Fine Arts Night

Austin had Fine Arts Night. I always dread this night - it drags on and on. This year, it was simply ridiculous and they took it to a whole new level. It drug on and on and on and on and....well, you get the picture! They had the awards - then did twenty-two songs between band and vocal for sixth, seventh, and eight grade. Ugh!! But, Austin did look very handsome and mature. Amazing what a tie will do for a kid!
Austin looking good...

Laughing at me for taking so many pictures (family joke)... Austin is behind the piano on the left...

Seventh and eighth grade together...

Fine Arts Night

Austin had Fine Arts Night tonight. He didn't tell me until we were on the way that he was going to be getting an award. I was slightly surprised by it. He has been doing "Reading Counts" all year at this school. I do not agree with the program. The entire basis is that you read a book, then take a quiz on the book. Each book is worth so many "points" (based on a Lexile score) and you get prizes based on how many points you rack up. I have no problem with giving tests to see how a child has comprehended the book, but my problem is with getting prizes for reading. I think you should just expect a child to read...no matter what...and they shouldn't be rewarded for it. Austin loves to read. Anyone who knows him, knows that he constantly has a book under his nose. He's forever reading three and four different books at a time. So for him, Reading Counts was a breeze. He's continually brought home little updates throughout the year that list the books he's read, the Lexile Score, date read, percent correct on quiz and how many words there were in each book. It's all been interesting to see what books he's read (especially when a few he's been expressly told he could not read, but whatever) and I didn't think it was too big of a deal. He's kept me up to date on how many points he's racked up and he has gotten pizza slices and other prizes, plus a $5 gift certificate to the book fair (by far, the greatest prize given...I have no problem with that as a prize). I did not, however, put much stock in it. I thought everyone was getting points and I really didn't understand the whole system....obviously. Last night, as they were announcing the "winners" for Reading Counts for the year, they said that 42 students (out of the entire school) had gotten between 100-200 points and everyone cheered. That's when it hit me....this was a HUGE deal. I KNEW Austin had around 600 points. The next level, 250-400 points...silver...had only 8 students in the entire school. Then she got to the "gold" level readers. Austin was one of THREE...count 'em, three!!!...students! Out of the entire school! Him and his best friend and an eight grader received the gold level. Austin happened to have racked up the second most points in the entire school! Mikhael, his best friend, beat him by 3 points. I was so proud of him...and I did apologize to him for not making a bigger deal out of it to him throughout the year. He's got a little certificate, ribbon, and his final report. I am really proud of him...and more than a little upset with myself for not realizing until 2 weeks before school is out how big of a deal this is.

He also sang a few songs last night. They did a great job. With the awards before and band and vocal from all three grades performing, it made for a very late night. We got home at 9:45! We had left at 5:30. Aidan insisted on going and I let him. I had no idea how long it would get. We weren't even halfway through the awards part when he was spinning on the floor. Ugh! He's not going next year!

All in all, it was a great night!

Boy Scout Advancement

Noah went back to the pulminary specialist in Iowa City. All the steriods really did was cause a lot of side effects (screaming, bright red cheeks, very uncomfortable), so we cut the dose in half per doctor’s orders. It didn’t help any, so they did an EKG, which looked “funny” and recommended we follow up with the pediatric cardiologist. We did that last Friday. They called Wednesday and said they would “probably” do an echocardiogram, so to have Noah fast from 3 am until his appointment “just in case.” When I went in, his breathing had improved from Monday and they said the murmur they heard they believed was a flow murmur and they said the EKG can be funky because the chest walls are so small, so they didn’t think they would do the echo. Then she asked family history of heart problems and decided that they had better do the echo. The PA didn’t really think they would find anything. They put him to sleep and told me the medicine was just to make him “drowsy” but he was OUT. They took an hour to do the echo and it was just silent. I figured that was either a good thing or a bad thing. Then finally, after waiting another 30 minutes, the pediatric cardiologist came in with the PA and said that structurally, his heart was fine and everything was where it should be. He does have a heart murmur between the upper two chambers of his heart, but that will close eventually, and is very normal in infants. The flow to the right side was worse than the left, but again, just a negligible amount. However, his lungs kept getting in the way of his heart, which the doctor found “interesting.” He kept on saying that. And they still found evidence of Resperatory Distress Syndrome. He said he believes from the size of the lungs and the way they got in the way, he probably had mild pulmonary pressure that will also resolve itself. Finally, he decided that although nothing individually is major, it is a combination of everything that is causing his breathing issues. So he said with everything they found, it is all minor enough to not warrant any further treatment or visits. Yippee!! He is fine! I was so relieved after him throwing so much at me that it really is nothing to be concerned about. Nathanial and Ethan are still doing well. All three of them smile all the time and talk quite a bit. Noah is the biggest talker, but the other two are catching up. Nathanial and Ethan are further ahead physically. They roll and wiggle around quite a bit and Noah is more content in one spot. He is starting to move quite a bit, though, too. Their little personalities are coming out more and more all the time. Noah is the fussy, very needy one of them. He likes to be held and if he is awake and not being held or paid attention to in some way, he can get pretty upset and pretty loud. Nathanial is pretty laid back most of the time, but can get very feisty if things don’t go his way. When he is eating, he wants everything *just so* or he gets feisty and if he wants attention and isn’t getting it, watch out. Ethan is extremely laid back and just kinda takes things as they come. When he gets upset, it is way more a hurt cry and not angry or feisty, and his little lip goes out. It is so neat to see how different they are! I can FINALLY tell Ethan and Nathanial apart most of the time! Ethan has a longer, more narrow face and still has pointy ears, while Nathanial has a more round face and rounder ears. Of course, if all else fails, tick them both off and see who gets more upset quicker! And it doesn’t hurt that Nathanial still has a red toenail!!Austin made his official advancement to Boy Scouts last Monday. He received his Arrow of Light, so I was happy about that. He has had a lot of fun already and really enjoys it. He went to the middle school with his class Monday. He was able to meet three of his teachers, the guidance counselor, and the principal when we went. He felt a lot better seeing familiar faces in the crowd and realizing he wasn’t just going to be thrown somewhere where he knew noone. He refused to go out in the hall during class switch time when I went with him, but he had no choice when he went with his class. His teacher said he looked pretty stricken and just looked directly at the person in front of him. He will adjust to it, we know, but it will be hard for him at first. Steve and I met with the guidance counselor, his current teacher, current school nurse, and his psychologist on Monday and that went really well. There were just some schedule issues I wanted to get figured out before school starts and I felt like we were FINALLY listened to and I think it had a lot to do with Dr. Paul being there. Steve and I decided whatever he charges us for coming up will be well worth it! Austin and I are planning on going up quite often during the summer to walk through his schedule and get used to the building. At least all the sixth graders are on one floor.Aidan is Aidan…always keeping us on our toes! A couple of Sundays ago, he was going UP the steps to go to bed and tripped and his tooth almost went all the way through his lip (it was translucent from the inside to the out, so I knew it was deep), so he and I made a fast trip to the ER. He ended up with four stitches and he pulled two of them out by Monday afternoon. Tuesday he fell again and it looked nasty, so I hauled him in to his doctor again. He decided it was better to just take them out and deal with any future bleeding with pressure. It has actually done really well and is completely healed now.

Fair Updates

Things are continuing about the same. I have been pretty nausous the last couple of weeks, and the computer makes it worse, which is why I am not on very often. I was given a prescription for Zofram yesterday, but that's like gold, so I am saving it for when I REALLY need it!I have also been incredibly tired. I am amazed by the amount of time I can actually sleep if I'm allowed! Sunday I went to bed at 6:15 and didn't get up until 8:30 Monday morning!We are anxiously awaiting our next appointment back with my regular OB on August 22. He is on vacation now, so couldn't get me in any sooner. We will have an ultrasound that day, also, so we are looking forward to that!

Austin had his 4H fair last week. He did awesome! He recieved a blue ribbon for his photo and was talked through what he could change for next year, which was great. He also recieved three blue ribbons for his rabbits. The two does (Thumper and Pippa) recieved first and second place of their class and Thumper went on to win Reserve Grand Champion (second place) of the entire group!! It was very exciting! Austin also earned Reserve Junior Showman (second place) for his showmanship!! We are so proud of him. He did such a good job and really accomplished his goals. His hard work of the last six months really paid off. We were approached by a couple of different breeders who suggested that we show the two does in a "professional" show, so we are considering the show at Cattle Congress in September.

All in all, it was a very exciting first fair experience!Please continue to keep me and the babies in your prayers...we need them!!