Yearly Checkups!

To kick off summer(?) the boys had their yearly checkups today.  I scheduled it months ago not knowing all the changes that would take place before then.

We usually go to the office that is less than a mile from our house.  That office is now a "sick" office.  Our visit was at an office 20 minutes away.  We were instructed to call when we arrived THEN wait until we are called back to come in.  We were asked some questions initially and again when the nurse called back.  We met the nurse at the door with our face coverings on and had our temperatures checked.

Ralph weighed in at 101.8 pounds (69%), 64.5" (96%), and a BMI of 17.2 (37%).  Ralph received one shot.

Henry weighted in at 63.8 pounds (19%), 54.5" (37%), and a BMI of 15.1 (15%).  Henry did the non-fasting cholesterol check with the finger prick this year (188 points) and was given a heads up he'd get some shorts next year.

All in all, nothing unexpected to report.

Last Day of School 2019-2020

I started last year's post with "Where to even begin?"   This year ends with the same questions but for a reason that never entered our minds before.  A pandemic . . .really?  Today was the last official day on the LPS school calendar.  The last quarter was spent "remote learning" thanks to Covid-19.

There are a multitude of emotions being felt today.  I appreciate everything the boys' school and teachers did to try to keep them learning and engaged. It was not something anyone was prepared to do.   I appreciate our school calendar isn't any longer and we can finally end it today.  I appreciate neither boy is in a milestone year so I don't miss missing more of the "last" activities - I wouldn't have gotten a picture of Ralph leaving middle school for the last time as a 6th grader regardless - letting those attempts stop in middle school and I can always hope for one more chance with Henry since he has one more year to go.

Ralph, the 6th grader. 

Ralph had a good year learning the ropes of middle school.  I really didn't hear too many stories though there were a few here and there.  He had Humanities, Math, PE, and Orchestra all year - with PE being on an every other day rotation and orchestra just being a weekly session with the teacher and an early morning practice (be at school at 7 am early). He had Design Thinking and Computers in the first semester and Science and Vocal Music during 2nd semester.  Quarter classes were Art, Family & Consumer Sciences, Spanish, and Technical Skills.  Ralph had hot lunch every day.  He opted to do "homework club" for his after school club so he could be done before I picked him up each day.

He did as well as he could for learning remotely.  He would ask me for help once in awhile and I wasn't much help having not seen that kind of math in eons . . and then there was the wooden glider exercise in Technical Skills .  Watching tv shows on his school chromebook was one of his stress relievers.

Henry, the 4th grader

Mrs Stelzer was Henry's main teacher with the other 4th grade teachers each leading a science unit.  He stayed with Mrs. Stelzer for reading and went to Mrs. Gieseman for math.  Most days he had hot lunch but did bring cold lunch 1-2 times/week.  Cold lunch was usually peanut butter and jelly, applesauce, and a cookie with Doritos or Lays Chips occasionally or fresh fruit (strawberries or an orange already cut up).  

Henry's classes for the last quarter consisted of rotating between a reading lesson one day and a math lesson the next.  There was an occasional science or social studies lesson.  There were also other apps he could spend time on and learn from. . . . if only he would have compared to the time he spent on other screens.

The 4th grade year is the year to learn about Nebraska history and attend Heritage School.  All the 4th graders in the Lincoln Public Schools attend Heritage School.  Kahoa usually goes at the end of April. It was not meant to be this year.   Trying to make the best of the situation Henry's class did do a 30-minute zoom session one day with the teacher from heritage school.  They also missed a field trip to the Capitol. He was able to enjoy field trips to Spring Creek Prairie, the International Quilt Museum, and the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Henry's class did end-of-the-year awards via voting on their google classroom page and Henry tied with a classmate for Bookworm which is appropriate based on what we heard during conferences about both of them.

When I asked the boys were they'd like to go for their end of a school treat they both picked Yogurtini, our traditional stop.  There were a few changes but they still had a variety of frozen yogurt and toppings to select from.   The opportunity to sample yogurt has been suspended and the toppings are in little containers in which the employee behind the counter retrieves as you request them.

Quaratine Quatsch

While we are taking this quarantine seriously its easy to get frustrated with some of the "rules".  Some of the observations on the more light-hearted side . . .

I challenged myself to get 10,000+ steps a day and tried to incorporate errands into walks so there were a few walks to the library to pick up books on hold (3.35 miles), there were walks through the drive thru at the bank (a mere .8 miles), and there were walks through Runza's drive thru for mid day treats (1.4 miles) - other nearby restaurants did not give us the opportunity to walk through their drive thru's so we were limited.  There were walks to the nearby restaurants that did curbside picks up (Goodcents and Pizza Ranch).

Ralph had his own exercise that included an almost daily walk to Runza for a treat which was usually a cappuccino shake.  He also discovered an ice cream shop near Runza.

Henry participated in a 45 day wrestling challenge that included daily pushups, sit ups, and pullups.  Miles ran were another item to track that he opted not to do.

I had the "opportunity" to take photos of Ralph's mouth to send to the orthodontist since his 6 week appointment was cancelled.  There was even a video on how to take the proper photos.  I'll spare the photos but it reminded me of the "Speak Out" game.  Last week he had a "real" orthodontist appointment.  Some of the new rules we had to follow included only Ralph could go into the office, he had to wear a mask, they asked him some questions . . . it was a lot longer appointment than usual with all the additional precautions.

Over the course of a few days I caught Ralph with some unusual "isms" - he referred to a light switch as a lever, one's head being a brain carrier, and a trash bin was a rubbish bin.  All of these are correct, just not something typically heard.

Many days for the first 9-10 weeks in quarantine Ralph didn't come out of his room too much except to eat and other rare occasions.  He more than made up for not watching much tv before the quarantine and binge watched shows on the imDb app . .from The Middle to Lie to Me to Chicago Fire to Lost and White Collar.

The Hurts Donut Emergency vehicle came through the neighborhood one afternoon with its music going like the ice cream man . . . The boys didn't quite get my excitement in going out to meet the truck but they did enjoy a little treat.  The donuts were gone in no time - I only got one for each of them knowing it would be dangerous to have more.

One afternoon the boys did get out the sidewalk chalk and write a message on the driveway - If you want the rainbow you need to put with the rain.

Ralph did set up a tent in his bedroom one night . . and weeks later Henry slept in Ralph's room for two nights.  We accepted a scout challenge and tented outside one night at Grandma & Grandpa's  - it was literally set up in the afternoon and come back to sleep.  Ralph's troop is doing a virtual camp out in a few weeks that will be a bit more involved.

Henry's class did a zoom meeting once a week initially.  His teacher added some extra sessions when a book come in she originally planned to read to the class in school.  He was scheduled to go to Heritage School at the end of April and they were able to gave a glimpse one day during a 30 minute zoom session.  I did get him to the wear a button down shirt for those 30 minutes - if he had to spend a whole day in one I would have had to find something else - it was a bit big.  I didn't try too hard to get him to wear jeans - he was in jammy pants.  He wouldn't wear the hat during the session BUT had it on after for a while. Go figure.

The day before Mothers Day Ralph invited me to walk to the ice cream shop but I had already splurged on a treat or two for the day so we put in a quick text to grandma - she and grandpa met us at the shop for a little parking lot gathering (and luckily brought some chairs since we had walked over).

Henry and I played some solitaire early on . . . we were gifted chinese checkers after a bit which has turned into a good distraction. We also put together a few puzzles but that was more of the adults than the little people.

Signing off on this post for now - 

Easter Extravaganza

Maybe there wasn't an extravaganza but there was Easter and I just like using alliterations when I can.

Easter 2020 did bring many of the traditional events along with some modifications. There was an Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's . . . but we returned home to see what was in the eggs and open the Easter baskets from them . . and it may have taken place during a time the boys would have been in school because it originally looked a better day than Easter.  There was the dying of the Easter eggs at home - I think it has been at Grandma and Grandpa's the last few years (or longer) as we seem to run out of time at home.  There were Easter baskets at home on Easter morning . . .and an Easter egg hunt.   There was not church in the traditional sense of "going to church" and there was not a need to dress up for church since we watched church at home via facebook so there was not any family photos taken with our Easter clothes on.