Megan gets Pointe Shoes and other achievements

My dancer had been anticipating the day for many years now and it has finally arrived. She graduated to her first pair of pointe shoes. Pointe shoes have to be earned, time and energy need to be put into the sport of dance in order to rise to that level. Megan did it! She and I drove with Magaly and Sophia to the dance supply store with her ballet class. Each girl took a turn in the fitting chair and the store consultant went through the process of checking feet and pulling different brands of pointe shoes to find the right fit for that particular dancer's feet. This was Megan's first fitting and she has narrow heals with wide toe span and crossed toes. She had a little bit of everything going on and so the consultant pulled out brand after brand and then size after size until she found the right pair. Megan loved the process and beamed when the consultant was surprised that Megan could roll up in every pair without much trouble. They commented on how strong she was and Megan took pride in the observation. Right before Megan's next class I sewed the ribbons on and the ankle elastic, she was nervous to wear them and admitted that it was really difficult. I reminded her that she is capable of doing difficult things.

Megan also got her first middle school report card and got straight A's. It was an honor to get to attend the Straight A Breakfast that the school puts on, with her. Megan said the 6th grade is complicated and although the work is hard it isn't too hard. She was moved up to the GT section of World Cultures were she will be challenged a little more. The academics seem under control but the social side of sixth grade is still a point of unknown. Her social groups are shifting and she is feeling out where she feels most comfortable. I pray that she will surround herself with true friends who will appreciate her gifts and encourage her to be her best.

Also new for Megan is Vision Therapy. She has convergence insufficiency, meaning her eyes are not working together. This causes double vision. Her doctor was surprised at how successful she is in school and made sure we knew how hard she is working on something we take for granted.  With all that she has accomplished so far, I am excited to she what she does when she can put that brain power toward other things. She will be in twice a week therapy for about 6-8 months.

When my Mom broke her Femur

I don't communicate with my mom on a very frequent basis. It just kind of happened that way. Obviously growing up I talked to her, but my life got active as a teenager, with school and a job, and a youth group. At some point I stopped really checking in with her and then I moved across the country. I couldn't afford to call home, they rarely called me and letters almost never happened, oh and the internet didn't exist. It was always good to see my Mom when I did see her but in the time in between there was no precedent to actually talk or communicate regularly. As an adult I trusted that I was on her mind but more importantly in her heart. (This level of trust was not as high as a teenager but it did exist.) We caught up when we saw each other. Since moving back to Baltimore it luckily is about once a month for a family event.

Then in the last few years, the catching up included stories about injuries, or major life events in extended families lives. Sometimes those stories weren't shared at all and I heard about them from other family members. I began to worry a little that I would miss important information. This didn't change how we communicated though. I didn't hear from my mom on my birthday this year, which I didn't even realize at the time.

At the beginning of November my Uncle's mother died and I visited his house as they sat Shiva. When I was there my Mom's sister mentioned that Mom didn't look good when she saw her the day before and commented that she had fallen recently (on my birthday). This was the first I was hearing about the fall and I made a mental note that I should call her. I didn't. On Sunday afternoon, the 15th, I got a call from Magaly that she was at shock trauma with Mom. I don't really panic; I got as much info as I could and then started contacting the rest of the family. Mom is an amazing patient and was on top of her care while in pain with a broken femur.  We guess she had a small fracture from the fall and it became a stress fracture when she was getting out of the car on the way home from Mass, a week and a half later. My dad, myself and siblings all visited at the hospital and continued to keep tabs on Mom both in person and through messages. It was a long week of prioritizing things and coordinating with family. Our girls prayed for her every day and were very understanding of my missing classroom visits for American Education Week. Megan really wanted to visit and internalized her worry into an upset stomach, but other wise the girls handled it well.

I went down in the evening a day after surgery and Mom was in a lot of pain. She was dozing and clutched my hand. I stroked her head and she opened her eyes and asked if I was leaving. On my previous visits she shooed all of us (except Dad) back to our families, so I thought she was going to do this again. I told her no I was going to stay with her for awhile. She whispered she was so glad I was there. I stood and stroked her hair and told her she was more important than she knew.

They moved Mom to a nursing rehab center after almost a week at Shock Trauma and our whole family visited on Sunday. Mom will be in rehabilitation for a few weeks, (just guessing right now) and we will continue to visit and coordinate. I feel confident that she and I both know that we are thought of by the other but more importantly I think we are both confident in our love for the other. Maybe we will be able to translate that into a little more concrete regular communication.

Johanna turns 3

So our little girl keeps growing up and has now turned 3. We had gotten used to the idea of only having four kids and then God blessed us with Johanna. Johanna is a whole lot of little girl and a whole lot of blessing. Hanna is intense, active, and sensitive. She is smart and self directed. She is confident and capable. She exhausts me every day but I hope she knows that my love for her is inexhaustible.

She has been able to tell you that her birthday is Nov 2nd for some time now and she was looking forward to her day. It was a Monday this year so it was a pre-school day. Since she hasn't adjusted to daylight saving time, she was up at 6:30 and helped me make pancakes for breakfast. She wasn't cooperative about getting ready or going to school but she went: reluctantly but without opposition or sobbing. Rachael had made cupcakes for Halloween that hadn't been eaten so we brought those to school to share with her class. Her teachers greeted her with "Happy Birthday"s and she perked up.

That evening she picked a restaurant to go to for dinner, so we all went to Chick-fil-a. She was clear she wanted Chick-fil-a , with the cow on top. She ate well and had a blast in the climber. When we got home she got to open her gifts. She paused only momentarily to look at the clothes she got and moved onto the next package. Her sisters picked up a blue ukulele for her and she was big eyed and eager to strum it. It sounded terrible so luckily Emma has a tuning app and experience getting an instrument in tune. It sounded much better when Emma was done with it. While the tuning was going on Hanna opened her gift of Inside Out character toys. Hanna immediately began engaging them in a story and Bridget happily joined at Hanna's request to make the other characters come to life. Hanna also matched her toys to the characters on her new shirt.

Hanna continues to match and compare. She likes to name letters when she sees them and she is into numbers and counts past 20. She has a thing with the number five and always requests to get in the grocery check out lane #5. She is disappointed if a store does not have 5 checkout lanes. She searches out new experiences and stimuli. She could pass the kindergarten entrance requirements now and I can't imagine what she will be like when she is old enough to go.  Hanna is more of everything and adds so much flavor to our family. Now she has one more year in her pocket and claims the 3 proudly. We claim her for Christ and for our family proudly as well.

Halloween 2015

Megan's Water Tribe

Bridget's Fire Nation

Rachael's Homestuck Dog

Hanna's Jack o Lantern with  heart nose

Emma's Nicholas Cage Meme

This years Halloween will be the one we compare all others to. First Halloween was on a Saturday. this makes everything about the day easier. No school/work rush before trick or treating. No worries about staying up too late on a school night. Second the weather. This year the day was warm and pleasant and then cloud cover rolled in and kept that warmth going. It was in the upper 60s when we headed out trick or treating and stayed mild until late in the evening. We were able to trick or treat without extra layers or umbrellas. Third all of my kids were here. Emma might be off at school next year, and from here on out we probably won't have all of our girls in our town. We actually brought Rachael over to a friends party but she was here before and after.

Owen (Chris Pratt) from Jurasic World

When Life gives you Lemons

We always have the Brinks over for Halloween and we trick or treat with neighbors on our block. But since it was a Saturday we invited extra families over to enjoy a firepit in the front yard, while Emma invited friends over for a fire pit in the back yard. The Shumakers brought their fire pit over in order to make this possible and it worked out great. Jim joked that Emma was having a party in the back and it turned into a cascade of mullet jokes.

Olaf

 

Book of Life

  Jim stayed at the house with the fire and some friends while I went around with the little girls. Megan had her friend Savannah, and Bridget had Sarah. Johanna didn't need anyone. she had this trick or treating thing down. She tromped through our pack of kids and went up the steps without help. She said her "Trick or Treats" and "Thank Yous". Our only problem was her pushing to the front of the group at the door, at every door. But she held up well and was so content when she got home. She sat in one of the wicker chairs in front of the fire with a lolly pop and just chilled. I couldn't help but laugh when she got up and fixed herself a plate. She had 2 kids of dip, chips, apples and 1 cookie. Sometimes I look at her and think "are you really two?"

Sarah and Bridget

Megan and Savannah 50's girls

The kids went through their candy and then watched the Book of Life movie, perfect for Halloween. It was an all around great night.

The candy sorting