A Houseful

Tonight we had a houseful of high school boys.  Cameron Adams had spent most of the afternoon here before the Northridge v. Wawasee game.  He and Cal had fun getting dressed up for the "Green Out" theme and spent a lot of time coming up with fun sayings to put on their posters.  Cam and Meg even decided to go to the game.  I believe it was the first one they have been too since Cal quit.

Once the game was over Cal texted to see if a couple of friends could come back to the house.  It ended up being a basement full with Alex, Jayce, Cameron, Cal, Korey, Zeb, Caleb, Kyle and Rasmus.  He is visiting for the week from Denmark and the boys had fun hanging out with him.  There was a loud game of knee basketball, several rounds of pool, a snowball fight and a tray of brownies eaten before the night was over.  Cam joined in on some of the fun and even beat Jayce in a game of ping pong.

Most of the boys were gone by midnight.  Jayce and Cameron stayed here.  It is nice that Cal feels comfortable having his friends here.  They are a fun group to have over.  I appreciate them including Cam.  Meg wisely stays away from the group for now.

A Quiet Night at Home

Tonight Doug took Cam and Meg skiing/snowboarding on the last ski trip of the season.  Meg said that it was the best one yet.  Cam agreed.  The snow was great and the crowd was low.  Both had a lot of fun and I appreciate Doug taking them.  Cam will be ready for the big hills next year, and all three made it through the season uninjured.

Cal spent a good portion of the evening at my parents.  They had Dairy Queen and watched The Simpsons.  Mom was diagnosed with pneumonia this week, so she has been taking it easy.  Meg talked her into going to the doctor on Wednesday and is glad that she did.  It was nice that Cal could spend some time with them.

I stayed in all night.  I caught up on school work and laundry.  I finally watched The Jane Austen Book Club.  I had debated about it for quite awhile, but am glad that I took the time to give it a try.  I absolutely loved it.  It made the evening very enjoyable.

Weather Delays

The weather this week has definitely changed many of our schedules.  We had another delay today and most schools in the area cancelled.  I was happy that school was in session.  I would love to get out on May 28th as we are currently scheduled.  It would be the first time we have finished  before June 1st in a long time.

I do realize, however, that everyone may not feel the same as I do.  The roads have been treacherous this week - some of the worst that I have ever driven on.  They are icy and bumpy in the morning and slushy and slick in the afternoon.  It is supposed to warm up this week.  That would be great.  Maybe the roads will be clear by Monday!

FACS ECA

I had an all day meeting in Rochester today in regards to the FACS ECA (End of Class Assessment) that I have to give each of my three 8th grade classes yearly.  I was really dreading going as I thought it would not be of much benefit to me.  Happily, I was wrong.  We spent the time reviewing the readiness test, rewriting the ECA, talking about the purpose of both, calculating cut scores and sharing curriculum ideas.  By the time I left at two I felt pretty good about my own classes.  The director looked at my scores and I appear to be doing well teaching the material that the state wants 8th grade FACS students to master.

County Spelling Bee

Meg competed in the county spelling bee this evening and did well.  She made it through the sixth round, but the word "navary" knocked her out as she put an e in for the second a.  I had never even heard of the word and did not remember practicing that one with her.  She was disappointed, but Doug said she did well.  They both agreed that the runner-up was given a slew of easy words starting with "totem."

I am proud of her.  It takes a lot of work to win two school spelling bees in a row.  I know she worked hard to make it to the county once again.  It never mattered to me how she finished.  Meg's high work ethic in regards to academics is apparent and that skill will take her far in life.  That's all we could ever ask for.

Snow Day

I am not sure that this snow storm has been labeled as a blizzard, but we did get over 15 inches of snow from Saturday night into early Monday morning.  The snow plows had been called off in certain areas, but we were plowed out by 11 a.m.  Doug used his time off from work to try out his cross country skis.  He hasn't used them in several years, and enjoyed skiing through the neighborhood.  

Cam played outside for a good part of the morning.  He then decided that he wanted to earn some money, so he shoveled the back patio for Doug and then came in to help me clean.  I was able to thoroughly clean the refrigerator and kitchen while he wiped down the doors inside our house.  When all was said and done he had $5 to add to his Pokemon fund.

Doug, Meg, Cam and I also had time to play Beat the Parents.  So far they have destroyed us each time we sit down.  While they went sledding I worked on finishing my lessons plans for the week of February 9th, so I am caught up for the next two weeks.  I can't plan much beyond that as I don't know how many more delays or snow days we will have.  

Once they returned we planned our 4th of July vacation.  After much discussion we have decided to go to Terre Haute to the holocaust museum.  From there we will head to Missouri to visit the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Frontier Museum featuring the Oregon Trail and Harry S. Truman's home.  We are all pleased with the plans.  

Cal had a fun day as well.  Alex and Jayce came over for part of the afternoon.  Alex said his road was driveable which surprised us as it is a country dirt road.  They all played pool and basketball.  There was a lot of Super Bowl talk as the game was foremost on all sports talk shows today.

As of right now we have a delay for tomorrow's start of school.  The roads have been cleared and are a lot better than the past few days.  Doug has a normal work schedule, so back to the real world for us.  It was definitely a nice break.  

Super Bowl Sunday

This will be a Super Bowl Sunday that the Heinisch children will remember for years to come.  It started out pretty quiet.  Cal, Doug and Meg served, lectored and ushered at 8 a.m. mass where the amount of people working the mass almost outnumbered those attending.  Religion was cancelled today in anticipation of the impending snow storm that some news stations have predicted to be a blizzard.  The snow was pretty light to start, but when Cal, Doug and Meg returned it had definitely picked up in severity.

Cal and Doug worked on our driveway and then headed to Mom's to help shovel hers.  When they returned we decided to try the Knights of Columbus annual Super Bowl party.  Doug had see cars there when he drove by and was confident they were still having it.  Meg and Cam had been looking forward to the Goralczyk's wings, so through the snow we drove.  There was a party going on and in all honesty more people attended then I would have ever dreamed.  The wings did not disappoint the Heinisch faithful and Meg finished off at least twelve.  There was enough time for pool, BINGO and visiting before the snow made driving impassable.

We settled in at home around 3 p.m.  Doug had made a run to the grocery yesterday so we were prepared for the storm that raged on outside.  The Super Bowl started after 6 p.m.  Doug wore his treasured Brady jersey - one that has become a traveling Heinisch jersey as Meg wore it to school on Friday and Cal wore it to the game on Friday night.  The game was close throughout and everyone stayed glued to it.  We all chose our favorite appetizers to snack on throughout - meatballs, queso dip, and cream cheese with crab.  There were some good commercials this year, but overall we thought they were lacking the flamboyance of years past.  The halftime show was also interesting complete with dancing sharks.  The game, however, did not disappoint at all.  Much to Doug and Cal's happiness the Patriots won on a last minute interception.  It was a great way to spend our snowed in Super Bowl.  School has already been cancelled and much to everyone's surprise so has Doug's work.  We look forward to a day off tomorrow.