Camping with Rachael

Each spring we take Rachael's girl scout troop camping. Since this was our 4th year doing it I was a little more relaxed as it approached. We have 2 Rubber maid tubs full of camping gear that get used and then repacked, so it was just a matter of checking to make sure we had batteries and toilet paper and our personal items. Rachael got her things ready to go. She searched but she could not find her favorite bandanna anywhere. She also couldn't find her sweatshirt but Jim volunteered to run back to school with her to retrieve her sweatshirt from her locker. I was afraid the missing bandanna would make leaving harder but Rachael gathered what she had and we set off happily. It has become a tradition to stop at Giant for a dinner in the car, so we grabbed sandwiches and drove to our meeting spot.
 
We arrived at our campsite around 7:00 and had plenty of sunlight to get our bearings and let the girls take a look around. We were happy to discover that there were flush toilets near our cabin and we could skip the latrines. The cabin was huge and we all got a few mattresses to use for our beds. The girls all lined themselves up in  row with mattresses touching. Rachael was thrilled to be in the woods and kept heading in whatever direction called her. I am glad they are old enough to tramp around without a lot of supervision and that they did abide to the boundaries we gave them. Rachael and one of her friends made Hunger Games references all weekend. The trees were calling to her.

Saturday we called home after I got a message from Jim that Megs had a stomach flu. The poor thing sounded miserable. Rachael was very tender with her and we sent our love. She also planted the idea that she was bringing home a creature from the woods.

Saturday they called for thunderstorms and most of the state was wet but the storms, we were watching on our phones, kept splitting and going around us. I think it hit 80 degrees. The camp was on the Magothy River and was swimming approved so Saturday afternoon we let the girl get wet. They played in the sun for a few hours. Rachael was energized and found objects and balanced on rocks and created games with a large floating piece of wood. It was a great afternoon. We cooked all of our meals on the fire, which the girls started, and I was glad to be background help as the food smells still make me nauseous. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores on our fire. It was a blast and they were all ready for bed that night. That night Rachael mattress pile slide out from under her and she woke up giggling, wedged in between stacks of mattresses.  Everyone slept in, we had an easy breakfast, and packed up.

We were glad to get home and were greeted by many happy faces. Megan was on the mend but still not herself. Rachael was bursting with stories and got a huge kick out of the questions about what animal she brought home and had fun showing them the plastic snake one of the moms had left in her bed. We look forward to camping again.

Braces Come Off

Way back in 2007, our little Emma started the orthodontia journey. She still had lots of baby teeth at that point and had a crowded mouth. She also had an under bite and cross bite that the dentist was worried about. She began the process with pallet expanders, then braces just on her front teeth, then retainers, then full braces. As her adult teeth came in we discovered that she had a peg tooth, which is a genetic anomaly that causes a tooth to come in shaped like a peg. Emma has always been fond of her "little fang", but our dentist wanted the orthodontist to leave space next to it so that Emma would have the option of having it bonded at some point. That little tooth became quite the topic of appointments. The dentist wanted the tooth centered in an open space but every time the orthodontist tried to move it a little it would over-react and wind up all the way to one side or the other. We spent 5 months going back and forth to appointments just to get it perfect. Twice we scheduled braces removal only to be told that tooth was not in the right spot. Emma was disappointed but they put bands on it to move it again and we were to come back in 3 days. That poor tooth was so loose after the months of manipulating it and after the 1st night it was past the center again. We talked it over and made the decision that I would cut the band. It worked and stayed in the center.

This past Friday I brought Emma in and the braces finally came off. It only took a few minutes to pop off all of her brackets, but then it took an hour to scrape off the adhesive. Emma has grown up so much since we started this process, but she has been a consistently good patient. She is great in the chair even when it hurt and a silent tear would roll down her cheek. She took great care of her appliances and followed instructions. She had the endpoint in her sights the whole time and did what she could to get there. It was so fun to watch her happily run her tongue over her naked teeth and giggle a little when she looked in the mirror.

They ended the morning appointment by taking retainer impressions. I had been hoping that her growth would make this an easier prospect than when she did it years ago but her gag reflex is just as strong as ever and she struggled through the top impression. With that out of the way they took the "after" pictures of her great smile and sent her home with balloons and a bottle full of all of the forbidden candy and gum she had avoided for the past 5 years.

Later that day Jim took her to a second appointment to get her retainers. She has full top and bottom retainers that are clear and cover all of her teeth. I didn't even realize they were in. It was a long process but the results of a healthy bite and pretty smile are worth it. Emma is happy with the results.



Ballet Exam

Megan dances with a studio that teaches the Cecchetti Method of Ballet. It is a formal method that emphasizes technique. Megan has participated in the Grade 1 class throughout the year, knowing and dreading that spring meant the Grade 1 exam. Each grade level usually lasts for 2 years and each year expands upon the prior skills. The exam isn't a requirment and many girls don't take the exam, but if they think they may want to take exams as they get older and receive the certification then they must pass each level. Megan's teacher said she was ready and Megan is really interested in moving up to Grade 2, so she tenativly agreed to the exam.

Megan has a Grade 1 book that goes over Theory, consisting of the french terms and she had to learn their meanings and the movements that went with them. Jim took a look at the book but his highschool french wasn't much help. Her class has been working on this for months and had a practice day over spring break. I sat in on the class so I tried to remember the terms to help Meg review. The night before the exam, Megan was excited and scared and had a hard time falling asleep. Her exam wasn't until 3:00 so she had all day to think about it. She was nervous that the examiners would be stern and scary. We arrived at 2:00 to do her hair and so she could warm up. Megan's curly hair can be a challage in a bun. It goes up and stays up easily but she tends to get this soft halo of fuzz. Megan's teachers offered to put it up and we loaded it up with gel and hairspray. She was a very professional looking dancer. They pinned a little number one to her new black leotard. She went in with 2 other girls and they closed the door. 45 minutes later she emerged smiling, she said the examiners were very nice and she felt good about it.

We found out a few days later that she passed with a PASS PLUS (which equals a B+) and her teacher said she should be very proud. The examiners pointed out a few things to improve upon but she received "excellent" in Theory and Style. Megan beamed.  Her hard work and dedication paid off. We are all really proud of her but the best part is seeing her rightfully feel proud of herself.

We are having a BABY!

I almost titled this "we are having another baby", but we are not having another baby, we are having THIS baby, this little life, who is unique, who is called, who has a special purpose. When I sit and think about how this works and how I get to be the steward of this little life, it is kind of overwhelming. Most of the time though, I am not sitting and thinking about that part of pregnancy. I am just hoping for a nap or wishing my stomach would get out of my throat, or wishing the to-do list would do itself. Happily I am not feeling overwhelmed, exhausted yes but not overwhelmed. I guess 14 years of motherhood have shown me that God does offer enough grace to get me through and maybe pregnancy is harder at 38 but this age also comes with experience and much more trust in God.

We found out I was pregnant after I got an awful virus in March complete with 4 days of fever, aches, chills and vomiting. I was floored. I spent a whole day in bed and the other days dragging myself around getting the minimal of work and household tasks completed. Jim and the girls fended for themselves and did quite well. The virus went away but I remained nauseous and exhausted. It took a few extra days to shift from virus thinking to pregnancy thinking but soon it was clear to me. Jim and I weren't trying to conceive but we've always been open to life. Jim was unprepared and a little shocked when I told him, but he took my hand and said a prayer for our baby, for our family and for all the changes to come. I scheduled a doctors appointment and Jim joined me to see our little baby and hear the heart beat. With everything looking good we were ready to share the news with our girls.

We all gathered around for lunch but Bridget was straggling, so Jim told her she was going to need to be a good example as a big sister. Megan chimed in clarifying Bridge wouldn't be a big sister until we had a baby. I then told them all that we do have a baby. All of their faces lit up. Questions and comments and hopes all spilled out at once. Emma got a kick out of figuring out how old she'd be when certain milestones were hit. The most daunting she came up with- When our baby graduates from high school Emma will be in her 30s.

Having our amazing girls has made my exhaustion bearable. They are self sufficient in so many ways. They can all make their own breakfast and most importantly, quietly keep themselves entertained while I become one with the couch or lay down in bed. It is easier to be pregnant with big kids than with toddlers and for that I am grateful.

We decided to tell the rest of the family on Easter, so we all had a week to keep the news quiet. Megan has prayed for years for a baby brother and that week was really hard for her. She kept rubbing my belly while un-knowing people were around. We were all so glad to be able to talk freely when Easter came. On Easter we called Jim's parents and shared our news and then we went to my parent's for dinner. After the egg hunt and grace for dinner we let them know about our baby. It is such a blessing to have a family that values every life and can share our joy.

 The joy of Easter and the promise of the Resurrection has felt a little keener this year as we take part in a new creation. We celebrate this new little life and trust in God's Divine Mercy to accompany us in this journey.

Civil Rights Interview with my Dad

Emma is continuing her year long American History project with a personal interviews about the civil right movement. She interviewed my Mom's brother, Uncle Henry, over the weekend and on Holy Thursday she interviewed my Dad. Her teacher guided them through writing interview questions and they had to come up with 30 questions to ask. The interviews had to be recorded, so I came along with Emma and helped with the camera and checked the sound. It was fun to get to hear the personal experiences from before my time.

I was really surprised by the interview with my Dad. He has always been a story teller, an information sharer, the offer-er of insight, but in the interview most of the personal reflections were skirted around and I felt, downplayed. My Mom sat in on the interview and obviously felt the same way. Emma asked early on in the interview if the civil right movement had had an impact on him personally and if so how. My dad said it didn't really. This didn't fit with my understanding, over my shoulder Mom is waving her hand and says "Wait a minute, tell her about ...". Dad then divulged the multiple trips he had taken to the south over the summers in the early 60's during his years at the seminary doing social justice work. But again he downplayed these and shared more stories about the areas than about the work they were doing. I got a sense that he didn't want any credit for the work that he did. He couldn't say what had prompted him to go on any of his summer excursions to the south. One summer he went to rural South Carolina with a local WI college to work with Glenmary on a rural poverty program doing manual labor to improve living conditions, but the other summers seemed less organized and frequently he went and worked with people he didn't know.

At one point Dad reflected that he was very unsure of his memory of the events and since he had spent so much time reading about and watching news programs about these events later it was harder to determine what he had seen at the time or thought at the time verses what he learned later. This I can relate to, my memory can be pretty bad and it is one of the reasons that I have been writing journals for the girls and this blog.

Then there were some questions that he didn't really answer. Emma asked if he had know about what the Klu Klux Klan was and what they stood for and his opinion on them. Dad went into a story about the summer he was in Kiln, MS and he attended a Klan rally. He said he and a friend hung around but got uncomfortable when the hate speech picked up and they left after an hour or so. And then they went to New Orleans. He did not offer his opinion of the Klan. He also made a comment about never having been to a Klan Rally before, or a rodeo and that both were new experiences in Mississippi that summer.

Mom made him tell the story about the summer of 1962 , which became known as Freedom Summer, when he was with a group of volunteers in Alabama that met at churches and community centers for meetings. He said that there were lots of volunteers and not always a lot of direction. He participated in a program to drive poor blacks to the county seat to register for a food program. He said the local cops were watching them and he wound up getting a ticket for failing to signal a turn. He didn't have the cash to pay the ticket so he was put in a segregated jail until the other volunteers got the money for the fine.

As I drove home the strangeness of the interview struck me and Emma. Emma noticed the odd way he answered some questions and said he was too humble. I definitely got the sense that he didn't want to be known as a Freedom Fighter (some of the family have referred to him as this) and I think he was trying to correct that perception. He portrayed his motives more in line with being a young man eager for adventure and new experiences and going along for the ride. Obviously the activities he chose to volunteer for show a specific inclination to social justice and sympathy for the civil rights movement, but he didn't want to be seen as an activist. He said his family thought he was a radical but obviously he didn't see it that way. He didn't want any credit for the good work he did.

Emma stuck to her 30 questions but I wished for my own information to have been able to expand upon his answers and push for a little more detail. I have a hundred more questions.