BSU Stem Fair

 

We got to go see Everett’s STEM presentation Monday night at the high school. I feels like the science fair projects we had growing up are now research projects and presentations. The 10th graders did a genetics project, 11th graders had an architecture/environmental challenge, 12th graders had their senior project. The 9th graders researched an opinion topic to present. Everett worked really hard on his presentation board including lots of pockets, slide-outs, and pop-ups. His topic was “Pineapple on Pizza.” I loved watching him rope adults into watching his presentation, he has a very affable and welcoming presence. Nice work Everett. 

Justin and his team got the yearly report filed sometime before closing on Tuesday. He is able to slow down a bit until next month. Another perk this week was he got a work bonus! Gotta love when those come. Justin was able to take Fergus and Wally to get de-nutted on Thursday. Those wily dogs would not keep their cones of shame on, the dogs seem to be healing just fine. Justin even wore his Bluey cone of shame shirt that day. I had a theory about the couch. Fergus started his antics around the time we separated the couches to clean them, maybe he did not like the furniture arrangement. We pushed the couches back together…coincidently there is less territory to guard. 

Josie is loving her new violin. She has a bad habit of holding her instrument with a bent wrist. I did not want her to get used to the new string spacing with her bent wrist. The cure? A toilet paper roll placed between her palm and the violin forces her to straighten that wrist. The fingering feels different on her instrument with slightly longer spacing between notes. Evelyn has memorized all her music! Way to go.

Thursday I tried a stem wave treatments on my elbow and feet at Dr Stan’s office. Basically, it hurt like hell using sound waves to reinjure ligaments and force new blood to heal old injuries. I was not expecting the $150 fee per treatment. Looks like most treatments get the best results after 10-12 visits. My elbow almost instantly felt much better with over 20% more extension than before. My feet just hurt but a different ache. I won another $800 grant from CapEd bank! They really loved my idea to build a snap circuit wall feature in the lab. We had an assembly that day so Mr Obert announced it in front of the entire school. I quite loved holding up another huge check and dancing around like a fool. The CapEd team had me record a video in my lab and sign some paperwork. I am very excited to get working on the feature wall. Mr Obert asked what I was planning when I told him he said I needed approval to do that. Funny thing that he signed the proposal last month, guess he didn’t read before signing. After MCO I saw two young teens engaged in a long hug after rehearsal. Next thing I knew, I walked up and asked if I could get in on some hug action. They kindly let me in on that amazing hug. Ahhhhh.

Friday morning was a work day. I spent the morning cleaning and then assembling an ordering list for the snap circuit wall. I also worked on some techy stuff for next week’s lessons. Evelyn and I got to meet with Nina together this session. It sort of just happened. Evelyn was mad and yelling at me when it was time to go, exclaiming that I didn’t tell her about Nina’s appointment. Funny thing, it was mentioned during our planning meeting on Sunday and I reminded her twice on Thursday. She didn’t want to go because the girls and Oliver were playing a game outside in the lovely weather. Nina challenged me to read “The Explosive Child” and record what situations are most difficult for Evelyn. Seems like she struggles with transitions, doing things she doesn’t want to do, and breaking down large tasks. I came to realize last week that most of her reactions are manifestations of her stress levels. I feel like we are narrowing down what skills Evelyn can learn and use after 2 years of therapy. That is exciting. Everett is struggling because I refused to get more unisom for him. Turns out he was using it every night instead of as needed. We are going to try some other options instead of unisom every night. I was exhausted after work, therapy, and then grocery shopping. I almost cried thinking about 2-3 more hours of photo editing ahead for the evening. 

Kyran invited Everett to spend the day with him at the BSU Stem fair on Saturday. It did not take much to convince my crew to go check it out. Honestly, it was hard to focus and relax because I had so much to get done at home that day. I had some alterations for CHS choir to get done, some baby gifts to make for teachers at school, laundry, and photos. There were so many fun booths with engaging activities involving stem and science. I got to chat with educators around the valley about Lego clubs, ozobots, and snap circuits. Justin found the local Amateur Radio club section. He showed them his new toys and talked with some experienced club members. We were starving after walking around for 3 hours. Josie pounded 16 chicken nuggets for lunch. That’s impressive for her. The rest of the afternoon I got to take Senior photos for 3 graduating cousins, Will Izatt and his cousins Lily and Bree. I adore the Izatt family. We adventured around at the High School and then Wilson Ponds. Lily is from Kaysville so I omitted the CHS logos from her photos. Bree was on crutches after surgery 3 weeks ago on her hip. Evelyn is not feeling well again. She has another cold, Josie woke up this morning coughing, my ears are itchy, Justin is hacking and sniffing. Gracious, are we up for round 2 of ickiness? I’m taking a sick day just to hack away on projects stuffed on my plate.