Crazy busy

We have been so crazy busy since my last blog that I just can't seem to get on the computer to write about it. Of course, I was also sick for a while in there too which doesn't get me in the mood to blog much either.
Some nights we are literally running in circles around this town keeping up with the kids. There was a Friday (3/5) that Stephen was doing a youth group activity so he had to be dropped off at the church around 5:30. Then Rachel was going to a dance at her school so she had to be dropped off at 7 at the other end of town. That left Joshua stuck with Mom and Dad and not much planned. We decided we should blow off some steam so we went to an indoor activity center that has bumper cars, go karts, and lots of video games. We had a blast there until it was time to pick Stephen up at the church at 9 and then back to Rachel's school by 9:30 when the dance ended. Between the church and Rachel's school is probably about 15 miles so you see that it was quite the run around but everyone had a good time so it was worth it for sure.
I was down for a while with a sinus infection. Even after I finished the antibiotic I was struggling with a sore throat. Dr assures me it is just my allergies. Welcome to spring!
We have had quite a bit of spring weather already. The funniest thing is that we had temps in the 60s most of the week before spring started and then on last Saturday when it officially started we awoke to more snow on the ground. It then spent most of the day snowing on Saturday.
This is midterm week so it is keeping the kids, especially Rachel and Stephen, busy. Lots of tests, quizzes, and projects due. Rachel has had an especially heavy load of projects and papers in the last couple of weeks. She is actually in the process of a paper for her Honors Biology class, and she is defending her stand on the origin of life. It is really a huge undertaking! All the kids are looking forward to Spring Break that will be starting here next week. Rachel actually gets an extra day that the boys don't. She has a 1/2 day on 4/1 but the boys still go all day on 4/1 but also have to go for a 1/2 day on 4/2.
We are also working on plans for Joshua's birthday. He was planning to take some friends to a museum that is having a special exhibit called "Big, big, bugs" where they have made huge replicas of different bugs. You sort of get a "Honey we shrunk the kids" type of effect. I figured that would be really cool for young boys. What happens but Joshua's class plans a trip to that museum the week before Spring break so now we are changing plans.
We have had 2 rather unusual experiences since I blogged last and not necessarily good ones. The first happened on a Wed. as I went to pick up the boys from school. None of the kids & teachers were outside when we got there and it was time that they should be. So Rachel & I walked up to the school to go find the boys. Turns out that the entire school was on "lock down". The school had been notified just shortly before the end of the school day that the sheriff had gone to pick up someone on a "mental warrant" and he had bolted when he saw the sheriff in the driveway. This occurred less than a mile from the school as well as 2 other schools. The guy had been known to be aggressive & possibly had a pocket knife. This put all 3 schools on lock down. It was rather good experience to see how well all the teachers handled their responsibilities. They had males (asst. principal, PE teacher, social worker) out patrolling the parking lot to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious. All outside doors were locked and there was only one way in to get to the kids. It was being controlled by the principal and another worker. The sheriff never did catch the guy. It is believed that his girlfriend helped him leave the area.
The second one happened last week (I think it was Thursday). Joshua had finished his homework and went outside to play. He came in and said that there was a WOOD TV 8 news van at the top of the street. I looked at the time and it was 5 which is when they start news coverage. We turned on the TV and they said there had been a shooting at the corner of Ann & Center. We rushed out the door & up to the corner and sure enough here was a ton of cop cars and the intersection completely blocked off. There were lots of stories going around as to what had happened. The final (official) story is that a police man stopped a moped because there were 2 people on it. When the cop asked the driver for ID, he didn't have any & then he took off. The officer got a hand on his jacket but then the guy slipped out of it & took off. The guy went between a couple of houses and when he couldn't make it over a fence, he turned around and pulled a gun on the cop. The officer ended up having to shoot him. Turns out that the guy was a parole absconder. He was wanted for parole violations from last October & wasn't very happy at the idea of getting caught. This would actually have been his 4th strike with such charges as armed robbery as well as drugs. It was a rather strange night. They had the intersection shut down for 4-5 hours and then the next afternoon there were about 4 cars back on the scene. Of course, this is the time of excitement we would really rather avoid. The only positive thing I can say is that it breaks up the normal routine of our lives.
Well, gotta get going. It's mop night here at work & I also haven't gotten any other cleaning done yet. Only an hour and a half before I have to get a resident up and ready for her day so I better get at it. Especially since I have a "newby" here that needs a good example set & I don't want her going around telling others we don't do our work.