Little bits of 5th grade.

This past Thursday was the school wide Literature and Arts Festival.  They have improved it quite a bit from when they first started it.  I believe that K was in the third grade and frankly, it was a bit of a snoozer.

This year it was Dr. Seuss themed.  It made for a bit of a tight night.  K had the Literature and Arts Festival where she was playing in a harp recital and in a shoe fashion show (more on that in a minute) then moving on to swimming lessons at the local university.

Harp recital:  6:45 PM
Shoe Fashion Show:  7:00 PM
Swimming Lessons:  7:45 AM (about a 10 minute drive, park and walk.  About a 20 minute total time investment.)

I painted K's face with a Lorax mustache with pink swirl cheeks and pink eyebrows.  I gave her three unevenly placed hair knobbins with bright pipe cleaners swirling around them.  Her principal was laughing and calling her Cindy Lou Who.  :)  You see, I talked with her art teacher and asked if there was any way we could bump K close to the front of the shoe show so that we could scoop and run if it ran too long.  Sure!

She put her up front.

My baby up front with her Lorax boots.  Those would be her boots on the screen.  I loved that her art teacher took photos of them and put them on the screen so that everyone could see.  

Blurry, but you could get a little idea of those knobbins that I'm talking about.  

You can also see the face paint.  

The kids are on two-handed play with the harp now.  What a wonderful opportunity for her to be able to learn harp this year.  

What was funny is that we raced to swimming with her still in costume.  The students at the university kind of dug it.  She wore her bathing suit underneath all of it, so we could have her ready with clothes, but that left me to pull pipe cleaners out and the more difficult task of removing the paint.  I had baby wipes and had to kind of scrub at the paint.  We got her all ready with 5 minutes to spare!  :)

It's been a rough year.  I credit harp for pulling K through.  What a wonderful blessing in the storm of 5th grade we've had this year.

Our public school specifications of what calls a snow day.

CALAMITY DAYS

How it works.

Since many of our families have written and called with questions about our procedures and have inquired about [our public schools] running a two-hour delay on days when schools are facing closure due to inclement weather, we offer this to help explain things a bit more.

[Our public schools] takes seriously the declaration of any day schools are closed and follows the required guidance provided by the Ohio Revised Code.

Declaring a so-called Calamity Day is guided by Ohio Revised Code 3317.01 (B), which provides Ohio school districts six reasons that drive such a decision: 

•     disease epidemic
•     hazardous weather conditions
•     law enforcement emergencies
•     inoperability of school buses or other equipment
•     damage to a school building
•     other temporary circumstances due to utility failure

When a calamity day is declared during the winter season, it is often called a snow day. Calling a snow day is always a difficult decision, and we do not make these decisions lightly.

The superintendent of our school district always bases the decision on the safety of our students and staff. Although there are no hard and fast rules when deciding to close school due to inclement weather, the following conditions are considered:

•     the amount of snow on the ground
•     the amount of snow PROJECTED to fall
•     weather forecasts for the entire school day
•     road conditions
•     temperature
•     wind chill
•     ability of the City [employees] to plow and salt the streets
•     conditions of school parking lots and sidewalks

[Our public schools] staff members travel around the city beginning at 1:30 a.m. of the school day when bad weather is expected.

We do this to assist in determining the conditions that may lead to the cancellation of classes.  

Our staff makes direct contact with the City - - - Snow and Ice Division as well as with - - - police and the county sheriff.

Of our 20,000 students, we provide roughly 5,000 with bus transportation in grades K-8 (only). This follows state of Ohio rules for who is eligible for transport.

The remainder of [our public school] students will usually choose to walk to school.

High-school-age students do not receive school bus transportation, but many may ride [the public bus service.]

Other Factors
Eighty-six per cent of our students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Many of our families are from low-income households who have no transportation. Some are even homeless. Even though we work with community organizations to provide free winter clothing for our families (and other necessary services), we know that many of our families still struggle getting children to school in harsh weather.

All of our parents reserve the right to keep their children home if they feel it is not safe to make the trek.

However, the district is required to report every student’s daily attendance to the Ohio Department of Education. State ODE requirements allow students to have only certain reasons to be excused from class when schools are open. These reporting requirements are strict and adhered to for all students attending [our public schools].

Students missing school due to weather only will not be considered to have an excused absence by ODE.

Many have asked why we do not yet pursue employing a two-hour delay. Reasons for this are many, but the most prevalent would be the mere logistics of it. [Our public schools] run 350 bus routes every day, using more than 60 buses to transport students to most of our 54 schools and 50 other private, charter and parochial schools in Northeast Ohio.

Many of our own schools have different start times as do the other schools we serve with transportation. Some charter schools do not begin until 9 a.m. A delay would put their start time at 11 in the morning. With a recess at the end of the day just a few hours beyond that, the wisdom of utilizing this method is questionable.

As always, we continue to explore ways to improve how this all works, within the boundaries of state rules and regulations.

- -  This information was taken from an e-mail sent to me by our public schools. 

There is someone in my backyard . . .

. . . and she is COLD.  She's told me that.  She doesn't really mind the snow.  That isn't a problem.  The continual Arctic blasts of cold air make her shiver to her sticks and carrot.  

My baby made us a snowlady outside of our bedroom window. 

Just sayin'. Even the snowlady is having issues.

We pulled the trigger and ditched cable.

I should start this off by saying that we've never been huge TV people.  I mean, sure-- we watch it.  We've just never required the awesome sum of channels that some others have.

We've had "antenna" cable for probably 11 years.  We didn't really want cable, but my in-law's kind of built it into our Christmas gift when K was born and that was kind of them.  They knew that we wouldn't have it otherwise.  Though they've offered to upgrade, we just wanted to stick with cable enough to get some reception and that was it.

Here's the thing.  Cable has gone up.  And up.  And up.  What used to be $10 was now $25.  It isn't like more services were being provided.  Over the last year, it seems like every two months or so, TWC would take another channel or two away.

We couldn't take it anymore.

At the turn of the new year, I told M that it was his job to make cable go away.  I like to watch the morning or evening news.  Other than that, shows could be watched on the internet.

He checked out several antenna and converter boxes.

He checked out Apple TV.

He checked out Fire TV.

What did we land on?  We now have Amazon Fire TV with an Amazon Prime subscription.  He also bought a Homeworx converter box/antenna set.  With the converter box/antenna alone, we have MORE channels than we had with cable.  I might also add that the reception is crystal clear where with TWC, it was some sort of snowy reception all of the time.

How much did this project set us back?

Well, we bought the prime subscription when it went on sale in January for $72.  We bought the Fire TV the next day when they happen to have that on sale for $84.  Both of these items purchased on sale, with free ship (because of the prime subscription) together cost $25.00 out of pocket.  We were able to use our Cashback bonus with our Discover Card which made it so very affordable.  The antenna and converter box cost $42.  To toss cable ended up costing us $67.

We'll take it.

I will say that if you are TV addicted, this is NOT the solution for you.  We get local channels, but don't pull in Fox.  That's fine.  There are some shows that we'll have to watch on the internet but I'm quite okay to NOT have Fox News.  We pull in shows, but some rotate and are available at some times, but not others.  (Netflix does the same thing is what I've heard.)

It works for us.

Not the Apple Cinnamon Cream of Wheat from my youth.

I have a love of the packaged Apple Cinnamon Cream of Wheat from my youth.  It was and still is my very favorite.

I haven't been able to find it.  Not just recently.  I haven't been able to find it in years.  

Last week, we were in Amish Country.  I found a giant bag of plain Cream of Wheat.  "I can try to make it myself!"  I got to work.

I was on the hunt for dried apples.  I couldn't find those, either.  I did find freeze dried apples on the Target clearance rack yesterday.  It's kind of what I wanted anyhow.  I didn't want the squishy dried ones.  

I individually bagged 15 servings.  (I made a total of 16 servings, but had to test drive one.)

It doesn't look like the Cream of Wheat of my youth.  It's a bit more cinnamony than what I had, too.  It is still good.  

Amy's Fake Out Apple Cinnamon Cream of Wheat

1/4 cup plain cream of wheat

1 T raw sugar

1/2 t cinnamon

1 1/2 slices freeze dried apple, chopped

Dump your ingredients in a snack bag.  You'll have to figure out how much water you like.  I'm not for watery cream of wheat.  Boil your water and have at it.  

Enjoy!  

A case of the bends.

I came home and asked M if he was fiddling with the downspout.

"Um, no."

"Then you probably should come out and see this."

The downspout has filled with water that froze, it bowed the pipe away from the house so far that it actually broke away from the brackets that held it in place.  

We just have a little bit of a sway problem going on here.  

I guess that we'll add that to the repair list whenever the weather breaks.  

To all of the college students complaining that they have class during the cold spell.

From the local university where K takes swim lessons:

Closing the University because of low temperatures 

Rarely does the University close because of low temperatures alone.  

The safety of all students, faculty and staff is our primary consideration in determining if the campus should remain open. No other factors supersede that one. If we receive information that weather conditions, or any other risks, pose a significant threat to the safety of our campus community, we will act appropriately and immediately. 

We serve a different clientele than our colleagues in elementary and secondary education. Our students and employees are adults. They are capable of preparing themselves for inclement weather and for deciding if weather conditions and their own personal circumstances warrant altering their schedules because of the weather. 

Second, we offer a service for which its students pay directly. If we close, we temporarily deny that service to students – including the many who live on or near campus. So, if our observations and consultations indicate that conditions do not present an undue threat to the campus community, we are obliged to provide the service that we have promised to our students. In other words, our job is to keep the University open.

 I get it.  It's cold.

This is the e-mail we got yesterday afternoon from the Director of the Aquatics Program:

Bundle up, bring your hair dryer!  We will still have our Thursday night swim lessons as scheduled.  Stay warm, Diane

When I was in college, it was -25 F.  (That was PRIOR to the windchill being factored in.)  Kent was the ONLY school in the area NOT to close.  Did I complain?  No.  I suited up and went to class.

Did it kill me?  No.

Here's the thing, you ARE in college.  That means that you are an adult now.

You ARE in college.  Do you know how many people would love to BE in college, but can't afford it?

I was reading through the Twitter feed while I was watching my dear child swim back and forth.  College kids were complaining.

It's ridiculous.  The university isn't watching out for our safety.   

If I wasn't graduating this spring, I would go to a different college that cares about their students. 

We need to text and e-mail the professors to tell them that it is too cold for class.  If we all do it, then maybe they'll cancel on their own.

Really?  You are going to flood the e-mail and text of your professor to get them to cancel class?  :tip of the head in confusion:  Um, aren't you a big girl and big boy right now?

Suck it up.  Go to class.  Wear some more layers.  Leave more time.  Skip through from building to building like I did.  You'll survive.  Look at it as the Amazing Race, only with this one, you get a degree at the end.