Random Updates and Happenings

Last Thursday: Caelyn graduated from kindergarten. Yes, it's silly how many graduation ceremonies kids have to go through, but this one was adorable. The kindergarten teachers narrated a story about the week of Creation while the kids took turns creating the set on the stage. Every single child had a role to perform whether it be speaking a line into the microphone or carrying trees and gigantic animals onto the stage. I loved how every child was involved. Caelyn had a speaking part and did it well.

Our school also does a fantastic job coaching the kids to pause for a moment and smile at the crowd when they received their diplomas. Principal Paden shook their tiny hands, handed them a scroll, and reminded them to turn and smile. All the parents were appreciative of the staged and often hilarious photo ops. Many of the kids overperformed and turned out hysterically cheesy grins. In all, a great ceremony.

Last Friday: Caelyn's last day of school. The moms from two of the kinder classes joined forces for an all-out class party. One of the moms owns a commercial sno-cone machine and popcorn maker, so we took turns churning out snacks. Other moms set up art centers and games. The kids took turns rotating through all the stations. The party was only supposed to last for 45 minutes, but we were having a blast and finally called it at two hours. I'm so sad that Caelyn's teacher is moving to Dallas this summer. Mrs. Hill was a perfect match for Caelyn and one of the truly great teachers out there. (Of course, I'd say the same about Kendra's kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Gordon. We'll be requesting her for David when it's his turn.)

Saturday: Spent the day at Sea World with the kids. My opinion of theme parks hasn't changed.

The day was redeemed when we watched the Spurs trounce upon Utah. I'll reiterate my previous prediction and state that the Spurs will win it all. After surviving the series with the Suns, the rest of the playoffs should be cake. OK, not cake, but they can definitely win another championship. Unfortunately, the Finals start on June 7 which is the same day we leave for Orlando. Kevin and I have already agreed that our days at Disney will have to revolve around the games. Yes, our priorities are not always normal, but I know that Amy understands.

We also managed to paint the girls' bedroom and bathroom this weekend. The color was supposed to be a soothing celery, but it turned out quite a bit brighter than I'd anticipated. It's growing on me but we definitely need to repaint the bathroom. The color makes us look queasy in the mirror.

Monday: Went to the opthalmologist again. She says I'm seeing 20/20. I've noticed a definite improvement in my sight in the last week, especially with nearsighted reading. My eyes still struggle to work together but it's getting better. My depth perception has greatly improved and I no longer feel like the floor is moving when I walk. The only real problem I'm experiencing is dryness, especially late at night and first thing in the morning. Basically I have to stumble out of bed, walk directly to the mirror, pry my eyes open and insert drops. I'm OK after a few minutes, but it's a little annoying to do that every morning.

Wednesday: Took Caelyn to the doctor for her 6-year-check up. She's 75th percentile in weight and 45th percentile in height, which is far shorter than the other two kids. Caelyn still has that sweet toddler look to her even though she's 6. Her legs are still short for her body and she'd got some definite pudge that I think is adorable.

The poor girl has several warts on her fingers, and the doctor applied a gel to them with the instructions to take off the band-aids and wash the gel off in four hours. We did, and Caelyn promptly started crying hysterically about how much her fingers stung. Two hours later and Caelyn had ENORMOUS blisters where the gel had been applied. Before bed I lanced the blisters while Caelyn shrieked at the top of her lungs. I tried to distract her by having her look at the Webkinz animals online while I was performing home surgery, but she wasn't having any of that. My ears are still ringing and an exhausted Caelyn is now asleep with fully bandaged hands. Next time she has warts I'm going to try the duct tape method instead.

We also had a late afternoon birthday party at Incredible Pizza. What a fun place! The food is far superior to Mr. Gatti's and Chuck E. Cheese. Even better, today was Wacky Wednesday so the game cards were unlimited play. I'm a skeeball fanatic, and the kids played just about every game they could. Caelyn even won a decent wristwatch in one of her games! I also tried my hand at the hunting game and shot myself half a dozen deer. That was surprisingly satisfying even though I'm not a fan of hunting. By the way, what I love most about Incredible Pizza is that it is Christian-owned and the prizes include tons of Christian themed selections. Christian jewelry abounds, and there are also Hello Kitty prizes and other benign options. Not a Sponge Bob to be found, hallelujah!

Thursday: Technically, this is tomorrow, but this is Kendra's last official day of first grade. The kids have had a week of pure fun. Today was pajama day and the kids got to clean our their desks. Tomorrow they go in the morning until 10 a.m., at which point we'll all caravan up to Spring Branch for the class party. One of the families has some acreage and they've rented one of those huge waterslides for the kids. I'll have the other two kids in tow, and I'm sure they'll all have a blast running around with water squirters. And on the way back into town we're going to stop by a store and let the kids pick out their Webkinz as a beginning-of-summer treat.

Friday: Our first official day of summer break, punctuated by a visit from my mom. The kids are thrilled to see their Grammy and have made a long list of what they want to do during the three-day visit. A visit to Stride Rite is a certainty. Kendra is already wearing a size 4 shoe. Yup, that's right, she's on the cusp of being able to shop in the women's department. And she's 7. The skinny mini can't wear anything above a 6x, and even those require adjustable waists. But the poor girl inherited my ginormous feet and she's doomed to a life of searching for cute shoes that fit and don't cost a fortune. We've already searched Payless and Target for summer sandals, but they either don't come in her size, don't fit, or look like hoochie mama shoes with stacked heels. Nope, not gonna. Stride Rite is pricey but conservative and cute. And Grammy will undoubtedly buy, God bless her.

So that's it, the week in review. Add to that a dozen loads of laundry, general housecleaning and cooking, preparing a summer schedule and gathering curriculum (did I mention that my pint-sized brainiacs want me to homeschool them this summer?), plus several trips to the grocery store, Target and the post office. Is it any wonder that I don't have time to sleep more than six hours a night?