The Saturday 7

1. This week I dipped my toes into the water of the working world by subbing for the school librarian. I've been a stay-at-home mom for 8 years now, though I've watched kids here and there, and dabbled in various other pursuits that required very little time or energy. Haha. So this was a nice way to ease in for me. I only worked three days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) from 8-3. Honestly, it's a pretty ideal schedule and I wouldn't be too upset if I ever had the opportunity to make it my permanent reality instead of a short-term sub position. 🤞🤞🤞 I loved the librarian work of checking in and re-shelving books, checking out books, and even helping kids find certain things. I enjoyed picking out and reading books for storytime (even if I had to read through a mask). But dealing with the kids the week before Christmas break is another story. Lol. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. I've worked with kids all my life. I know how they are. Heck, I have a few troublemakers of my own. But dealing with 20+ in an environment that is supposed to be quiet and calm made me realize two things: 1. This is exactly why I didn't pursue the teaching degree I originally started and 2. Teachers are saints and need substantial pay-raises. I gave all 3 of my kids' teachers straight up gift cards this year. Didn't even try to do anything cute. Take my money and please keep teaching my kids. Lol. I should probably start saving for the extravagant gifts I'm going to have to buy Levi's teachers as he ages. In all of the classes I had this week, the boys were universally less well-behaved than the girls. I know, I know that a calm and quiet environment is not ideal for young boys. I know they mature at a slower rate than girls. Don't stone me. I'm just making an observation! I honestly felt bad for scolding the same few kids every day between recess and library, but they just don't listen! And that is what I say about Levi all day everyday. He just doesn't listen!! So if you're reading this and think I'm talking about one of your precious angels, know that I don't judge you for your child's behavior. And if you're reading this and you're a teacher who might someday have Levi, please lend me the same grace. Lol!

2. As I mentioned last week my least favorite part of the job was recess duty. Justin had zero sympathy for me since he works outside year round no matter the weather, and I was whining about half an hour in moderately cold weather. Haha. Fortunately, I found a pair of snowpants in Mrs. Miller's closet that she was happy to lend to me, so between those and my fleece lined leggings, coat, boot, mittens, and hat, I stayed decently warm! As a recess aide, I also had to wear a reflective vest, fanny pack, and walkie-talkie, so I looked totally awesome.

Can't forget the mask! I actually didn't mind wearing the mask outside because it was another layer of warmth!

Bad news about my $15 Aldi boots: they're not very warm. Haha. You get what you pay for, I guess!

And now I'm feeling like I should've gotten all the recess aides gift cards too since they do the job no one else wants to! Haha. 

3-5. Despite my rigorous work schedule (😜) I managed to come up with a few fun Advent activities for the week.

Sunday:

This set-up was accompanied by a card telling my kids to buy each other gifts. So we braved the masses at Five Below, forced a mask on Levi's face (the rest of us wore them willingly), and spent $45+ so our 3 kids could each buy each other a gift. Five Below was crazy town, it's impossible to juggle three kids with two parents in a small store without anyone seeing what the other is buying - especially when one kid panics when you move out of sight, and one bolts any time he gets the chance. 🤦 But we all made it and they're so excited for their siblings to see what they bought.

Monday:

An invitation to make seashell ornaments. (And the camel judging my judgmental sign. He's saying "That's rude.")

Every year, one or two of my pre-planned activities is a flop. This was the dud this year. Mostly, it was bad timing. Lena had a friend over after school and I went to Bible study soon after she got picked up. We absolutely could've done the craft with the friend, but they were playing so nicely, and I really didn't want to get out the paint and the hot glue and the whole nine yards, so I chalk the failure up to my laziness. It happens.

Tuesday: Actually, it happened again on Tuesday. I didn't even bother to arrange the wise men the night before or do anything fun with them. And the activity for the day was me handing the kids the "special ornament" I bought them for the year. This year's was kind of a no-brainer.

Front . . .

Back

Wednesday:

This was one of my favorites so far this year. I made up that little rhyme (don't mind my embarrassing spelling error 🤦🤦🤦🤦), but found the treasure hunt clues online. (I chose 15, and labeled each clue with a kid's name, so they'd each get an equal amount.)

The trail of clues led to the hidden wise men, and a cheap gift of course.

Poor wise guy got taped to the underside of a chair.

Thursday:

On Wednesday night, I put out a bunch of random craft stuff I've been collecting/saving alongside the wisemen in a box covered in a blanket and a note that said, "We're tired and so is your mom. We're going to take a nap. You get creative with what's in this box." The kids were not amused and only Lena was even marginally interested in the craft supplies. Haha. Fail again.

Friday:

The whiteboard says, "We saw a bright light and thought it was the star . . . it was not. Let's go see some more lights at the Christmas light drive-through tonight!" 

We've been going to the "Christmas Lite Show" at the ballpark for years. I usually find some kind of discount code online, and it's never been overly busy. But this year, it's one of the few Christmas traditions that hasn't been cancelled by Covid - since you stay in your own car the whole time. So it was veeeeery busy. (It didn't help that we went on a Friday night.) 

I may have had some foreknowledge about the long lines, but I kept that to myself . . .

I think we were in line around 40 minutes before we even got to the gate to pay. Fortunately, there were lights set up throughout the line and we could see some of the main event. Levi also entertained himself by shouting at other cars in line and making friends along the way (much to the chagrin of his socially awkward parents).

Unfortunately, my coupon code didn't work, but by then we'd already waited 40 minutes and I'm not sure we could've gotten out of line if we tried, so we paid full price . . . which was especially painful when the whining, complaining, and arguing started five minutes after we got into the park.

Here are a few pictures before the meltdowns:

This is their favorite part. Haha.

Saturday:

6. We did wrap presents today, but we spent most of the day doing this:

We have one of those drawer-tower things with 10 drawers in it. Each one is filled to the brim with Legos. The girls are terrible about keeping their sets together, so every time they finish one and take it apart, it just goes into these bins. We recently found a bunch of the directions from their old sets and wanted to re-make some, but it was impossible with the Legos in such disarray. Hence this project. After a few hours it looked like this:

Ain't no party like a Lego-sorting party!

We still have three full drawers to sort through, but spending hours hunched over on the ground absolutely killed my back, and no one will do it without me, so we'll finish later.

7. A few more pictures and one ridiculous article (that is neither safe for work nor children, but does not contain inappropriate images - only words).

Lena got a bow-maker from Justin's parents last weekend. It's been a big hit.

Levi's been really into dinosaurs, and found an animated series based on Jurassic Park that I stupidly let him watch. It was way too old for him.

We had Ruby over for a few hours yesterday. She played hard with the girls, and ran circles around the house with Levi, then they sat down to watch a movie and this happened . . .

Don't worry, I woke her up so she'd sleep for her mom and dad that night! 

It turns out the school library has all of the old yearbooks. See any cuties you know in the second to last row? 

6 days, people!!! 6 days!!!!

And now for this week's edition of "What Kind of Crazy World Do We Live In??!!"

And the real kicker . . .

The whole article (I especially like the title: The Pennsylvania health department issued guidelines for 'Rona-free orgies. And in other news, our nation deserves the wrath of a holy God.) 

There's so much I could say . . . and if you can find this on Not The Bee's Facebook page, treat yourself to the amazing comment section . . . but I think it speaks for itself. 

One more picture to end on a happier note: