School is OUT! Mia's surgery, Everett's birthday, Moving to Phoenix
Phillip performed in a cute reader's theater at the park gazebo Monday at noon. All the kids made cute little masks out of paper plates and art supply stuff. Evelyn woke up that morning insisting on a Cinderella make over and dress ups. She carefully gathered all the stuff needed to complete her outfit and got it all on herself. She stayed in costume all day! Well, her Cinderella ballet bun did fall out before noon, her hair is so fine most styles just fall right out. We met Justin at the park to watch Phillip's play. His was the 3rd out of 4 skits. He played the 3rd Billy Goat Gruff. Made my heart swell to watch him read with confidence and some sass! After the play he ate some grass just to prove he was a real goat. Silly boy! The kids brought along sack lunches. I did not have my ducks in a row so missed out on packing picnic lunches for the girls and Justin. After we gave hugs and left I helped Justin drop off his truck to her new tires and an alignment. It now rides smooth as butter, much better than the milk-shaking ride his old tires offered. I grabbed treats for Everett's classroom while we were at home. Evelyn was starving so she scored a Happy Meal since I was out of time. We had to be at Everett's school by 1:30 to share birthday treats with his class. He beamed, just shone with excitement when we walked in the door. Evelyn lugged over the bag of ice cream sandwiches to Everett. He pulled up a chair for her and patted her back. Those two fight quite a bit so any love passed is a very good thing. We all sang happy birthday then snacked on the treats. I took Everett home with me since it was close to the end of the day. He deserved some mom time at home. Amelia taught a FHE lesson on loving your family. Phillip chose a dance party just for Amelia since it will be some time before she can dance again.
We gathered the kids together right when Justin came home from work on Tuesday to tell them our news. Justin told his manager and coworkers earlier that day. I heard it was quite emotional spilling the beans to his team. The folks he works with are pretty great people. Leaving is one of the hardest choices we've ever made. Amelia caught on quickly to what we were saying. She and Justin cried as the other kids caught on. Phillip started crying, realizing he would leave his friends like Cassandra. Once he learned that Anson would be in our new town he turned pretty excited. His new dream is to play Legos with Anson and swim in the desert. Everett was reading a book, he cried for a moment because it seemed to go with the moment. A few moments later he was happily reading his book again. Mia seems to be the one who will have the hardest time leaving her friends Ella and her school friends Katelyn and Rachel (Mimi, KK, and Ray-ray). Thinking about all the folks we will leave hits a very tender spot on our hearts. We've called Sidney home for almost 9 years. That is a chunk of change in my book. Compared to Sidney the second-longest stretch I spent in one place was living with my Grandparents in Wellsville for almost 3 years. We welcomed 4 children to our family here in Sidney. Started 3 kids in school, served in many church callings, took thousands of photos, gained a truck and motorcycle, a dog, and Aunt Jen. Phillip penned a note to Mrs Hoekema explaining his news. He wrote it on one of my memo notes then made an envelope and taped it all together. I got a call the next day from his school asking to verify the "rumor." At least the kids got to have a full school day knowing it was their last with their classmates.
The kids enjoyed their last full day of school on Wednesday the 24th. I know the kids at North Elementary got to walk to the theater for a viewing of "Sing." Seems like the kids spent quite a bit of time outside playing in recess, eating lunch outside, and making art projects. Amelia was crowned Raider Queen again this year on her last day. She came home wearing a crown and a huge grin. I worked on editing a little photo session I did for my friend Sheena and her family, hoping to finish it before summer started. Amelia had her last Activity Day Girls for the summer making marigold pots. Amelia came home with a fun get-well-soon gift bag from her friends. Everett and I had a very special Mommy-Son date after dropping Mia off. I took his birthday photos at the field. We went to Walmart afterward to exchange some shorts. He found a ridiculously cute Pokemon hat for his birthday. In the shoes aisle he found two plastic shoe forms (they looked like bent straws), those immediately became Pokemon weapons. Everett has classic middle child syndrome. He told everyone we passed: "I'm on a date...with my Mom! Like for the first time ever! Or "This is my mom we are on a date, for the first time." We had such a fun time, that dude is pretty cute and silly. After Walmart we had ice cream cones at DQ. Our DQ is under new management, a new less active LDS family. They run some fun little contests like Father and Son superheros, Mom and child Mother's day, etc. The manager asked Everett if he wanted to make his own dipped, chocolate swirl cone! Everett was thrilled to wash his hands and make his own cone! The grin on his face belied how happy he felt. Since our date whenever he and I are partially alone he sidles next to me, "Mom, we are on another date, right here!" I'd say our first date alone was pretty awesome. I think we will even go on a second date. Ha ha. Our evening before bed had a traumatic turn, I french-braided Amelia's hair. Yeowch! She screamed, wailed, and cried as I made four braids. Last year she came home with a knotted mass of hair behind her head. We hoped to avoid the awful hours of brushing out a bird's nest with the braids.
Phillip woke us all up at 5:45 the next morning, anxious to start summer vacation! Justin and Mia drove off to Denver Children's around 6:30 am. Evelyn was pretty upset that they left to Denver without her. She was mid-packed when they pulled away. Poor kid cried for an hour before she really settled down. Around 8 am the rest of us piled into the van to visit the schools, fetch report cards, and say goodbye. We visited Everett's classroom first. Ms Buoy gave us his last report card and kindly promoted Everett to first grade status. Everett earned the equivalent of straight A's. Once again his scissor skills were the only complaint. We stopped off at the donut store for a healthy breakfast of sprinkle donuts and maple logs, the milk made it healthy. Phillip was excited to give Mrs Hoekema a huge hug. His report card was also stellar: Outstanding in Math, Satisfactory in spelling, science, social studies, writing, reading, and handwriting! He made tremendous strides the last quarter in reading, now working on fluency and memorization. His main struggle is being attentive and turning in work on time. Lastly, we visited Mrs Roach without Amelia to collect her report card. Mrs Roach started crying as we talked about Amelia and her year with Mrs Roach. I got misty-eyed when she complimented Justin and I as amazing parents. Amelia earned: 98 in Language, 94 in Math, 99 in Reading, 99 in Science, and 98 in Social Studies. Straight A's!!!! Go girl! The boys went a bit crazy in the classroom because they found a beach ball and whacked me in the head with it. Evelyn was cackling like a witch as the boys played dodge ball. I think their manners went out the window with their hungry tummies. We ate our donuts at the nearby park. I had a Dr appointment at 9:45 so we did not stay long. I wanted to check my thyroid levels since I am still quite fatigued. It was a bit low so the Dr adjusted my medication. Evelyn and Everett were quite intrigued when the tech drew blood out of my arm. She still tells me that I have blood inside my arm. Yep! Even today. The rest of the day we waited to hear about Amelia's surgery progress. She was in surgery around 11:30 and able to see Justin in recovery by 1:30. We were completely surprised she was sent home a couple hours later. The surgery only required a nerve block so was not nearly as invasive. The Dr advised me she could stay a couple days, so we planned on that. She was home and on the couch by 6:30 that same day. I about died laughing over the boy's antics. Phillip stuffed 6-7 scarves into Everett's pants. Everett tried to stuff some scarves as well, each time he bent over his undies stayed with his pants instead of covering his bottom. He had some very fat pants! Course, the game devolved into fighting and wrestling on the carpet. I busted out the friendship robe for the first time this summer. It was not a warm welcome. Soon the boys were walking around the house trying to keep up so the other would not trip and fall.
Everett woke up on Friday as the newest 6 year old in our family. He opened presents here and there throughout the day. He was stoked to finally get his OWN Nerf gun, 81 bullets, and a zompie sword like Uncle Jared. He continued his backwards pants trick on his birthday. I wanted to finish making a "6" shirt so he went outside with pants, undies, footwear, and a Pokemon hat. He got to play a bit on the iPad for his birthday. Mostly, the boys played with his new toys and helped to amuse Amelia. Poor kid was in a lot of pain, drugged on Oxycodone and pain killers. He requested lunch at Oya Grill, ordering his favorite enchiladas. For dinner he requested pizza with pepperoni. I made him a sinful chocolate cake with peppermint ganache. We told stories about him and watched a couple videos from his baby days. He blew out candles like a total champ. We sure love our Everett. Such a smart, cute, loving child. Everett got: green scooter, laser pointer, sword, nerf gun, the game SET, a slip and slide, Pokemon hat, a turtle webkinz, and PieFace showdown.
Sacrament by myself this week was something out of a comic book. Justin stayed home sick. Everett once again donned his pants on backwards. He needed help during the meeting to button and zip his butt. Poor Sister Michaels almost died laughing. She gave me a much needed hug after the meeting. Almost pushed me over the proverbial edge.
On a brighter note, Josie is chattering away like a monkey now. She jabbers on and on over all she sees and notices. Often her little finger points as she tells you her thoughts and feelings. Sometimes she straight out says a phase as she imitates us. The other day she said, "Don't do that!" Her favorite word is Everett. Her favorite place to play is on the long couch. She stands up, balances, then crashes back down with a delighted smile. I've caught her crouching then standing up while she admires a toy, even taking steps on her own to get closer to something. Walking is just around the corner. She is trying to teethe more top teeth right now. Josie is such a happy little chatter box. We all adore her so much.
Justin made the last payment on my student loans last month. I am finally done with my Bachelor and Master's degrees. That only took 14 years to pay off. It's a good feeling to be done. Many thanks to my sugar daddy for paying off the debt. It was worth it...right?! LOL.
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