I Think I Might Have a B-

I think I get mixed grades on parenting this evening.  One the one hand, I took them out to dinner, I let them have dessert, and I didn't make the two older ones practice their instruments (and I never actually checked the youngest's homework).

On the other hand, we spent 45 minutes or more all curled up on the sofa listening to classical music.  It started with a discussion about the marching band show for next year, which is all Aaron Copeland music.  That led to "who's Aaron Copland" from Rachel, so we had to actually turn on the CD player, listen, and then that led to an exploration of neighboring CD's (we have one of those big changer things), including several Copeland pieces,  Grofe's "Grand Canyon Suite", and Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf," which William and I listened to all of.  And after they had all wandered off, I put on Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons", which closed up the evening quite nicely.

I think it rather balances out, don't you?

Lego Mania

Hey, look!  The Legos we saw at the Philadelphia Zoo were just in the process of being installed.  We only saw the polar bear and the gorilla picture.  Apparently there's many more now.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/lego-artisan-creates-endangered-species-for-zoo.php

Tied Up in Knots

The church consignment sale is Saturday.  I have a volunteer coordinator who is scheduling everybody and (I think) has it all under control.

The usual suspects got the racks to the church yesterday, and put the signs out.

We don't have as many consignors as I would like, by definition that limits the amount of money we can make but there's not a lot I can do about that at this point.

Our advertising volunteer has been ON it, and while we probably never have enough flyers out, we have more than last time.  And we have 2 new signs out, so better advertising than usual.  I spruced up the big sign for the front of the church and got it out on time yesterday.  I have 6 real-estate type signs that I'm supposed to repaint this week and we'll put them out Friday night/Saturday morning.

And my stomach is all tied up in knots and I have a feeling of dread and soul-sucking fear that's making it hard for me to get anything done.  There isn't any real reason for it, and certainly doing stuff this week would be more useful than being paralyzed, but it's like I'm dragging myself through molasses.  What if we don't have enough consignors?  What if we can't get set up in time before the consignors arrive?  What if nobody comes to shop the sale?  What if we can't get rid of the leftovers?

I know, I know, deep breath and get back to work.  Remind myself that it's not just about the money, we also perform a ministry to poor families in the area both through an opportunity to shop and donations afterwards.  But, oh, would I like to make a BIG slug of money for the church!

Whaddya Mean, Spring Break is Over?

I could have used another week of sleeping in, honestly.  And we didn't even do much!  We ended up with a schedule of activity day, rest day, activity day, rest day, activity day.  It was actually a nice amount.

First activity day?  Their makeup day for snow, so everybody went to school.  Not that I got anything done, because by the time Rachel left, the school nurse was calling me to pick up JC, who wasn't feeling well.

First rest day?  It rained, and JC was still recovering.  TV and video games.

First real activity day?  The Philadelphia Zoo!  We've been going to this zoo since they were little, because it's a little zoo.  It's the oldest zoo in the country, so all the animals are up close and great for little ones.  I offered them the Bronx Zoo, New York City, you name it.  They picked Philly and the zoo.  They were probably the oldest kids there, but we had fun.  Got there in time to watch the Amazon River Giant otters get fed.

It's a great exhibit, you get to see them swim (and squabble over fish).

Other favorites, the small mammal house (vampire bats!  marmosets!  sloths!), and the reptile house.  We had a great view of the sloth, but apparently I didn't get a picture.  But here's one of the lions, who kindly offered us a show - he got up from his nap and pooped right in front of the fence.  The kids were in hysterics.

He was really stiff when he got up, and I could see he's got cataracts.  I sympathized.  They also had a cool Lego exhibit going on (although it looked like they were still setting up).

Yes, that's all Legos.  Under glass, so you can't rearrange it.  They had several of these and at least one huge Lego polar bear.

And then on Thursday, we rested.  Which really means the kids watched TV and played video games all day again.  Hey, it's vacation, I decided I didn't feel like cooking, so I played video games too.

Friday, John was back from his business trip, so we drove out to the National Canal Museum (and the Crayola Factory).  I've posted about the Canal Museum before, it's one of William's favorite road trips.  It was John's first time there, and we did have fun.

John being "Mr. Science" for William and some little girl, explaining how the gears work (it was set up so her litttle gear completely overpowered William's big one.  Very graphic when William could outmuscle JC).

William actually did do some of the craft activities at Crayola this time.  Usually he cruises through there as fast as he can.

I also discovered that the Martin Guitar Factory, in Nazareth, PA, is only 20 minutes away, and they do free factory tours on weekdays.  Psych!  Except... I didn't factor in that it was Good Friday.  Oh well.  We know where it is now, and it's a good day trip for us.  Next time.

And now we're back to the usual routine.  Probably just as well that we didn't travel anywhere, I'm having a hard enough time getting back in the swing of things!