ABUNDANCE

One thing I like a lot a lot about the kids' school is that they allow them to eat and drink in class.  Maybe in a larger school this would get out of hand, but these are really good kids who police themselves quite well.  Having read what Dr. Purvis has to say about early trauma and brain chemistry, I am even more pleased that eating every couple of hours is a possibility for Anastasia.  And, I've found that some of my children just are not hungry so soon after waking up that they can eat a decent breakfast at home.

Here is the array of items Mrs. Knagg has out for the kids to purchase - at cost - during breaks.  She might try apples, as they last longer.  She did try bananas, but the kids didn't seem to choose them over the possibly-less-healthy alternatives. 

SUNDAYS

I do not quite know why it is so hard to get up on Sunday....  It is comparitively so much later than the 3:30 time I have to get up on the weekdays....  But, on the weekdays I don't have to leave the house right away.  I don't have to get dressed in nice, professional clothes, while the rest of the family sleeps.

The one solace is coffee, so the well-stocked carousel of k-cups for my Keurig is a welcome sight.

TOURNAMENT

It is basketball tournament time.  Zhen's team is not all that good, to be frank.  Zhen is solid - "He doesn't hurt them" as Craig puts it.  However, they are such a dear, sweet group of boys - on their own they took to beginning each game in this pose.  Makes the Sign of the Cross for the opening prayer a bit of a challenge, but it sure does illustrate their unity.  You can just see them, the rare times they are ahead, woking hard to make sure all the players get a chance to make a basket.  They are so good and supportive to one another.  I can't think of anything more like a "win" than that!

KOREAN FOOD

In honor of Lunar New Year, and in order to celebrate with our pen pals, we had a Korean feast in my classroom.  The look on the face of my Korean student was worth all the trouble.  I can't believe that her host family hasn't taken her out to a Korean restaurant!

MRS. ALLEN'S SCHOOL

I had some books to donate to Mrs. Allen's school, so I drove them over there.  On the way down the stairs I stopped to take this photo.  Somehow it would feed my soul to be able to walk up these warm, creeky oak stairs every morning with this beautiful window lighting the way. 

GOOD TRY

We were supposed to take the car in to get it's bumper repaired, as the parts arrived, but it wasn't going to happen before the city came by and plowed the street.  I watched from the third floor as Ilya and Zhenya helped Craig get back into the drivewayafter this false start.    I was surprised that the city did plow the streets and he was able to take it in later in the afternoon.  Often our street is left out of the plowing....  Good thing this was not one of those times!

EMERGENCY!!!!

I'm just peeved that this does not capture the reality, but I thought if I raised the camera above my head to snap a photo, and someone saw me, it might not go well with me.  There were probably ten carts ahead of me and I was in the middle of the line before I thought to take a photo.  Plus, consider, this was only one of about ten lines; there was one down the length of every aisle.  

How STUPID - how long did people think we'd be snowed in?  I just needed a cabbage to go with the  sausage, or I would have abandoned ship.