Back to school

The vacations are over and it’s time for everyone to buckle down and get to work with school. The public schoolers started their schooling the week before we went to Winthrop. Those involved in “ALE” (Alternative Learning Environments aka my homeschoolers who attend Stillaguamish Valley School) began when we got back. School had been in session for over a week when I told Miriam I was really nervous about something. She said, “As nervous as you feel the night before the 1st day of school?” It was a perfect example of how she felt leading in to the school year. But, now that she’s got the routine down, she loves school and only hates the early wake ups. William had no anxiety about school started again. In fact, all summer he kept asking me each morning if today was finally the day he got to go to school. Anastaya got to pick the family dinner for her 1st day of school and she picked Chicken Gyros, Greek Fries, and White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. When it was Elizabeth’s turn to select the meal for her 1st day, she chose Red Robin.

Miriam and William ready for their 1st day

Elizabeth and I were talking about choices people make and I said to her, “Elizabeth, you’re never going to smoke are you?” She said, “No!” Then she thought about it for a minute and said, “Actually, I say now that I won’t ever smoke but pretty soon I’m going to be a teenager and it seems like teenagers sometimes do strange things. I hope I won’t ever smoke but I’m not a teenager yet.” How’s that for honesty!

Wednesday Isaac was able to get his cast off. After two months in it, he was more than ready to get the full use of his arm back. He was disappointed in how stiff his elbow and wrist are. When the nurse got his cast off, she remarked, "You've really used this waterproof cast!"  Little pieces of algae and pine needles from Pearygyn Lake had made their way inside it.

His left arm is quite a bit smaller than the right!

William was with us because we started the morning with a doctor appointment for him.  He's been wetting the bed every night for about a month and I wanted to make sure he didn't have an infection.  (nope)  William found the cast removal procedure very scary and spent most of the time peeking between his fingers as the cast was sawn and cut off.

Adding to his distress was the area where Isaac’s skin had grown into the casting material and bled when the gauze was ripped off.  I wish I could say we are done dealing with the broken arm, but we aren't quite.  In three weeks, Isaac will have another surgery to remove the rod.  10 days after that, he'll have the stitches out.  So, by the end of October, we should be finished!

Wednesday night I gave myself a black eye. I was trying to take a hook off the wall and move it. I had the hammer above my head, trying to get a good grip on the nail to pry it out. Well, the hammer slipped and slammed into my cheek bone. The bruising was immediate. Elizabeth was right beside me when I did it and she was immediately hugging me and asking if I was OK.  I just wanted a few minutes to be sad for myself and not be the brave mommy but I turned and told her I would be fine.  Jacob saw me and said, "You need to lie down with an ice pack, I'll make dinner!"  I find it kind of strange that a lot of people are afraid to ask me what happened.  They must think it's either a domestic problem or I got in a fight with someone.

Purple goes great with my green eyes!

 

Saturday Anastaya and William were able to go down to Tacoma to attend a family party with their grandpa.

We started our annual collection of firewood this week.  Dode took the four oldest kids to a friend's house who had a bunch of trees on the ground.  The kids and Dode spent three hours cutting, splitting, and stacking firewood into the trailer.  It went as well as it usually did, everyone yelling at everyone, Elizabeth in tears, Dode running the chainsaw and unable to intervene.  The kids got tired of working and got the great idea to leave the middle of the trailer empty and start stacking at the back as if the trailer was full of wood.  They weren't very happy when Dode wandered over and said, "Time to re-stack it the right way".  They got home and Jacob said to me, "If you want to guarantee that we hate each other, have us do firewood."  With just 3-4 more loving family trips to get wood, we should have enough for a winter.