Jour de neige numéro six

Seriously.

it is the 6th bus cancellation day in January.

last week they were cancelled tues, wed, thurs.

this week... 

buses cancelled tues, wed, thurs.

so far 

*insert 2017's evil laugh here*

last week 

tuesday i kept the kids home.

wednesday i kept them home.

thursday i drove them to school.

this week

tuesday i kept them home.

wednesday i drove them to school.

today i kept them home.

first:

 i didn't feel like fighting them to get them ready for school.

which i knew would happen, as at bed time last night, they had already voiced that if it was a snow day they would like to pleeeease stay home.

secondly:

i was tired.

i stayed up too late and i knew i'd be a grumpy bear if they gave me the littlest argument.

thirdly:

i was going to do some snowday homeschooling with them.

it was going to work, 

it was going to be the most fun ever.

we were going to have a jolly ol' time.

so to begin our day

i let them sleep and began to plan how i wanted the day to go.

what did i want them to learn today?

when they got up 

*at the same time somehow*

i informed them that we were doing school at home.

my boy nodded,

"uh, ok"

my girl...

"no i'm not!" 

and stormed to her room.

i told her either get dressed and ready to go to school or we'll do school here at home, her choice.

not long after she came out and i laid out the day for them.

first, i would shower and get dressed and they could play.

then we'd have breakfast and do Bible time.

Bible Time

i have been working on teaching my kids about the armour of God.  

Therefore, put on the full armour of God, 

so that when the day of evil comes, 

you will be able to stand your ground,

and after you have done everything,

to stand.

Stand firm then,

with the belt of truth buckled round your waist,

with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, 

take up the shield of faith,

with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit,

which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:13-18

today we finished with the Sword of the Spirit

and then concluded by praying through the verses we had for each piece of armour.

i told the kids that it was actually nice to have the time to not feel rushed but to have all the time we needed to complete the study we did.

i sent them to play as i figured out what to do for their math time.

i wanted it to be interesting and fun.

for some, math and fun do not mix...

for my kids i knew it could.

i went on the headache that is pinterest to get ideas.

i printed off a couple Number of the Day sheets and gave them each their own number.

then i got out the dominoes, two dice and graph paper.

it was time for math!

they each did their number of the day page.

when that was done i had something special for each of them.

the boy:

he got the graph paper and the dice.

he would roll the dice.  

with the two numbers showing he would draw on the graph paper # x # 

then solve the problem by counting the squares.

the girl:

would pick a random domino and writing down the problem, add the two numbers.

they each, at some point, said to themselves

"this is fun."

that made me smile.

Time for Language Arts

it's Thursday, and Thursday means mail!

they had to write a rough copy of a note to someone.

my boy wrote to his great grandma and the girl wrote to her grandma.

i edited (with them) their rough copy.

they then filled out a final card to be mailed.

after they were done their card they were to journal or, in the boy's case, continue writing a story.

outside for Recess! 

and the melt down began.

it was not a fun recess.

it ended with one kid coming in in tears and sending himself to his room.

the other i sent to her room for a little break until everyone was calmer and i would get lunch ready.

the situation was resolved and lunch was enjoyed.

after lunch they sat at the computer for art.

*we did take a wee break as another meltdown happened.*

then they did get their drawings done.

reading.

i had one read out loud to me as the other one did their chores and then read independently.

then we switched.

i loved listening to these two read out loud.

they are getting so confident in their reading.

second last subject:

Français.

yep, i decided to tackle french.

i have one kid who doesn't take any french yet and one who is in his second year of it.  

*only because he was in a 3/4 split last year and enjoyed it with the grade 4s*

as of the beginning of the day i had told them if we were counting at all it had to be in french.

that was fun.

i had printed off 3 work-sheets each.

we did some conversation french on our first page.

second was a word find but that was just extra.

the third was colors.

simple, yet they enjoyed them.

last class of the day...

Home economics 

haha

tonight we are having meatloaf.

so, the kids helped me make it...

actually they prepared it completely.

it will be going in the oven soon.

after making the meatloaf we sat at the table and i thanked them for a great day.

they both had fun.

they asked if we can do it again on the next snow day.

i'm not a home school mom.

but i enjoyed my day today.

now they are watching Alice in Wonderland in the living room and i am sharing this day with you.

side note: 

the kids weren't the only ones with a meltdown today...

but we all survived, no meltdown lasted long.

no school today

today is yet another bus cancellation day here in Muskoka.

i think in the month of January, we have had 4 bus cancellation days.

i don't say snow days because not all of them were truly snow days.

i don't consider it a snow day if it's not due to snow.

i can't do it.

*ok, sometimes i do, 'snow day!' sounds more exciting than 'bus cancellation day!'*

we have had snow day, horrible gross road day.

we have had possibility of a butt load of snow day

and today we have a freezing rain day.

*i have a friend that had fog day before Christmas, we haven't had that one...yet*

last night i heard the weather report for today.

there was a freezing rain warning for our area that would begin in the morning then turn to snow and back to freezing rain in the afternoon.

we have had days predicted like that and had the buses still drive.

sometimes the buses had no issues for the freezing rain came after the after school bus time.  and people were so happy the buses didn't get cancelled.

sometimes the buses were good before school but after school the roads were treacherous, and people were furious the buses didn't get cancelled.

we have had days predicted like that and the buses were cancelled.

sometimes the buses had no issues for the freezing rain didn't come until later in the evening.  people were furious that the buses were cancelled.

sometimes the buses were good before school but after school the roads were treacherous and people were glad the buses were cancelled.

see what i'm getting at?

anyone?

bueller?

no matter the decision made, someone out there will probably have an issue with it.

i, for one, take it as it comes.

sure, some days i go "seriously?  why are the buses not driving?  oh well.  do i want to drive them in?"  

sometimes yes i do, sometimes no i don't.

some days i go "seriously? i can't believe they are not cancelled...Lord keep our bus drivers safe out there as they transport my kidlets to and from school, thank you for them"

i'm not perfect and we do not have perfect happy-go-lucky snow days, all the time.

i'm blessed to be able to be home for my kids, so snow days don't hinder us.  

i don't need to find babysitting, or call in sick to work when a snow day happens.  

i live close enough to the school that i could drive my kids in if i needed to that day.  

they have come to appointments with me when buses were cancelled.

i know that on a snow day the work load is not the normal at school.

there's a lot more review as well as a variety of extra activities since the population of the school is so small on those days.

so i know my kids aren't missing learning something new on a snow day, they won't be behind.

last week we had 3 bus cancellation days.

last week was the first week back after Christmas holidays HAHA!

oh Muskoka, you always amuse me.

am i always this optimistic?

nope.

but a lot of times i am verbally positive while my brain is cringing and wanting to complain.

i find when i make an effort to not complain and to find the positive, the blessing, the fun in the situation i am able to allow God to turn my complaining, grumbling, frustration into thankfulness.

it helps me refocus.

the people making the decision are making this decision to keep my children safe.

(i don't care if their reason is to avoid lawsuits or genuine concern for my kids, if the safety concern is number one, i'm all for it)

so, 

thank you people in charge of making the decision.

i've said it before i'll say it again...

i'm glad i am not you.

*Jan 2014 snow day post*