Back to School 2022

Monday we spent a chill morning with Jana and the girls. Around 9:45 we went to a park boasting a new splash pad in Nampa. The new splash pad was already broken, instead we sweated our pits for an hour playing on the hot playground. I tried really hard to have Hannah's birthday gift ready by Sunday but that was not happening. I made an embroidery kit complete with three hoops, fabric, lots of thread, needles, scissors, needle threader, and three hoops set up for sewing. Grandma Debbie said she could help show her the right stitches when she gets stuck! Amelia traced a tiger, jellyfish, and Pua the pig for Hannah to decorate. Jana had to stretch her hips, she is constantly rubbing her lower muscles, looks like intense pain! Jana was very, very tired. I felt concerned as she pulled out headed for home. I called her several times just to make sure she was ok! Jana and Justin had some vehicle mishaps over the weekend. Jana accidently swiped a construction cone, initially thought no damage but later found some scrapes and a dent in her door. Justin was rear-ended while out buying replacement faucet handles at Home Depot with the boys. Everett was amused and terrified he met his first "Karen" character. Jana called me around 4 asking if Pocatello was on the route home. She missed the 84 south exit at Burley where they stopped for lunch. Thankfully, going to Pocatello only adds 30 minutes more to the drive...but still that was frustrating. 

I FINALLY got my birthday pedicure. My toes are prettily painted with long-lasting gel polish and all the crusties sanded away. I quite savored my Sodalicious treat too. 

The Bledsoes hosted a back to school pool party Monday night. I made homemade almond joys which did not last long. Brother Leavitt gave me a wide-eyed look after biting into one...that made my day. We left home in a hurry, no time for me to change or grab my suit. It was stifling...so I jumped in fully clothed. Two hours later I was still dripping wet, clothes take much longer to dry than swimsuits. It was worth it to dunk Sara, flip over Carson, and swim with the kids. Josie was jumping off the diving board and swimming to the side all on her own. She even figured out how to do back twirls under the water. The older kids had a game going on involving a squirty turtle toy. We stayed until almost 10 pm. 

Tuesday morning Sara picked Amelia and I up from Les Schwab, after 18 months the front tires are already worn to the threads. There is an alignment issue with the van, it needs alignments all the time. Maybe I should stop taking the van off sweet jumps or going around the round-abouts 20 times in a row? Maybe?! The little girls went to their Open House right after dinner to meet their new teachers. Evelyn has Mrs Gingrich and Josie has Mrs Campbell. It was a bit frustrating to get their supply lists less than 24/48 hours before school started. Evelyn is quite nervous about her teacher and school this year. After meeting Mrs Gingrich she seemed to feel a bit better. We went right over to Walmart for the rest of the supplies, it was swamped and the aisles raided. 

Wednesday was the day before D-Day...the kids only wanted to veg watching Bluey or play Minecraft. We did for a bit then went to lunch with Justin as a last hurrah to summer. Tessa came over for a couple hours to hang out with Mia. Toward the evening we assembled backpacks, worked on lunches, outfits, and showers. We did our best to get in bed by 9 pm! 

That 5:50 am alarm was expected, but oh how we wanted to ignore it. Lots of sleeping eyes from the boys. Phillip stayed up until 10:45 reading Aru Shah...nerdling. Mia took care of herself, Phillip was also a pro, Everett did his best to listen and move while half awake. The little girls got up around 7:30 very excited. Evelyn had her lunch all packed the day before and all the supplies packed into her backpack. She had her outfit carefully laid out. Breakfast was more quiet without Everett's sound effects. We walked to the school yard at 8:30. Josie was so excited to see everyone gathered. Evelyn found her class right away. She has a couple friends in her class from last year. Josie and I located her line, she is thrilled that 1/3 of her kinder friends are also in her class this year. The kids were all nervously shuffling in line some hanging on to their parents. Josie? She was skipping up and down the line dishing out hugs and booping some noses. She turned to the girl behind her and said, "you were mostly rude last year but I am still your friend!" I went home and edited photos that piled up over the summer, got caught up then behind again quickly. Amelia had a frustrating first day. Her schedule was a mess. She had no classes scheduled for the first 4 periods, no STEM classes, remedial math and English, missing one choir class, no Seminary, and etc. Her assigned counselor brushed her off saying to send her an email after she received her laptop on Friday. Phillip and Everett had a great time. Everett joined Cross Country so he stays after school each day running with Ambree, Grace, and Alyssa. He must eat a magical granola bar before running to get energy. Evelyn came home excited, she reported this year she gets to learn High School math (Algebra), make elephant toothpaste, and do science. She decided her teacher is a good fit for her. Josie was crying, she went to the bathroom at recess, came back outside to find everyone gone. The door locked before she could catch it. She was scared being outside for 2-3 minutes until a teacher noticed her at the doors. Other than that scare she said school is boring but will be fine. 

Friday was much the same. I went grocery shopping, edited, and cleaned. Kids came home did chores and changed into comfy clothes for the weekend. I was all on edge because of my Dad, that story coming. Justin took Amelia to pick up her Driver's Permit. She started driving classes the 8th-10th from 9-11 am and the next week 15-17th with her driving test on Wednesday. Justin had Mia drive Grenda home from South Middle School. I cannot believe we have a driver. Josie told Mia she needed to drive straight. Ha ha ha. 

Saturday afternoon Justin and I headed to Downtown Boise with Phillip and Evelyn for their birthday date. They wanted to have their photo session and dinner together instead of on different evenings. Justin stayed with our pile of outfits at the entrance of Freak Alley. He did a great job holding up the walls. Evelyn had all her outfits and poses planned. Phillip was just so handsome, he looks like a young man, acts like on only a couple seconds a day at this point in time. It was quite warm outside, Evelyn's rosy cheeks were darling. We walked to a fun pop art store to browse the fun memorabilia. Picking a restaurant for 4 people was a challenge. Evelyn was outvoted in favor of a pizza place. The first joint was a no go, the second was golden with a brick oven, thin crust, and authentic ingredients. We busted out the scooters for a quick jaunt around town to the Jump! building. I love this new tradition of taking out the birthday kids without the rest of the family. Amelia, Everett, and Josie went to the snow cone shack then Mia hosted a spa night. We grabbed ice cream on our way home. 

Dad recently had a CAT scan for a sinus issue. The technicians noticed that dad had a good sized AVM (arteriovenous malformation) that was probably congenital. The AVM had some noticeable air bubbles which meant the AVM was delicate, thinning, and could rupture. Dad got a new machine hoist to carry around a jack hammer. Boys. The driveway was needing repairs so why not get a jack hammer...then a hoist to carry it?! Saturday and Sunday dad had a headache and experienced some hearing issues at dinner.  Monday he was lifting something heavy and felt an explosion of pain behind his forehead. The parents decided to head to the ER. Dad waited for many hours before he got a new CAT scan showing the AVM was bleeding, he experienced a hemorrhagic stroke. The DR kept dad in the ICU until his surgery scheduled for THursday because he did not trust Dad to stay inert and in bed. The Thursday surgery was postponed until Friday per prior surgical complications in other patients. Dad's 3 hour surgery started at 3 pm, he was still in the operating room at 9 pm. Phew, that was hard to imagine what the surgeons were dealing with. He was out of surgery and waking up around 11 pm. Saturday he was alert and responding to questions but struggled to find the right words. The AVM was just a cm away from his speech and cognitive center so some impact was expected. Mom said he was very weepy on Saturday. James, John, and Rudy gave Dad a blessing, several blessings over the week. I spoke to him a couple times, he is terrorizing the nursing staff wearing his army blanket. His new scar is impressive! He needs to come up with a good story to match the scar. 

More drama in our ward. Another family has left the church over the terrible child abuse situation. The Reddishs are actively targeting others in our neighborhood who favorably respond to their FB posts. An article was published by the Associated Press last week about a Father in AZ who was molesting his two girls. He refused to allow the Bishop to report, the Bishop reported to the hotline but was bound by law to not say anything. The wife refused to report when she learned about the abuse. The Bishop later reported after he finished serving in that calling. He and the church are facing charges for reporting and violating confession laws. This situation was blown out of proportion by the press, the church made to look like it closes its eyes when faced with abuse. The Reddished blasted several members in our ward for posting the church's reply to the article. Sunday Sister Hyde was released from her calling. There are not enough members to fill callings anymore, the Bishopric is consistently turned down when they ask a member to speak or fill a calling. Makes me heart ache. Justin and the RS president are teaching a class next Sunday on abuse, reporting, the logistics, and setting some facts straight. The youth need to take the training and watch the videos before Sunday's discussion.