It's a new year....

Even though it's been cold.... really really cold....  we have found several things to do indoors.

Mercer is playing basketball again this season.  He's becoming more comfortable and playing a bit more aggressively.  He's been doing the tip-offs at the beginning of the game and he's getting a lot of rebounds.  He still throws the ball right back up when he gets it -- still a bit anxious, but it looks like he's getting the hang of it.  

He's developing a move where he flails his arms around to distract the kid on the other team with the ball. It's a little comical to watch.  Another thing that was quite comical during a game:  he was trying to make a basket and the ball got stuck on top.  Literally.  They had to stop the game to get it down!  

He likes basketball & it's starting to show.  There's a dad on the team that pulled Todd aside and talked about how much HEART Mercer has... he said he would like to help Mercer work on his shooting skills but was admiring his passion for the game.  :) 






Todd and the kids made their final Pinewood Derby cars.  This is Mercer's last year in the Cub Scouts and the final time Isabella got to race her "outlaw" car.  

At various points in the day, they both got to see their name on the leaderboard in the top spot.  Overall - of the Webelos (4th and 5th graders), Mercer did get a 3rd place medal.  Not a bad way to go out on his last race!

School has still been very busy.  Cub Scout science stuff is going strong too.  I am combining them as much as possible.  We will be hosting a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) event at our house in a couple of weeks. I'm going to use some of the activities I've done at my past school and current school at the event.  

Also - Mercer is earning a badge for an earth science topic - geology... which I need to learn about / is my next unit to teach.  We have a geology Cub Scout thing we're doing soon too!

Also - just for fun - I invited some of the Cub Scouts to our house so they could look at the fossils I borrowed from a for my 6th grade unit on fossils.  






I took a friend of Mercer's to the museum while we picked up the fossils so that he could have a good time exploring things he wanted to explore while I spent time with Isabella in the kid's area.  (Last time we went, they fought over which activities to do).  Here, she is following the directions in order to light a circuit.

We need to conduct a science project for Cub Scouts (he has to do one for school anyways).  Next month we have a camping trip planned.  The science and camping stuff should wrap up his Cub Scout career.

We held two soup nights this month.  We are still wondering if we should do it or not.  The first had 2 attendees.  The second had more than 20.  Hard to say if we'll do it next year.  It's our 17th or 18th year doing it but it has definitely fizzled on average. Glad we're not doing it 4 Saturday's a month still.

Isabella is having bit of a hard time with behavior at school (and home) sometimes.  But - one thing that is super-impressive:  she took her first "national" test at school called MAP (my old private school used this test too).  She scored 30-40 points above what other kids in Kindergarten are getting in math and reading... It topped her out at the 99th percentile.  She scored where 3rd graders - on average - score in both reading and math!  We've always known she was a smart kid... we just wish she'd make smart decisions about behavior issues.  Whew!










































One more interesting science thing we did this month:  viewing of a total lunar eclipse.  We woke Mercer up close to midnight so he could watch; he popped out a few times to look at it, but it was pretty chilly.  My pictures aren't that great of the eclipse, but it was memorable.  

It was not a big deal to wake Mercer that late on a school night... the following day was MLK Jr day so there was no school.  One of Isabella's classmates had a birthday party on the holiday.  I was out of school with them, so we went.  It was at a bouncy house place and the hosts were gracious to allow Mercer to attend as well.  They had a great time -- especially in this tower of elastic bands.  I tried climbing it... and made it to the top after awhile.  I have to admit:  it was harder to climb than it looked!

Another thing that's memorable that is gearing up right now:  the Super Bowl is being hosted in Atlanta tomorrow.  It is so interesting to see all of the hype here in our fair city / see all of the spots on TV about the new stadium and things of interest around town.   We will not be in the area downtown, however, we will be watching for those great commercials!



Pretty exciting!!

December + some fun pics / random things from 2018

We did survive 'til the December break.  (barely!)

I was sick the last week of school and Mercer had a TON of homework to do right at the very end.  Todd, Mercer and I were all working really hard to get him caught up + stay on top of our own work requirements.   Once we made it to break -- Mercer and Isabella got sick.  THEN, after Christmas, it seems that Todd picked up what I had at Christmas and beyond.  Yikes!

Before all of that happened, though, here are some highlights leading up to "the big day."

I dragged Mercer down to the High Museum to stand in line for tickets to a limited showing of a unique art exhibit on my birthday.  We went down there in the cold and stood in line for about 2 hours.  The last ticket was sold to a person who was 4 places in front of us in line.  4 places.  ugh!  We made the best of it, though... we ended up calling Todd to bring Isabella to the museum as they were having a family fun day.  We met at the Museum of Design Atlanta and worked on a circuit project.  The kids had fun typing on a typewriter at this museum for an exhibit that was focused on writing letters to women who were in hostile situations.  The kids wrote simple statements like you are loved and have faith -- but the cool thing was seeing them trying to type with the keys sticking, advancing to the next line and trying to correct mistakes.  

After that, we went to the High Museum across the street and participated in the kids activities.  We ran into several of my students (past and present).  Isabella ran into a boy who was her "other brother" at my previous school.  They were so excited to see each other and were inseparable until we were walking to our cars!

The day before, Todd had arranged for a babysitter so that we could go take a glass-blowing class!  Major props to him for this, for it has been on my bucket list for years... a decade or more, actually!

One of the school projects Mercer had to do was to create an edible 3-dimensional representation of an animal cell.  He and I worked on making a cake.... it was a bit of work, but fun to have an excuse to bake with him. I don't know that he and I would have decorated a cake otherwise!  He said it was tasty as he shared it with classmates.

The week before his project was due - Isabella wanted to bake and decorate a cake.  We have been putting her new cake-decorating tools to use!  

Mercer sang in his final Singing Stingers performance up on the square.  They sing as a part of various school groups that perform the day Santa arrives in Marietta in early December.  Mercer had a little bit of fun dancing during a free-form portion of their performance.  He was in the back row, but he still was up there goofing off with his classmates - which was nice to see how comfortable he was cutting-loose.  

When Santa arrives in May-retta, it is a signal that the holiday season officially begun here in our little town.




Other seasonal festivities and celebrations:  

Isabella enjoyed playing with the animals at our church's live nativity.

Before school ended, I had to decorate my door (rather - students mostly did it).  They have a contest each year.  I was pretty happy with mine... it was clever seeing the subject I teach (Earth Science) and my snowman was made out of planets... but we did not win.  This 3-dimensional snowman was one of the winners... I saw that teacher there after school for days.  

We went to see multiple light shows including this one with 275,000 lights at a private house.  When we went, there were hundreds of people out of their car enjoying the show!

We made an appointment with Santa this year -- getting to spend 5-10 minutes with him have some interesting conversations including telling the big guy what they wanted.  







Isabella showed him her wiggly teeth and we talked about how he and the tooth fairy knew each other.

In fact, he recommend we watch "The Santa Clause" movie series with Tim Allen.  We ended up watching all three movies over the holiday break and really did see how Santa, Mother Nature, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Jack Frost and the Sandman were all in some sort of organization.  Cool. 

(It was funny how any questions that the kids had for him about things depicted in movies -- he was able to retort and or side-track..... he's good!) 

 

The time-slot with Santa came with a photographer who was snapping pics the whole time we were talking.   Our visit was 2 days before Christmas...needless to say - we made Happy New Year cards instead of Christmas cards!   (Which have still not gone out at the time of this writing, but there's all of January - right?!)  There were a few candid photos that turned out great -- especially between him and Isabella.  They talked the most!   

Mercer was fighting some illness so he was not too talkative... he had an on-again / off-again fever and major lethargy / no energy.  The following morning, he woke up crying about how much his throat hurt.  I thought he had strep throat, so took him to the pediatrician on Christmas Eve.  (Hopefully he didn't pass anything along to Santa... he was fever-free when we actually went... yikes.  We didn't know he was really sick 'til the next morning!)

He tested negative for that, but positive for Flu-type A!  He never had vomiting or body aches that are typical of the flu  There was nothing that they could do for him, but at least we knew to isolate him.

Some things I love about Marietta and our little n'hood... both of these arrived on our doorstep the same day.  

 Up on the square, they have a festival of trees.  Marietta High made a tree for serving the homeless - ornaments were actually zippie bags with a pair of socks rolled into a ball + some toiletries.  LOVE this.  

Mercer took a moment to show off his tree skirt.

Isabella and I went to the children's Christmas Eve service - but instead of dressing up like all of the other kids and going up on stage for various parts, she laid in my lap the whole time.  I knew something was wrong!  A couple of hours after we got home, she threw up - twice! 

Interestingly, we had an appointment the previous week with her pediatrician for her 6 year old check-up.  One of the things we talked to her about was Isabella's vomiting every so often with no warning / no fever / no other symptoms.  She suggested that we start journaling her "episodes" to possibly help document if she has a condition called CVS - cyclical vomiting syndrome.  ( https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cyclic-vomiting-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20352161 ) Hers seems to be triggered by congestion and mucus and happen first thing in the morning (with the exception of this Christmas Eve episode).  Of note - "excitement" may also be a trigger.  (She had an episode on her birthday and on the 1st day of winter break which was last week.)  

Back to Christmas goings-on. 

We were visited by the elves.  This year, they celebrated the local soccer team win using Mercer's soccer gear the following morning! and they must have known that Isabella loves horses!

The kids decorated the tree and we baked cookies.

We wanted to start a tradition for the years that we don't travel.  Our plans:  to go to the children's afternoon service on Christmas Even and then to Maggiano's for a family-style dinner.  We cancelled dinner plans, though, because the kids were sick.  I went back up to church for the 11 pm -12 am service.... which was a first for me to be up there that late.

We sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn.  (The next day, Mercer was SO EXCITED to see bare patches of yard that looked like reindeer hoofs that had trampled the ground!!  He spotted these bare patches everywhere!)

The following morning, the kids were excited, but weren't too crazy about opening gifts.  Isabella - after going through her stocking - laid down to rest.   

Mercer's feet are growing so much so that he needs to wear his Christmas stocking on his foot.  ha!  (eeww... that will need to be washed before next year!!)

Isabella's big gift from Santa was actually a small handheld  gaming system that could interact with one that Mercer has.  Mercer's big gift was a new bicycle that is the right size for his increasing height.  We also got a giant bag of family games from Santa this year and a rolling cart / new foldable camp chairs which will be perfect for baseball games.

We were low-key and just hung out for a couple of days.   When it seemed that the kids had a bit more energy, we visited (and joined - thanks to grandma and grandpa in Florida) the Tellus Science Center.  The kids got to pan for minerals and dig for fossils.  The museum is PERFECT for things that I'm teaching at school. Maybe I need to go back without the kids and go learn some things!!

Seeing that they were fever and vomit-free for a couple of days, the next day we headed to North Carolina for a quick visit. 

We paid a visit to grandma (my mom), great-grandma & great-grandpa (my grandparents) and Aunt Becky/ Uncle Tony (on my dad's side).  















Of note, we made orange and clove pomanders.  According to the internet- in Medieval times, pomanders were used to ward off illness and/or bring strength and good fortune.  It was an interesting activity to do with them because it brought back memories / discussion about my grandparents' childhood memories during their Christmas holidays but it also brought the 4 generations together!   (yay!)

We had a "2nd Christmas" up at my mom's house.  The cool gift there was a r.c. plane mom got Mercer... in fact, it was his favorite gift this year.  Isabella got a Baby Alive doll from uncle Eddie and aunt Rhonda that peed in it's diaper when giving it water.  ha!  (this was also taken to show the great-grandparents.  Grandpa got a kick out of it!)












Mercer really only needed tissue paper.  He was entertained throwing it and catching it.  ha!

We headed home on the 31st and did get a chance to stop at Cindy's house - my former college roommate.  Mercer and Trevor play so well together.  So grateful to have been able to get the boys together + stop and release some energy~

We made it home in time on New Year's Eve to FINALLY go have that family style dinner at Maggiano's.  The kids were exposed to a few things such as calamari and tiramisu.  Isabella was a riot -- telling the waitress, "I LOVE this calamari" or "This shrimp is SOOOOO GOOD."  

A new phrase she has:  "I don't like it... I love it!"  
After dinner, we played some of our new family games into the wee hours of the night... and rang in the new year.  We all made it to 2019!

The kids start back at school on January 3rd.  I start back for a teacher work-day, but students don't arrive until the 7th.  Todd worked pretty much the entire break as he has a deadline on the 7th.  

Here are some random things that don't really belong anywhere else, but interesting from last year.  

Mercer - lost 4 teeth in a few week's time!  We think he's done.  We also discovered that he has the biggest mouth in our family.  His jaw must be wired differently!

Mercer started to acolyte (take the light of Christ) to the front during the service and extinguish it at the end.  (He has a golden curved candle holder that he carries down and has to wear a robe.)

Isabella has a freckle on her neck.

She also has an amazing vocabulary and is surpassing all of the kindergarten sight words / reading pretty well on her own.  But - she still says certain things that reminds us that she's still little such as granoculars (binoculars).  There are other words too, but this is the cutest one!

Here's a funny picture of Hip-Hop.

Some of my favorite memories of the year - skiing with Mercer and horse-back riding with Isabella...both were "big" birthday celebrations - but such memorable ways to celebrate the two of them!!

The time during break went way too quickly.... and - it's back to the grind.  2018 had it's ups and downs, but overall - our little family unit is healthy and happy!  Hopefully 2019 will make us even stronger and a tighter-knit family as we build some amazing memories!!!