Spring Break

Cora's coloring

Cora drew a picture of her and Nyla

This week was spring break for the kids.  Buddy didn't have any time off and he actually said it was his busiest week so far so we hardly saw him.  On Monday, we went into Kansas City.  Our first stop was to get Nyla some new socks.  I found her a few pairs of low seam socks.  She hasn't had any problems with socks or shoes this week but I realized she only has issues when it is time for school.  She never complains about them when it is time to go to the playground or the store.  I've had a week free of the issue.  I expect it will start again tomorrow.

After buying socks we went to Oklahoma Joe's for barbecue.  The line was out the door and it took us a good 30 minutes to make our way to the counter to order.  I thought the barbecue was really good and I would come back.  Buddy wasn't overly impressed with the leftovers I brought him.  We then went to Costco before returning home.  We only had a few minutes at home before attending a princess party put on by an author at the local bookstore.  The princess party wasn't that great but we tried it. 

Tuesday we went to the Moon Marble Company to watch a demonstration of hand made marble making.  Cora was completely noninterested and played with a dog bank they had on display.  Nyla was somewhat bored but Bohdin and I enjoyed it.  The store was a lot bigger than I had expected with lots of toys.  The kids enjoyed looking around and playing with the display toys.  Apparently a lot of kids are on spring break right now because that place was packed.  The kids wanted to get some marbles but we left without any. 

I couldn't get the kids out of the house on Wednesday because they were having too much fun playing together.  Nyla did take a break from her siblings and played with C- and Mo- at Mo-'s house.  On Thursday Mo- spent a lot of time with us.  She is such a bad influence.  Nyla picks up a lot of bad behaviors from her including lying and destroying property.  I spent Friday enrolling the kids in after school activities so we would be too busy to see Mo-.  Nyla will be taking swimming lessons twice per week along with gymnastics and dance once per week.  Bohdin will do swimming and Crossfit.  I gave him a choice of hip hip and Crossfit which are both well outside of his comfort zone.  He said he doesn't need to learn how to dance because he is going to be a scientist when he grows up.  He chose Crossfit.  I was having second thoughts of him doing it because he has weak core and upper body strength.  He is going to have a tough time.  I told him it was going to be tough and he told me that at the very least he would learn determination.  I'm impressed.  It's only for four weeks so he ought to survive.  He's been trying to learn how to jump rope the past few days and it hasn't been easy. 




Spring break has been quite cold so we haven't really spent much time outside.  I don't think we ever made it above the mid40s and most of the week was overcast.  The kids are supposed to wake up this morning to at least six inches of snow but right now there is only a dusting and it's not snowing anymore.  Hopefully it starts up again.  I would like to enjoy a day of sledding. 

Yesterday we went to the natural history museum on the KU campus in Lawrence.  It's a fine little museum.  We didn't get to see it all because Nyla became overwhelmingly hungry.  Buddy and I both enjoyed seeing the diorama of the Least Weasal which is the smallest carnivore in the world.  Bohdin liked the duck billed platypus and the badger.  We made it through the insect, evolution, and diorama areas.  We missed out on the fossils and minerals. 





We went from the museum to lunch at a local bakery that served good sandwiches.  Nyla complained about her foccacia with cream cheese at first but ended up eating it.  It's a chewy bread and she doesn't have good chewing teeth right now.  She lost another tooth this week.  The tooth came out Tuesday night.  I quickly sewed a pouch for her tooth and she wrapped it in a tissue and put it in there.  She didn't want the tooth fairy to come yet because she needed to show it to her friends first.  The tooth fairy honored her wishes and her tooth was still there in the morning.  In the morning she pretended the tooth was a princess or something and was doing various play with it.  The tooth went to Mo-'s house and never came home.  Nyla took it out at the playground so it is gone forever.  She was really sad.  The tooth fairy doesn't visit our house when the child misplaces the tooth.  I wish that wasn't the way it worked.  I had no idea my kids would misplace so many teeth. 

Anyway after lunch at the bakery we headed back toward home.  Cora didn't seem very tired yet so we stopped at the marble place again since we were so close to it.  Buddy and Bohdin watched the demonstration while I kept Nyla and Cora in the rest of the store.  It was a much longer demonstration than we had been to on Tuesday.  Cora was getting tired and it seemed the demo would never end.  Eventually it did and we ate almost an entire loaf of bread on the way back home.  I think Cora had four pieces. 

Bohdin doesn't miss school at all.  Nyla wants to go back so she can see her friends again.  They have one more day left and if the snow cooperates we will be outside playing. 

Eek!

When Nyla tells me about school she tells me how well behaved she is in comparison to the other students.  According to her report she is the only one in the class behaving while all of the other kids are not.  It's a difficult story to believe.  This weekend one of the mothers at C-'s birthday party confirmed this was true.  She volunteers in the reading class that Nyla is in and she said that the other kids will be going crazy around her and she will be the quiet one behaving. 

I was able to see it firsthand yesterday.  Cora and I delivered snacks for Bohdin's class yesterday just before noon.  Once a month I have to furnish snacks for his class.  On the way in we saw all of the kindergartners sitting on the floor.  Two classes were in front of the cafeteria and the other two were a little further away.  Nyla saw me and ran over to hug me.  I hugged her and went to Bohdin's class.  On the way out they were still in the hallway.  Nyla didn't see me this time since I was behind her.  I watched for several minutes and Nyla was among the best behaved of the two classes.  She sat there quietly while other kids were touching each other or moving around.  I saw a lot of kids get in trouble including the girl behind Nyla who put her hands on Nyla's back and the boy in front of her who was wiggly.  Eventually we left.  I have to sign in and out of the office so I knew that they had been in the hallway for 10 minutes at that point.

I asked Nyla about it when she came home.  She said it was the quiet game and they played everyday after lunch.  They just sit in the hallway in lines for who knows how long.  She said there is no winner but a quiet child gets to choose a line leader for the other class.  Nyla said she has been able to pick line leader but has never been picked to be one.  Bohdin said they also sit outside the cafeteria after lunch.  I have no idea what the purpose of this is or how long Nyla has to sit out there each day.  It's more than 10 minutes.  Bohdin guessed his class sits out there for two minutes but he's a horrible time estimator. 

In addition to Nyla reporting about bad behavior in the classroom she also talks about bad behavior on the bus.  She gets pushed and teased.  She never gets a window seat.  She told me yesterday that Bohdin was being teased yesterday by Mo-.  She likes part of school but she has been complaining about it more and more.  Bohdin doesn't say much.  He did cry when Mo- teased him on Monday but that was right outside our house and not at home.  I've told him to stay far away from her.  She does the exact same thing to C-'s brother. 

A boy from Bohdin's class, S-, came over on Monday while his mom had a doctor's appointment.  I've met him before and he is a quiet reserved kid a lot like Bohdin.  It's difficult for two quiet kids to break the ice so neither was having very much fun.  Finally Nyla gave up on Mo- who was acting like a jerk.  That was the day that she had made Bohdin cry.  She also made Nyla cry that day but apologized profusely when Nyla walked away.  I was there and had some words with Mo-.  Her behavior toward Nyla is not acceptable.  Anyway, Nyla came in and asked S- if he wanted to play.  They played together for a few minutes and then Bohdin joined.  S- finally started having fun.  I was so grateful for Nyla.  Bohdin is horrible with the whole social thing.  The apple doesn't fall from the tree in his case.  Luckily Nyla is the opposite of the rest of us and is awesome. 

Nyla has been complaining of stomach pain for over a month now.  It's intermittent but has become worse recently.  She also has extra gas which horrifies her at school especially when the other kids say things about it.  I haven't figured out what is causing it yet.  I know she's been really stressed out since moving here but I don't know if that is part of it. She won't use the bathroom at school which may play a part.  Nyla is also not sleeping well which makes for difficult mornings.  She is so tired and anything can set her off.  It's usually socks though.  It takes her 20 minutes to find a pair of suitable socks.  One pair will keep slipping while another pair is too bumpy.  Then her shoes are too tight or bumpy or something.  It varies day to day so one pair of socks or shoes can be fine one day but not the next.  The past two mornings she has taken so long to put something on her feet that she eats only a bite of breakfast before she leaves.  She thinks if she eats outside people will think she is weird so she won't take any food outside.  Next week is spring break so we may get some stuff sorted out then.  Both kids are very excited for spring break.

Cora has started saying Eek! when she is mildly angry or distressed.  I'm guessing she picked it up from Max and Ruby.  Ruby says Eek a lot in the books.  I've had more time recently to read to her which she enjoys.  She brings me a huge stack of books and we'll sit together for 20 minutes several times per day. 

More Parties

This is the Mickey Mouse that Nyla made for Cora.


Nyla drew a picture of her family.  She does a ton of art.  We have a closet dedicatetd to art and she is frequently found in there.


This is Cora's painting.  She paints several times per week and paints the same sort of thing every time.  Her favorite color is orange so they sometimes turn out orange.  Sometimes they just become a brown blob from mixing all the colors together on the paper.  She insists on covering the entire piece of paper.


Nyla and Cora have been playing ballerina a lot.  Nyla styled Cora and wanted me to take a picture.

The girls put on another dancing performance on Saturday. 

Bohdin and Nyla get out of school early most Fridays.  Last Friday we went to Leavenworth to find birthday presents since both kids were invited to a birthday party on Sunday.  We stopped at the local toy store and the local book store.  Leavenworth is a small old town which is a nice change of pace.  Afterward we walked to the corner pharmacy which still has a soda fountain.  We tried all four flavors of the phosphates and the kids only liked one.  They weren't very sweet and I explained to Bohdin how we eat more sugar than generations past and our taste buds are used to more sugar.  I told him it was possible to retrain his taste buds and he loved the idea.  He decided to give up sugar until Easter.  Saturday he accidentally cheated and he had a piece of birthday cake on Sunday because he said it would have been impolite to decline.  I don't know how well he will do in school today.  They get a snack each day and it is almost always sugary.  He took peas in as a substitue.  Tomorrow I'm repsonsible for the snacks and I'll take in fruit.

Friday night we also went to a game night at the local chapel.  I thought it was a neighborhood event but it was actually a women's Bible study event.  Bohdin was the only boy.  They had free child care and we were already there so we stayed for a while.  Nyla loved being in child care because her best friend from school, I-, was also there.  Bohdin and I played a game with somebody who lives in the building across from us.  I only knew her and the person who had told me about the event.  It was fine and I love being able to walk to these things.  I think I drive less overall now than I did in Kentucky.  When I need to go to a big store like Target or Costco I have to drive further but everything else is as close or closer.  Buddy hardly drives at all since he walks to class. 

Nyla attended C-'s 6th birthday at Chuckie Cheese while Bohdin had attended a birthday party at a bounce place in Leavenworth.  I took Nyla while Buddy took Bohdin and Cora.  Nyla has been dreaming of having her birthday at Chuckie Cheese and attending one confirmed it for her.  She had so much fun.  I thought it was loud and crazy but that's Nyla's thing.  She thought it was perfect.  Buddy said that Cora had a lot of fun on the slide at the bounce house and Bohdin reported a good time. 


A lot of the girls that Nyla is friends with like Hello Kitty.  Nyla has never shown the tiniest bit of interest in Hello Kitty prior to moving here but now she likes it.  I basically told her stop being a copy cat and she told me that she has always loved Hello Kitty.  She was born that way and couldn't change. 

Third Snow

The third snow arrived before the first had melted.  School was cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday which made a total of four days cancelled in two weeks.  I don't know how much snow came the second time around.  I saw on the news that the total snow fall for the season was around 24 inches.  Almost 21 inches of that was from these two storms.  The snow amount shattered the old February record by a lot.  The previous record for February was 11 inches.  Nyla was stuck inside with a horrible case of the stoamch thing that has been going around.  She was very sick and very high maintenance.  She wanted me with her almost around the clock.  The two times I handed her off to Buddy she fell asleep while Cora pooped or threw up.  Bohdin played with the neighbor boy for two of the days.  By the end of the week it seemed like all of the kids were done playing in the snow.  There is still snow on the ground but I haven't seen a kid playing in it in many days. 

Bohdin went back to school on Thrusday but Nyla stayed home.  It was the first day she actually seemed better.  We went to the library and did a few things around here.  I broke the school's policy and sent her to school on Friday even though she had diarrhea the day before.  She was feeling fine and it was a short day anyway.  Today she told me one of the kids in her reading class threw up just before starting stations.  It's really going around here.  I'm glad Buddy, Bohdin, and I escaped it.  I've heard a lot of vomit and diarrhea stories at the bus stop.


Nyla sledded for just a few minutes before she became tired.  She wasn't feeling well enough yet to play.


Last week I had Bohdin make bread.  Nyla was feeling left out and wondered when I would get a chance to try Nyla bread.  Then Cora wanted to join as well.  Nyla sifted the flour and Cora just played around with measuring.  I was actually pretty impressed with how well she measured a spoonful of flour.  The bread didn't turn out well so we won't make that recipe again. 



Friday is early release day and I thought the kids might like going to Kansas City. I wanted to stop at Half Price Books to look for a book for Bohdin.  He has a few of the books in the series but wanted to read more.  The local libraries don't have the book and neither does the school library.  We were lucky enough to find one.  We also had hamburgers and stopped at Costco. 

Sunday morning we were treated to a ballerina show with horses.  I think they look so big in these pictures. 






Buddy took Bohdin and Nyla to the science museum on Sunday.  Cora stayed home with me because she still naps and acts like a two year old.  They were gone of for a long time and had a lot of fun.  They finally crossed the sky bridge from Union Station to Crown Center which Nyla has been wanting to do for about a month now.