Pooms

Shane and I went to TKD Monday this week. He had a red day at school.

"You're lucky you have a place to go on a red day!" I said.

It didn't go as well as planned.

Shane spent much of the practice gazing at himself in the mirror. He made faces from afar. He peered into his eyes and stuck out his tongue from up close. There were nose prints. It's a miracle he didn't lick the mirror.

Here, you see Instructor Papa amused and telling Shane to look forward every 5 seconds. 

I let Shane know I was disappointed after class about the mirror and the lack of focus. I showed him this picture.

"Who's running ahead of everyone?"

Shane responded, "[The little blue belt on the right]."

"Where is she looking?"

"Forward."

"That helps her run faster. Where are you looking?"

"In the mirror?"

"Look again."

"To the side."

"Keep your eyes on where you are going to go your fastest."

Shane's very competitive. He really didn't like that he wasn't the fastest in any of the races. It was no surprise with him running with his head sideways. I would have launched into a conversation on aerodynamics and the length vs the width of his head, but one point at a time.

Shane's form looked decent. Once again, the mirror proved to be his Achilles' heel.

Not that Shane knows who Achilles is. Narcissus may be more important to tell first.

I'm not mad, though. This is why Shane is in sports and TKD. Carrie and I figured his ability to focus would need training.

Final result: Shane did not earn his form stripe. I thought he did pretty well, but the standard was higher. Fourth try is the charm.

When Shane passes, he'll be eligible for the next belt. I plan on making him practice at home some to get over the hump. Then I'll make a big deal about how his effort paid off (hopefully!).

To the Brim

I love how cohesion lets me overfill my cup and watch the swirling patterns from my milk mixing into my coffee.

Here comes Monday.

Sick Weekend

It was a sick weekend, so we were anti-social. Shane would not stop using his shirt as a tissue.

Saturday was beautiful, so we went to visit Mira.

Shane's more interested in the hay bales.

Shane's high-energy antics can put the horses (and Carrie) on edge, so we went for a walk through the neighborhood.

We went from the barn to pick up chickens. You may have already read about that.

However, the real star of the weekend was Monopoly Jr.

Shane was obsessed. We must have played five games Saturday and four more Sunday. He had the hardest time remembering the name, though.

"Can we play Monopula?"

I wish I could say I was more excited for his board game enthusiasm. I don't like Monopoly. Monopoly Jr is Monopoly minus any sort of math or decision making.

Shane was less thrilled Spring cleaning came early.

It wouldn't be a weekend without him and Mommy building a track. At least now the carpet was crumb free to put it on!

My Life is For the Birds

I keep finding myself in these places.

And there are chickens.

Lots of chickens.

And the minimum purchase is six.

I wish we bought them straight off a farm, but the other members of my family were delighted.

Shane willingly picked up his Uno cards to make room for the baby chicks.

Carrie picked out six black sex linked chicks to add to our family, all pullets (girls).

Sex-linked are known so, because they're feathers identify they're gender. There's no guessing.

Everyone was curious about the new chicks.

Chicks need heat to live. We didn't have a lamp or any tools, but we had plenty of broody hens.

Carrie plopped Xena and Diamond into a pen and threw all the babies in with them.

The chicks dove in and the ladies accepted them. Instinct is an amazing thing.

Here's to hoping nature does its thing.

It should be around six months before the chicks are old enough to lay eggs. We may end up with more than we know what to do with. I told Carrie "We're full! No more chickens!"

She and Shane are enjoying the moment.

The most expensive part of the hobby is the gear. Carrie's good about improvising most of it.

Carrie was worried Xena was taking up too much space sitting in the door, but then a chick dove straight under her.

Momma was watching.

It hit thirty degrees overnight, but the chicks were still peeping when Carrie pulled out the broody girls the next morning. She put them down near the food and water, so they'd recharge.

Several chicks went for a ride.

Ever the engineer, Carrie wanted to give the chickens more space for the chicks to crowd around their adoptive mothers in the hen house.

Then, none of the chickens went in. They sat outside all the next night instead.

I asked Henry's mom if she realized they'd moved in next to a petting zoo when they visited.

They can get the goats.

What The.....No.

Shane brought home a new book from the school library. I'm disappointed with him and whatever librarian encouraged this pick.

Keep it Clean

Shane's got a cough. Sometimes he acts like he's going to cough the cough away and gags.

Guess what?

I got vomited on.

Somehow we're all sick again. Carrie's the only one with a fever, but Shane and I have colds. Nana may have caught it from her visit, as well. It feels like someone stuck an air pump up my nose, into my sinuses, and Pssht! Pssht! Pssht! Pssht!  I've met balloons less inflated than what's under my eyes.

It will be nice when the sick season ends and we're all healthy again. Kindergarten teachers must have immune systems of steel with all the coughs and snotty hands they confront every day.

Better Day

This week was much better than last. Shane earned a second green tip for board breaking and a black tip for a good attitude tonight.

He got a girl scout cookie on the way home.

Wrestling Awards Banquet

Officially done for the season. I probably should have given a speech.

The principal asked me about maybe coming to teach a basic wrestling unit in PE. Some of my connected parents volunteered support from the local clubs. I doubt it will happen (largely because my students don't tend to do any work unless I'm present), but it was nice to see the amount of caring all around.

I'm trying to get something set up at the 5th and 6th grade school, but so far they're not very responsive. I emailed before the season was done and it took 3 weeks to here back from the principal. Now I'm bothering their after school specialist(s).

I might have missed my window of opportunity. The previous principal was an ex-wrestler and had a kid who wrestled, but they moved back to PA.

Of course, my own energy is pretty depleted. I've sent emails, but I haven't taken the next step of calling and showing up to make myself obnoxious. That'll be next after I recover.

Nana and Pop are in Town!

I can't say we planned it, but it's awesome that Charlottesville is on Nana and Pop's way north to visit Jama! Shane hyper danced when they arrived.

Nana is still moving a little slower with her knee, so Shane had to be gentle.

First stop, the chickens.

"Carrie, you are living my dream!" Nana said.

If they stop by on the way home, I plan to give them fresh eggs!

Nana and Pop unveiled a few gifts themselves after the chickens. Nana made picture placemats for all of the grandkids. They're gun to look at.

To enjoy the weather, we took Nana and Pop out to the barn next.

Carrie showed off Mira and her belly.

Shane and I said "Hello," to the dogs.

He dodged horse landmines on his own. No one else wanted to partake.

Same with horse stall climbing.

It was hard to prevent Shane from getting filthy. Normally, I let him make a mess of himself.

However, we all planned to go out to dinner when we were done saying hi to Mira!

Carrie wanted to show Nana and Pop the Pub at Wegman's.

We had to get home in time for Pop to watch the Nebraska vs Virginia Tech Wrestling Dual.

The next morning, Carrie and I worked. Shane, Nana, and Pop drove out to Staunton to visit Patrick! He taught Nana how to play Pokemon Go on her phone.

You can guess what Shane did for the rest of the day.

If there was a charge in the battery, he begged.

If there wasn't a charge in the battery, he begged for one to get there.

I called Nana to meet up after work. She said they were busy catching Pokemon at IX Art Park and couldn't talk. I think she was caught up in the excitement of it herself!

We said goodbye over pizza at Harris Teeters ($8 Pizza Mondays!).

Shane found out Pop's stubble is more coarse than my beard.

Then again, from the way he laughed and squirmed he probably already knew.

I miss having all of my family around, but that's what happens sometimes. It's great that we get to see Nana and Pop as often as we do. I need to plan a NOVA trip and a South Carolina trip again. Don't know when though.