Ice is Off the Lake

 The ice is off the lake!

Monday morning, there were sheets of ice still moving.  By night, it was gone.  Relief!  Spring is here!  Time to plan the installation of the dock into the water.  We had to get 16' more dock to accommodate the low water levels and the pontoon length.

On Tuesday evening, it was raining.  By this morning, we had a few inches of snow.  We have weird weather... always a roller coaster this time of year.  

Swim Lesson Time!

Sundays are going to be even busier for the next seven weeks!

In addition to church and Sunday school, Ramsey will be taking swimming lessons in the afternoons at the Family Y.

 After church on Sunday, we took Nana Karen pizza and pop.   Then, off to the Y for youth swimming!

Ramsey had a super first day.  He was focused and was a good student, so I think he'll make terrific progress this session!

Once the summer sessions open up, we will enroll him again.  Typically, in the next session, kids learn to swim under water!  Living where we do, being a strong swimmer is definitely a necessity.

SOARing Lincoln Light

WARNING: Momma's bragging rights. 

 Since school started, Ramsey had a goal to achieve a "Lincoln Light" acknowledgment/award at school.   Lincoln Lights are given randomly (and seldomly) to kids in the elementary, preschool through 5th Grade.  

This afternoon, Eric and I both received calls from Ramsey's school principal, informing us that Ramsey had been chosen as a SOARing Lincoln Light!  She was delighted to give us the news and gave us accolades about Ramsey.   We were so proud!

Ramsey received a T-shirt from the principal, Mrs. G, and will also have his picture and name on the Lincoln Light school bulleting board for the remainder of the school year.

Lincoln Light Students are chosen for merits via academically, positive engagement with classmates (leadership, assisting others, being a good friend), etc.  

Ramsey was very pleased with himself.  Since school started, he's collected his random SOAR slips, Star Student achievement card, SOARing Student Award, and now the SOARing Lincoln Light.  

These are definitely amoung his very treasured items.  Good job, Ramsey!

UPDATE:

When Ramsey got off the bus, he showed us his Lincoln Light award and the picture Mrs. G took at the photo op wall.  He actually was nominated and had the award in November.   He just didn't receive the affirmation until now, as the Lincoln Light shirts were apparently back-ordered and just came in. 

He had received the war for sharing knowledge with the class, being a good friend, and giving the class pop-its.  For the pop-its, Ramsey wanted to show his class that he was thankful for them (right before Thanksgiving break).  He completed extra chores so he could save up enough money to buy the gifts.

Feels Like Spring

Monday was another beautiful day, with a high of 50°.  It was a little breezy, so it felt chilly!

After Ramsey completed his reading/writing homework, he went outside to play.  I joined him a bit later.  

Ramsey pulled out his Stomp Rocket, the dog's ball thrower, some pool noodles (why? to "whack tree limbs", he said), and the sidewalk chalk.  

Ramsey drew a cute little picture of him and me, next to a tree and underneath a smiling sunshine.  So cute.  We drew flowers, balloons, people, paths, and birds.

Ramsey was quite pleased with the "red cheverolet with super speed" that he drew.

After we had finished, Ramsey connected all of the chalk drawings and made it into an obstacle course.  We went from hopping, jumping, skipping, and turning about.  I got a few steps in (and we had to keep moving to stay warm!).

We're really starting to get SPRING FEVER!

Stuck Inside

 Poor Jango... he had surgery last week to correct his Entropion condition, plus get neutered, nails clipped, and teeth checked.   He has been outside to exercise a bit, but since he's supposed to be resting (vs. going bananas playing), he's had to stay inside more.  Tonight, he was letting us know how displeased he was with the decision for him to remain indoors while we were out having fun.

[According to VCAhospitals.com] Entropion is an abnormality of the eyelids in which the eyelid rolls inward. It causes the hair on the surface of the eyelid to rub against the cornea, resulting in pain, corneal ulcers, perforations, or pigment developing on the cornea which can interfere with vision.  

Some dogs outgrow the condition by about one year of age.  Others require surgery.  Jango didn't grow out of it.  His incision's swelling should lessen each day.  He will have his stitches out in about two weeks.

Stomp Rockets

 On Saturday, while shopping at Wally World, Ramsey wanted to check out the toy section.  We couldn't find any Minecraft diamond play swords, axes, etc.  But, when we were speeding by an aisle, Ramsey caught a glimpse of something called a "Stomp Rocket".  He insisted we turn around and check this out.

It's a terrific STEM toy.  The idea is to hit, jump, push, or stomp on the inflated piece and watch the rocket soar into the sky.   

Ramsey put the device together (wasn't very difficult) and he played with it for HOURS.   Eric and I played with him as well, but this kept him occupied for an extended period of time as a lone soldier.

It was 50° on Saturday and 70° on Sunday - much too gorgeous to be stuck in the house!

Play Date Day

 Everyone's schedules are so chaotic that sometimes it's hard to get city and rural kids together for simple play dates.   After [literally] weeks of planning, we made it happen; Ramsey and his buddy Charlie had their much-awaited play date.

We decided to go park-hopping and started out at the south park at Wylie.  The temp was 50° with a light breeze.  I should have worn a hat or gloves (I'm always cold), but the boys were perfect in hoodies, while running around.

They played tag on the big and little slides...

Jumped around on the stand-up seesaw.

They went on the swings.  Ramsey was teaching Charlie how to pump his legs and also gave him big pushes.  

They boys are good friends, but Ramsey really takes Charlie (who is two years his junior) under his wing like a little brother.  He's always watching out for Charlie.

We jumped to one of the more northern parks at Wylie to try out the sit-down zip line, slides, monkey bars, climbing wall, and spinny chair.  The boys played Tic Tac Toe at the top of the slide tower.

They also seemed to have little chats about the world's issues.  ha!  It reminded me of the famous (at least around here) meme-like 1980s photo of the two little boys in overalls, chatting, with the headline "You been farmin' long?"

After quenching their thirsts, we went to McDonald's for some good grub and ice cream treats.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 We had been planning what to do for St. Patrick's Day this year, pondering if we'd be visited by a nice leprechaun or a naughty one.  

A few years ago, when Bridger was staying with us, Louis the Lephrechaun was naughty and completely trashed the house, leaving muddy footprints behind to boot!  But, he left the boys some amazing presents, so that made up for the mischievousness. 

Last year, Ramsey was ready.... he chose to bribe the leprechaun with green jelly beans.  It worked!  "Lucky" either really really loved green jelly beans or he was just a super nice leprechaun; he didn't mess anything up.  He just left nice presents and candy!  

Ramsey was hoping that his green jelly bean bribe would work again this year, for whichever leprechaun decided to visit our home.  When I wasn't looking, he wrote this note:

The bag of jelly beans we bought was unusually lacking for green ones.  It did, however, have a TON of black ones (EW!).

Once again, Ramsey left his note by the front door and went to bed, in hopes of finding a clean house and presents in the morning.

At about 7 AM, I awoke to Ramsey's grumbling and rumbling around.  Incidentally, I was hoping to SLEEP IN more, since there was no school (Spring Break).  Ramsey was groaning about a messy house.  Yup, this year, the leprechaun was a stinker!   

I could hear him picking up though, before I got up and out with the camera.  He'd already put away blankets, some pillows, turned-over chairs, and picked up a few toys.  The leprechaun wasn't fooling around this year!  I helped him with some of the rest.

The cantankerous little prankster left a note.  It was a new guy named "Leppy".   The note was naughty and crabby, yet clever.  Leppy hated the green jelly beans; apparently they gave him rot-gut.   We found chewed up jelly beans in the dish and green drooly sugary slime spit all over the paper.   

He left a really good basket of goodies though; Swedish fish jelly beans, a new baseball hat, a jump rope, fidget puzzles, a cap gun, and a bubble gun.  Awesome!

Though Ramsey was perturbed about having to clean up the mess, he was pleased after receiving all the goodies.  

Salmon for Supper

Rifling through the freezer... oh, what to cook, what to cook.  Yup, got it.

I announced to Ramsey that we would be having salmon for supper.  "SALMON???? YAY!!!" was Ramsey's response.

To be exact, it was teriyaki glazed salmon with garlic and parmesan roasted broccoli.   When I gave him his supper, he exclaimed again, "Pass the salmon! This is one of my favorites!!!"  Then, he added, "Ketchup, please!".  Ugh.  Ketchup?  Really?

Yes, one of our youngest son's favorite suppers is glazed salmon.... and ketchup.

He's got "food issues" (texture-related), but I got him to eat a nibble of broccoli the last time we had this dish.  I tried again, bribing him a bit (screen time).  He chowed down two regular pieces of roasted broccoli and also five more crowns.  

Progress.

That ketchup though!  

Reading to Recess - Feb '22

 BIG Group for the Reading to Recess monthly achievement.  Awesome!

Aaaand... another extra recess and another personal pan pizza.  Wahoo!