Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Awards and Gymnastics

Ok, I did things a little differently this time - kind of by accident. I was going to blog and also post a few pictures but I wanted to put more pictures on. So, you can look at the pictures in the last blog and read about them in this blog. You might think that Caleb would feel short- changed having only two pictures of himself. Actually, he hates having his picture taken so I was doing good to get two. His pictures are from the induction ceremony for the National Junior Honor Society. He wasn't very excited about it - or about getting awards in math and science- but we were very proud of him. Can't believe that at the end of this school day he will officially be a high schooler. How is that possible? I can't really be that old, can I? He is going to be a part of the Union High School Band - in the percussion section. So, he will be living and breathing band. It's an incredible band but that's because they practice a lot - huge time commitment and huge financial commitment. We probably won't see much of him during marching season. His life will consist of school, band, homework, church and guitar lessons. I'm sure he will try to squeeze in time with friends also.
Joshua is still doing Scouts and really enjoys it. He graduated from Webelos 1 and got a walking stick. This was his first year to get grades at school. He made the Honor Roll - all A's.
He was pretty proud and so were we. He was also the 2nd best speller from his class so he got to be in the school spelling bee. He is rapidly approaching the middle school years and I'm not ready for that. Next year he will get to do some special things since he will be in 5th grade. He will help with the school news broadcast - being a writer and possibly helping with tech stuff. He might also be in the honor choir. He is still on leadership team at church and enjoys helping with tech stuff there.
Jacob is full of energy as always. I keep hoping his energy level will decrease some as he gets older but it hasn't happened yet. The pictures of him were from gymnastics. He loves it and is really good. Starting in June he will go to a new gymnastics place that has more opportunities for boys. He thinks he might want to compete at some point. I think he is good enough to compete but he will have to choose between soccer and gymnastics at that point. He is still playing soccer.
We are taking it one season at a time. It is getting more intense already - even though he is only 8. He enjoys it though and it's a great outlet for all of his energy. He likes to play defense - sometimes as goalie. It stresses me out when he plays goalie.
I'm sure you've already figured out that I keep myself very busy just driving them to all of their activities. Summer will be a nice break. Jacob will still have gymnastics once a week and possibly some soccer stuff and Caleb will have some band practices but it won't be nearly as bad as during the school year.

2010-05-25

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Friday, May 14, 2010

The Boy of Many Scars

I am going to start calling Joshua the boy of many scars. He has three scars from stitches and two in spots where he probably could have used a stitch or two. These are all on his face. Now he has a new one to add to the group. It's on his lower abdomen - right where his appendix used to be. Two weeks ago we had friends over for dinner. The kids were playing outside and jumping on the trampoline - Joshua included. He was fine and having a great time. When he was getting ready for bed he started complaining about his stomach hurting. We didn't think a whole lot of it since he has a sensitive stomach and complains about his stomach hurting pretty frequently. We got concerned though when we were up with him most of the night. He had a hard time getting to sleep and then didn't sleep for long before he woke up again. We debated whether we should take him to the ER. In the morning he threw up and we thought maybe it was just a stomach bug. We waited a little while but the pain didn't go away. So, I took him to urgent care. To my surprise (and Joshua's) they said we needed to take him to St. Francis hospital because it might be his appendix. Joshua was very upset at urgent care because the doctor talked about the possibility of surgery. He threw up again on the way to the hospital. They took blood and a urine sample. They put an IV in and did a CAT scan. They decided from the tests that he did need to have his appendix taken out. So, at about 6:30 on Sunday he went into surgery. Thankfully his appendix had not ruptured. He got to go home by 5:00 on Monday and was back in school by Thursday. It was all really crazy! He was a real trooper. The most difficult part was when he was in the recovery room after surgery. That was not fun! He's doing well now. He's ready to be able to play outside again and jump on the trampoline but he has to wait one more week. He also can't participate in PE at school. He wasn't very happy about missing out on PE and recess. I'm just so thankful that he hasn't had any complications and he will be all better by summer break. I'm also very thankful that we have insurance!