another one bites the dust!

Another one (school year ... that is) bites the dust. Oh my gosh - just like the rest of it, the end of the school year was fast and furious! We're already into summer and I missed documenting some key pieces - but here they are, better late than never. I'm in Houston for a conference (which means plenty of alone time in a hotel room), so I'm finally getting around to blogging about the rest of our spring. Here's the photo fump!

I was so proud of Sara - she was selected to be in the video that was shown at our district's annual service awards banquet. She talked about the service her bus driver provides, noting that the driver is kind and complimentary. So proud of this articulate girl!

The girls dyed Easter eggs ... not sure how long they'll want to keep doing so, but they wanted to this year so I'll take it!

We'd previously gone with Emma's team to a Plano West softball game, and she and I made it back for one more. She loves watching the big girls play! Last week, Emma and her teammates went to the high school's softball camp ... Emma's really hoping it's her name in one of these paws some day.

Jim continues living his best life. He loves a car ride.

Steve went away for his annual draft weekend with college friends, so the girls and I hit up Target and Scheels, among other hot spots!

Emma's soccer team ended their season, and said goodbye to their coach. After lots of tough conversations and decisions, the team decided to move together to a new coach. They'll be signing for select on July 1st, and we've all been happy with the move.

More than anything, we're just glad these girls all stayed together! It's not common for that to be able to happen, and I don't know how long it will last, but we'll take it one year at a time. We love this group!

Near the end of the year, Sara was inducted into NJHS. She works so hard at school, and we are just so proud of her.

It's hard to believe she's just got one more year of middle school and then we are on to high school. I couldn't ask for a better kid!

The girls and I had an early Mother's Day outing to see Mean Girls. I lost my $%*& a little bit on the ride down because traffic was ridiculous (between Mean Girls, a Mavs game, and a Cold Play concert), but we made it into the theater with enough time to buy souvenirs and wine ... so all was good. It was a GREAT show!

And ... finally ... Emma got her cast off!! The doctor said her break healed perfectly! A new bone grew in to replace the one that was broken, and he said everything looked great. What a relief! She had to wear this brace up until yesterday, and moving forward she'll wear it during soccer (she has a smaller cuff one for softball) ... but she's back to all normal activity. She'll have another check-up in August, but all looks good. I'm proud of Emma for being so brave and strong!

Now it's SUMMA TIME!! I'm still working, but all of life is a lot less stressful! Emma has had softball camp and pool time with friends ... Sara has been riding her bike all over town - to the library, Starbucks, etc. - with her friends. We need the down time and it feels so good! We are staring down 4th and 8th grades ... the first day will be here before we know it, so just trying to soak up summer in the meantime!

Our First Cast

Well, it was inevitable, I suppose. For as many years as we've been playing sports, and for as aggressive as these girls play, we're probably lucky it didn't happen sooner. Last Saturday, right near the end of Emma's second soccer game, she took a hard fall, coming down on both wrists (but she'd made a great play just seconds before!). I could tell immediately by the way she reacted that this fall was different than others. She left the field in pain and began icing her wrists. Then we went home to continue to ice and monitor them. Within a couple of hours, her right wrist was sort but had full movement. The left, on the other hand, began swelling and bruising ... 

We took her initially to the pediatric after hours clinic for an x-ray. The doctor there was great, but said we needed additional care and sent us over to Children's Medical Center.

The care at Children's was wonderful. Even though we were there for several hours longer than we would have hoped, the staff was fantastic and Emma made it through multiple movies in our ER room.

She was in a ton of pain, but seriously was so brave. Once in a while she would say, "it hurts", but no tears or screaming. Pretty incredible. She was tired, of course, and hungry since she hadn't eaten anything but a little snack between morning games. 

After more x-rays and exams, the doctor determined that the break, right at her wrist and forearm, would need to be put back into place and stabilized with a split. They gave her laughing gas and numbed the wrist area with shots, then pushed it back together. She did NOT enjoy that process, but did so well. I was so proud of her.

Emma was sore but feeling a lot better once the splint was on one hand and she had a popsicle in the other.

We walked out of the ER just past 10:00 that night with instructions to rest, give ibuprofen as needed, and to see the orthopedic doctor later in the week.

On Wednesday, Steve took Emma to the Andrews Institute to see the orthopedic doc. We were *sure* that the splint that went above her elbow would be replaced with a smaller cast. She was disappointed to hear that the cast wouldn't be smaller than the splint - but even bigger. Ugh. The doctor said the break appeared to be healing well, but because it impacted her growth plate, he wanted to provide even more stabilizing to the area. The longer cast keeps the arm and break as immobilized as possible.

The silver lining was being able to pick her cast color and obtaining many signatures on it once back at school! She goes back on May 11th for a re-eval. Ideally, the cast will come completely off. Realistically, it'll probably just be a smaller one. We'll see. Emma has been such a trooper through this process, even while she's dealing with tons of disappointment in not being able to play soccer or softball, participate in PE and field day, etc. As a friend told me, a break is like a childhood rite of passage for a sporty kid!

Spring has Sprung

 We've had a busy start to spring (really just a continuation of regular life/all the other seasons!). Lots of soccer with these girls ... and some pretty cold practices, even in March and April.

A couple of weeks ago, Sara went to a Bat Mitzvah at the W. Pretty fancy! After we dropped her off, Steve, Emma, and I stayed downtown for dinner. When we came out of the restaurant, we spotted the top floor party room with pink lights. Sara had a blast! Of course I didn't manage to get an actual picture of Sara, but she was all dressed up and looking great.

Emma's softball team went to the Plano West softball game, and Emma wanted a picture with the catcher (who also happens to be the daughter of a school counselor I know). She loved watching the older girls play!

Sara ran track this spring. The season is very short and over now as they begin cross country, but she had fun attending a couple of meets. She ran the 100 and 300 hurdles. This is the only picture I have of her at a meet...

Patio dining with my girls❤

One day last week, Steve sent me this picture of ducks visiting our pool. Made me smile.

Both girls enjoyed filling out a bracket for March Madness, and both picked Kansas to win. They came in #1 and #2 in our annual Phi Kap bracket challenge!

Of course, spring has meant plenty of severe weather in North Texas, even resulting in some time in the closet. During this particular event, Sara was at cheer (they waited it out in the foam pit), and Steve was at HH. Luckily it passed by us mostly without incident. 

Sara's cheer season came to an unexpected and disappointing early end due to a coaching change (followed by lots of drama) at the gym. The team had to withdraw from the final three competitions, and most girls have left the gym. On the bright side, Sara has gotten lots of gym and coaching time almost entirely to herself! Not sure what our next steps are on this front; we have some decisions to make. She wants to keep cheering competitively, and also has school cheer to look forward to starting later in the summer.

Emma's sports season has also run into a big obstacle, unfortunately, because she suffered a fractured wrist at yesterday's soccer game. It's been a long and exhausting weekend for her (and all of us). More to come on that. In the meantime, though, we're getting the slow-down we'd been wishing for ...

Wordless Wednesday

Spring Break

Well ... spring break was nearly a month ago, but it kind of feels like years ago. We had the best, most relaxing week in Florida - we needed it so badly, and even though the effects of the R&R wore off quickly, these pics still bring back all the beachy feels!

Right away we hit the pool, and then spent our first full evening listening and dancing to the Tap Monkeys. Always have to hit a gig while we're there!

We loved spending a few days on Sanibel. Our weather could not have been more perfect. We played in the sand and the waves, took beach walks, indulged in fru-fru bevs, read books, and soaked up the sun.

We also spent a day taking the ferry to Fort Myers Beach ... touristy shopping and lunch on the beach!

Our week truly couldn't have been better and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time ... we were all barely hanging on by the time spring break rolled around. I'm so thankful to have a great place and people to visit for a get-away from reality!

Reality came back into check quickly when our flight home was cancelled. We had an unexpected road trip that took just about twenty hours (non-stop thanks to the full hotels at every exit in Louisiana). It was exhausting, but we made the best of it ... and finished with a good story to tell!

Winter Wrap-Up

We've officially (by the calendar) made it to spring! February was truly a winter month for us again this year with lots of cold weather. We were more than ready for our spring break trip, which I'll summarize in another post.

Emma was proud of her soccer goal Valentine's box this year!

Valentines 💕

Sara's team competed at the Sweetheart Classic and were thrilled with their 2nd place finish after a rougher competition the weekend before. We've since had cheer drama with the unexpected removal of a coach, so we're not sure what the rest of the season holds. I'm proud of Sara for continuing to work hard and have a positive mindset about it. She's excited that school cheer starts soon, too!

Steve got me tickets to Rent for my birthday, so we had a fun date night when the show was in town for just a couple of days!

We've now seen it in Des Moines, Minneapolis, New York, and Dallas ... and it's amazing every time. We had a fun night out together - not something we get to do very often.

As another round of winter weather was moving in, Steve and Emma bundled up to watch the US Women's Team win the She Believes Cup. They were frozen, but were able to get to and from the game before the ice hit, and managed to snag front row seats since very few people used their tickets.

Sara and I loved seeing them on TV!

They warmed up by the fire when they got home. It was a late night, but they had a ton of fun together ... and we got a snow day the next day, so we all got to sleep in!

Emma's basketball team finished another season, this time in 2nd place. A huge improvement ... but we all feel this really isn't their sport. The parents are glad that softball is starting again!

We're all loving March Madness. Both girls have KU winning their brackets, which is sort of a difficult pill for Steve and I to swallow ... we'll see how it all plays out! For now, we're glad the Cyclones are still in it (at least for the next 20 minutes or so).