Two in Two...

So Kaia has had two recitals in two weeks. First, here she is doing a fine job on the French-Canadian song Silhouette. She has come a long way since playing Jingle Bells, and more importantly, is still enjoying it just as much, a year later.

The finale to the recital season was her team's annual spring recital, which ends the season. They performed to Salute, which was perfect for the recital's "Salute to the Troops theme (there are performances from beginning toddler tumblers, to the Island Flyer's competition team).  Kaia starts out third from the right.  On her last tumbling run she performs her layout for the first time.

And just this past Monday night, she was invited to the awards ceremony for making the Honor Roll for her first semester of middle school. Great job Kaia! One of her favorite areas of study this year was writing poetry. She wrote on many subjects, but my personal favorite was a poem about her sister especially since I don't always see this part of their relationship these days.

My Sister

My Sister

Is a very athletic girl.

She loves to run and play soccer.

(“Ha, you just got beaten by a girl!” she says)

And doesn't believe in failure.

My Sister

Is a kind person.

She helps people in need.

My sister shows compassion,

To people and animals.

(“are you ok?”she asks)

And is encouraging.

My sister

Is independent,

She doesn't use her missing

Arm as an excuse.

(she sometimes says“A shark bit it off”)

And is confident about herself!

I am glad to

have a sister like

her to keep my

head above the clouds.

(Kaia:“I am glad to have a friend

And sister like her!:)

Today was the girls' last day of being 6th graders. Hard to believe they are now 7th graders, and scarier yet, almost teenagers! Now let the summer begin....

MUA (no, not MMA)...

So you've been wondering where I've been? Or maybe you haven't missed me. Regardless, I thought I'd take the time to excuse explain my absence.

Let me remind you of this post on my Frozen Capsulitis diagnosis back in January, otherwise known as "Frozen Shoulder." Between then and April, I did 34 sessions of physical therapy, only to gain a little more motion, not much more sleep, and rare moments without pain. I would have to say the lack of sleep has been the worst of it all. This year's sixth grade students have probably gone home and complained what a grump Mrs. C is, or how forgetful she is, including my own two students!

To sum it up, this is what frozen shoulder has done to me. Note, this is a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight; not for the weary to watch. If you don't want to watch it, just look at the still picture and imagine the pain. I am the one who doesn't fair so well...

But what I actually experienced last week was not MMA, but MUA, Manipulation Under Anesthesia. And to see how easy it is to get the two pains confused, I have a video for it too. Actually I was going to show a more graphic one, but I found this one from the TV show The Doctors that explains the entire process I have gone through quite accurately. My story is basically hers, in that it has been a long road and very painful.  Not sure if she escaped the surgery, but I did not. I did not do the arthroscopic part that the video refers to, just the manipulation.

So for the past few days I have been in intensive physical therapy so that the shoulder does not refreeze. After these next two sessions, I will go back to one a week for a period of time. I am still in a lot of pain and experiencing sleepless nights right now, but hopeful that I am on the mend. My movement is better than before surgery, but I have to build strength back up. With that, I am hoping the pain resides.

So there you have it. I have been living a life of exhaustion, falling asleep on the couch most afternoons when I come home from work, then in bed by 8:30ish.  Thus, no energy to blog, as I have tried to give it all to my family. Life has gone on; spring break, birthdays, Mother's Day, regional gymnastics. They were great times, but I just didn't have it in me to put out the extra effort to document it. So hopefully you see me posting here more frequently again, because that means I am moving forward. If not, you know why...

And a huge shout out to my husband. He has really picked up the slack around the house. Thanks babe for sticking to "For better, for worse, for sickness and in health!" I love you.

And the Winner Is...

When it was announced at school three weeks ago that the talent show was coming up, Kaia shrugged it off when I asked her if she was going to enter. A day later, after mentioning Kaia's hesitation to the teacher in charge, that teacher approached Kaia. Kaia's response to "We need your original act and skills in the talent show," was "sure." Gee, I wish it was that easy for me, but you know how it goes when it's someone other than the parent asking....

Anyhow, that teacher was right! Kaia's act was a refreshing break from all the singing performances. She ended up sharing first place with a group who did a great job synchronizing and harmonizing to the cup song.  Although I think they should have been second.

Kaia choreographed her own routine. It was fun to see her perform in front of her peers, a part of her that most had never seen/known before. Even in front of this crowd, she did not get nervous. This girl has nerves of steel when it comes to her and tumbling! And it was fun seeing her beam with pride as her classmates complimented her. This sport has really been good for her focus and self-confidence. Now on to state in two more weeks.

And the Notariety Continues...

Back in November, Jaelyn spent a few hours with a reporter from Klipsun, a publication by students at Western Washington University. Somehow they learned about Jaelyn from previous media, and reached out to us. They print an actual magazine, as well as have an online presence. Their articles go more in depth about their subjects than a typical news piece. The reporter asked lots of questions of Jaelyn, did a photo shoot in our front yard, then came and watched her soccer game.

Following a phone call by an editor for some fact checking, we knew it would be awhile before the article was published. They told us it would probably be after the New Year. Every once in awhile I would check, but I never found the article. Today was one of those days, and after coming up empty handed, I decided to search the author's name. Bingo; found it!

Now there are a couple errors, like the caption under the main photo that says Kaia is older than Jaelyn, which may cause some tension in our house, and that we brought Jaelyn home in 2003 (funny, she was born in 2004), but overall it is nicely written, and represents our Jaelyn well.

What I do love though, is the opening photo she used. You can read the entire article here. Isn't this just the sweetest photo....

Finally, the Floor...

Last weekend, Kaia finally got to compete in her favorite event, tumbling! And she didn't disappoint, as she took a first in her flight, and second overall.  She also took second in her flight, and second overall, on the double mini.  Here's one of her two runs...

Mike took a video of her flight award too, so thought I would share since we've never posted this experience before. The award for her flight (those in her age group and same level) took place on the floor. You can hear the proud dad in the background!

But at the end, she got second out of all age groups at her level, so she got her medal on the podium.

And here's a cute photo of the team. Hard to believe she's one of the older ones now, since she was the youngest her first two seasons. Now she is a seasoned veteran! She still is one of the tiniest though;) Her nickname on the team is appropriately, Mighty Mouse.

Now we are on a break for a couple weeks. Felt good to stay home and be lazy today. The first Saturday we've had off in some time.

My Monkey...

I have several monkeys in my house, but only one is officially a monkey who is celebrating her special year, according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar!

We didn't go down for Chinese New Year celebrations in Seattle, like we did last year, as Kaia had a gymnastics meet. We did celebrate at a restaurant with local adoptive families. In fact, we have been getting together with local families to celebrate since 2004, before we even brought Kaia into our family!  Check out this throw-back photo from 2011 and see if you can pick out some of the kids you see in the 2016 picture.

What is fun to see now is how much the kids really enjoy interacting with one another. Before they would all be together, but not really talk to the kids they did not know, other than this one day of the year. Now the kids all sit together and jabber away! I was happy to see my own kids wanted to wear their traditional dresses. Looks like I will need to put new ones on the shopping list for this summer's trip...

Let the Games Begin...

So yesterday Kaia had her first competition of the season. This year she moved up one level for her double mini event, so is now a level 6. Her first fun her momentum took her forward, causing her to take a big step on her landing. Her second pass looked much cleaner to me, but apparently not to the judges;) Her flight was mixed in with two age groups, so she was with 11-14 year olds. She got a medal, but then again, so does everyone in tumbling and trampoline. Annoying to me! She looked cleaner than a couple people who fell, but her coach later told us that she didn't do one of the required moves correctly. Oops, what do I know?  She moved up to Level Six mid-season last year and is looking good.

She is level 5 on the trampoline. This tends to be her least favorite event.  She nailed it yesterday, scoring a 25, and easily taking first place out of a flight of 10 or so.  She told us she almost "happy cried" when she finished, as she was very proud of herself. She typically focuses on her mistakes, so this was very encouraging to hear from her. Now the question is "Does she move up a level on trampoline?" She met mobility for this event, which means she met the required score to move up (by quite a bit). She and her coach will be visiting this topic at practice this week.

Unfortunately, Kaia did not get to compete in her favorite event, tumbling. This gym does not have a big long enough floor for Level 6 and above, so she was excluded. That will have to wait until next's week's competition. Check back next week to see how her first time on floor goes.