I am still getting over being sick, so J just had a nice unschooling day today. She's amazingly at the point of preferring the tv being off - which is so great - and found other things to do. She did ask me to get off the computer this morning so she could find a good poem to copy, but I was balancing my checkbook and paying the bills. That took me about an hour and before I knew it, it was time to get W from school. K had a half day today because of parent-teacher conference day. She got her report card yesterday and did wonderfully in all subjects. She's averaging about a B+.

I ended up taking the kids shopping all day. Boy, that tax money is dwindling away fast! But hey, spring is coming and they all need clothes. I even bought myself a few shirts! We finished our day at the mall. W didn't nap all day and was tired and grouchy from about 4pm. B went to the p-t conference and thankfully came back with glowing reports about K. It's amazing how different K and J are. I don't think I've ever had a good conference with any of J's teachers. Sigh.

K and W are off for "winter break" next week. It's a great opportunity to hit a few museums. Many are having kids days with free workshops, tours, activities, etc. Central Park has beautiful new "Gates" that I want to check out. Here's a little more about them:

~7,500 gates, 16 feet high (4.87 m) with a width varying from 5 feet 6 inches to 18 feet (1.68 m to 5.48 m) will line 23 miles (36.8 km) of footpaths in the park.
~Free-hanging, saffron-colored fabric panels will be suspended from the top of each gate and hang down to 7 feet (2.13 m) above the ground.
~The Gates will be stationed approximately 12 feet (3.65 m) apart, except when low branches extend above the walkways.
~The Gates will create a visual golden river appearing and disappearing through the bare branches of the trees, highlighting the shapes of the footpaths.
~The luminous moving fabric will underline the organic and serpentine design of the walkways, while the rectangular poles will be a reminder of the grid pattern of the City blocks around the park.

http://gonyc.about.com/library/gallery/bl_thegates09.htm