Bye-Bye, Spring Break!

We had an absolutely wonderful spring break this year. It was refreshing AND I felt like we got some things accomplished.

I already talked about the cleaning I did in the study.  I also did manage to get that crazy kitchen desk and counter clean as well.  One reason I was able to get so much cleaning done was because kids were elsewhere several days.

On Monday, Bob took Nathan, Jonathan, and Anna skiing in PA.  Hidden Valley had tons of fresh powder, and best of all, the usual great deal of lift ticket, ski rental, and lesson was even cheaper--only $25!  They had a grand time.  This was Anna's first time skiing, and she really enjoyed it!  She is looking forward to next season already!

Monday I was able to have a massage, which was the most wonderful thing ever.  My shoulders get so tense with nursing!  My chiropractic office hired a new massage therapist, so they were offering $20 off specials, and I grabbed one of those.  If I am ever independently wealthy, I plan on having weekly massages!  I just felt like I was floating around the rest of the day.  Ahhh . . .  When I made the appointment, I thought all 4 boys were going, so I arranged to have the younger kids go to Christine's during the appointment.  But then Luke and Caleb stayed home, so I left Micah and Drew at home, but still dropped Grace and Faith over there to play.  We brought their snow stuff, since it finally even snowed here in DC, and they had a ball.  In fact, they stayed over there all day long, which was sooo nice for me, as far as getting stuff done!  No wonder I was so productive Monday!

Tuesday we rejoiced that we didn't have Rivendell and TNT, but Nathan, Luke, and Caleb were still up and going early.  Each boy has to plan a field trip relating to history this year, and Caleb McC arranged a tour of Lincoln's Cottage downtown.  The 3 older boys were picked up and whisked away at 9:00.  The tour was really good, everyone agreed.  The lady was knowledgeable and engaging, and they even had some role-playing, where each boy was assigned to be a member of Lincoln's cabinet.  It really fit right in with everything they have been learning this year.  Then they ate a picnic lunch and headed to the Mall for the rest of the day.  They visited the Museum of Natural History, as well as the National Gallery of Art.  Then they finished up with dinner in the food court at Union Station, including gelato!  Emily, the sole girl who is actually *here* (as opposed to in Hawaii!), was celebrating her 15th birthday that day, so it was a fun time!  The boys came home tired, but happy.

Wednesday morning, Nathan and I went out to Chik-Fil-A for breakfast, and then we did some driving around the Sams parking lot.  That was really fun!  Nathan even parked at Walmart, since we had to run in and return some shorts that were too big.  He did great!  Now we just need to fit driving into our schedule on a regular basis!

Thursday we had a playdate at Lynnea's, and of course we celebrated Anna's birthday.  Friday we started getting back in the routine of school, unfortunately.  I finally got all the testing stuff together so Bob could take the order in and mail it.  Glad to get that done!  Luke and I stopped by the library to pick up a book, and I asked at the front desk if anyone had turned in a cell phone.  Bob actually lost his cell phone in the library parking lot Sunday evening, right around closing.  This was the 3rd of the cell phones we got one year ago on St. Patrick's Day.  The other 2 were fried, and we were definitely thinking that our Costco phones were jinxed or something, LOL.  I had stopped in earlier in the week and also called a few times, but no one had turned in a phone.  But amazingly, when I asked on Friday, the lady came back out with Bob's phone!  We were so surprised!  Thank you, Lord!

Saturday was a beautiful day, weather-wise.  Bob and I went for a walk after breakfast, and he said he thought he would assemble the new trampoline!  Our old one we got from our German neighbors 3 years ago when they were moving.  It has been used very faithfully since then, and it was very, very saggy.  So after Thanksgiving we bought a new one during a great sale, but the 2 huge, heavy boxes just sat in our garage, since the weather was not conducive to trampoline-assembling, plus we had no free weekends with basketball.  We knew we needed to get the old one down and the new one up quickly, so our neighbors (who gave us so much grief when we got the old one) would not think we were actually just getting rid of the old one! So we got that old one down in record time, and built the new one!  It is soooo nice.  Bob got it all anchored in, and then last night he put the net from the old trampoline around the bottom of the new trampoline, so that Micah can't walk under it.  The kids are all having a ball bouncing around on the new one.  It is so bouncy!

Now we're back into the routine.  I'm actually just getting ready to teach biology in a few minutes!  But we can do this--only 6 more weeks of Rivendell after this week!!  I can't wait for summer break!