I am writing from the middle of a marathon -- at least I feel like it. Vicki and I hardly see each other. Last night Vicki and Jenna came in from church as the boys and I were going to bed. Vicki said, “We only see each other in passing anymore. It’s like we’re in two separate orbits.” She definitely has the inner (faster) orbit right now. I’m just trying to hang on until we close school on Tuesday.
RADIATION UPDATE. Pauline has completed her 4th radiation treatment with 16 to go. While we don’t know what’s ahead physically I think one of the challenges will simply be getting into the routine of the daily trip to Skyline Medical Center just to receive a quick zap. The blessing from all this is Pauline and Vicki are getting a lot of good mother-daughter time together.
THE BIG FOUR-OH. A week ago today Vicki celebrated her 40th birthday. She has finally arrived at the crest of the hill (though many people are saying the hill is now at 50 which is fine with me). We went out to eat at the Depot in Springfield as a family after Jenna’s ball game that night. The real party, however, was the night before at AWANA.
I had been working on a surprise party at church for several weeks and somehow we got about 50 kids to keep the surprise quiet. Every week Vicki will recognize kids’ birthdays during the opening for AWANA. This was where we sprung the surprise on her. I gave her a dozen roses, and all the kids sang Happy Birthday. In honor of Vicki we designated this as a theme night and told the kids they could come dressed as a senior citizen if they wanted (or they could simply wear black). We had several to do this. We had also told the kids they could memorize Proverbs 16:31 and recite it to Vicki for 50 extra points. That verse reads: “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.” Finally, we served cake and ice cream during game time. Everyone had a lot of fun celebrating Vicki’s birthday and I think Vicki was truly surprised.
A SICK BOY. The hardest thing about the party was getting the last minute stuff ready. I had planned to pick up the cake after work last Wednesday, come home, and then go to church for my final preparations. As luck would have it, Nate got sick at school and had to come home. The weekly church staff meeting is on Wednesdays so I needed to come home to keep Nate by 12:00. I was able to pick the cake up early, but I was about 1:00 getting home. Vicki missed a surprise lunch party the staff had planned for her (I did not know about these plans either).
Nate is better now, but he wound up missing his mom’s birthday party at AWANA and a field trip he had been looking forward to at school the next day.
NATE THE ORGANIZER. Nate has turned out to be a pretty good cleaner if you keep him separated from his brother. (They tend to fight about who’s doing more work when they’re together.) The other day Nate took it upon himself to organize our pantry. Now all our food that is within four feet of the floor is neatly arranged on the shelves and easy to find.
DEDICATION. I mentioned last time that we are involved with a Cub Scout pack in White House this year. We didn’t get hooked up with this pack until several weeks into the school year, and because of this Ben missed a chance to get his bicycle belt loop with the rest of the boys in his den. His den leader, Mr. Kermit, promised Ben that he would take him on a bike ride to help him make up what he missed. Between weather and work schedules it has taken two months for this to happen. (I was planning to do this with Ben as well, but weather and schedule have worked against me too.)
I have to admire Kermit for sticking with his promise. He and Ben got their bike ride in Tuesday evening. It was dark and the temperature was below freezing, but they got their ride in.
BASKETBALL. The boys have started basketball practice now (on Tuesday nights). Both of them have coaches they’ve had before. Their games start next month.
Jenna is getting a little game time playing on the JV team, though she’s not put in until the last few minutes of the game, if then. Last Thursday she did have a good assist on a goal!
THE TOOTH FAIRY FLIES AGAIN. Nate is so happy! He lost his first tooth Monday night. He’s been wanting to pull it from the first sign of it wiggling a week or so ago, and its been hard to make him wait for it to be loose enough to come out. Monday night was the night and Vicki reached in with her fingernails and plucked it right out. I think Nate was one of the last kids in his class to have not yet lost a tooth. He was so happy. Now he’s trying to figure out a way to keep his teeth and receive cash from the tooth fairy.
Joe
