September 2012 - First Day of school..."It's just a flesh wound!" - DONE

Lately all of our days have been irregular to say the least, 

but Tuesday there was irregularity in our irregular day!

First day of school-September 4, 2012

Molly got loose and ran as we took photos on the front porch, which made us slightly late for the first day of school...I should have crawled back in bed at this point!

first day!second day!

Emily-made it to 3rd grade, "such a fabulous day!"  She is so excited to have the same teacher, Mrs. Smith.  It is a relief for me to know that she is going to love going to school and will be loved and known at school! oops! missed the bus home while looking for a friends younger brother, got a ride from a neighbor, first day of dance...happy as only a 7 year old can be!

 

Ben-happy to take photos at home however, too old for a photo on the way into the 6th grade hall!  He did sneak in that huge Ben bear hug that he is so famous for as a goodbye, along with a big Ben smile. The after school report; "I have the most awesome, organized and great teacher ever!" He had to brag to Ryan that his class gets net books like the junior high!  He had homework, and was worn out from the day! Each week for Ben is spent in anticipation of soccer practice and games!

 
Ryan-going to thrive in 8th grade honors math...Spanish...not so much! "The teacher was talking so fast, I felt like I was on the streets of Russia trying to find my way!" 1 hour of emotional talking to give it at least until after day 2! The only thing that made it so the day wasn't a total lose was having "the best hit of his life at football practice." Spanish practice...30 more minutes of the pep talk, "you CAN do hard things!"  "yes, I can, but do I have to do all things hard, like Spanish?"  No, not all things, life is too short to be frustrated in a class that is for your future benefit to love learning something new and gaining the confidence that you can!  Thus Spanish changed to French and life is good again...for the moment!

Before...

...During..."This is the best first day of school ever!"

...and after surgery!

One of the long white halls now has color and Jazz decor,
good improvement.

Davis' first day of junior year consisted of 9:45 am IV, labs, pre-meds, platelet transfusion, radiology for sedation and central line placement, hoping to get permission to do the bone marrow aspiration today instead of tomorrow while under anesthesia, delay due to a weird and tense reaction to one of the meds,(Versed-purple rash within seconds of administration) started 2 hours late, needed extra meds for sedation, thankfully, 2nd procedure-bone marrow aspiration, done, lots of videos taken of the waking moments in recovery!
 At first in the morning he was sad that he wasn't in school...upon waking and "very much liking the drugs" he said, "this is way better than school, let's do this again!" Home after a long day, home at 5:30 pm. Doing well, still numb and still entertaining! The first days of school were spent talking and Skyping with classes and teachers.  The Skype wasn't as good as we thought and he spent a ton of time starring at the ceiling of the classroom.  He did get to say hi to a few people and even went on Friday between classes in the halls and took yearbook photos, "before immunity is at zero and the treatment changes his looks!" We also met with teachers personally and got books and assignments! Not quite the regular first week of junior year! 

 
Courtney made it to the second week of classes at UVU! work, commute, school, study, commute, work! She is enjoying staying with Uncle Derek, Aunt Jaclyn and especially baby Ellie!   Although she is also loving caring for her elderly patients through Essential Care Home Care, a 1-year-old is much more fun! She is preparing to take her CNA exam and continue to apply to nursing programs as soon as her associates degree is complete.  She spends three days a week-Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with stacked classes of Microbiology, English, History and pathophysiology to complete her Associates of Science from Utah Valley!  She is doing all this and of course the best help as a stand in mom for all the kids at this time. 

The next day after surgery the cabin fever sinks in and the young men are playing volleyball! The conversation goes something like this,

Davis-"I can go, I will just play one handed!"(such as the other one is bruised and glued together from the port placement and bandages are on your hip bones!) 
Me-"But your oxygen levels are really low and your energy is too!" 
"No, I feel a burst of energy!" 
"But, Davis, you just had surgery yesterday!"

"Yes but, it's just a flesh wound!"  

"Yes, but a flesh wound that went all the way through to your bone marrow!"
"True, but I'm good now, that was yesterday!"  

IRON-WILL wins out and my desire to try and accommodate emotional health-Volleyball played one handed and spirits lifted!

In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test.

In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.

- Tom Bodett