No school...again

Well, the kids are all home from school again today. This week it is for Parent Teacher Conferences. Joshua was home both yesteday & today but the other 2 had to go 1/2 day yesterday. Rachel went to another student's house for the afternoon as they have a project to do together. This student lives in Rockford (which is quite a drive from here) so the mom picked Rachel up when she picked up her own and then brought Rachel back to the school around the time we were finishing up with all the conferences. This saved us all a lot of driving.
The conferences went well. Stephen's was probably the best conference we have ever had in his school career! This teacher really seems to understand him and they get along great. We are so thrilled with her work with him. Joshua is having a slight difficulty understanding that when the teacher or a parent assistant want him to do something he needs to do it whether he wants to or not. He is just being stubborn and wouldn't count past 10 for them when he was being assessed. Last night, though, he counted to 100 for us at home. Rachel is doing well too. Her biggest struggles are with Spanish and the fact that she missed 2 &1/2 days of school during a busy time. The strange weekend of us going to TC probably didn't help any either. She is doing so well in band on her saxophone that the second year students are a bit ashamed of their playing. The director told them they could either quit or practice harder if they didn't like that she was doing better then them.
Now, this morning has been spent with me helping Stephen work on a history project--Comerica Park. This is due on Thursday, Nov. 16 so this is the final weekend we have available. It is quite a project. So far we have the field itself made up. Now we just need all the seating and walls as well as it's extras, such as ferris wheel, carousel, and statues. It's going to be a long weekend.
The latest on Mom: She had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and the doctor was rather pleased. The only vital sign that they are having to keep an eye on because of a couple of poor readings is her oxygen level. This week she saw the cardiologist, next Wed. she sees the surgeon, and then she sees this doctor on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving again. She is still getting lots of company. Aunt Marlene is there with her all the time but Uncle Paul & Aunt Bette say they are staying in Alpena until her surgery is over and they come spend at least a day a week with them in TC. She also had a visit from her friend, Fran, who just moved to the UP in the last year or so. They spend time reading and doing puzzles. She sounds rather encouraged and content with the situation which is better then she was doing with her stay in the hospital.
We voted on Tuesday but are a bit disappointed with the outcome but we know that God's in control.