DENTAC Ball

Tonight was the DENTAC Birthday Ball. I bought a new dress and tried out red lipstick. I had to wear an ace bandage and slip on shoe due to my sprained to but at least I don't limp as much as I did a few weeks ago.

 

We got some pictures before the evening started. My friend, Colleen Delgado, and I got an "endo wives" picture. Jason will be working with her husband next year at the Endo residency program.  

I met a lot of Jason's co-workers and we sat by the other endodontists. It was an enjoyable night with good food and a fun program. There was even a part where some of the command staff put on a fake mustache and sang.

The 82nd Airborne All American Chorus was our dinner entertainment. They were so good! Jason and I left before the dancing got underway. I couldn't have danced with my injury even if we wanted to. But it is always fun to get dressed up and fun for me to see my handsome husband in his dress uniform. :)

Elementary Awards Assemblies

Its the end of the third quarter and time for awards assemblies. Paige's was first. She got a Terrific Kid award. First grade doesn't do honor roll awards and Paige did not have perfect attendance.

Eva's assembly was next. She got A Honor Roll, Terrific Kid award and Perfect Attendance.

She also got the most AR Points not only for her class but for the whole fifth grade. When it was announced that she had 236.8 points the audience spontaneously erupted in applause. I had no idea she had so many points so it was a nice surprise for me too.

 

We are so proud of her. Eva's teacher, Mrs. Potwin, snuck in the photo. She is proud too. And check out the shirt Eva is wearing. Awww.

 

Lastly was Darby's awards assembly. She received A Honor Roll and Perfect Attendance.

She loves her teacher, Mrs. Dingwell, and we do too. She has been perfect for Darby.

We are so grateful for children who work hard and try their best.

Who Knew You Needed a Pinky Toe?

So yesterday I jammed my pinky toe pretty badly. It may be broken but at the very least it is sprained.  It was kind of swollen for this picture. I had to lay on the couch and elevate it with ice. Its so painful. But we had promised the kids that we would take them to the hockey game so I held up my end of the bargain. At least most of the night was sitting but walking to the car was awful. The limp sure makes my leg muscles sore too.

This is today. Can you see the bruise on top of my foot? I can only wear open toed sandals that don't touch it and I limp badly (and painfully) when I walk. The kicker is that Jason will be gone all week for training and the kids don't have school on Monday. But they are being very good helpers. Eva even snuck a cute note on my nightstand.

Even if it is broken there isn't much that can be done. The reality is that I will not be able to be back to normal for 6 weeks or more. :(

Math Counts State Competition

Since Brendan was one of the top three in the region, he was invited to go to the Math Counts State Competition in Durham. He missed school and traveled up on a bus with the top math team (from another school) and his Math Counts coach, Mr. Alam. It was too far away for me to go and be back for the other kids to get off the nus but Jason was going to be moonlighting in Raleigh and so he would be able to pick Brendan up and maybe see the end of the competition. I waited anxiously for word how it went.

When he got home I could tell immediately that it did not go well. The story unfolded that he placed in the lower half of the state participants and that, according to him, the "questions were ridiculously hard." He siad that the other kids were answering questions that he had never heard of.

I think he is so used to being the best academically that, when faced with kids who are just as good at math (or better), its really hard for him. He can be a sore loser and perfectionist. I also know that he did not practice as much as he should have. Now that he knows what stiff competition he has, maybe he will work harder instead of relying on just his smarts to get him through. He says he doesn't want to do it next year but I think that right after a defeat might be a bad time to make any of those kinds of decisions. Regardless, this is a learning experience for him, albeit a difficult and humbling one.

Another Sick Day

Poor Paige had to come home from school today because of a high fever. She went right into pajamas and soon fell asleep on the couch. This girl does not slow down for one minute so when she falls asleep in teh middle of the day you know she doesn't feel good. She was sick the rest of the week, mostly with a fever but a few times she threw up. 

One of the days Daddy came home early (he may be getting sick too). He read a book to Paige on the couch that put them both to sleep.

Porch and Plants

I fixed up my porch this past week. I earned an unsolicited compliment from my very fashionable daughter (darby) upon coming home from school so I'm feeling pretty good about it. :)

Also, Darby has been bugging me to take her to buy a plant. Last weekend I took her to Lowe's. Jason wasn't home so Paige came along. She wanted a plant too. Paige picked out some tulips and Darby picked the miniature rose bush. The girls are supposed to take care of them (we will see if that holds true). But for now they are blooming and beautiful.

Dinner with Noyes

Jason and I attended the Stake's Self Reliance Fireside a few months ago. He was interested in the finance class not only for us but as his role in bishop as he counsels people through financial difficulties. No one else wanted to, so Jason became our class facilitator and we had it at our house every Friday night for the past twelve weeks. This lovely senior missionary couple, the Noyes', were part of our class. In fact, everyone else dropped out along the way. They were in it to learn ways to help people too. Towards the end they began bringing treats for the kids every time they came. Brendan thinks Sister Noyes makes the best treats.

It was a good class and we learned a lot about how temporal and spitirual blessings are intertwined. The class ended last Friday. They wanted to take us out to dinner as a sort of "Thank you and goodbye". We at at Fred Chason's becasue it was closest to them and us (they have to travel in from Lumberton which is almost half an hour away).

It was lots of fun to talk and eat. However, since it was a buffet the kids ate until they were stuffed. Too stuffed. Paige came to me and told me her tummy hurt. She was wearing my jacket at the time as she said she was cold. She said, "Mommy, I think I'm gonna throw up." We raced to the bathroom as she held her mouth but she didn't make it. She vomited all over my jacket and into the toilet. Sigh.
I cleaned her up, rolled up my jacket and we went back to the table. Not too long after we went home. We wished we could've stayed longer to chat (they go home from their mission next month) but it was time to take sicko home. On our way out Paige, who was feeling better, grabbed a big piece of chicken from the buffet table. You can see that she is eating it in this picture. That girl!