that really works! It's saran wrap over white paper taped together, and you can actually write on it (carefully) with a whiteboard marker and then erase it off. Here's Niall giving it a whirl.

Cory was very pleased with this project, and has given it to me to put up in my craft room.

mon, 1/18...day 18

Couldn't resist photos of some cool mist rising up through the trees in the Wheats' backyard the other day.

Then I had some fun fooling around with it in Picasa. :D This was my favorite.

sun, 1/17...day 17

Cory's classmate Olivia had a birthday party today, and Cory made her this adorable card. So sweet!

sat, 1/16...day 16

First day of swimming lessons at Linda Riggins! The boys did well, getting used to a new routine. I'm glad to have been there before with the older boys (albeit 10+ years ago!) so I could usher them through the new experience with some foreknowledge of how it all works. The changing room has gotten a nice upgrade since we were last there. Little "stalls" with curtains to change behind now, and an organized, fresh look. Very nice.

The boys had a substitute teacher this week (their soon-to-be-regular teacher had the flu), and she was very nice. Easygoing and calm. Got them off to a good start.

Niall knows a lot more about swimming than I'd remembered. That was a pleasant surprise! He quickly moved to swimming the length of the pool instead of the width and zoomed right along.

Cory is kind of back to square one, but that's why we're doing lessons. It's been nine months since he had lessons and he's forgotten all about how to put his face in, blow bubbles, etc. But...I'm confident that he'll pick it up before long.

fri, 1/15...day 15

Dropped Niall off at Grandma's, dashed home and got Cory to bed, and headed off to see a movie! Definitely worth all the rushing around. :-)

Got home in time to catch an episode of "24" with Tynor, too.