I'll start with the bad news first: Russia has bombed Ukraine.
Perhaps they are wanting to reclaim the land that was formerly a part of the Soviet Republic. Perhaps they are wanting the natural resources that are available in the Ukraine. Perhaps Putin is on a power trip. Maybe it's all of the above. What we know for sure: It is bad. Really really bad. There are 40+ million people that live in the Ukraine. Masses of people are trying to flee. At the borders, however, the men are not allowed to leave. They (male - general public) are being given fire arms and are expected to help defend. There have been interviews of people who are choosing to stay and fight. They certainly are being portrayed as having quite a bit of resolve. The whole thing is scary! (I can't imagine what the citizens and families are feeling there.)
On a positive note: Covid numbers are decreasing. (I heard on the news that it was down 62% over the past 2 weeks!) fantastic news!
(Although the US is nearing a big milestone -- it's just under 950,000 deaths at this point. If trending the same, within 2 weeks - the US will hit a million deaths. Worldwide, there have been almost 5.94 million deaths. Unfortunately it will not be long before there are 6 million overall.)
Since the last blog post, here are some random things: follow-up pics of the butterfly that emerged in my classroom after it's short short life. (it's beautiful up close!) I'm also started a biomimicry club at our school as a part of the Environmental Club - and used this butterfly as a "hook" talking about butterfly scales and solar panel design. :)
Isabella and Todd worked on creating a pinewood derby car for her (at after-school, a local Boy Scout troop is coming every week to help the students build and then compete in a derby / race).
Unfortunately, the last time Isabella took the car in to after school ( that she and Todd sanded / painted / etc.) ... the guy asked if he could take it to show it to the troop... and then lost it!
He said he'll bring her another car for the actual race. :(
She had fun however, sanding and painting... and she was bummed about her car, but she kept a pretty good attitude about it.
Valentine's Day came and went... we were divided as a family - both going in different directions for things for the kids. But made lots of cookies and I got myself some tulips. Still love it when they start to droop. So graceful!
We are on our winter break this week. I have mostly been chauffeuring people around this entire week. No lie. (Todd had a "welcome to 50" procedure Tuesday. Mercer and Isabella had dentist appointments Wednesday. Mercer has either had baseball practice or a baseball game every day. I had a couple of appointments too - but don't consider chauffeuring for mine.) It's been busy - but we're getting things done!
Isabella and I had some other activities planned as well - a hike with friends, a visit to the "Kitty Cafe" on the square - and we started making a bridge for a STEM competition, however, we started too late and weren't even close to finishing it to enter into the Saturday competition. But - she was having a great time being creative for awhile!
Speaking of being creative - Isabella has (apparently) quite the knack for music. She's been playing piano and her teacher is always complimentary of the progress made each week... but she heard a song that she liked from a TV show... started singing it 'til she learned the harmony... then started tapping it out on the piano! The music teacher looked it up and listened. She was 1/2 a note (difference in sharp / flat) off from the correct chord. He was so impressed! (The one thing we were concerned with was the finger placement -- so he helped her with that.) He also said at the last lesson that she picked up on a slight nuance of a musical condition: legato.... how notes blend together instead of having spaces / gaps between them. He said children really don't pick up on that - but she observed it and asked him about it. Now - if we could get her to practice consistently.... she'd probably SOAR!
She also discovered Othello over the break... and - now - she's hooked. (That is my Othello set from when I was a kid!!)
One other thing with the little one: horse lessons.
She got to go "un-clipped" today. SHE was in control of the horse.
She made Waffles turn. She made Waffles trot.
It was a HUGE step in her horse-riding independence.... and this is something that she said that she wanted to do when she started last year!! She wanted to control a horse!
We also squeezed in a hike with some of my book club friends / their kids... Isabella's favorite part - of course - the dog! (and finding pine cones to add to our "collection" - yes we have a pine cone collection... big, small, medium, perfectly open, tight, etc!)
We FINALLY moved into our space(s) that were being renovated behind the kitchen! Whew - what a journey that whole process was!! The guy tore down all of the (new) tile that had gone in the previous fall that was installed incorrectly. Unfortunately, he found a few things behind the wall that also wasn't done right the first time and he fixed that as well. But - he knocked it out and consistently worked 'til most everything was done to our satisfaction! (There are a few little touch-up things that we can handle that I may tackle at some point... but I'd say it's 99% done!) We're waiting on the glass shower door to arrive, but the glass company will install that as soon as it's been made. (they're all "custom" and have a little bit of lead time. It's OK... we're at least able to use it with a temporary shower curtain in place!)
Next - the contractor moved onto the room behind the kitchen. There was more rot in the baseboard area behind that bathroom wall + more mold (sigh). It was a messy job, but - again - he just diligently worked every day and knocked it out!
It was a tough few weeks in our household too -- with the contents of those 2 rooms scattered between the living room, dining room and our bedroom. (This stack of boxes is the new hardwood which hung out in our dining room for a couple of weeks.) We are slowly getting our house back together!
One thing that stinks about this renovation (unlike the bathroom)... you up all of that money into it -- to basically get back the exact same thing we had before. The wood is different and we didn't put wainscot back in - but otherwise, it's the same room. The bathroom - we at least made major upgrades...
Oh well. It's nice having it done!!
We're getting the furniture moved in and re-organizing that room. Isabella wanted us to NOT put anything back in so she could have a room to dance in! :)
Basketball ended. It ended with a little bit of a fizzle. (Several people had Covid at some point / games got cancelled / no playoffs.)
I'm glad he played though... these were all of his buddies from baseball that he was on a team with. On the sidelines, we were with "family" and it kept him a little bit active over the winter.
He said that he's been in the sport so long he was also the most losing-est college coach too but no one features that! After all of this jokes, his speech was focused on boys trying hard, staying clean, eliminating distractions (video games, drugs, the wrong crowd). It went on VERY long and late into the night -- a school night! There were local celebrities there too -- Dansby Swanson's family and Charlie Culberson Senior. They + Culberson Junior have played or play in the majors and are from Georgia. Polk was selling his book and he customized each one with the boy's name (if you bought one) + he boys "met" with him on their way out. He said he wanted to speak to each of them. It was a unique way to be welcomed to the team.
He has been practicing EVERY DAY -- riding the activity bus over from the middle school. He hasn't been given any play-time however. Games started on Valentine's Day. The coaches are mainly playing the high-schoolers and not the 8th graders so much.
But - we're going... we're supporting... and hoping that HOPEFULLY SOON he will get his playing debut. (Unfortunately - they're not even doing pitching practice for the JV players. There are 9th / 10th graders that are playing on both the Varsity and JV teams.... and those players are the ones that they're pitching with.)
We did hear this about the 8th graders last year that we knew who made the team... but - now to go through it is a little disheartening. Todd has Mercer playing rec ball at his old (East Marietta Little League) club. He's also playing for the Spikes again -- but will be juggling the MHS schedule around THREE other team schedules. It seems insane. Absolutely crazy. We'll see how it goes........ eek.
But - of most excitement: Mercer had a birthday. He turned 14 this week!
He didn't want to do anything. He didn't ask for anything. (His gifts were - honestly - mostly things that he asked for at Christmas that didn't arrive in time + a couple of other things.)
His day started with 14 (giant) donuts from the boutique donut shop near our house. Super splurge! He had baseball. We also took him + a friend out to dinner at a place with big fancy shakes. It was fairly low-key... but 14 isn't a milestone like 10 and 13 were! We were still happy to celebrate him, however, and try to make his day as special as we could!
Of note: he needs to start eating more veggies & drinking more milk. He only grew about 1/2 an inch over the course of the year! When you squish Mercer's hair down.... Todd can still claim "tallest" in our family!
I think he'll be hitting a growth spurt soon.
We'll just have to see what this next rotation around the sun will bring!
And - a random shot from our February break week at home - a hike with friends. (didn't obtain photo 'til much later - had to ask a friend for it.) but.... what is our little looking at? The dog of course!!
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