I feel like this post is going to be a giant cluster. I look back at the pictures from the past two weeks and can't sum it up as a post about one particular event or theme. It's a blend of school events for the boys, our crappy luck we've had recently with Scott's car and my health, and a few fun Christmas and birthday related celebrations. So, here goes...
After we left off on the previous post, the boys had a skating night at their school the following week. They also had their book fair, two half days, and parent-teacher conferences. We go big or go home at Farrand, apparently.
It's so fun being able to sit on the sidelines now and let them go off and skate and hang out with their friends. Both boys participated in the races, but lost. Unfortunately, they lumped kindergarten and first grade together and then second and third grade. Both boys were the runts for sure, but held their own.
Conferences went well. Evan is ahead of the game in Kindergarten, but we knew he would be since he did Young 5's. I love that he has the same teacher as Sean. He knew all his sight words and then some, was ahead with math and was confidently reading a level C/D. Sean's conference was in November and his interventionists confirmed that he's making progress and he's getting better about his willingness to work. Here's a few artifacts from conferences.
My parents hung out with the boys on Wednesday for their half day and Scott's mom was with them on Thursday. They had a great time both days, those lucky ducks! Thursday evening of that week we met up with Corey, Kellan, and Ashley for Christmas in Plymouth. I love this event! We made it to Sun and Snow to make a craft and for hot chocolate, to Westborn Market to decorate sugar cookies, and we visited with the reindeer. It was a fun night!
All that week and into the weekend Scott's car was at the dealership because it wasn't starting. We replaced the battery and rented a car for three days while they figured that out. We got it back Wednesday evening and Thursday after school it wouldn't start again. I took Friday off so Scott could take my van to work and the dealership sent a tow truck to get Scott's car to work on it again. I woke up Friday with my neck in some serious pain. It was a kink in my neck, but it got progressively worse over the day. To the point that it hurt to open my jaw and swallow. By Saturday morning I had reached my limit. I called my mom to take me to the ER and I spent four hours there where I had an x-ray, blood work, and a CT scan. They couldn't find anything wrong with my neck, but they discovered a thyroid nodule. I was told to take muscle relaxers to help manage the pain and to follow up with my primary care for the thyroid nodule. Our weekend was basically me laying around and occasionally getting up when the meds kicked in to do some baking and laundry.
By Monday I still wasn't feeling well, but I needed to get into work. We had a departmental work day so at least I didn't have to teach, but it still sucked. I started to feel better slowly Tuesday with the help of a medicated ointment my mom gave me. Our week was relatively light so that helped too. I took the boys to the library Tuesday after school for a Pokemon Club gathering, although both boys stayed home from school to go to a doctor's appointment with my parents. Sean was put on amoxicillin for his cough and Evan was clear to go. Never a dull moment...
Scott finally got his car back for the second time after having to replace the starter. So, now with a new battery and starter it's finally working consistently. But, we're ready to sell it. Details coming soon...
Thursday we spent another evening with Corey, Kellan, and Ashley to go to the Wayne County Lightfest. We showed up just before 7pm when it opened and it was a breeze! No line, great lights, and the boys enjoyed their popcorn and hot chocolate (even if half of it ended up on the floor of my car and their pajamas).
By Friday evening we were all ready for a relaxing night in! I had survived the week and a doctor's appointment with my primary care doctor who is sending me for blood work and a referral to an ENT for my thyroid nodule. She feels pretty confident it's not cancer, but I'm not out of the woods yet. Since Sean and I finished the first book of Harry Potter, we decided to watch the movie and make Butterbeer! It was a fun evening and the boys loved the movie! They're ready for book two!
Saturday we went to Troy early afternoon to celebrate my Dad's birthday. Scott dropped me and the boys off at Somerset to browse and eat lunch at Chic-Fil-A while he went car shopping at the Troy Motor Mall. The boys and I had a blast!
My mom cooked a delicious dinner and we had cake from Holiday Market. The boys helped my Dad open his gifts and enjoyed a bath with their $10 bath bomb from Lush...
Today we headed back to Troy to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday and my niece who turned 10 today! We had a pool party at a hotel in Troy with pizza and cake. It was really fun and the kids swam all afternoon!
We have kept December as calm as we could with activities and events. We have said "no" to so many things and we did not allow the boys to participate in anything this month aside from Catechism. I'm grateful for that because we've had so many bumps over the past few weeks that it's kept us sane to only have to focus on those things. I'm excited for this fun week at school with spirit week, our pot-luck lunch, and showing Selena to Spanish 1. Only five days stand in the way to two weeks off with friends and family. We are pumped for break over here!
