Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Bridging to Brownie

The school year is winding down and all the recitals and award ceremonies are going on. Last week Brianna had her Girl Scout Bridging ceremony from Daisy to Brownie. After the American flag presentation and Pledge of Allegiance they crossed a bridge on stage and put on their new brownie vests. All the troop was excited and are looking forward to next year.
This weekend is Brianna's dance recital on Saturday. This year is the demonstration which means it is not a major recital with costumes for every dance, professional videos and studio protraits. Thank goodness, because that is very expensive to do every year. Instead we buy one leotard and use it for two dances. The one special thing this year is that Brianna will get a trophy for taking 4 years of dance. She is excited about that. Next week is the end of school parties and the 3rd grade award ceremonies. Denise will probably get quite a few rewards as usual!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

We're still here!


It has been so long since I wrote in this blog. I have been swamped with work and haven't had much free time to do much until this weekend. Denise is doing much much better. Her coughing fits have almost gone away. She has about two a day now and has quit throwing up. She still loses her breathe for a couple of seconds but continues to improve.
Last Sunday was Denise and Brianna's spring piano recital. They both did so well and played their little hearts out on stage. Brianna played a duet with her teacher Mr. Richard called "Oh Dear, What Can they Matter Be" and Denise played a solo of "So Long, Farewell" from the Sound of Music. There were about 20 kids ranging in age from 5 to 17 and of course I think mine played the best.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Busy, Busy Week


This has been a very busy week. On Monday Denise had her "Name That Book" contest. Denise was on a team of five third graders that had to read 100 books from a list that was given to them at the beginning of the school year. In the contest questions were asked to each team about the books and whoever answered the most correct won. Her team came in second and they each got a medal. They advance to next week's contest against the older kids. On Tuesday, I went to the school 45 minutes earlier for Memories With Mom. The kids made special pictures and booklets for Mother's Day coming up and they served us chocolate chip cookies and milk for breakfast. It is a sweet tradition they do every year and we get to share a few moments with the kids in their school room with their teacher.
Denise has been very sick with a nagging cough lately so she remained at home on Wednesday and we made our third trip within two weekw to the doctor. They have already taken chest x-rays and this time they took sinus x-rays. The doctor took her off of antibiotics and she is now taking Prilosec and Claritin along with Nasonex spray and the Albuterol inhaler. When she has a coughing fit she gasps for air to breathe, her face turns red, tears come down her cheeks and a burst of air or throw-up comes up through her mouth a few times. It is very scary especially at night while she is sleeping. Because of that, she has been sleeping with us downstairs so when she does have a fit we can calm her down and get her back to breathing normal.
Denise went back to school on Thursday with her inhaler. She had a few episodes but they seem to be getting less.
Today was Field Day at school. This is the day that the classes are split up in 4 color groups and paired with older classes. Luckily Brianna's class was paired with Denise's class so I was able to see them play their games together. There are about 35 activities set up outside, some including water so the kids can get wet. There are four color teams from two classes set up at each station to race against each other. They spend about 10 minutes at each station and move to the next. Some of the activities include sack racing, tug-o-war, bocce ball, soccer kicks, sponge toss, etc. Dennis and I had volunteered for the afternoon portion and our station was the critter throw. The relay race was throwing rubber animals through a hula hoop being held by another team member, once complete you switch with the hula hoop holder and they go back and tag the next member. This went on all afternoon in very sunny 90 degree weather. By the end of the day I had acquired a tan and was very smelly from sweating so much, but the kids had a blast. They look forward to this every year. Denise also did great and only had one coughing throw-up fit during the whole day of events. We're keeping our fingers crossed on this medication.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Lemonade, Leomonade, Come and Get Your Leomonade!


Denise and Brianna sold lemonade at the park this past Sunday. Dad had helped them make their stand last weekend and on Saturday they made all their posters. It was all a part of the Houston wide Lemonade Day. We set up the stand around 12:00 pm and they began their sales of sugar-free and regular lemonade. Brianna and Denise would take turns walking around the park with a sign and yelling, "Lemonade, lemonade, come and get your lemonade". A few of the golfers came across the street to buy a few cups and the people visiting the park bought from the kids. In total they made about $30 which I think they plan to give to the YMCA. We shut down a little after 4:00 pm even though the kids didn't really want to.