Over winter break Axel had an assignment for World Geography to make a special food item and to tell the significance of the food item. After much discussion a decision to use Challah bread, from Daddy's heritage, was made. We decided to do a practice run as we had never made it before. Daddy Keith remembers his mother and grandmother making it as it is a Jewish tradition around the holidays. Although, it hasn't been a tradition in our little family, it will likely become a tradition as everyone loves the bread.
We made a second loaf and brought it to class this past Friday as Axel shared the food he chose and a sample to his class. I was impressed with how clearly and articulately he spoke. He did not appear nervous at all. I commended him for this and Axel's response was that he has to speak in front of the class often and it is no big deal. I was really proud of him.
The 2nd week back to school after winter break, all three kids came down with the flu. Axel came down with it on Saturday afternoon and missed Monday and Tuesday of school. Phoenix started on Monday and she only attended school for 2 hour son Monday and until 1pm on Friday, which was essentially like missing the entire week of school. Rubix came down with it late Monday Night. Needless to say, I was home with all three kids on Tuesday. Keith was home with Axel and Phoenix on Monday and just Phoenix on Wed. I had Phoenix go to Angela's on Thursday so Keith could go to work as I was flying out to St. Louis for another Fellowship weekend as Wash U. Here is a picture of Axel and Rubix talking. I cannot tell you a day where Rubix has lied down all day. He played for a total of 15 minutes sitting all day. That was the rest he needed to get over his fever. I cannot remember a time where Axel has been bedridden for 4 days and I cannot remember a time where Phoenix has slept almost all day for 4 days! You can see here in the background asleep.
Keith had a very tough weekend with the three kids solo from Thursday night until Tuesday morning. I was suppose to be home late on Monday the 21st, but my flight was delayed and I ended up spending the night in the airport because I didn't think it was worth leaving the airport for 6 hours and I didn't want to take any chances of missing out on an earlier flight. I had promised Phoenix I would bring in donut holes to her classroom on Tuesday and I didn't want to let her down.
The snow storm was suppose to come on Saturday and it ended up coming late Sunday and lasted through Monday. Apparently, Salt Lake City also had a really bad snow storm which is why I was so delayed. I did have fun taking this picture for the kids. I enjoyed my weekend of snow and cold weather. It was nice for a change.
I had a great weekend of learning and collaborating with the Wash U faculty and the other 4 fellows. I had great feedback on my presentation with the possibility of presenting it at another conference and maybe publishing my case report in a PT journal for the coming year. We will see how things work out.
I was so sad to miss Phoenix's birthday, and I was even sadder that Keith had such a rough weekend with the kiddos. He was such a trooper. He has been recovering all week as he got sick himself. The kids are almost 100% but still trying to catch up on sleep and food.
Here is a picture of Phoenix and Ms. Sandoval on Tuesday afternoon. I made it back into town a couple of hours before school ended which allowed me to come to her class the last 15 minutes of school to celebrate with her.
After school Phoenix went to Mandarin class while I took Axel to the dentist to figure out what we were going to do with that cavity. The dentist discovered that the tooth was rotten through to the root and that the tooth was unsalvageable. On Thursday, I pulled Axel out of school early to get the tooth extracted. Here he is waiting for the anesthesia to kick in. He was really tough and he has handled the whole thing well physically. He really didn't complain much except about an hour after the procedure he asked for something to help with the pain. Other than that, I have been extremely impressed with his physical toughness. The amazing thing is that we think it really shook him up emotionally, as he has been an emotional roller coaster trying to process how he feels he is as a person since this incident. It is amazing how children think through and process events in their life. We pray for wisdom on what to say and how to support him as he suffers internally with the decisions he makes.
Yesterday we had Phoenix's birthday party. She asked for cupcakes, her friends and a jump house.
So we had a bounce house, her friends over and cupcakes.
The kids had fun in the park, playing with hula hoops and running around the house.
We had her old friend for Challenger, Adella, over and her Harker friends, Jane, Leah, Nicole, Kyla, Maisey, and Ashley. What a fun, fun day. Phoenix was a little over the top with her emotions and had a tough time being her sweet self, but we think it might have been a good learning experience as her friends kindly told her she was being a bit too bossy. It is tough to be 6 and have a bunch of friends over at your house. We hope and pray that she will learn sooner than later how important it is to be graceful and sweet in all circumstances, even when it is "your day".
I added this picture, because I thought it was funny that the little guy snuck in a cupcake. He had been asking for over an hour and I took my eye off him for just few minutes and before I know it the entire cupcake was in his BELLY! Here he was asking for help cleaning his hands.
After 3 and a half hours of playing hard the girls settled down for a movie together. It was just in the nick of time as the birthday girl was TIRED!
After her friends left at 5 pm our three kiddos enjoyed another hour of the jump house. Axel is lying down protesting a bit, but Rubix and Phoenix didn't need in coaxing.
The kids played hard and then it was a quick bath, dinner and bed.
Here Phoenix is reading herself to sleep as I told her only one chapter and she wanted to read more. Now she is such a good reader, she doesn't through a fit when I keep my word about one chapter. She just starts reading until she is too exhausted to keep her eyes open. I am so proud of how good of a reader she has become. Hopefully, she will continue to become a better listener :).
We are headed for a family vacation to Maui in a couple of weeks so I likely won't write another post until the end of February once we return from Hawaii. Until then, God Bless!
