Caeden was the only Lopshire going to school at Ridgeview today! He started his junior year, and was even sweet enough to humor me for front porch pictures--all by himself.
I love this kid so much, and am proud of him.
He even drove to school on his own for the first time today too!
I pray for a good school year for Caeden. In so many ways it will be different from how things have been in the past, and different from how he would probably choose it to be. But, I pray more than anything that the Lord would draw Caeden close to him.
I needed to renew our license plate sticker for the Prius today, so Caeden went along and took his test for his driving permit. He passed quickly and easily and even got to drive part of the way home--his first time behind the wheel! He did surprisingly well, but only had to make 2 turns. He will need those 50 required hours of driving, but I'm sure he will be a good driver. Cannot believe our baby, our youngest, is driving now.
Last week was rough. I apologize in advance if I sound whiny, because so many other people have life so much harder than I do! But, it was just a lot to handle in one week.
For one thing, mono is really getting Annah down. She has gotten progressively worse over the past week, and not better at all. She went to school half of Monday, then missed the entire rest of the week and all musical rehearsals and after school activities as well. She has had fever/chills/sweating, so much swelling of her face and throat/neck and lymph nodes and joints, trouble sleeping even though she is tired and exhausted and weak, coughing, sniffling, vomiting, lack of appetite, bloody nose, tonsil stones, dehydration, halitosis, laryngitis, you name it! I feel horrible for her!
Sylvia has been distraught because she has practiced her cello too much and caused tendinitis in her wrist. Now she is not allowed to play her cello at all for weeks, and it breaks her heart. She has had to miss performing in a recital, solo/ensemble contest, and turn down a huge cello solo she was offered in a Korsakov piece for BNYS.
She started occupational therapy on Monday and is going twice a week. She has to wear an immobilizing brace, do exercises, and have ultrasound therapy as well.
Wrestling season is still going...on and on...and on...
I love wrestling, but I miss my guys. Some days I barely see Jeremy awake. His schedule is exhausting. And, seriously, the amount of administrative work a junior high wrestling coach has to do is ridiculous!!! The number of complaints parents register with coaches on a daily basis is also unbelievable.
Our school is hosting the IHSA 1A basketball sectional tournament this week, and the girls were asked to sing the anthems. Annah sang Monday before she completely lost the ability to talk or sing, and Sylvia sang Tuesday. There were probably a couple thousand people packed in the gym, and they both did a great job. Vocal Jazz sang on Friday (without Annah), and I heard rave reviews.
Thursday night, I taught a voice lesson, then threw on my Crocs to drive Sylvia to school for rehearsal because I knew I wouldn't be getting out of the car and being seen. I went back home and switched laundry, ate some quick supper, and took off for town to take Caeden to his guitar lesson and pick up some groceries and things Jeremy needed. This happened...
Haha, I really did go into Walmart wearing my Crocs, and kind of felt stupid the whole time. However, I felt they were more acceptable there, and I didn't see anyone pointing or staring or hear anyone laughing. Hahaha.
One of the "difficulties" we've been dealing with for the past few weeks is embarrassing to admit that it's a difficulty. We are so fortunate to have 3 cars. It makes life so much easier having 3 vehicles and 3 drivers for the 5 of us. But, one car has a dead battery...I don't know how to change it...it's been too cold to do so...and Jeremy literally hasn't had a moment of daylight to even try for weeks. I was able to pick up a battery and all the things he needs to put it in the car, but we've been operating with 2 vehicles and it is weird how hard it is to coordinate everyone's schedules (especially with tons of extra doctor appointments recently)! It feels awful calling it a difficulty, but it really does add to my chauffeur stress!
Caeden came home with his Class of '23 high school sweatshirt this week.
Ugh, a momma's heart, kid! C'mon!!!
It was pretty cool to see almost the whole front page of the paper was wrestling news this week!
One morning last week, was particularly rough. With Annah feeling worse and worse and missing school so much, we had a long discussion as the kids were getting ready to leave one morning about how her health and getting better needs to be THE most important thing right now. As we talked about it, we decided that it would be best for her not to participate in Solo/Ensemble contest on Saturday. She was broken hearted, because she was leading a clarinet ensemble and also had a vocal solo prepared. However, she had to stay home and get rest and couldn't practice with her ensemble, and all the swelling in her throat makes it so difficult to sing. She hated letting her ensemble down, and always enjoys the contest day. We made the decision, and she left for school. An argument erupted between her and her siblings as soon as they got in the car. Feeling horrible and sad about the recent decision/disappointment added to the emotions and words were said that weren't meant. Feelings were trampled upon. Texts were sent once they got to school that increased the hurt and emotional distress, and then they were carried through the day. Finally, as everyone was getting ready for bed, all 5 of us were home and able to sit down and talk about it. Excuses were put aside, apologies were made, grace was given, and relationships were restored. Thank the Lord. It was a tough, tough day.
On Saturday, our guys went to Coal City for the JH wrestling Sectional. I was so SO sad not to be able to go and watch Caeden wrestle in Sectionals for the first time ever. I asked another wrestling mom to take a couple pictures, but I didn't get any. G'ma Sandi drove all the way to Coal City to watch Caeden. She took him all kinds of food to have after he weighed in--his favorite peanut butter banana bagels (which he said he ate 7), mandarin oranges, and grapes. She kept me posted on his progress, texting me updates as he wrestled.
It was a bummer of a day for Caed. He lost his first match to a competitor from Lisle 2-1. That meant he could wrestle back into the bracket in hopes to compete for 3rd or 4th place if he won 3 more matches. But, he lost his second match to a competitor from Coal City 7-5, and so he was done for the day and for the season. No going to State.
I am really proud of how Caeden has done this season. I have seen so much growth in him in so many ways, and I am proud of him for doing such a difficult sport. I hope he will take away good life experience and good memories from this season.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, I had committed to accompanying high school musicians at Solo/Ensemble Contest.
The first Ridgeview ensemble of the day to perform was a brass quintet. They did a nice job and received a I rating!
VIDEO:
I accompanied Chloe's flute solo, and Haleigh's vocal solo, then we had a break for several hours! A group of us had brunch at the Original Pancake House, then we still had hours left to waste. The kids decided they wanted to go to the mall. Not my favorite place to spend time, but they had fun.
When we returned to Normal West, Kyle did a fantastic job performing Sento nel core. The judge complimented his Italian diction, and he received a I rating! He has worked so hard at his music the past several months, and I'm very proud of him!
Mr. Marchese struggled a bit with the 4 flute cases as the quartet prepared to perform.
They did such a lovely job!
I have to admit, there was quite a bit of discouragement in our house on Saturday night. But, we all went to bed fairly early to try to get some rest and restoration. We need a new start this week!
June 2nd, Jeremy took Sylvia to get her driver's permit! She is signed up to take Driver's Ed in the fall at school, so she looked up the state's requirements for the permit test and studied on her own. She was pretty nervous taking the written test, and said she had questions about 35 of the 25 questions on it. She must have done better than she felt, because she drove home with her permit!
6/15/18 - Getting some practice.
Today, Sylvia finished the drive home from Indiana. She drove from Elliot, through Gibson City, to home. It was about the 5th time she's ever driven. She is getting more comfortable and learning.
This evening the JH wrestling team visited Kingsley JH. Pontiac JH's team was also there.
All 3 teams warmed up at the same time, which was kind of funny and definitely chaotic...
Getting some notes from Coach
Warming up
Ready to go
Caeden lost his first match to Pontiac. All of their wrestlers were very tough and strong!
Miss Nola shares the joy wherever she goes.
I love this kid and his smile!
Caeden handled his opponent from Kingsley well.
Well, that is not a position someone wants to stay in for long!
It's a WIN!
I was going to drive to the meet tonight, but when I went out to the garage, I found the Prius was completely dead. Not even a scary indicator light would come on! I think I left it running all day after coming back from walking this morning. So, Tracie drove. Because of that, we decided to take the boys with us, and we stopped at Steak 'n' Shake! The boys played on Miles' tablet a little bit after we ordered.
These guys tried to make double chins, but instead just came up with really scary faces!
Just being silly
Our server had been a wrestler for 9 years, and was so excited to see the boys come in! We had some great wrestling conversations with him!
It was a fun way to end the day--with sweet friends!
After I taught lessons today, all 5 of us got in the car and went to town for the rest of the day.
The kids were all singing in the backseat, which was awesome!
Jeremy has been researching used cars for months, being that we now have 3 drivers in the house. We went to see a couple cars he'd been checking out online. I test drove a turqouoise Ford Focus, which was really nice, and Annah drove it a bit in an empty school parkin lot. We also drove and ended up signing preliminary papers for this one...
Then we rushed over to The Music Shoppe to look at guitars. Caeden has been needing to move up to a full-size for a while now, so we decided to get him one for his birthday. It just so happened his teacher was in the store buying strings for his own guitar. He helped Caeden choose the one he liked best!
We dropped the girls off at Tobin's to meet some of their vocal jazz ensemble friends, and went to Monical's the next street over.
Then we picked the girls up and dropped them off again at a vocal jazz concert at IWU. They thoroughly enjoyed it!
When we finally got back home, Caeden couldn't wait to get that guitar out and play it!
Annah decided to play his 3/4 size one while he was trying to practice.
I didn't need the car to go anywhere tonight, so Annah got to drive herself and Sylvia to band.
She was not nervous, since she's done that drive more than any other.
But I was terrified, so I asked her to text me a picture of them with the car when they got there. This is what I received...
A neighbor I'd never met stopped by this evening with a 10 gallon bucket full of rhubarb and offered us some. I took enough to make a 9x10 of Rhubarb Goodie. Yum!
