A Fine 5th Grade Finish

The last week of school was a lot of fun for our daughter.  Monday was Memorial Day, so there was no school.  Tuesday consisted of Field Day in the morning followed by a pool party where U2 Games was hired to offer additional fun amusements.  With 12 hours of training a week (when she wasn't injured, we expected our girl to bring home lots of first place ribbons at Field Day, but she was in the most athletic class (they got 1st place in ever single class competition) with girls over a foot taller than she was, so she had much more competition this year.  Still, she brought home individual ribbons as well.  She was less competitive this year as she has become more comfortable at school and is not as stressed or tense as she was last year.  Her facial expressions during field day last year were so intense the other parents could not hold back giggles at her determination.  I ran back and forth between her events and her brother's, but here are some photos I took or collected from other parents from Field Day.

Individual Events

Team Events:  The blonde she's with in these pics is the sister of one of my stats students, Blaine.

Siblings were invited to the after school party, and our son is so glad!  My son especially enjoyed the laser tag course, and we both took a spin in the hamster ball.

Mother/Son Hamster Ball & Laser Tag Fun

Since I was watching my son while my older daughter was off with her school friends, I did not get a single picture of her in the pool, and sadly, out of the 174 pictures another parent shared with the class, not one included a photo of my girl. :(

 I was a bit embarrassed to see one of my stats students at the pool (he brought his little brother who is a fifth grader) as I was in my (albeit modest) swim suit.  Of course, I was mostly unrecognizable since I had the frizziest hair ever after spending the morning helping with field day in high heat and humidity.

To add even further to my embarrassment, my daughter asked me to a flip off the diving board during adult swim time.  I looked around to see if anyone was watching, and since no one seemed to be looking my way (and thankfully, my former student was over in an adjacent field), I did a quick flip to please her.  Then other parents joined me, and the kids called out different dives and rated us like a real diving competition. It was hilarious and made a memory for those kids who never expected to see "old" women flipping off a diving board, but I'm still a tad embarrassed over how many faculty, parents, and students saw me having fun and acting goofy.  The things we do for our kids....but a board member did tell me that it's important for students to view their teachers as real people, approachable without a wall between them. 

Teacher/Mom Diving Competition

On Wednesday, our daughter got to help me take care of Muffin during her brother's Pet Day presentation, and then she joined him at his 2nd grade end-of-year party.  She chaperoned the water balloon fights and enjoyed hanging out with many of her classmates who also have siblings the same age.

 

On Thursday, her foodie teacher served all the students lunch.  Her teacher is super special to us as she really helped our daughter achieve her goal of making the all A honor roll this year.  With 12 hours of gymnastics a week plus Tae-Kwon-Do, Access Ministry, and other church commitments, she never had time to study outside of school except during "study center" which is an after school program for teacher's kids that is not conducive to study at all as the kids are loud and rowdy with taking, board games, hide-n-seek, etc.  So, this teacher would voluntarily help our daughter with math when she really needed it while I tutored high schoolers in math upstairs. I could tell she was passionate about her students as I am.

Her awards assembly was held the last day of school followed by an early release.  Her dad joined me for the presentation.  We were so proud of our girl for staying focused on her goal of making the all A honor roll, for going to her teacher for help when she struggled, for learning to balance a crazy schedule and her school work, for keeping the main thing (God) the main thing which required putting others before our her own goals, and for overcoming so many obstacles last year to make this year her best school year ever.  Another mom tried to assure me that if she could survive 4th grade with Mrs. Mitchell, she would be over-prepared for 5th grade and indeed she was. Now our daughter loves Mrs. Mitchell and lights up whenever she sees her for she knows now that Mrs. Mitchell was hard on her for a reason and for her long term good.

I am very impressed with our school's Latin teacher.  She bends over backwards to help each student, and she teaches every 3rd through 5th grader in the school.  She writes the lengthiest comments of any teacher about each student on their report cards, yet she has 9 times more students than regular grammar teachers.  In 5th grade, each student takes the international Latin exam which is predominately taken by high school students.  Two students in our school made perfect scores.  Our daughter only missed three questions, so she was recognized for her high score on the Latin exam as well. Way to go, girl!

When we came home, I had to take an end-of-year of photo to put  beside their 1st day of school photo.  She moves up to the Logic school and he moves up to the Upper Grammar School, so it was a big day indeed for our kiddos.

14 Year Anniversary

I've already posted about our anniversary/business trip to Naples, Florida where we celebrated in high fashion at the Ritz-Carlton thanks to a business conference my husband attended in which spouses were invited. We also went on a date together to Ruth's Chris, so we celebrated our anniversary more than usual in anticipation of my husband's surgery the day after we returned home. 

Yet, despite my husband's post operative, medicated state, we still got a few more anniversary surprises.  Our son's rose bush put out 14 blooms or buds for our 14th anniversary.  What are the odds?  It's hard to see them all in these picture, but here's the bush bearing 14 gifts for us and our daughter's bush's bearing beautiful roses which we have placed in vases around the house.

 

 

While reading The Diary of Anne Frank together, my daughter and I talked about how difficult relationships can become between mom and daughter during the adolescent years.  I tried to explain how erratic her feelings will be and how protective I will become for her own good.  I came across this meme by Dr. Laura and shared it with her as a joke but to also illustrate my point.

 

So when each of the kids gave me a handmade anniversary card, my daughter signed hers by referencing Dr. Laura which made me laugh so much.

It was a long day of running errands and running kids to all their activities, but when we got to the pool only to see that it was closed for timed trials (Yay!  We're not participating on the swim team this year and don't have that exhausting schedule),  we brought home two bored and disappointed kids.  By this time, I only wanted to be alone with my husband, so we went for a walk outside where the atmosphere was quieter and more tranquil.

We've only been home with the kids for five days since school finished for the summer, but the constant clamor, thunderous torrents of tiny feet traversing the house, loud laughter, repeated refrigerator raids, and multitude of messes they make were driving me bonkers. In the midst of the chaos, I’ve been trying to teach the kids that life on earth would be ever so much more enjoyable and without conflict if each one of us would consider the interests of others before ourselves. “But that’s so hard!” they cried. Indeed it is, and I struggle with it every day.

While we walked around outside, I shared with my husband (who is still fresh out of surgery and in a sling) what I observed while running errands and how that even though the kids can frustrate me to no end and even though the world should never be our standard, those annoying kids sure do seem like sweet angels compared to some of the adults I encounter each day. One lady jumped to the front of a really long line with a haughty attitude that told the rest of us in line who stood by quietly watching her that she thought she was much more important and entitled than we were. An older man shouted expletives in front of my little boy at the stamp machine in the post office. A young guy nearly ran us over while speeding much too fast through the parking lot. But then in contrast, my son held the door open for the lady behind us and spoke kindly with “Yes, Mam” and “Thank you”. I told him that I need to be grateful that our kids are at least trying to be respectful and thoughtful of others, but it sure would help if they would at least remember to clean up after themselves, especially when coming into the kitchen for their 50th snack of the day.

Then we walked back inside about 25 minutes later to find our son in a suit and our daughter in a dress. The table was set for two with a lit candle in the center. They told us they had prepared a three-course meal for us for our anniversary and proceeded to wait on us with utmost formality and dutiful attention. After dessert, they brought us each a red rose to exchange with one another. And then they cleaned the table and washed the dishes.

 

What a fool I was to ever complain, for these kids are such a precious gift from God.  What a blessed two-week anniversary celebration it has been!

He survived and thrived through 2nd grade

Our son had a fabulous school year after just starting at the new school during the second semester of first grade. I adore his teacher.  I tutored her son last year, and he made remarkable progress, so I already knew her in that way, but I really got to know her this year as a partner on the "A Team" as we strove to make improvements at the school.  She is hilarious, and when we invited her and two other teachers and their spouses over for dinner one night, it was way past her bedtime before she ever looked at her watch.  Time flies when you are laughing and having fun.  She became a bit of a confidant for me as I shared my struggles and concerns with teaching and with our own's son needs, and she offered encouragement, counsel, and help in getting the STEM program started.  She's the best.  And by God's grace, thankfully, her son continued to thrive as a tutoring client even as we cut our sessions back from one hour to 30 minutes.

Names have meaning, and this teacher's married last name describes her ministry at this school. As the heart pumps life giving blood throughout the body, this teacher is all heart, pumping God's life giving truth and lots of love throughout her lessons and into the hearts of her students. Mrs. Bloodworth helps her students understand that they have infinite worth as evidenced by Christ's shed blood for each of them. She reminds students that they were created for a great purpose, and with that purpose comes responsibility

Here is a recap on some of his more exciting school activities the last quarter with pics other parents uploaded to our class website.

Field Day took place three days before the last day of school for grades K-5.  My son doesn't take sports seriously.  It's all fun and games to him, and I could not convince him to eat breakfast that morning.  And now he wonders why he didn't win any ribbons.  His class had several kids with various handicaps, so they came in dead last on all the class events, but those kids' attitudes about it made them real winners.

 

 

Two days before the last day of school, Mrs. Bloodworth's class hosted Pet Day. 

 Students' parents brought their pets to the school for the students to introduce and describe.  There we met an adorable  Siberian cat which matched all the criteria I had set for buying a cat:  white/gray in color, blue eyes, adorable, hypoallergenic.  I even started shopping for breeders and then Siberian cats in need of rescue that same afternoon.

After Pet Day, the kids had a little fun review, and then they walked to Mrs. Bloodworth's home (it backs up to the school) for a hotdog lunch in her backyard and lots of time playing with her dogs.  After school, all the second graders in the school went to a very exclusive neighborhood park for an end-of-year party that concluded with a water balloon fight, boys vs. girls.

The last day of school was an awards assembly with early release after the assembly.  My husband took the day off work, so he could attend.   D'Nealian handwriting kept our boy from making the all A honor roll (same as his sister as I taught them both Zaner Bloser method instead), but he only made 3 B's all year (all in handwriting), so he did at least make the A/B Honor Roll.  Here are pics of him receiving his award.

 Saying goodbye on the last day of 2nd grade

Shoulder Surgery

My husband has been needing shoulder surgery for years, possibly since he flipped over the handle bars on his bike as a boy.  Since he hasn't been very active since his USNA days, however, he's managed without surgery all these years.  When he started Tae-kwon-do with the kids, however, he realized it was time to finally do something about his shoulder, so he went to a doctor.  That statement alone is small miracle and proves to me how much his shoulder must have been bothering him, for I'm lucky if I can convince him to see a doctor once every decade.

After his initial consult, he was ready to get the surgery over with right away, but there was no way I could get him to all his appointments, drive him to/from work during his driving restriction,  continue teaching and tutoring, and get the kids to/from school and their gazillion activities, so he patiently waited until summer. The surgery was scheduled for the day after we got back from Naples, and I lined up childcare, lawn service, etc. accordingly.

Then right before we left for our trip, the doctor's receptionist called us back to say that the hospital where the doctor does surgeries that day isn't in-network for our insurance, so the surgery would be rescheduled at a hospital in an adjacent county two weeks later.  He was bummed by the delay, but I was glad to have two more weeks of his help around the house with projects.  :-)

Then while we were in Naples, we received word that the doctor had worked out his schedule so that he could drive to the nearest in-network hospital (45 minutes from our house) after his last surgery on June 4th and complete my husband's surgery before he left for an extended vacation.  So, all the paperwork had to be faxed back and forth between the Ritz-Carlton hotel where we were staying and the doctor's office so that he would be ready for surgery the day after we flew home.

We got there at 12:55 for the 3:00 surgery.   My husband had been fasting since midnight the night before, so he was hungry.  They got him dressed for surgery, inserted all his tubing, gave him a shoulder block, and began administering medication which would eventually knock him out during the surgery.  He fell in and out of sleep during his time and whenever he nodded off briefly, he dreamed about eating, so his mouth would move as if he were chewing.  Then he would wake up again.  He didn't seem any different on the medication except that he was drowsy and dozing.  When the nurse asked us how we met, I shared our story, and after I shared how the midshipman I most wanted to stay at our house was indeed assigned to our family's home for the weekend, he chimed in, "And I was the envy of the entire glee club." My husband is complimentary, but that line was too smooth for him, especially to be used in public, so if the worst thing the medication did for him was make him more smooth of tongue, then I'm loving that medicine!

I held his hand and flirted a bit, but the block continued to run down his arm until he could not feel my touch even at his fingers.  He was getting sleepy, but by 3:20 p.m. the doctor still had not arrived.  So, I asked the nurses to follow-up as we were getting anxious to get this surgery started and wondered if he was still planning on driving over there from the other hospital.  She learned that he had not left the other hospital yet, so I settled in for another hour of waiting while trying not to let the beeping of all the monitors drive my hypersensitive nerves crazy.

Meanwhile, I joked with my husband about how he was all dressed up with no place to go." His smiley face hat sure was snazzy.

His snazzy hat

I also watched the nurses in action.  I was disturbed to see an elder doctor flirting inappropriately with our nurse.  She brushed it off as no big deal, but she could have filed a suit against him for harassment.  It was probably no big deal to her, but he should know the laws well enough to avoid that kind of behavior.  

The surgeon finally arrived around 4:15pm, and he was a sight for sore eyes.  I guess I was just anxious for the surgery to be done, but I looked at him as if he was some sort of angel as I was so relieved he finally came.  I felt the same way about each of the ER nurses when they magically took away the immense pain I was experiencing either by medication or by catheter.

His doctor

I had been disappointed that my husband did not get the doctor that everyone recommended, but I felt much better about him after I met him in person and read his bio.  He did his undergraduate work at Princeton where he played football and his graduate work at the nation's top orthopedic school & hospital.  He did his residency work at Duke and while young, he had already gotten some great experiences.  He's an advocate of staying active after surgery which meshes well with my philosophy and just seemed knowledgeable overall.

Soon my husband was completely out, and he doesn't remember anything from the time they moved him to the operating room until he was back in the recovery room.  

It was a wild ride, but the surgery is now complete, and it was a success.  The doctor performed a torn labral repair and relocated his bicep tendon.  The doctor shared some very cool images with me to show the procedure in process and to provide a before & after.  How can anyone question God's marvelous design and creation of man when beholding the intricacies of a single joint.

The following is a description of the labral repair I found at sports-injury-info.com.

Using a small camera and small tools your surgeon will be able to probe the labrum and find the areas that are torn. Once they find your labral tear, they will debride the tissue, removing any damage and trimming it down to healthy tissue. 


Next, they will place small anchors into the glenoid (shoulder socket) bone. These anchors will have sutures attached to them and are what will re-attach the labrum to the bone. Most labral repairs require 2-3 anchors, depending on the location and size of the tear.

After the anchors are placed, the sutures are run through the labrum and then pulled tight to re-attach the tissue to the bone. The sutures are tied off and the repair is complete.

Your surgeon will probe the labrum to make sure that is is firmly reattached to the bone and then they will close your incisions with sutures or staples.

Here are photos the doctor gave me of his surgery step-by-step.

 

 

Seven hours after we arrived at the hospital, we were back at home, feeding his hungry stomach and welcoming back our kids whom we had not seen in a week.  They kids brought him awesome cards, fresh flowers, homemade brownies our daughter made at Nana's house, leftover pizza, and Whoppers.  It was a great reunion indeed.

We now have three recovering from homesickness (Muffin included), one on crutches (our daughter injured her toe the first day at Nana & Pops' house and could not walk on it all week) who went in for X-rays today, and one in a sling fresh out of shoulder surgery, but we are all back together again and feeling very grateful! We are so thankful for the prayers offered by friends and family, for my parents and their amazing support, and our gracious God who gives us so much more than we deserve.

Day 1 Post Surgery
The block wore off over night and the pain really kicked in this morning.  He has tried to stay ahead of the pain with his medication.  The meds are supposed to make him tired and loopy, yet he's been the perfect patient without any noticeable change in personality whatsoever, while I'm the one who has been ultra fatigued and loopy. Before his surgery, I asked all my friends to pray that I would be an empathetic nurse, but all this "empathy" is making me ineffective, so maybe I should have asked for prayers for energy and alertness? I'm so glad the kids are helping me with his meals.  God bless him for being such an easy patient.


Day 2 Post Surgery
His pain is much better today.  Today I took off all his bandages and helped him get a shower.  That made him feel ever so much better. As long as he doesn't move his arm the wrong way, he feels fine.  He's still taking all the pain medicine as recommended and running the tens unit four times a day.  It is amazing to me how much they did inside of his shoulder with only five small incisions.

Day 3 Post Surgery
His pain is down to a dull ache, but he seems to appreciate the down time. Our daughter is still on crutches but likes the attention they draw. All have recovered from their homesickness except this one who still needs lots of cuddling while getting her head scratched. And I am still feeling very drowsy and loopy from the meds my husband is taking.  :-)  Actually, I'm either experiencing a post adrenal crash from all the excitement over end-of-school activities, our fun trip, and the surgery, or I need to change up my own daily vitamin/herb cocktail.

Day 4 Post Surgery
The patient's first physical therapy appointment after the surgery was this morning at 8 am  He thought he might cry from the pain, but he seemed to be progressing as expected.  We came home.  He took a short nap, while I napped for 2.5 hours!  While he slept in the recliner, the kids quietly built a fort only a few feet away.  

I am having a harder time adjusting to the summer schedule this year.  Every time I walk into the kitchen there is a new mess to clean up and dirty dishes in the sink. I have to run several errands a day as the kids are eating like crazy.  The house is always so loud.  Only 8 more weeks to go, and the kids have some sort of camp (including grandparent camp in OK for two weeks) every week after this one, so I'm sure the summer will fly by quickly.

Day 5 Post Surgery
My husband attempted a walk along the greenway with me.   It was hot outside, so his sling got sweaty and needed washing.  How would we stabilize his arm while I was washing his sling?

The SI belt I wore to help support my basketball babies came to our rescue!

Girl vs. Boy

I saw the following kid survey online and thought it would be fun to ask each of our kids these questions individually and see how their answers compare.

Our son (age 8)
1. What is something mom always says to you? I love you.
2. What makes mom happy? When we do our chores
3. What makes mom sad? When we disobey and when she doesn’t have any chocolate
4. How does your mom make you laugh? She sings songs she just makes up.
5. What was your mom like as a child?  I don’t know since I wasn’t there.
6. How old is your mom? 42
7. How tall is your mom? 5’3”
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Eat chocolate
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?  She does her chores.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Setting a record for most chocolate eaten
11. What is your mom really good at?   Loving us
12. What is your mom not very good at?  I can’t think of anything. (His dad has already taught him to avoid no-win questions.)
13. What does your mom do for a job? She parents and teaches, but I don’t think parenting counts as a job.
14.What is your mom's favorite food? Chocolate
15.What makes you proud of your mom? She’s a good mom.
16. If your mom were a character, who would she be? (no answer)
17. What do you and your mom do together? Cuddle
18. How are you and your mom the same? We both like engineering.
19. How are you and your mom different? I’m a boy and she’s a girl! (These days that’s huge!)
20. How do you know your mom loves you? She buys us things we need.
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? He’s kind.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?  (no answer)
23. How old was your Mom when you were born? 34

Our Daughter, age 11 
1. What is something mom always says to you? Be quiet.
2. What makes mom happy? Chocolate
3. What makes mom sad? When we disobey.
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Sings rap songs she makes up on the fly.
5. What was your mom like as a child? I don’t know. I wasn’t there.
6. How old is your mom? 42
7. How tall is your mom? 5’1”
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Helping kids
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Sleep
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Math
11. What is your mom really good at? Math
12. What is your mom not very good at? Using her imagination
13. What does your mom do for a job? Teach
14.What is your mom's favorite food? Chocolate
15.What makes you proud of your mom? She can do crazy stunts off the diving board.
16. If your mom were a character, who would she be? Cinderella because she works all day without complaining.
17. What do you and your mom do together? Bible study
18. How are you and your mom the same? We like to exercise and do crazy sports.
19. How are you and your mom different? Mom’s a neat freak, and I can’t keep my room organized.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? She drives me all over the place for sports and is willing to help out.
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? He’s great with us kids and is handsome.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Aldi and Kohl's  (I actually loathe shopping, but it is a necessary evil.)
23. How old was your Mom when you were born? 31

Key Takeaways
1.  I eat too much chocolate.
2.  The kids assume my favorite things to do and places to go are what I do most, when in fact I loathe those things but do them because they are necessary to take care of our family.
3.  When I make a complete fool of myself, I earn the most cool points with my kids.