Friday Favorites: Switching into Honors

 We had a pretty good week this week with just a few stressful moments here and there trying to get Alec all switched over to his new honors classes on a week when we're all virtual.  So far these classes seem like a great fit for him!  We're still working hard to knock things off our Christmas to do list and preparing for Thanksgiving week too.  

Alec went in for one more day in his culinary shop on Friday.  I tackled schoolwork with the other two boys and then we spent a quiet rainy day inside. Alec came home with some delicious gingerbread muffins!

My mom offered to pick Alec up from school since the other two boys had their yearly physicals.  They both had great check ups and the doctor even managed to give Evan a hearing test (something we've been waiting on since lockdown started in March!).  They think the ringing in his ears that he's been complaining about for exactly a year now might just be a fluid build up and suggested we try some allergy meds to dry things out a bit.  We'll check back in  a few weeks and see if we need a referral for an ENT doctor.  (We had tried to address all this with his physical last year but all his appointments got canceled when things went into lockdown and we hadn't heard anything from anyone). 

For dinner I cooked up some chicken, rice, broccoli, & acorn squash.

Ian went to work with his grandfather on Saturday. I headed out nice and early and shopped the morning away at Target trying to get my Christmas shopping closer to finished.  

Alec had another karate class and we learned that he needs to take up a weapon for his next grading belt.  So we started talking options and it sounds like he's going to try using knives (sort of fitting for a martial arts chef!).  

In the afternoon I threw together a few birthday gifts for my sister.  She loves Christmas and the movie Elf so I made her a couple of really cute t-shirts!  

For dinner I heated up a spiral ham, heated some squash casserole I had in the freezer, cooked up some peas and frozen corn and heated a few baked potatoes in the microwave for the two boys that don't eat squash casserole.  My mother in law joined us and we ended our night playing cards.

The boys and I cleaned the whole upstairs on Sunday.  I also emailed all of Alec's new teachers reminding them that he needs the Google Classroom codes for all of his new classes that start tomorrow (all 8 of them!).  Then Alec, Evan and I headed out for a fun day of shopping.

We stopped at Barnes and Noble, wandered the pet store for a bit, and stopped for lunch at Panera Bread.

He eagerly dove right in

Love watching the cute pets even if I have no desire to get any!

I settled in to paint my nails and read my new book once we got home and I finished up a few of my chores.

For dinner my husband and I worked together to make tacos with salad.  We watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off after learning the younger two had no idea what it was!  We'll have to start a John Hugh's marathon.

By bedtime we still hadn't heard anything from Alec's teachers- I was dreading being on the phone all day with the school trying to get his day sorted out. 

I was up early on Monday; between a terrible storm that passed through the night and worries over how Alec could attend classes online that we have no codes to I did not sleep well. Luckily by the time school started he was only missing a few codes. *updated: he got all the codes in needed just in time for each class throughout the week*  His new teachers seem quite enthusiastic and just as fantastic as his past teachers.

I kept wandering back and forth between Alec's virtual schooling and the other two boys working on their schoolwork in the kitchen.  

We spent our afternoon playing card games and a few rounds of Apples to Apples before heading out on a walk.  My sister called while we were walking and I spent the next hour or so on the phone with her. 

Trying to play with angle and perspective 

By the time dinner rolled around I realized I didn't have time left to prepare anything so my husband brought home pizzas and we ate salad with them.

Ian headed off to work on Tuesday and Alec settled down for another day of virtual school.  It was a beautiful morning on the lake! 

 His teachers really piled on the work and he's seeing what honors classes will be like.  Evan and I tackled a few subjects too and then worked on cleaning the downstairs. 

After lunch Evan and I headed out to the library, to drop off my sister's gift & card (which I realized I left at home only as I was getting off the highway near her house!), and stopped by the furniture store where we learned that we most likely won't get our new living room set until April if we order one right now. 

Her card

I liked this set; but not the color.  We left without ordering anything.

 I made a chicken pot pie for dinner and just as I was putting it in the oven and we were working on Alec's schoolwork we saw that somehow when grades were being switched from his old classes to his new classes his health grade was switched from a 90 to a 60!  We immediately emailed the teacher and the guidance office as report cards come out in just a matter of days. 

Needless to say both him and I went to bed feeling a bit stressed and anxious. 

I woke pretty early again on Wednesday and was unable to fall back to sleep.  I was so glad Alec only had half a day of school and while I pulled out a pretty big stack of work for the other two I was confident we could all be done school by lunch. 

Thankfully he had health on Wednesday and with his teacher's help, in just a short few seconds, they had it all squared away.  It is so hard communicating sometimes through screen only!  He had a great day of school and is all caught up on any work he needed for these honors classes. 

After school we cleaned the house, played a game of Trivia Crack (Alec won & both Ian and I tied for second), and then finally delivered the gift to my sister.  

For dinner I cooked up some pork chops, rice a roni, and a variety of squash. 

I was so happy to not have anywhere to go on Thursday.  It was so cold out and I was in a snuggly/ comfy clothes mood.  With Ian at work and Evan only having a few subjects to work through, I spent most of my day in the living room with Alec listening in on his classes, blogging, reading my book, and repainting my nails.  

At the last minute Alec and I did run out to pick up his culinary jacket uniform.  They had been adding his name to them and they were ready for pick up.  He has a full official kitchen uniform now (minus yet another pair of shoes we have to return/exchange)

I threw together some fresh coleslaw (using this recipe).  It was a great way to use up the two heads of cabbage we got in our Misfits box this week to go with our shaved steak sandwiches and salad. 

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