Dance recital continued

Dance Recital

Jessica and Lily finish their second year with Nmotion Dance. Jessica was on the Dance Team. Above is their competition dance. They also did two more for recital. Enjoy!

Take me out to the ball game

We finally made it to the Dell Diamond. I won some free tickets from a drawing at school for 4 tickets behind home plate. It was pretty awesome, but besides me and Jhonny, Gavin was the only other one really enjoying themselves. We finally caved and took the kids to the play area where they jumped and played and Jessica rock climbed. It's a little strange that this baseball park has a park on the diamond. There were tons of kids playing basketball, bungee jumping, rock climbing, swimming in the pool, and playing on the jungle gym. I thought, "Is this a baseball field?" Who'd of thought to build all that into the diamond?
So I guess the good thing is that there is plenty of entertainment for the kids, but the downside is that we couldn't really watch the end of the game when we were overseeing the kids at the back of the field on the toys. . . Unfortunately, it was a school night, so we had to head home before the game was over. As we walked out they played "Take me out to the ball game" and had everyone in the stands sing along. It was fun. The kids didn't know the song. . . We really need to work on our knowledge of American pop culture besides what you see on the Disney Channel.

Humpty dumpty had a great jump. . .

Once upon a time, Mom and Dad were exhausted and decided to take a nap on a Sunday afternoon. Before settling down, they put their children snug into their own beds and warned them to sleep or else. Well. . . just as the mom and dad fell into a deep sleep, the children decided to make plans of their own. With a little help from her younger brother, Lily pulled the mattress off of the lower bunk bed onto the floor. This would provide the cushion for her and Gavin as they jumped off the platform of a higher piece of furniture. Together hand in hand, Lily and her brother jumped off and landed almost safe onto the cushion below. However as brilliant as this plan was, it didn't take into account one tiny cheek crushing into one tiny shoulder blade.

With screams and shouts of pain, Mom and Dad were woken from their deep slumber only to find a very hurt little girl and sad little boy.

After thorough interrogations, deductions were made and the story was uncovered. The reward? About three weeks of wearing a black eye in public. This was quite devestating for an already slightly vain 5 year old. Of course I caved and let her wear some makeup to conceal it the first couple of days. That helped slightly.

Graduations. . .

Our school got the last slot for graduation last night. That meant I got home about 11:30pm by the time all was said and done. I probably could have gotten home sooner - but I stopped at the Dairy Queen drive thru to get something to keep me awake for the hour long drive home. I guess alot of other people also wanted icecream late at night because it added an extra twenty minutes to my drive.
In making sure my seniors all got what they needed done, I missed out on a few other graduations this week. Like Lily at her Pre-K graduation. She told me she would not sing her song if I wasn't there. Fortunately she gave me several previews of it before making this announcement. I haven't had time to ask if Jhonny recorded it for me or not. And Jessica's award's ceremony. She earned quite a few, but she was happy to give me a recap. Gavin's last day of daycare. I will miss Ms. Rosa and her help potty training my son. I thought of getting a present for my kid's teachers - too late. I hope they know I appreciate them even though I'm swamped under my own piles of papers and grades and transcripts and phone calls to return and emails to respond to and work that is never done even with a deadline. . .I love my job - I do, but. . .
That is the life of a full time working mom who has an hour commute. Seeing it all second hand. . .Not ideal, but necessary for now. Lily is not the only one who misses being able to go to the silly ceremonies. She was my sidekick at all of Jessica's important insignificantly seeming events. She knows what a stay at home mom does because she doesn't forget anything. Why her mom doesn't come to hers is incomprehensible. . . Even when she experiences the drive first hand it still doesn't compute that it is impossible to be in two places that far away all at once.
Perhaps next year will bring some changes. So far we remain in limbo. I've fought with the idea of settling into accepting status quo. Status quo is doable, but it is not ideal for me or my kids although Jhonny seems somewhat okay with the idea that we won't have to pay for childcare next year. I miss my children. I miss being there for the little things. Perhaps it is selfish to want to be present. . . but it's for these little things that I long for change and I continue to hope for a better future. One that includes a job for my husband in a place where I won't be too far away to be present when it matters. If that happens, it will truly be a miracle due to the current economic crisis in Texas State Education.
I know that God can make it happen. . . the question is - Is it what he wants for us? Because ultimately our will is in his hands. We will go where he sends us. Is what we want the same as what he wants for us? Or is it a far better thing to remain in status quo for reasons unbeknownst to us? That is my constant search within. Answer TBA.

Officially OLD!

$300, 2 Dr. appointments and 1 MRI later, I have arthritis in my knee. I laughed when the Doctor gave me his diagnosis and said, "Now I'm officially old." Great!
I hope the physical therapy will work. Today I was feeling fairly fine until I stood up for over an hour to prepare my husband's annual birthday dinner (lasagna). I had to ice it and elevate afterwards. Ugh! Will I ever be able to do normal things again? I keep thinking that this can't be the end of mobility as I know it.
I have fairly high levels of pain tolerance. This hurts! It throbs! I can't put weight on it at all. Kind of frustrating. I want to ignore the pain and live a normal life. The pain refuses to be ignored and reminds me constantly of my mortality.

Summeritis

One more week of school for the kids and my students. Three more weeks of work. Then at least 6 weeks or more of vacation. Summertime please come quickly and then please go by slowly. I so need a break.