Big Milestones this Back to School

Every year heading back to school is momentous and this year consisted of major milestones to make it even more dramatic. Our oldest trail-blazed another new path for the family to follow as she headed off to high school. We are learning the ropes of high school with Emma as we figure out the scheduling and transportation, soon we will get our feet wet with clubs and grades. We got Em's schedule over the summer. They have 4 classes each semester with each class being 85 minutes. Emma mentioned that the long classes will take some getting used to. Her schedule originally had lots of challenging academics st semester and the art, gym, Spanish type 2nd semester. So we went in prior to the school start and they re-balanced the 2 semesters. Emma seems pretty comfortable with what she is taking and who is in her classes. Not much makes her stress and high school is fitting that trend.

Rachael also embarked on a milestone year and started middle school. I brought her to the orientation social and we walked her schedule and got her locker and combination. She was way ahead of me as she zipped along the halls while I waddled behind. We meet her homeroom teacher and tried the locker only to discover that the top locker had the lock well above eye level. We then waited for a tall student to come in so she could switch to a bottom locker. This standing around was difficult for Rae as she was anxious to see everything else. When the locker was sorted out we walked through the rest of the schedule but by the 4th or 5th classroom Rachael declared that she couldn't take anything else in. It was all a bit overwhelming. The first day though she got off to her bus and managed the day well. She was excited with lots of stories and loved that the science teachers corn snake shed it's skin for the new school year. School was going well but by the time she got home she had a lot of anxiety to vent and we've had some difficult evenings with our overwhelmed girl. She has been glad to have Emma as a listening ear when she gets home and I am happy to see them support each other.

3rd grade has been a good transition for Megan. She likes her homeroom teacher but was a little worried that no good friends were in there with her. But then on Tuesday they got their academic class schedule and it turns out she won't have her homeroom teacher for any classes. She switches rooms for most subjects and has friends in each of those classes. Megan has come home each day with good behavior tickets and a smile on her face. Megan is looking forward to helping Bridget at school and making sure Bridget gets to class and feels comfortable. Megan is ready to be a bigger kid on Campus.

My little Bridgie Rose was looking forward to starting Kindergarten and enjoyed all of the preparation. We got to visit her classroom the week before school and meet her teacher. Then this week she had a modified schedule to ease into the year. I think this is the perfect pace for B. The first day I went in with her and she sat pensive on the rug as kids moved around her and I went with the parents to fill out forms. Bridget paid attention and answered questions when she was called on, but was not comfortable enough to raise her hand. I don't think she talked to any of the other kids but she was really disappointed when she realized she had off on Tuesday. Wednesday she had a 1/2 day and I drove Meg and Bridge to school. Bridget wants to ride the bus and is thrilled that tomorrow is the day. When I asked her about her day she had lots of things to tell us about the kids in her class and the things that she noticed. I asked her if she talked to any of the kids and she said "not yet". Right now she seems to be getting the lay of the land and so far is excited about what she sees in kindergarten. Thursday is the first day on the morning bus but is a half day so I get to go pick her up. Then Friday will be her first full day of school. Sometimes she seems too small to be off to school but she is loving it.

The milestones have been marked and we are off to another year in school.

For some reason Blogger won't let me post pictures so I'll try them again in a different post.

The things we do for our kids

There are times in life when as parents you make those decisions that don't really make a lot of sense but because love doesn't always make sense you do it anyway. We were faced with 2 competing but worthwhile experiences that would have required Emma to bi-locate so instead we as parents made up the difference. Emma had been invited to vacation with her best friend and family in Asheville, NC for the National Go Conference. Go is an ancient strategy game. Emma also found out that the last day of vacation was also the first day of High School Field Hockey Try-outs. We contacted the field hockey coaches and asked if Em could start on Monday instead of Saturday and we got an unequivocal No. We were going to have her pick one or the other but the choice was hard.

Instead of making Emma pick and miss out on one of the things, we made the sacrifice instead. Jim took off 2 days of work, using 2 vacations days, and drove down to NC on Thursday. He spent the evening with the Arnolds at the conference and drove Emma the 9 hours home on Friday. Friday as they were driving home I stood in line at the high school for 1 1/2 hours to do the required sports check-in and paperwork. Emma got to spend a great 5 days on vacation and she was back in time for the Try-outs on Saturday.

Emma had been working over the summer to get in shape for these try-outs by going to a summer boot camp 3 evenings a week during July. She did toning and strength exercises and of course running. Jim made a deal with her that she would have to run a mile in 8 1/2 minutes if he was going to take the time off and make the drive down. Jim took her to the track the day before Emma was to leave for vacation and timed her. The trip was on.

Try-outs started Saturday afternoon and Emma was beat afterward. She said she did pretty well. Monday morning at 6:00 she was on the field again. She said she ran in the middle of the pack and had a decent run time, but that night she expressed concern that she might not make the cuts. Parents weren't allowed to watch try-outs so we could only encourage her to give it her best. Tuesday morning at 6:00 they were out there again. I went to pick her up and when try-outs ran over by an hour we discovered it was because they were doing cuts.

The coaches had all of the girls sit in a group and they called each girl up separately and quietly let them know that they did or didn't make the team.   Em said that they couldn't hear what was being said but it was clear to everyone by the nodding or shaking of heads and the girl's reaction what the verdict was. The coaches said they would give feedback but when Emma was cut she said didn't ask for feedback because it was too awkward and just wanted to sit down. I greeted Em as she came up the hill and that strong face started to show emotion. We walked to the van and she told me she didn't make the team. We talked for a little while, she shed a few tears, and I held her. She was so disappointed and she really didn't understand why some girls made it, who had no experience, but she didn't. It was a down few days for her and we gave her some space, but she was ready to move on to other things. She played a lot of piano and we talked about her freshman schedule. She hasn't dwelt on the disappointment. Jim and I also had to deal with our disappointment. Jim had sacrificed for Emma to have the opportunity, we had planned for field hockey to be part of our fall and part of Emma's start to high school. We needed to move on as well. I am glad that she got to experience both of these adventures and I know she will grow from them. I am glad we are able and willing to cover our kids from some of the hard decisions in life for now, and let them have the growth opportunities.

28 weeks

Just yesterday we hit the 28 week mark of pregnancy. I continue to get bigger although I was glad that my weight gain did not stay at the same pace it had been over vacation. I had gotten the watch your eating habits talk from my OB last month. From here on out, since I'm in the 3rd trimester, I switch to appointments every 2 weeks.

I had been feeling really well and then a great trip to Artscape downtown and 5 hours on my feet resulted in a full on protest from my body. My hip and leg started to hurt at the end of the day and have continued to give me trouble since then. The mornings were especially bad and I had shooting pain in my hip and down my leg and it was hard to walk or even stand without holding onto the wall. It did ease up after 10-15 minutes and I was again mobile. The pain stuck around off and on all day. My OB suggested changing positions regularly, using the heating pad and getting my belly some support.

Those things have helped and my late night Olympic watching was put to an end so I have been waking up with less pain. I also realized that floating in the pool makes a huge difference so instead of siting in the shallow end I go out and let the weight of my belly float off my hips for a while. Pumpkin seems to enjoy the pool as well.

As Pumpkin grows and my belly sticks out farther I have noticed that I am bumping into things more and not fitting through tight spaces well. Last weekend I bemoaned my big belly because it became the landing spot for boiling water. I was making dinner and opened the lid to the boiling corn on the cob, one of the ears shifted in the water and a large splash hit me right on the belly. Oh did that hurt. I immediately lifted my shirt and pulled down the belly panel of my pants to see the skin peal away with the fabric and reveal bright red raw skin. The family came to my aid but the damage was done. The burn healed well but by the 4th day my poor belly skin had had enough of the medical tape and band aid adhesive and broke out in red spots. The burn area could handle being touched by then so I was able to just apply ointment and not gauze. 1 1/2 weeks later the new skin is looking good and started to fade to a more normal color. Poor belly.

Pumpkin is regularly active and the family gets to feel her move often. We have been doing a lot of preparation for her arrival. Jim put together a new shed for the side of the house so the garage can be less cluttered and the exercise equipment will fit. I've been going through random piles of things that need to be taken care of and we have had contractors in to bid on the basement. It looks like we will turn the TV side into Emma's room and make Jim's room part of the family space. Hopefully that project will start soon, the weeks are ticking by incredibly fast and Pumpkin will be ready whether or not we are. The calender says 12 more weeks but I am guessing 11.

Birthday Camps

For the past few years Jim's parents have given Rachael a trip to camp for her birthday. She doesn't really need stuff but she loves new experiences so it is a perfect gift. Rachael has gone to a couple of different camps and this year she chose a LEGO Stop Action Film camp at the local college. Rachael and Emma have been planning a stop action LEGO movie of the Hunger Games for a number of months and this camp would be a great training for that project. We signed Rachael up and she planned out a number of LEGO ideas and story lines. I warned her that she would very likely be one of the only girls and she was fine with that.

The morning of camp Rachael made some frantic last minute grabs of figures she might need and after we dropped the younger girls off at VBS we made it to the local college. There was one other girl in the class, Rae was happy at that. Rachael wound up being partners with Cate and she had to rethink her plans because it was a collaboration not an independent movie. Cate was a bit younger but the two of them seemed to work really well together and Rachael gave us updates every day. On the last day Jim and Emma went to the class to watch the creations of all of the kids and especially to see Rachael's movie premiere.  Here it is: The Adventures of Thor.

For some reason this video isn't starting at the opening and the sound if off quite a bit. The original syncs up as it should. We were all really impressed and Jim and Emma said it was definitely the best in the class. Rachael savored the challenge and the creativity that were involved and it was wonderful to see her focused, productive, and happy.

Then this past week Megan got to enjoy the birthday gift of Dance Camp. The camp was at a local studio but not one we knew of first hand. Megan was thrilled to pull out her dance clothes and get her dance bag together. She came home refreshed and happy. They did a number of different types of dance as well as Zumba and musical theater. The camp also included a craft project and snack each day. It was obvious that Megan had missed dancing very much and was relieved to get back to it. It really is a great fit for her. She thoroughly enjoyed the afternoons and was excited to bring home a wonderful collection of crafts projects on the last day. 

Together the girls will go to a 2 day rocket camp mid-August to round out the camp gifts. I love that they get these enriching experiences. It really is a gift.