Leap Day

Today is leap day! If we have to add a day to the calendar, I'd prefer it not be in February. Today, however, was gorgeous. B left for his walk to school then opened the door and tossed his coat on the chair. Too warm to wear, he said. That may have been pushing it at 8:30 in the morning. I went to Target to do some shopping and it was so windy the trunk almost closed on my head twice while I was putting bags in it. Temperatures rose to 60, according to some thermometers around town. L scooted over to a friend's house to play after school. By time I picked her up at 5 p.m., the temperatures were already dropping.

Progress

E's plants are back in the water and growing pretty quickly. She took Girl Scout cookies to the neighbor yesterday and ended up staying and chatting for over a half-hour (not surprising for E!). Anyway, the neighbor recently went out and bought equipment to try some hydroponic growing of her own. I'm sure E and her will be sharing tips along the way.

Proud of her

Going through L's homework papers today, I found this sheet, "My name is L and I am proud to be me!"

She had to fill in five things she likes about herself: "I'm musical, I'm nice, I'm unique, I'm talented at everything and I'm myself cool." Forgot to list conceited and confident, I guess. :)

She also listed five things she's grateful for: "My family, a good home, good money, good clothes and food, water, life."

B's back

B returned from confirmation camp this afternoon. He said it was boring. I expected that response. Dinner Saturday night was tacos, which he won't eat, so he dug into the emergency Pop-Tarts I sent along.

Fun Fair!

Today's the day. E was there at the start of the fair to man a carnival game. She worked a two-hour shift then stayed for the entire day. L was pretty much on her own - armed with tickets. She brought home a lot of trinkets so that counts as a successful fair in L's eyes.

The highlight of the fair is always the end when the pie in the face contest is held in the auditorium. This year, two teams of teachers danced. Though L was rooting for the women, the men won the dance contest and the pie in the face. Andy was there to get some pictures for the yearbook.

Proof that the teachers at Irving rock:


And the "winners" get a pie in the face:

Have fun, B!

This afternoon I drove B to church right after school. He's headed to Pilgrim Park with his confirmation class for a confirmation weekend. He'll be there until Sunday morning. It's his first time at Pilgrim Park and although he thinks confirmation class is boring, I'm hoping he has a good time at camp.

Last night on our way home from the museum, L called my cell phone to ask if she could color on a white shirt that's too small for her. The Irving Fun Fair is Saturday and she wanted to make a shirt supporting the "New Beats." It's a team of eight female teachers who are new to Irving this year (or last) and they're competing against a group of men teachers ("Frankie D. (the custodian) and The Cuyler Street Boys") to see which team gets a pie in the face at the end of the Fun Fair. The team that raises the most money wins the pie in the face. Kids have been filling jars with change and bills all week. The money will be counted tomorrow afternoon. The teams also compete for a trophy by doing a dance. The kids love it. Last year, the women's team won the dance trophy, but not the pie in the face. For some reason, L said, the women want both this year. They really want to get hit in the face with a pie. Why? I don't know. When the women teachers saw her shirt at school today, they took pictures of her and are planning of taking a picture of her with all the New Beats after the Fun Fair Saturday.

My new stove

It's here! I can finally use an oven again. It also has a convection oven I'll try out tomorrow when I bake cupcakes for Irving's Fun Fair. I knew there would be some bits of food under the stove when they took the old one out. Sure enough, there was. Funny though, the guy who removed the oven said, "It's only dirt. You should see everything we've found behind stoves. We've seen it all." Ewww. At least I was able to sweep it up before they put the new stove in.

Genghis Kahn

Tonight Andy and I went to the Field Museum for the opening of its latest exhibit, Genghis Kahn. We met up with a couple from church and feasted on a variety of Asian foods. Almond cookies and green-tea infused cupcakes were dessert. Pretty yummy.

The description of the exhibit from the museum's website: "Explore the life and times of the ruthless warrior who grew from a poor, illiterate boy into one of the world’s greatest leaders—Genghis Khan, February 24 – September 3, 2012, only at The Field Museum.

Born in 1162, the would-be emperor endured a brutal childhood, eventually rising to earn the title of Genghis Khan (meaning “Oceanic Ruler”) after successfully uniting the many Mongol tribes. In just 25 years, his army conquered more lands and people than the Romans did during their entire 400-year rule!

Animated maps, engaging videos, and immersive environments help capture the essence of Genghis Khan’s extensive empire and reveal his dual role as both feared conqueror and revered statesman. Examine the largest single collection of 13th-century Mongolian artifacts ever assembled—including gold jewelry, weaponry, silk robes, religious relics, and the newly discovered mummy of a Mongolian noble woman."

After we walked through the exhibit, Andy and I got a drink and sat down, waiting for our friends to finish the exhibit. We noticed that people were taking the centerpieces off the tables and hoarding them. One table sitting next to us had three centerpieces. Finally, our friends came by and commented on it too. However, they said an employee told them the centerpieces could be taken home. I offered her the one on our table, but she said she was parked too far away to take it. After watching people walk out with them, we took ours too. Maybe E will take it to her Japanese teacher. It does have a nice Asian feel to it. Or we'll just set it on the dining room table.

Ash Wednesday

Tonight we headed to church for the Ash Wednesday service. Andy and L were among the bell ringers who opened the service. Here's L giving her "gansta" bell ringer pose. Fierce, eh?

Afterward, we headed to the basement kitchen to make a meals for the local homeless shelter. B has to do two "missions" this year as part of his confirmation class. One has to be with a parent and the other has to be with his sponsor. At least we got the parent one out of the way. We seasoned chicken thighs and legs, made green beans, garlic mashed potatoes and a lettuce salad. Tomorrow's group will take the food to the church that serves as the overnight shelter and cook it.

Tickets!

L bought her tickets today for Irving's Fun Fair on Saturday. She claims she was the first in line after school. I don't doubt it. She bought $15 worth of tickets. Today the PTO was selling tickets six for $1. They go up to five for $1 later in the week, then four for $1 at the Fun Fair. B will be at confirmation camp this weekend and has to miss the Fun Fair. E is working a two-hour shift as an alum, and will get to use some of L's tickets. Tickets at the Fun Fair can be used on carnival games, raffles, bingo games and food.

Revision

E moved her seeds (in their soil pellets) from the water today to a dry surface, covered them with a bowl and is heating them with a desk lamp. She thought they were drowning in the water. After watching more videos on YouTube, E decided that you first have to get the seeds to sprout, then put them in the water.

Hydro huh?

As part of a Girl Scout project, E decided to create a hydroponic garden to grow some lettuce and cilantro seeds. She's hoping to show kids at Sunday School how this works so they can grow some lettuce too. She'll be tweaking it at home so when she gets to share the project with the Sunday School all goes well.

My new oven

Andy and I had planned to go oven shopping on Saturday, but we didn't have anything to do last night so we headed to abt in Northbrook (quite a haul from Oak Park). Any way, the store displays all of the models it sells. It was great to compare them side by side. The salesperson was (gasp!) actually knowledgeable and helpful.

We bought a slide-in GE range. It will be delivered (for free!) next Thursday. They'll haul away the old one and hook up the new one. For now, I'm cooking on the gas stovetop only.

Morning homework

It really doesn't matter how many times I tell the kids to do their homework at night, they always seem to be doing homework in the morning. Today, E was finishing her Japanese display of precious gems. The assignment was to find a group of like items (she chose gems), then display them on a board and write the Japanese words for them. Her display looked good, but the grade is probably based more on how she writes the words than the art.

After she got packed up and left for school, B moved right into where she was sitting and pulled out his math homework. B leaves for school at 8:30 a.m. and every day at about 8 a.m. you can almost guarantee he's starting his math homework. He's doing really well in the class so I guess it's working for him.

My money jar

I collect our change in a Mason jar and have it counted in exchange for a grocery gift card. It's been full for awhile so today L and I took it to the store and had it counted. We had a whopping $61.67 in there (and one English penny the machine wouldn't accept).

Also, tonight Andy and I went out to start our search for a new range. The stores didn't have much of a selection of slide-in ranges so we're planning on heading up north (to the fancy suburbs) on Saturday to see a larger selection. We still have the circuit breaker to the stove turned off but I can cook with the gas stove top. One store said it would take four to six weeks to have a special-ordered range delivered. That's ridiculous.

Oven flash

My plan for Valentine's Day dinner was to make heart-shaped pizzas. While I was mixing the dough, I saw a flash out of the side of my eye, coming from the oven. I opened the oven and saw smoke. It smelled like rubber burning. Soon, an F-8 error appeared on the display and the oven started beeping. I found the owner's manual and discovered we had a circuit problem. It suggested turning off the power to the stove at our circuit breakers, leaving it off for three minutes, then turning it on again. I did that, but the error returned and the beeping started up again. We just had the ignitor fixed at the end of January so we're planning on going oven shopping tomorrow.

Meanwhile, we ordered this pizza. We had no idea it would be heart-shaped.

This afternoon I chaperoned L's field trip to the local bowling alley. She may look fine in this photo, but she was really crabby because she was doing a lousy job at bowling. The class also had their Valentine's treats at the party. Good thing L opted for cupcakes rather than the messy cake.

Cupcakes

L was determined to make a treat for her class' Valentine's Day party. She debated making brownies and a cake (which I said would be too hard to divide and eat) and finally settled on cupcakes. E helped her make a heart stencil and fill the design with red sugar.

Heat!

This morning when we woke up at Pilgrim Park, the staff said the heat was back to normal. I was so chilled I really didn't notice any warmth. The thermometer said 67 degrees so if that's their idea of normal heat I may pass on the women's retreat next year.

L, E and I left after breakfast. E had to get back to Oak Park for a Girl Scout meeting and I wanted heat ... desperately. I was so thankful for the heated seats in my car!

When we got home Andy had my Valentine's Day present. He bought me two boxes of Frango mints - milk and dark chocolate - saying he wasn't sure which would be better. I'll take both, thank you. We decided not to get each other cards this year because the last time I was at the drugstore, they were all stupid and the ones that were OK were $5 or more.

B was excited today because he provided lunch for his confirmation class. He had Andy buy chicken tenders from Popeye's and potato chips. Even the "vegetarian" girl ate the tenders. I think it was a first that something was served that everyone ate. Whew.

Sing it, girls

Today at Pilgrim Park we sat around and talked ... a lot. It was a freezing 15 degrees outside and the temperature in the building was 61. I knew at lunch when my hand was shaking as I tried to eat my salad that the building had no heat. First, we were told the heat was on a timer, so that had been fixed. After dinner, after freezing all day and being wrapped in blankets, they figured out the boiler hadn't been working all day. Unfortunately for us, the heating system is in the floor so it will take a while to heat up.

We watched the movie "Charlie St. Cloud" in the basement where the staff claimed it was warmer. Maybe it was by a few degrees. I was chilled to the bone by then. After the movie, we moved back upstairs where it was still really cold. Many of the women were signing karaoke in the dining room (where it was warmer by a few degrees). L and her friend, K, did a great rendition of Bruno Mars' "The Lazy Song." L was starting to fall asleep by 10:30 and since I was frozen, I went to bed too. I thought I could get warm under the blankets, but it really didn't help. I was cold all night.

Women's retreat

In the snow, I drove the girls to Pilgrim Park for our church's annual women's retreat. We were going to meet a fellow church member and her daughter at a restaurant along the way, but the snow slowed us both down and we ate separately. The girls and I stopped at Denny's.

We got to the Pilgrim Park area about 8 p.m., but since I had no clue where I was going and it was dark (and my navigator E was playing games on her iPod instead of studying the map) we didn't actually make it to the campground till 8:30. Two wrong turns took us 30 minutes to correct. Good thing they had the wine opened when we arrived!

Our room was at the end of the hall. Three full-size beds and a nice bathroom.

All aglow

Finally - candles for our fireplace.

Bribery works

Over the weekend, L saw an ad for this roly-poly bear from Build-a-Bear pop up in my email. She looked it over and saw that it was on sale and decided she HAD to have it. Since she brought home a not-so-stellar progress report a week ago, we agreed that I'd order the bear and she could have it if she gets all 3s and 4s on her next report card.

As a little incentive to improve those grades, I offered her the chance to sleep with the bear last night if she could get four division problems right. I'd make a set of four long division problems and she'd miss one. We'd do it again ... and again. Finally, she got it (along with a lot of practice for her long division test today).

Today, she came home with the test and got a solid 3 - 93 percent. Her teacher wrote, "L took her time and did a great job on the test." She's been having an issue with L speeding through her assignments and tests, so that was good to hear. L thinks her test grade entitles her to sleep with the bear again tonight. We'll see about that.

Literary jackpot

A few weeks ago, L's book order got messed up at school. In fact, her whole class' order was messed up. L ordered a book she never received, as did several of her classmates. Her teacher contacted the book company and today handed out extra books the company sent to make up for their mistake. In addition to finally getting the book L ordered, she brought home the first four books of the series. She was thrilled.

That's Madam Clerk to you

Today during church I was commissioned as the council's clerk. Andy finally stepped down after two years of being the council moderator, but he's accepted a spot on the Personnel Committee. The former clerk is our new moderator so I've been promised things will go smoothly this year. I certainly hope so.

Japanese festival

OPRF had its annual Japanese festival today. As a Japanese student, E was required to attend. The rest of us went to a memorial service for Andy's uncle, so E was at the Japanese festival all day. We had the leave the funeral luncheon before dessert in order to get to the high school in time to pick E up before the festival closed at 4 p.m. We arrived in time to walk around a little bit. We watched kids get dressed up in sumo wrestler outfits and knock each other over. That was fun. I also got to meet E's new friends and lunch mates, R and C. These pics are of E showing off her new Japanese T-shirt. On the front it says Japanese program. On the back are various Japanese characters.

A violin?

B and L had a half-day of school today because of teacher-parent conferences. L invited her friends, E and B, to spend the afternoon with her. They were at the Irving playground after school and brought home this violin. Apparently someone set it down to play and went home without it. We searched inside and out - no identification at all. L will take it to the school office on Monday. Hope someone claims it. Of course, none of us could resist playing it ... just a little bit.