Mommy Dates

It's been almost two years now that I started working again. It was just something I wanted to do. I have lazy tendencies and stay more productive when I'm busy. My job is a perfect mommy job: I go to school at 8 with my kids, work for 5 hours as a 6th grade aide, and come home two hours before the kiddos. Some days I can get overwhelmed because I still have so much to do at home after my hours at work, but for the most part I find it to be very rewarding and enjoyable.

One of the challenges I came against when I returned to work was how to handle those mornings when one of my children says they don't feel well enough to go to school. Getting a sub at the last minute can be tough, and going through all of that to find out that my child wasn't really sick after all can be a little annoying. So, the idea of the mommy date was born. The idea is that if the kids make it through a whole quarter without faking sick at all, they get to be checked out of school for a one-on-one mommy lunch date. It has really helped. The times I have stayed home with them, they have been legitimately sick.

We just ended the third quarter a little while back and so it was time for the dates again. I seriously look forward to these. They're so much fun! First was H1's turn (we usually draw straws to determine the order). He wanted to go to Shakey's pizza buffet. Since he was first, I hadn't yet thought of taking pictures, so here is an alternate picture of him driving his Grandpa's Polaris in the big fields:

Next in order was H3. She chose the Asian Buffet. Yum. I got to chow down lots of green beens, cream cheese wontons, and enjoy converstation with this cute little thing:

H2 wanted to go to Buffalo Wild Wings. That girl loves wings about as much as I do. DH met us there since it is right near his work. It was a great time.

We are almost to the end of cheer competition season. It has been fun. Saturday's was not my fave though because it involved a three hour drive both ways, which made for a long day. Here is the cheerleader herself all made up and ready to go:

The spring weather has been so nice! Last week after I weeded in the garden for 3 hours (ugh!) I took H3 and her friend to the park for a bit. Someone had the cutest little puppy there that she let us hold for a bit : )

H1's favorite pass-time lately is making stop-animation films with his friend. He's done quite a few. I asked him to make one for me to post on the blog.

And lastly, I got around to making a spring wreath for my door......my favorite steal from Pinterest so far!