Tim, I Mean Mike the Toolman...

I want to take a moment to encourage my husband to do more home improvement projects compliment my husband on the fine jobs he is doing around the house. It all began with the kitchen and hallway floors, then replacing most of the molding around the house and built me a fireplace surround, followed by replacing our kitchen sink. Oh yeah, did I mention the roof? I think I may have missed some others, but you get the point. For someone who didn't like to work around the house, he sure has become quite handy (thank you youtube). Now I don't even have to ask. He sees a need and tells me what he has planned. Look what he accomplished before Christmas:

The before of our popcorn ceiling...

This ugly stuff is all through our house, but now that he tested it out on one room, maybe it will all be gone soon too...

After painting, ripping out carpet and replacing with flooring, along with new window molding...

And topping it off with Jaelyn's Christmas present, voila...

Before we expanded our family, this room was once an office. It has evolved since then. She loves it; thanks Dad!

Now I can't wait to reveal what he is doing now. It's his most adventurous project to date. It's looking good. Stay tuned!

Maturing...

Two reasons Jaelyn looks more mature and grown up, as of late. Remember her wearing an old pair of Kaia's glasses for Twin Day? Well in late November she mentioned to me that she was having trouble seeing the board in my math class. There is a glare on the board, so I moved her to the front and things seemed to be fine. That is, until she started complaining about her other classes! So we scheduled an appointment over Christmas Break, and found that Jaelyn is nearsighted. So here she is looking adorable in her new glasses. Don't they make her look older?

The second reason it seems she's growing up is because she is! Here she is with her sister, on our way home from celebrating New Year's Eve with friends. We all sang happy birthday to her at midnight, as she turned 12.  They're looking a bit tired here.

She celebrated with friends a couple days later at our local rollerskating rink.

Not too old to love dogs though! She loved this cake.

She had a little too much fun playing dodge ball while rollerskating...

And as a result, three days of missing PE and two missed soccer practices. Frankly, I would have been out for more, but not this girl.

Yikes, one more year and I'll have a teenager in the house again!

Frozen (and I don't mean the cute Disney kind)...

So what do I think has been my lack of motivation for posting to my blog these past couple of months? Well I now officially have a name for it. Frozen Shoulder! Let me explain...

Let me take you back to October 2014, when I first began having shoulder issues. Pain and stiffness, along with a lot of tossing and turning at night, finally led me to the orthopedic doctor in Feb. 2015, where I received a cortisone shot and was told I had tendinitis. I followed up with physical therapy, and was nearly pain free, but still didn't have full range of motion. However, I did spend the summer playing softball, tennis, running, etc. 


Then came August, when I noticed the twinge of achiness returned. By Thanksgiving I came to the conclusion it wasn't going away on it's own, so I decided to return to the doctor. My orthopedic had now moved off island, and I had new insurance, so I began with my general practitioner, which took three weeks to get into. He thought perhaps I had a tear, so scheduled an MRI, gave me another cortisone shot (did nothing), and referred me back to the specialist.

Now it's 2016...Lack of sleep due to pain at night is my number one complaint. I feel like the parent of a newborn again (don't even go there), and I've even been known to wake up shouting out with pain as I turned over without thinking (sorry Michael). About a week ago I was finally able to see the orthopedic, which after reading my X-ray and MRI results, gave me an accurate diagnosis. I am now receiving physical therapy three times a week, and on a slow road to recovery. I just know the Lord is teaching me some things, and so far it is patience!

Someone shared with me a good article that explains Frozen Shoulder Syndrome, so if you aren't already bored of my whining, and want to learn more, read here.  Unfortunately, being a type I diabetic and now 50,  I fall into the high risk category. I hate being a statistic!

So back to why I have been avoiding blogging. I typically write my posts in the evening, and frankly I am exhausted by that time of day! I was only sleeping in 1-2 hour chunks of time, so going to bed by 8:00pm was not unusual here. I am happy to say that kinesiology tape has helped me sleep with less pain, so now I sometimes sleep in 3-4 hour chunks, but I still typically wake with numbness in my arm between 4am-5am, so I give in and get up. Which is why I decided at 4:15 am this morning to finally start writing this post that has been going through my head. Also, I don't typically mention much about my diabetes here, as there is not much to comment on, but the cortisone shots and shoulder have been wreaking havoc on my control, which doesn't help with my motivation to type.

But I am on the road to recovery, and no pity party here, so other than today's rant, I am ready to catch everyone up on the wonderful things that have been going on with my family (I like to keep the blog positive but real), so stay tuned....

Recital Week...

This past week both girls had musical performances. First off was Kaia's recital, to which I found my camera battery was dead, as was Mike's phone. Good parents we are! Thankfully another parent came to our rescue....

Afterwards Kaia made the observation that at her last recital, back in June, she played Jingle Bells in the summer. This time, when everyone else played a holiday song, Kaia played Scarborough Fair (one of my all time favorites)! I just say that's typical Kaia style, doing her own thing.  What I noticed though is how much she has improved. Keep up the good work Kaia!

Now for Jaelyn's concert. I learned my lesson and charged the battery before we left! Since Jaelyn had beginning band last year (see performance in link above) as a fifth grader, she was allowed to play in the advanced middle school band this year with the 7th and 8th grade (beginning band in her new district doesn't begin until 6th grade). The down side is that she is so little, and plays such a big instrument, that I can't get her on screen! If you look closely, she can be seen every so often peeking around her baritone, above her music stand, behind the saxophone, and next to the bass clarinet. Here they are playing Deck the Halls with Old Composers.

A Major Award...

Remember this Special Award from A Christmas Story...

Well we're proud to say that Jaelyn received an even better one at school (but the leg lamp would've been really cool.). As a teacher at her school, I can say I witness her showing compassion to every student!

And speaking of Jaelyn at school, here she is from this weekend, marching in the band for the greening of her school's town.  You can pick her out...she's the tiny sixth grader marching along middle and high school students!

**and please excuse the poor ending to the video. I had thought I turned it off, but obviously not!

Spirit Week....

Spirit Week and Halloween coincided the same week at school, so lots of dressing up around here.

Twin Day...

Funny thing is they always get asked if they're twins, so I'm not sure classmates even noticed they were dressed alike!  I also dressed up, like the other math teacher. Of course, he has a goatee, so my outfit was a little more involved than the girls. Photos were taken for the yearbook, but I don't have a picture to post here. Probably a good thing for me!

Cosplay Day...

Jaelyn as Mulan

Greek Goddess Kaia

My selfie as Flo

The week was topped off with Halloween. It was the first time they were allowed to go around the neighborhood on their own...

Jaelyn's on the left, Kaia's on the right. Could you guess?

Fifty; it's the new 30!

So yeah, I haven't posted in awhile, but it's not because I'm avoiding talking about my birthday! I'm actually proud to say that I am now 50! When you have both of your children in your class, that means everyone at school knows it's your birthday especially when it's such a big number. One student was so sweet though. When he heard my age, his jaw dropped and he said honestly, "I thought you were around 30!" Then I reminded him that this was math class, and that I have a 24 year old. So maybe he's not one of my A students....

Since my birthday fell midweek, I celebrated with family the weekend before.  We headed off island, and the first stop was to pick out some pumpkins on a beautiful fall day.

We did a little shopping before Mike and the girls treated me to a movie at an iPic theater. If you've not been to one before, check it out here. Let me just say it will be hard to watch a movie again, sitting in a broken chair, feet stuck to the ground!

After staying the night in a hotel, we met up with my extended family the next morning for brunch, then on to Liberty Alpacas, my brother and sister-in-laws place, to hang out and watch the Seahawk game, before heading back home. I can't remember the last time I celebrated my birthday with some many family members. It was nice, but I was missing Joshua and Kellen.

Jeff and his new Gator, hauling the kids around.

The record rain did not deter the kids from playing with the alpacas, which included five new baby crias.

You can see how wet the alpacas are

The newest one in the center. So cute!

Me and my girls.

And the rest of the girls. There were boys here too, but somehow they avoided any photo shoots.

Thanks for all the well wishes! Hmm, the next time I probably have a big birthday get together will be when I'm 60. Yikes!