Last week was a busy one for us. In case you’re curious, I’ll give you an overview of what it looked like.

• Sunday – Church (Luke has his Church School class during mass), followed by a birthday party for a friend’s son and then a trip to urgent care for Maggie (diagnosis: ear infection)
• Monday – Dance for Maggie (which we skipped because of that ear infection) and Basketball Practice for Adam
• Tuesday – Gymnastics for Adam & Luke
• Wednesday – Church School for Adam
• Thursday – Gymnastics for Maggie
• Friday – Basketball Game for Adam
• Saturday – Make up Gymnastics Class for Maggie (she missed a class the week before because Adam was home sick from school), Basketball Game for Luke, and then a Lego Batman Event at Toys R Us (the kids each got to build a Batmobile to take home)
• Sunday – This was supposed to be Church/Church School again, but ended up another trip to Urgent Care (this time for Luke, another ear infection)

So that’s what we’ve been up to. It makes me tired just thinking about it. Add into the mix that I started taking classes this semester (four of them, because I am apparently crazy) and we’ve got a lot going on here.

I haven’t mentioned the classes before, I know. Last summer my mom, sister, and I were talking about what sort of career would be good for me after the kiddos are all in school and one of them (I think it was my mom) suggested school librarian. I thought about it for a while an decided I really like the idea. I’ll get to work with students (but not have to deal with their parents) and I’ll have summers and holidays off with the kids (and not have to bring home tests or papers to grade). So I’ve started taking classes working on a masters degree in school librarianship.

I’m three weeks into the semester and it is a lot of work – A LOT. Thankfully I have the best support team ever. Dave doesn’t mind picking up my slack around here (wait until you see the Valentine’s Day mailbox he and Adam made) and my mom doesn’t mind when I call her three (or more) times a day for help or send her papers to proofread for me.

Whew. So yeah, that’s a lot. Kudos to you if you’ve read this far. Here are some weird pictures of Maggie and me that a friend took as a reward.

Oh, and the kids are all relatively healthy again – thankfully. Thank goodness for antibiotics.

The kids had a Home Depot workshop yesterday morning.

Adam built his almost entirely on his own. Dave had to help take a nail out that went in crooked, but other than that it was all Adam. I’m so proud of that him. He did better than one of his parents when it came to reading and following the directions (sorry Dave).

Maggie is getting pretty good with the hammer too. She only hit her thumb once, and didn’t hit me at all, so I call that a win.

We waited and did the painting after we got home. Maggie asked for pink paint, purple paint, and glitter. She ended up asking for more colors as she worked, but they all sort of blended into a pretty shade of glittery purple.

Luke used black, brown, red, yellow, green, blue, white, and glitter. It ended up a muddy gray, but he loved it.

(Yes, our tree is still up. The ornaments and Christmas decorations are all put away, but I love the lights on the tree, so we are in no hurry to put it away.)

Adam wanted stripes, so I helped make that happen with some painter’s tape.

Maggie asked me to take another picture and send it to grandma. Actually, with the way she pronounces her Rs, it was “glamma,” but I knew what she meant and was happy to oblige.

And here are their finished picture frame boxes.

I love how they turned out.

Today’s embarrassing parenting moment is brought to you by Luke.

Earlier, as we were waiting to be seated at a very crowded IHOP, he announced (loudly, because Luke doesn’t have volume control), “I wanted to pass the ball to Coen, but there were two black guys in my way. ”

Hopefully my response that, “Yes, the boys on the team with the black shirts were pretty good at basketball,” cleared up any confusion.

I just thought I’d share some pictures of Miss Margaret’s week so far. On Monday, after ballet, she helped me get dinner going in the crock pot.

Then it was dress up and dollhouse time. Side note: Our train table has been transformed into a dollhouse table.

She hasn’t wanted me to put her hair up lately, insisting she likes it better down. She will accessorize with a headband though.

Naps are hit or miss for Maggie. I generally try not to let her, because I’d rather she go to bed on time, but some days there’s no stopping her.

Adam got off of the bus yesterday and said he had a super loose tooth (he did, the adult tooth was actually halfway up behind it).

About twenty minutes after I’d tucked him in last night, he came back downstairs with the tooth in his hand. So we stuck it in his Tooth Fairy pillow and sent him back to bed.

And sure enough, the Tooth Fairy showed up. She brought Adam her standard tooth reimbursement – a one dollar bill folded in the shape of a heart and a new chapter book. Adam was thrilled and I’m sure we’ll be having more visits from her soon.

Yesterday, Luke’s class celebrated their 100th day of school.

His teacher shared some pictures (I love her). They had a glow stick dance dance party and then had some fun making messes while practicing writing sight words.

They built towers using 100 paper cups.

Luke told me, “Mom, when I’m 100, I’m gonna be a cop.”

I am so thankful for the awesome teachers at the boys’ school. They do so much to make learning fun for their students.

Well, actually, it was Adam. He received the Sacrament of Reconciliation tonight when he made his first confession.

He was so nervous, but did a wonderful job. It really threw him that he was face to face with the priest. He thought it would be in the confessional and there would be a screen separating them (I’m not going to lie, that would make me nervous too).

I didn’t ask him what he confessed. He did tell me that his penance is to be extra nice to me tomorrow though (I like that priest).

After the service was over, he lit his candle for Papa. Adam does this every time he’s in church. Then he says a little prayer and always ends with “God Bless Papa”.

We’re super proud of this kid.

Yesterday afternoon we took the kids to go see “A Year with Frog and Toad.” We’ve read the stories together before and listened to them while driving during our travels. Our van doesn’t have a TV or DVD player in it (by choice), and the kids love listening to books (so do Dave and I).

The play was a lot of fun and we all enjoyed it. Adam is already trying to talk us into getting tickets for a couple more upcoming shows.

Maggie and I stopped at the Dollar Store on our way home from a play date with friends yesterday. She talked me into getting her this hat (it wasn’t hard, I don’t normally practice much impulse control there).

And for only a dollar, it was definitely worth it. She wore it all afternoon and kept tipping her hat and saying, “Yeehaw! I a cowboy girl!”