Alex's New Brace (Again)

How many times have I written about Alex getting new casts and new braces?

Well, I started looking back through the blog and eventually gave up trying to find links to the previous posts -- that's how many.

This year we noticed that Alex was again walking on his tiptoes and not able to get his heels all the way to the ground. His orthopedist, Dr. Trombino, said that tightness in the muscles can sometimes happen with growth spurts. We embarked on several months of successful PT (getting his ankle from not even being able to be at "neutral" --90 degrees -- to finally 10 degrees past neutral!). And, he received a new pirate skull-and-crossbones brace to wear at night.

This club foot stuff sure requires maintenance, but we are so thankful we have excellent medical care who can ensure our boy gets to be active and healthy.

A Dream Come True

I wanted to post these photos to remember this incredible dream. Since I was in high school I have wistfully looked at sailboats out on the lake, and have always told myself that "some day" I would find a way to go out on one. I imagined I would eventually meet someone who had a boat and then beg and plead to go out with them. Well, this year the opportunity presented itself in the form of a new Junior League friend who was getting together a group and renting a sailboat. I jumped at the chance and SO enjoyed being on the water, steering the boat even when the waves were challenging, and hanging with these awesome women.

Thanks Paula for a great time!

Christmas Concert

There is nothing like the rush of seeing your kids singing at a Christmas concert. With Victoria and Alex, it's always a surprise, as they don't talk ahead of time about the songs they are practicing. And all of a sudden they are on stage, dressed in their best, smiling and looking for Mom and Dad, along with the rest of their class. It's so neat to watch the kids' faces as they find their families, wave, smile proudly.

Victoria came up before Alex. Here is the 2nd grade at Piedmont. You'll find her in the front row on the right hand side, dressed in gold. 

And here is our girl, jiving on the jazzy snowman song where the kids all snapped their fingers.

In the above picture I see so many of Victoria's friends, like Amara and Delaney and Lily. Love those second graders.

They finished and walked off the stage.

Then it was time for the kindergartners! 

Alex is harder to see but is in the back row, just right of middle.

Here is the smiling boy with his class!

And walking off the stage in front of one of his besties, Elijah.

Two Kindergarten videos:

After the concert we got to look around the gym at the artwork each student had on the wall.

Victoria's:

We walked through the classroom pods and especially loved these two classrooms (Alex's on the left) decorated like the most elaborate gingerbread house I've ever seen.

The holidays at Piedmont ... always a magical time!

Work Fun

Thankfully, I really like my job.

And some days, my work seems like ... I'm really just having fun!

Last summer the City of Duluth hosted "Imagine Canal Park" where we put some pop-up events together. One day I was asked to staff an event in a parking lot, and I brought my kiddos with. There were giant blocks, the zoo with educational tables, bean bag toss, and a giant sand box.

While I was talking with people about this:

My kiddos were doing this:

And then they were joined by Adam Fulton's kids!

Here's a video of Alex playing bean bag toss:

I loved that I was working, and that my kids could be with me!

One day in September I helped with the bike count. I decided to bring Piper with me to sit on a street corner!

Here is Piper pretending to be interested in cars and bikes:

And then when she decided a nap sounded better:

This fall I've started taking the bus to work. The kids had asked if they could ride the bus with me someday. So, one Friday afternoon when Matt had to be somewhere, he dropped them off at work.

We checked out the Civic Center fountain:

Waited by the bus stop:

And claimed the back seat in the bus home!

I'll take all the work fun I can get.

Wordless Wednesday, Christmas Version

Six years of Santa pics ...

School

As we near the halfway point of the school year, I thought I'd share some pictures of the kids at school. They are both doing very well!

Alex is thriving in kidnergarten. We've heard a few comments like: "I wish I could play all day like in preschool" and "I miss being outside" and "Can't I just stay home and PLAY?!" -- but those are all to be expected. In reality, he bounces into his classroom each morning. He loves his friends. He comes home every day with a backpack full of papers and projects and drawings, all of which he can't wait to show us. And his teacher works magic in guiding all these wiggly kids to learn every day.

Every day of the week has a theme for their morning seatwork, and I've come to look forward to "Make it Monday," "Write It Wednesday," and all the other themes.

He gets to do a lot of art projects and is so proud to show us.

Here's a day he wore "matching camo" to school. I just love this outfit. :P.

Around Thanksgiving they did a lot of things with turkeys. Of course. One morning when I walked him into his classroom I broke out into laughter to see THIS on his locker. A colorful turkey, encouraging people to "Eat more _____" (so they don't eat turkey!), where Alex had sounded out/tried to spell the word "pizza."

As if that wasn't enough, those silly turkeys then tried to disguise themselves! Alex's turkey chose to dress as Batman to try to fool everyone!

When things turned sincere, it was cool to see what Alex said he is thankful for. Makes Mama's heart melt. "Paint, Jesus, Food, God, Friends, Sister." Yep, those are pretty good things.

Here's his whole class on Halloween:

One minor mishap for Alex was in late November. I received a call from the school secretary explaining that Alex's lip was "bleeding a lot" and while it wasn't an emergency, he was "very upset about it." That wonderful secretary had already called Victoria from her class to come comfort her brother (love). Matt was closer to the school and brought Alex to urgent care. They used some glue to seal a wound, and as Alex calmed down we learned that the story was simply this: Alex was cutting something with scissors when a friend started talking to him. He turned to talk to his friend, and while he was talking he forgot he had scissors in his hand. When he turned back the scissors were in his way and -- snip! -- a little divot was taken out of his lip. It healed remarkably quickly.

Victoria is doing equally well in 2nd grade and her teacher really "gets" her in amazing ways that lets her learn in her own style and way! Not only is she excelling in reading and math, but this year she has learned heaps of science (with cool experiments!) and social studies ("Globe Trot Scott" traveling around the globe!) as well. Seriously, when your kid comes home talking about compound words, suffixes, and Venn diagrams -- you as a parent had better stay on your toes.

Her teacher uses an app to share photos during the day.

And I geek out seeing what they are learning.

Victoria reads anything she can find. She enjoys quiet reading time whether in her classroom or Key Zone (after school program). In fact, I woke up one Saturday morning to her at the side of my bed saying: mom! I've already read 23 chapters this morning! Note -- it was 7:30 a.m.

I thought I would share this poster that she was really proud of when I picked her up from Key Zone one day.

At Thanksgiving time, Victoria also wrote out what she is thankful for: You! God! Jesus! My friends! Animals! My pets! My family!

Overall, there is lots of time at school for things both serious ...

And silly!

As always, we love love love Piedmont for all it does for our family ❤