Friday, March 6, 2015

Snow Days and Big Wheel Days and Happy Family Days

What a weird weather week! Last weekend, we were snowed in. Tuesday, I bought groceries (bad timing, because there was a winter storm forecast to begin that night and the stores were crowded with people who interpreted that as the apocalypse), and it was warm enough that I didn't have to wear my coat. Wednesday morning, the promised winter storm hit. Thursday afternoon, no coat again. All that and then some make this week's Ten Things of Thankful list:

1. Last Saturday, my daughter had to be at school at 5:45 a.m. in order to ride a school bus to a show choir competition in a neighboring town, about 18 miles away. While she can drive now, there was a pretty good chance of snow that morning, so my husband VOLUNTEERED to get up and drive her to school. At 5:45 IN THE MORNING. While I stayed in a warm bed with two kitties snuggled up against me. 

2. It gets better. Before coming home, my husband stopped by our favorite doughnut shop (do NOT tell me that you don't have a favorite doughnut shop) and brought home a box of doughnuts. And unlike the Mother's Day Fiasco of 2014, he got the kind I liked! 

3. Snow started falling later that morning as promised, and several of the schools entered in the competition had either dropped out the day before on the strength of the forecast or decided that morning that they couldn't risk the trip. I was hurriedly showering and getting ready to drive over there to watch Emma's group sing when she texted me that the competition had been canceled and they would be heading back to our school at 11:00 a.m. I was concerned about the safety of her riding in a school bus on snowy roads back to Joplin, especially when you consider a school bus is just a big ol' tin can on wheels with no seatbelts, but they made it back safely (thank you, bus drivers!).

4. Tuesday marked the third anniversary of my breast cancer diagnosis. Only two years of treatments left - yay!

5. The highlight of the preschool year was scheduled for this week: Big Wheel Day. We set up the gym to look like a town, with a road circling it and centers set up to be things like a jewelry store, a beauty salon, a grocery store, a fitness center, a dress up shop, etc., and they can stop at any of them any time and participate in activities there. It's tons of fun, and the kids ride around on their big wheels or tricycles for three hours and leave absolutely exhausted (as do we). It's a hugely popular event, so much so that kids that are now in high school and college will STILL tell you that Big Wheel Day was the best thing EVER and they wish they could come back and do it again. That's a long time to carry a memory from when you were 4 years old, and it feels pretty special that those former students still remember it.

6. Problem: it snowed on Big Wheel Day. And sleeted. And freezing rained (YOU figure out how to word that better and I'll change it). The pre-k classes were supposed to go to the college on Friday to see a children's play, but do those grown up former preschool students list going to see a play at the college as a favorite preschool memory? No, they do not. Plan B went into effect: move Big Wheel Day from Wednesday to Friday for the MWF preschool classes. Completely doable. Problem solved.


Officially done with winter. I took all the
snowman decorations down and put them away


7. Another problem: there was enough snow and freezing rain and sleet to close school on Thursday, too. That means the T-Th classes would not have Big Wheel Day, and that was unacceptable. (No, it wasn't a viable option to postpone their day until next week. The gym is used on Sunday for the church's contemporary service, so everything had to be taken down before then. And the gym was already scheduled to be in use the next week. Also, it takes us about 7 hours to set up.) Plan B(1): Invite the T-Th kids to come to school on Friday and have everyone there on the same day. Second problem solved. 


This big guy, all fluffed up against the cold
and snow, sat patiently on the back fence,
looking for something to eat.


8. Friday was Big Wheel Day - wheeee! My kids arrived and were WOUND UP. The hallway outside the preschool classrooms were lined with tricycles and big wheels, each with a personalized "license plate." At 9:30, we were off, riding down the hallway to the gym. The kids had a fantastic morning, pedaling around the gym, stopping at the various centers, visiting the "drive in" movie, having ice cream, eating McDonald's "hamburgers" (vanilla wafer buns, oreo burgers, frosting ketchup with shoestring potatoes for french fries), ending with a lunch of hot dogs, chips and soda. A good day was had by all!

9.  My College Boy is home for spring break! My husband brought him home this afternoon (with laundry basket in tow). Shortly after, Emma got home from school, and we were all in our bedroom (where I had just had a nice nap - Big Wheel Day is EXHAUSTING), along with all three cats. There was much laughter and teasing and chattering (Emma) and tormenting of cats (Kyle, by holding them against their will), and Robert Browning's "God is in His Heaven/all's right with the world" went through my mind. There are ups and there are downs, but life is certainly good.

10. Seasonable weather has returned, and it should be 60 degrees by tomorrow afternoon. HELLO, SPRING! Emma has her last show choir competition tomorrow and has to be at the bus by 5:45 a.m. again, AND BOTH MY HUSBAND AND KYLE have offered to drive her to the high school to meet the bus. (My husband is just being kind; my son is offering just so she can't drive herself there and leave him without a car all day, but hey, it's still an offer regardless of ulterior motives.)

Find your thankfuls. They're everywhere, if you just look.



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45 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. You know you have a blog groupie if she mentions the photos of last years big wheel day of you pedaling through "town."
      Two more years...only two more years!!!!

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    2. Frist, baby! What happened to Harry? Done already?

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    3. I was interviewed by one of our local tv stations at Big Wheel Day. Watched it tonight on the news and was horrified at how old and fat I looked.

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    4. Wait, were you the one who went to see Harry? Group emails confuse me!

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    5. Lisa was with Harry. Wish it was me!

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    6. Ok...not just being nice promise. ..cuz I wouldn't bother to say anything cuz its easier to just shut up...every time I see your pic I think "wow...shes hot..." TV sucks...

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  2. You have had some lovely moments this week indeed! I see some days ahead in the 50s for us, and I could not be more thrilled. Melt this snow already! Come on, sun! Big Wheel Day exhausts me, and I only read about it!

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    1. We played outside at recess today. It was 50 degrees and a little nippy, but not one child complained about being cold!
      Big Wheel Day IS exhausting, but totally worth it.

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  3. Big Wheel Day sounds exciting. My preschool didn't have an event like that.

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  4. wait…. you were interviewed as in 'on television'…. as (further) on video?? as the Seeress of Indiana would say, 'if you can't play the video for us, how do you expect us to believe that it actually happened?'…. (well, that's not quite how she would say it… but the principle is sound: show us the tape.

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    1. I WAS going to post a link, but I looked so hideous in the video that I actually cried when I saw it. So no link. You'll just have to trust me!

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  5. I like to see that interview...Congratulations two more years yay....big wheel day sounds like a great day....naps are the best enjoy the spring weather...we are not there yet

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    1. No one sees the interview. See my answer to Clark.
      I'm definitely on the downhill side to this ordeal.
      I love a nap when I can have the window open and feel a cool breeze coming in. Ahhhh!

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  6. YESSSSS TO #4!!!!! Amazing. Wow.

    Donuts? What are those things you speak of? ;)

    Yes. It's time for winter to go. Although Texas just got some gorgeous snow....I'm done cleaning my floors.

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    1. #4 is pretty terrific!
      Me thinks you are a BIG LIAR. What's the name of YOUR favorite doughnut place?
      The snow is so pretty when it's falling and everything is covered with snow and it looks like a Christmas card. Now I'm done with it.

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  7. Glad that Emma made it safely, though it was sad that the competition was cancelled after putting in all the competition was just postponed!

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    1. The weather just kept getting worse and worse. It's too bad they had to cancel it, but it was for the best.

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  8. Sigh doughnuts.

    and look at that hansome hawk!!

    I profusely sweated on my walk yesterday. I already miss the cooler less humid DAYS we had. They were not enough.

    More sighing.

    Congrats on the interview!

    Only two more years!!! That seems so long but also a great milestone as well!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Yum doughnuts!
      Wasn't he a beaut?! When I first saw him, I thought he was an owl, he was so puffed up.
      When it's hot and humid this summer, I am going to remind myself how cold and miserable I was this winter.
      Two years seems like a long time, but the last three have gone by pretty fast, I must say.

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  9. HA!! Oh, such a whirlwind week you had!!! This WEATHER!! And I have no ideas on how to word it, but laughed OUT LOUD at your offer. :)

    So glad you got donuts, and hubs offered to drive. HOLDONTOHIM. And yay for BIG WHEEL day happening!!

    Still waiting for spring over here... nothing in sight. Sigh.

    And the anniversary of your cancer- two more years of treatment, but THREE DOWN. I didn't know about this, and I am both heartbroken and hopeful with your news. Keep fightin' the GOOD FIGHT!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm still stumped as to a better way to say freezing rain fell, but so is everyone else, apparently, as I have had no takers on fixing it!
      It's about time he got my doughnut order right. We've only been married 21 years!
      I hope your spring comes SOON. It's a wondrous thing!
      I've been a very lucky girl with my whole breast cancer experience. I am blessed.

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  10. Big Wheel Day does sound like a memorable event! I remember having a "Green Machine" when I was little and tooling all over the neighborhood on it. We also got snow on Thursday but today it is melting A LOT and tomorrow the days get longer! YAY Spring!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Riding a tricycle is such a carefree activity! That and swinging! I think, THINK we are done with snow. Today is cool and drizzly, but I know it's almost spring, and that makes it okay. Okay-ish.

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  11. What a wonderful list, Dyanne! Hubby, too, tends to get up for first shift with Calvin a lot, and the boy loves to get up for the day before 6 a.m. He absolutely HAD to top Mis Violet :-) Good luck for your daughter's choir competition!! And hopefully, spring stays for good in Joplin now!! BTW: I'm jealous that I never had a Big Wheel Day.. I feel as if something's missing in my childhood now :-)

    Have a wonderful week, Dyanne, and enjoy having both kiddos home!

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    1. It's nice not to have to be the one who always gets up with a kid in the morning. (Even the darling Calvin!) The show choir competition was FANTASTIC! Next week's TToT material! Big Wheel Day should be part of the curriculum everywhere. Even in college :)
      Thanks, Stephanie! Enjoy your week, too!

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  12. I'm still waiting for Spring. I imagine that Preschool Big Wheel Day event was AWESOME and EXHAUSTING. Treasure the moments with the family together. I like that Robert Browning poem, and "all is right with the world" when they are home. Is happening around here in about 15 minutes, yay.

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    1. I came home from Big Wheel Day and took a 2 hour nap. I wanted to capture that time with all of us in my bedroom and put it in a jar where I could pick it up and look at it any time I wanted.

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  13. I want to come to Big Wheel Day and then start it at our preschool.

    Glad your college boy is home, even if he brought his laundry with him.

    What's with everyone offering to drive so early on Saturday mornings?? You are SO lucky!

    I can't believe all the snow (and snow days) you all have had this year. We haven't had a single one!

    Yay only two more years of treatment!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. It's a date for one year from now!
      HE DID HIS OWN LAUNDRY!
      I actually ended up doing it myself, because I was awake anyway. But it's the thought that counts, right?
      We are completely unprepared for bad weather around here. Only the main streets get plowed, rendering us housebound.
      Yay!!!

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  14. We had that same damn sleet crud here. I actually slipped in my driveway. Half of my spine is held together with metal and a prayer but luckily it was so cold out that I was dressed so thick that I resembled the abominable snow monster and it was only my pride that broke.
    How wonderful that you moved it to Friday so that all the kids could participate. I've never heard of such an event and I won't lie, at 34 years old, I'd love to take part...well watch...
    Enjoy your boy and Emma this week. I hope our weather follows your suit!! We are supposed to get some nice weather too!!

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    1. Wow, it's a good thing you didn't really get hurt! Of course, there are no pain meds for a bruised dignity.
      It was fun to have all the kids there on the same day. Two days of Big Wheel Day is SUPER exhausting, so just one was really nice. We have two big tricycles that an adult can fit on. I ride one every year and I'm tall, so you can come next year and ride :)
      My poor son has spring break when everyone else has work and school. He's spending most of it power sleeping!

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  15. I thought that rather than jump in and try to score FRIST, or have my comment lost amidst the many in the middle, I'd wait until the end, and hopefully get one of the last words (that's my story and I'm STICKING to it!)

    SO glad that spring is on its way for you. I feel almost bad over here, in my nice weather, watching so many people struggling with snow and ice and (I think that freezing rain should be called sleeze, cos it's somewhere between snow and sleet) all the rest of that cold nasty stuff.

    Big Wheel Day sounds AMAZING and I love that so many of the older kids remember it with real fondness. I think the things which are most memorable to me about my preschool days were the playdough, the trikes and bikes in the garden, and getting given a book once you'd attended 50 sessions. I liked the book and the trikes best.

    Bless your boots, Dyanne, for your gorgeous list of thankfuls everywhere, and bless your lovely menfolk for letting you sleep. And in fact if I'm going for it, bless your boobs and may they damn well behave themselves forevermore.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You almost got to be last!
      I don't understand your weather. I need to do some research. I always think of England as cool and rainy.
      Both of my kids would like to attend Big Wheel Day again. It's THAT fun. No one went to preschool when I was a child. Kindergarten wasn't even mandatory, although I don't know anyone who didn't go.
      The old boobs were very, very bad. These ones definitely better behave themselves!

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  16. I hope you are planning a fantastic celebration for 2 years from now, but I am even more happy that you are finding thankfuls each day, no matter what life or the weather throws (snows) at you! Keep on reminding us to check our girls--I know at least one person who needs to be reminded.

    Big Wheel Day sounds like so much fun (and so much work, too!)

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    1. In two years, I'm going to be celebrating NOT paying $1400 a month for an injection, among other things! Keep checking the girls and keep reminding others to do the same!
      Lots of work, lots of fun!

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  17. Big Wheel Day! How have I never heard of this? And you are clearly ready for spring too. So much miserable weather this week! Yay for having your son home from college! So much to be thankful for!

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    1. When the preschool first started doing this event 25 years ago, it was on the parking lot. When the church built a gym, it was moved inside. You would have thought that would have solved weather related issues, wouldn't you?
      Love having my boy home, will probably be ready for him to go back at the end of the week :)

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    2. OH WHAT THE ??? My comment just vanished before my eyes...not even kidding.
      Now what did I say...
      Snowmen - coming down this week. I didn't get to that on the weekend because I was busy doing ALL THE THINGS. Warmer temps this week so now it feels right to actually put the chilly little dudes in the closet.
      Two offers to allow you to stay in bed with warm kitties? That is fantastic.
      Enjoy having College Boy home! And HOORAY for three years down!!!

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    3. I HAAAAATE it when comments disappear. It only happens when I have written something beautiful and eloquent and completely impossible to recreate.
      The snowmen had to go. They were wreaking havoc.
      Two well-meaning offers, because I ended up being the only one awake and took her myself, but it's the thought that counts, right?
      We went through a lot of food and diet coke while he was home.
      THREE YEARS DOWN!

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  18. Oh, my gosh. Big Wheel Day was exhausting when I was 25 and it had no glitches. You must be wiped out after this one!
    Only two years to go! whoo hoo! I am rooting for you! ~May@AchievingClarity

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    1. I was tireder than tired when it was all over. I crawled into bed as soon as I got home and took a nap.
      Two more years! They will fly by!

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  19. I'm a week late!
    May 24 months fly by like an eagle in the sky. Damn! There I go again. Weird things this week w/me lately w/music/words/lyrics but hey! I'm no roger and this is NOT about me LOL
    Big Wheel Day. They'll be writing about this for decades! Sounds totally awesome. Reminds me of when I was in kindergarten. I had a special ice cream truck that I staked out as mine. As in no one had better be driving my truck lol. There I go again! It's not about me!!!
    Very glad to hear Emma got back safely but too bad they cancelled the event AFTER they got there.
    Here's to donuts and husbands and kids and spring! To all things now:)

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    1. Of COURSE it's about you, Denise! Didn't I change my whole comment approval for you?
      Big Wheel Day is the best! There are 30 year olds out there who remember it. We put "license plates" on the big wheels and tricycles so there's no big wheel jackings.
      They should have canceled that morning. The weather forecast was not good. But they had fun in spite of it.
      Donuts. Mmmmm!

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