Slowing Down

This has been a challenging week for me!

The DI Team's parents (us, too!) were taken aback by the cost of Global Finals, but we still wanted the team to be able to go. So I was fundraising, fundraising, fundraising. Mostly I was collecting donations for a raffle, which I had no idea how to do. All in all it went well, but it took a lot of time and energy, and it was kind of stressful.

A few days ago Kurt told me he thought I had better slow down. He was worried I was getting too worn out. So I have been trying to get back to normal these past few days.

Here is my proof that things are better.

1. I bought groceries. Lack of food in the house was getting to be a big problem.

2. I cooked a meal. It was chicken nuggets, but I did put them in the oven myself. And I cut up some peppers for veggies.

3. I noticed Missy painted her toenails polka-dotted.

4. I weeded. And if that counts as relaxing - given my normal attitude toward weeding - you can appreciate how bad things had gotten!

5. Today I napped. I totally conked out. Thank you, Kurt!

Meanwhile, life with the kids goes on.

Alex went to the State MCTM Elementary Math Contest on Saturday for the Concepts portion. He did not place in his grade's top ten, but he did answer 16 out of 24 really tough math questions. He also got to see a bunch of kids who are really good at math. Overall, it was a very good experience. I think he liked the challenge, but even more he liked the cookie dough milkshake afterwards. He is something else.

This picture can give you an idea of how many kids were there (grades 4 through 8). The kids are seated on the gym floor. I couldn't fit all the rows in my picture, but you get the idea.

And, finally, I want to mention our new favorite restaurant. The kids adore it there. While we were there, Missy won an iridescent green stuffed giraffe in the claw vending machine game. He has joined the girls in importance.

You can almost tell how great this place is from the picture alone. It is kind of like a Steak and Shake, but not as fancy and much greasier. Ah, Babe's.