Amelia and I had a great time going to Ghormley Meadows Christmas weekend. We usually go as a family but because of Jacob's knee we decided to turn it into a girl's weekend for Amelia and me. We made a gingerbread house, went sledding, ate lots of food, and played cards. This was the first year we spent the night. Amelia enjoyed just hanging out in our room.
On the drive home Amelia said this was the best Ghormley Christmas we had been to and she had a great time. I would agree!!
Officially on December 17, 2021, Jacob is taller than me. lol It has been a long time coming and Jacob is super pumped that he can now say he is taller than his mom. Most boys who are 6-foot could probably claim that a long time ago but not Jacob. :) I am excited to see how much taller he gets.
This month was school conferences. Amelia is doing very well in school. Her teacher said she is helpful and respectful. She said she doesn't usually give +'s (the exceeds mark) on report cards for behavior but Amelia is so wonderful she got all +'s. I am super proud that she is so diligent and responsible at school.
Jack is doing great in seventh grade. All of his teachers said they enjoy having him in class. He may talk a little too much in class but nothing to worry about. Despite missing a LOT of school this first trimester Jack had no missing assignments and As and Bs. Jack's favorite class is History. He really likes his teacher, Mr. Grimes. Jack says he makes learning fun.
Jacob is having a great year also. He too had no missing assignments despite the many absents. His teachers all say he produces quality work and is very respectful in class. During conferences his teachers said that they are going to start expecting high school quality work from him. They said he really won't even notice the difference because he is completely capable of adding the small details that high school work requires. I am proud of Jacob for hobbling around school on his crutches. His teachers have all been super nice about letting him leave early and propping his leg up.
All the kids are succeeding in school right now. I am so proud of their effort and achievement. I hope that by putting in the daily effort will become a lifelong habit.
The other Saturday, we all bundled into the car to go look at Christmas lights. Before we went though, we swung by and picked up Moana and a pizza. We drove through the usual Pasco neighborhood, out to West Richland and ended in Kennewick. The best house was in Richland. All the kids loved that one! It was pretty amazing with flat screen tvs and 15-foot projecting Christmas tree. I think we watched the light show for almost 30 minutes. After that the other displays were kinda a letdown. It was fun to all be in the car together listening to Christmas music and enjoying the lights.
Amelia has been blessed these last couple of weeks by hanging out with our good friend Sajen. Sajen was the kids' summer nanny several years ago. She now is an adult in the Tri-Cities but finds the time to pick Amelia up to hang out with her. Usually, they run some kind of errand and get ice cream. It is just super sweet of Sajen to take the time to come get Amelia. I know Amelia really really loves spending time with Sajen. And I love of course that one, Amelia has another adult in her life that loves her and two, she has a great adult role model to look up to.
Jacob had his ACL repair surgery on November 19th. It went great! I would like to tell some funny story about the goings on of the surgery but everything went very smoothly. Jacob was nervous about the IV but did fine. He was nervous about the nerve block but the anesthesiologist gave him some sedative before he started. Jacob said later, that after the sedative took effect, he doesn't really remember anything. He woke up in recovery just fine. I was a little worried about the anesthetics but the anesthesiologist was receptive to what I said about a family history of being sensitive to it. After the procedure the doctor showed me pictures of the inside of his knee; Jacob had no other damage other than the ACL tear. Now he just needs to rest, regain strength and range of motion. He will get his stiches out on December 4th. At his first post op appointment Jacob' range of motion was ahead of where it should be and he was healing good. We are praying for his full recovering.
On the way home from tennis Jack was complaining about something. To distract him I asked him what was on his Christmas list. He told me, "I'll get Amelia a blanket. I already got you something. Dad sock and I don't know about Jacob."
I told him he made my heart so warm. He didn't really understand why and I didn't explain it to him. But, what made my heart warm was that his Christmas list was a "giving" list instead of a "getting" list. He first thought of other before himself. Jack really is such a kind hearted person.
Well I would write about just Halloween night but that isn't how Halloween is celebrated anymore, now it takes over a week. :)
On the Wednesday before Halloween Franklin Elementary hosted a Trunk or Treat school carnival thing. I volun-told the boys that they were going to help pass out candy at our trunk. They weren't too thrilled but ended up having a good time. They ran out of candy once and ran out completely way before the other cars. Apparently they were playing games with the kids. Like see how many candies it takes to get it in your bag (by throwing it), the kids got to keep any candy that didn't make the bag too. Another one was a secret code word they would tell one kid, if that kid told a friend and said it back to Jacob or Jack that kid would get double candy. Really just silly ways to hand out candy. Whatever, I am sure all kids got way more candy than then needed. Amelia brought a friend, Kylie, with her. The girls just got to hangout, go to all the trunks and play the games. It was short and sweet.
On the Friday, before Halloween Amelia went to Kylie's house for a Halloween party. They ate pizza and Halloween treats, played some games and watched kid appropriate Halloween shows. I think that one would be nicer since it was warmer. Amelia had fun.
Now on Halloween, Amelia went trick or treating around the neighborhood, just the regular route. I walked with her around. By this time, it seemed like a little bit of a let down after all the activities she had been doing, but she still had fun.
Now the boys are too old for trick or treating so they just got some candy. I say every year, 5th grade is old enough for trick or treating. If they get invited to a Halloween party, great but they are too big to go door to door. I like that they have opportunities to volunteer at this time. I keep telling them that little kids are so excited and impressed to see "big kids" helping. They understand a little bit, begrudgingly.
Amelia has been doing great in school. She really likes her teacher, Mrs. Vandervert. Her teacher has each kid have a job for the month. They get paid for their efforts. At the end of the month the class holds a "Buy and Sell Market" where each kid brings stuff to sell. The kids get to use the money they earned from their jobs to buy things. Mrs. Vandervert even makes them pay taxes on their income. She noted that none of them liked that.
Amelia was soooo excited about the Buy and Sell day. She brought a bag full of stuff to sell. I think she said she made a couple thousand dollars on her selling and bought lots of things. It sounded like a very fun time. Her teacher messaged me to say, "Amelia is going to be a top business woman someday!" I totally believe it too!
So back in Sucktember (also know as September 2021) Jacob injured himself at football practice. At the time his coach called me to let me know he had injured his knee and that he was sitting out icing it. I had asked if Jacob had heard a pop, how bad the swelling was, what was his range of motion and if he could put weight on it? From what the coach told me it didn't seem too bad. Fast forward 2 weeks, bypassing quarantine, and Jacob and I are sitting in an orthopedic surgeon's office. The doctor think Jacob has torn his ACL. I am like what?! He is too young! That is a major injury, with a major surgery to repair it! Well the MRI confirmed he did in fact completely tear his ACL. Yuck! Jacob is now scheduled for surgery on November 19.
I do not like any of this. I am concerned for his healing and future knee health. I am concerned about him under going surgery at such a young age. I just don't like it.
Another hiccup was one of the tent trailer supports bent very loudly at 4:30 in the morning one night. Uppa was up like a rocket, in his underwear as Jack will tell you, to see what happened. Again, luckily Uppa was able to fix it.
But the weekend was a success because both boys got a deer. Jacob got a nice doe on opening day. Jack got a 4x2 buck a couple days later. Of course Jack rubs it in to Jacob that he got a buck first. Jacob rubs it into Jack because he got a deer first and has better aim. I told them both they get two comments a day about it but after that I don't want to hear anymore. Uppa brought them and the deer home on Monday. We processed the meat in the garage with Umma's help. Both boys are getting good practice cutting the meat up.
I am just so thankful for Uppa and all the time and money he puts into the boy's hunting experiences. They do not realize how lucky they are.
On Friday, Jacob called because he wasn't feeling. He went to school just fine but throughout the morning went down hill. While he was at the school I said to just go ahead with a COVID test. His positive test dominoed Jack and Amelia getting picked up from school with positive test, me, not being able to go to work because I tested positive, and Dad testing positive.
We are now all quarantined with COVID for the next ten days. Lucky for us we all were able to receive a positive test on the same day so we are all on the same timeline. Other then having some lagging coughs and congestion we all feel fine. Dad says he can't smell anything and taste hardly.
So tragically Skipper died yesterday. He suffocated in a chip bag while we were all gone to school or work. Horribly Jack found him when he got home from school. Jack became frantic and hysterical, obviously. Jack removed the bag from Skipper's head. He then tried calling my phone, but I had the sound turned off. He called Dada at work. Dan said he could barely understand him because he was so upset. Dan told Jack to call Myrna for help while he drove home. Myrna wasn't home but she sent Alex over to help. Alex checked Skipper out and let Jack know he was gone. He then wrapped Skipper up in a blanket. Once Myrna got there she called me at the school thru the office. I was frantic with worry over Jack finding Skipper. Luckily I was able to leave right after I talked with her.
Myrna was at the house to stay with the boys until I got there. Both boys were upstairs when I got home, they didn't want to be near Skipper's body. Jack fell into hysterics again, he was so upset, when he saw me. He was crying uncontrollably. Jacob explained that the bus had been too full to take him so he had to walk home. That was why Jack was there alone.
Minutes after I got home, Dada showed up. Jack, Dada and I held each other and cried. We petted Skipper's body. We also sat with Jack in the kitchen since he collapsed there in grief.
After a bit, when things had settled down I picked Amelia from school. I talked with the school counselor about the situation before I picked her up. Outside the building she asked why she was being picked up. I told her Skipper died. She broke down in tears, sobbing. We stood there for awhile hugging. When we got home, Dada and I showed her Skipper's body and we petted him a bit. After that she crawled into bed.
Right before I took Skipper's body to the vet to be cremated our family prayed around Skipper's body and touched him a final time.
Needless to say we are all devastated. It is just so sad that he is gone. We all depended so much on Skipper to be here and to love us. We received so much reassurance, companionship and support from that little dog. All of us are physically hurting from grief. As with all grief, we are coming together as a family. Slowing the pace down of our life; allowing each of us to process this in our own way but not alone in doing so.
RIP Skipper
It's football season again! Jacob decided he was going to play again this year. He isn't too excited about the tackling part but he as several friends that play. Jacob is a kid who loves being with his friends. He has always been someone who believes in "the more the merrier" and loves family gatherings. Now that he is a teenager is seeking out his peer groups; and of now, his peer group is a nice group of friends. But I digress back to football... So far he is enjoying it. As of now, they will get to play football games so I am hoping that happens.
Now it is Jack's first year playing football and he is LOVING it. He plays on the defensive line. He tells me all about practice and how he gets to push kids around. He loves pushing "big blue" around, that's some kind of tackling sled. He has started working out each day; which consists of a list of exercise, my 3lbs weights and very inspirational music. I am so glad he is enjoying himself and has found a place for him to belong.
Amelia and Jack entered things into the fair this year. It all started with Jack wanting to enter his elephant picture he painted with Ms. Stephanie. He ended up entering one other painting. Amelia entered two paintings, a tie dye shirt and a poem she wrote in school. When we got to the fair the first thing we did was look for their entities. It was so exciting to see the ribbons!! The highlights were:
Jack won Best in Show for his elephant watercolor. We both agreed Ms. Stephanie would have been so excited and proud of him.
Amelia won a special Grand Reserve ribbon for her pigeon picture. Amelia's poem won Best in Show, Best in Division, Best in Class and People's Choice.
We were so shocked and surprised by their winnings! They should be getting a check for the money they won in the mail soon, but we are not sure how much it will be. Needless to say they are probably going to enter stuff next year.
So everyone had a vacation, but we all had it different ways. Dad and I spent several days in Idaho for our anniversary. While we were gone Umma came to stay with Jack and Amelia. She took them to tennis, out to eat and the Dollar store. They went for walks and bike rides, of course they played screens. Jack helped Umma with her Rowblocks account. While we were gone Jack slept in our bed.
For the week Uppa took Jacob fishing with his friends on the Columbia. It was the first time Jacob had gone on the Columbia fishing so he had a great time. He caught four fish and kept two of them. They went two days. While they were down fishing, Uppa and Jacob stayed in the 5th wheel so Jacob thought that was living. Of course he came back with even more of a fishing bug then he left with. At some stop along the way they picked up the Washington State fishing guide. Jacob read that cover to cover, and he showed me the diagrams of the different fish. We ate some of his fish already, it was very good.
Jack and Amelia started taking tennis lessons. At first both were a little hesitant to go but now it is no problem. Actually, after the first lesson Jack proclaimed he loved tennis and wants to keep playing. We bought him his own racket and are planning on signing him up for more lessons. Amelia isn't as into it as Jack but she still is pretty good. She will tell you she doesn't like tennis, basketball is her sport. I just want both of them to try new things and be active.
Jacob and Jack had an amazing time at the Ghormely Adventure Camp. At first they weren't too sure about it since I was suppose to sign them up for the Teen Camp but got confused. Plus, they had to sleep in tents instead of cabins and help cook their food. I think Jack was the most hesitant but of course they went anyways. When I went to pick them up Jack was also the first one to say he wasn't leaving and wanted to stay since he had such a great time. :) The Adventure Camp is just 12 kids instead of 40+, which meant they got to do more stuff without waiting and did some offsite things like hiking by Mt. Rainer. Both boys said they had a blast playing paintball, that was Jack's favorite part. Jacob's favorite part was driving in the vans on the way to different activities: go figure, apparently driving in the vans was just talking, jokes, and laughter. I asked the boys if they wanted to do Teen Camp next year or stick with Adventure Camp? Both boys said they would have to think about it. Either way, I am glad they got to go have fun.
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| 2021 Ghormely Amelia went to camp Ghormely for the first time this year. She had an amazing time, which isn't surprising. She was a little nervous to go at first but after we, her brothers and I, talked to her about all the great stuff she will get to do the nerves just melted away. When I picked her up from camp she was walking arm and arm with another girl from her cabin; Amelia is always good at making fast friends. She said she had a great time. Her favorite activity, besides buying snacks at the Sundeck, was swimming. She had a bit of a cold when I picked her up but that was because she was utterly exhausted from how much fun she had, plus all the fun we had on our vacation on the Westside. She slept all the way home and slept for another 5 hours when she got home. It took her a couple of days to recover but she said it was worth it. |
Here is some schoolwork Amelia did over the school year. Some of the pictures are of her Father's Day present to Dan.
The last weekend of June thru the beginning of July we were on a mega vacay. It started with going to the Westside to go boating with Mike and his family. The next day we went swimming at Shannon's and Mike's since it was so hot. Amelia and Audrey got along really well at Shannon's, swimming together.
Next I took the kids up to Seal Rock to camp for the week. We took Uppa's tent trailer for the first time. It took a lot of teamwork and a LOT of time but between the boys and I we got it setup. We enjoyed a couple hikes, well Jacob and I enjoyed the hikes. The kids played out in the mud on a beach when the tide was out. Little did they know before they started that their feet were going to get all cutup from the the shells, but they had fun for about an hour before that happened. We all enjoyed sleeping in the tent trailer as opposed to the tent.
After we came home from camping we hung out at Umma and Uppa's. I took the kids to their first drive-in movie, Baby Boss 2. All the kids enjoyed it. I think they got a little cold but no one really complained. At least now they can say they have been to a drive-in. The next day was the 4th of July. In the morning we went for a hike a Staircase
I asked each kid what their favorite part of the trip was, I allowed for a top three if they can't decide.
Jacob:
1. 4th of July Party
Jack
1. Spending the night at Josh's
2. Hanging out with Burton at the 4th of July Party
3. Hanging out with Burton at Umma and Uppa's
Amelia:
1. Boating
2. Tie-dye
3. 4th of July Party
I am not sure why I don't have a picture of Jack on his birthday but he had a fun day. He had Sonic for lunch and a ice cream pizza for a special treat. During the day we had several of the neighborhood kids hanging out to help celebrate the day. Jack is a wonderful boy, with charisma and a sparking smile. He 12, the last year of a preteen. He has a sweet caring heart that shines in the most loving ways.
Jacob had a baseball tournament in Boise, Id; he was very excited to go to it. The team went 1-4 but Jacob said he hit the best he has ever. He also did some great defensive plays and had some pivotal hits during games. I, of course, didn't go since I had to stay home to pick Jack up from camp but Dad and Amelia went. They stayed in a nice hotel, had lots of take-out and swam in the hotel pool. They also went to Roaring Springs, which is a huge water park in Boise, on Friday night after the first baseball game. Actually the whole baseball team went so Jacob got to hangout with his friends. Another surprise is that Mark, Sawyer and Sam showed up on Sunday's game. They stayed to watch that one and then invited Jacob, Amelia and Dan out to their house to swim and hangout. (Mrs. Stephanie would have been very happy about that. ) Overall the weekend was jammed packed with fun; all three of them came back exhausted and sunburned.
Jack went to his Young Life camp this last weekend. He came back exhausted, sunburned and so happy. He had a such a great time and was so excited to tell me all about how amazing it was. He said it was the second best week of his life so far, Disneyland being the best. He loved the waterpark, the food, desserts, ropes course... He said they did night hikes till like 2:00 am. All the best things middle schoolers love. I am so glad he got to go.
Amelia turned 10, double digits this year! For her birthday we went to Montross's Italian restaurant. Myrna gave her a super fancy dress, tiara and shoes to. She was excited to wear such a fancy dress despite it being kinda itchy.
Amelia has turned into a very social girl. She loves being around her friends and prefers "hanging out" with them to anything else. She is always out and about outside with different kids from the neighborhood. She continues to be a sweet, responsible, diligent student at school.
All the kids were quarantined this time around. Jacob started it off with a sore throat, low fever and congestion. Jacob was sick for about 2 days and then have been fine. He still does baseball. But because we did not test him for COVID he could not go back to school for 10 days. He was fine with that and actually preferred it.
Jack got a sore throat and congestion, himself a couple days after Jacob so he automatically went into quarantine. He, also, was super happy about it. Amelia got a sore throat and congestion about the same time as Jack so she got to do her second round of quarantine.
Now the trick will be to keep the kids in school the rest of the year. They have loved quarantine since they can sleep in, get their school work done faster, and then play screens the rest of the day, since I am at work. I think they will all be trying to stand next to a sick kid at school. :)
Jacob pitched in his first game of the year. Really he has only pitched 1 or 2 times before this in a game. He did so GREAT! The first inning he pitched was so good! It was against the other teams top of the line up. He threw strikes, struck someone out and put the ball into play so his team could make the play. He did so good that it carried over to a hitting rally. He went on to pitch 2 more innings, which is a lot for the first time pitching and because the mound is at high school distance. He finished the game for the team. At one point his coach asked him if he was alright to keep pitching, with 2 more outs to go. Jacob confidently told him, he was alright and could do it. And he did!
And one other moment to be proud of that game, is another lady stopped to compliment me and Dad about what a good, kind boy Jacob is. She appreciates how supportive he is to the other players.
Just an around heart filling evening.
So on one of the evenings I was gone for one of Jacob's baseball games some Mormon missionaries came to the door. I tell the kids not to answer the door while I am gone but Jack thought it was the UPS since there was a package on the doorstep (just a coincidence). Jack was polite to the missionaries, told them his parents were home but busy and couldn't come to the door. They said thanks and that they would come back tomorrow.
I will quote Jack to tell the next part of the story:
"Mom, what they didn't know was, was that Mrs. Stephanie's house is empty because she is dead! So I took the keys to her house and went in the backdoor. When they rang her doorbell I opened the door. Man, you should have seen the look on their faces! (At this point, Jack's eyes are super wide with the biggest mischievous grin on his face.) They said, don't you live next door? I told them, no I live here and my parents aren't home. They said they would come back tomorrow."
I laughed so hard. I asked him if he really did do that. He said yes. He also said, he thought I would be really mad at him or think it is really funny. I told him I think it is really funny. What a character!
An email from Jack's teacher:
He is doing GREAT! I think he rushes sometimes (like yesterday), but he is such a great participant for me. He always is engaged and ready to learn, and I love that he likes to learn to things. It is good for the other students to see as well. I can always count on him to answer questions in science, so I am not talking to 29 blank faces. Ha ha! 😄
