Dance Recitals!

Last Thursday and Friday we had Dance Recitals! So fun to get to this time of year to see all of our hard work pay off. This year, unfortunately, we were on different days. Avynlea and I performed our dances on Thursday and Rylee danced hers on Friday. On Thursday night it was just me and Avynlea dancing with Ryker, Rylee, Kefford and my friend Kathy Caroca and her daughter Francis in the audience watching. Kenedy was at her NJHS ceremony and could not make it. She really wanted to come but really wanted to go to the ceremony since she missed it last year. I knew she needed to go and we record the dances so I told her to go ahead and go. 

Avynlea did such a good job on her dances and I think I did a good job on mine. I love dancing and I am so glad my girls are learning to love it as much as I do. Avynlea did her hiphop dance to Despicable Me and her jazz dance was to Mordu from the Disney movie Brave. She is so cute to watch on stage and really loves to perform. After she was done I gave her some flowers which she loved. 

I am assistant teacher for Avynleas class as well as a pre-teen hiphop and jazz class and a Kinderbaby class. Our Kinderbabies were so cute and danced to A Hawaiian song from Lilo and Stitch. They also were tooth fairies in the feature ballet and danced to "the tooth fairy loves ballet". This year all of the ballet classes did a feature ballet doing The Rise of the Guardians. It was so fun and done so well. I loved watching it and seeing how much like the movie it was. The toothfairies in the movie get taken away by the nightmares and so at the end of this dance the nightmares came in and picked them up and took them away. During dress rehearsal this girl who does not cry easily must admit to getting a bit teary eyed watching my cute Kinderbabies get taken away. It was my favorite part of the ballet.

Dakota, Christiana, Lauren, Aulora,

Darby, Kinley, Annalise and Khloe

(Lilo and Stitch Hawaiian Dance)

Darby, Khloe, Dakota, Kinley, Christiana,

Lauren, Aulora and Annalise

(ToothFairy Dance)

Rylee got her turn to perform on Friday night. In the audience watching were Me, Avynlea, Ryker and Kenedy. Kefford had to go to Baker that day and could not get back in time to make it. It was a disappointment but he could watch it later so it was not a big deal. Rylee did her jazz dance to the song "My heart goes boom, boom, boom". I am not sure who it is by. It was such a cute dance and Rylee was so sassy. Her second dance was in the feature ballet. She was one of the kids who do not believe in the Easter Bunny. They danced to "the age of not believing" which is from the movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Melissa who put together the music for the ballet did such a fantastic job making it all fit to the story. Rylee was adorable and I loved watching her. It was fun to see her perform in this cool ballet. This was my ultimate favorite part of the ballet because of how good Rylee was. She wore her Easter dress from last year and got to use her Easter Basket. I thought that was great seeing as how I only had to pay for one Rylee recital costume. 

After taking her picture Rylee wanted to take my picture. Um Ok :)

At the beginning of May we had Dance pictures taken and we got the cd the night of the recital. I loved how they did it this year. Instead of getting a cd with all of the pictures on it which is useless and a pain wading through all the pictures trying to find our own, we got a cd with only our pictures on it, so convenient.

Despicable Me

The Age of Not Believing 

My Heart Goes Boom, Boom, Boom

Kennedy, Brooke, Reese, Avynlea, Halle, Brynlee

Olivia, Norah, Sydney, Allyson and Navee

Halee, Norah, Sydney, Allyson, Navee, Brynlee

Kennedy, Brooke, Reese, Olivia and Avynlea

Genevieve, Rylee, Olivia,

Makayla and Reese

Olivia, Genevieve, Reese, Rylee and Makayla

Mordu

Out with the dot, In with the stripe

Last Wed I took Avynlea in to her Dr so he could take x-rays and evaluate how her arm is doing. Because he has been such an awesome Dr and so good to Avy she wanted to bake him brownies. So she did, the morning of, and wrote him a nice note and delivered it to him during her appointment. He was super happy and excited and it is always fun to make someones day. 

So after looking at her x-rays he decided everything looked really good and how it should be. He showed us on the x-rays where the screw is in her elbow and pointed out how everything was healing. 

He also said that since her swelling has gone down her cast is much too roomy inside and so they needed to give her a new one. Yay for a new cast! Avy has only had the other one for about a week but with all the signatures and people handling it it was getting a little yucky. She was very happy to get a new, smaller one. 

First the Nurse brought in the cast remover. It has a blade but she said it will only cut the cast. It would not cut the skin even if it touched it and she proved this by touching it with her finger while it was turned on. I was amazed and asked her how that could be but she didn't even know. It will remain a mystery. 

Her poor arm was so sad and bruised. From her angle Avy could not see the bruises but after I took the picture I showed her what it looked like and she was pretty shocked. It looks like she got beat up during her surgery. 

They could not do polka dots again, that is reserved for surgeries since they need more then two people to do it because of logistics and timing and all that, so instead she got a cool stripe. I love the bright colors and Avy was pretty pleased with it too!

They let her keep her old cast and I thought Avy looked pretty funny walking through the hospital with one arm casted and the other holding a cast.

She is so stinking cute!

After her appointment was over we went down to the pharmacy because I wanted to ask what I should do with her leftover pain pills. We had quite a few left and I knew I shouldn't flush them and I knew not to just throw them away. The pharmacist told me I needed to take them to the Sheriffs department. I had time and so on the way home we did just that. Avy really wanted to go with me to do this and since they were her pills I let her come. At the Sheriffs department they led us behind locked doors and took us into a locked room to put her bottle of pills in a lock box. She said that once the lock box was full they take it and put it in the evidence room. I thought that was pretty cool. I was really wondering what they did with the pills that were turned in and now I know, as do you, you're welcome. :)

Mothers Day

I didn't get any pictures of me with my kids on Mothers Day. I had plans to and I really wanted to but we were on a busy schedule and never got around to it. That is OK though there will be other opportunities. :) 

I woke up early on Mothers Day, about 6, because my body likes to do that to me. It would be nice to be able to sleep in but I have found the positive in that normally I wake up at 6:30 and I can then read my scriptures and the Ensign or General Conference talks before my kids wake up and we have to get the day going. I have found that I don't mind so much waking up early anymore because it has been enabling me to get a great start on my day. So I woke up and did my reading and Kefford got the kids up to make me breakfast. It was making me laugh because I could hear them shushing each other saying that I was sleeping and they needed to be quiet. Haha here I am wide awake lying in bed!

Finally the kids brought me some breakfast which was french toast which is my favorite. They all brought me cards they had made and then gave me some gifts. I got a Little Mermaid T-shirt, an electric sander, a stuffed Olaf (love!) and a Nike+ FuelBand. Not too bad. Ryker also had his Dad buy me some red roses which was really sweet.

After church we went out to the farm to celebrate the day with his family. I had a lot of fun being with my in-laws and really enjoy my time out there. We went and visited with His Grandma Marge for a little bit and on the way from her house to his parents Rylee got to drive the car.

The kids all got to play with their cousins which they are always excited about. Ryker and Bailey were playing on the baby swing and so I sent Sara out with my camera to take some pictures. They are silly boys and I love how close they are with each other.

While at church one of my friends in the ward who is a cake decorator was subbing in my nursery. She casually mentioned that she had an extra cake and wondered if anyone would be interested in it. I of course volunteered to take it off her hands and was really excited when she showed up later with it. It was decorated so pretty and it tasted even better. So glad that we could be the recipients of this cake!

I am so grateful to be a Mom. It is such a tough job but I would not trade it for anything. My kids show me so much love and I learn so much from them on how to be a better person. Their willingness to forgive my shortcomings is such an example to me and I love them so much! So happy and thankful for my four amazing kids!

Tumbling

Because our friday night tumbling class was not going to be performing in the recital Courtney and I decided to have a last day tumbling party. We showed the girls youtube videos of gymnasts and cheerleaders using their tumbling skills and then we invited the parents in to watch the girls go through the skills they have been working on. Avynlea could not show off because of her broken arm but she was getting really good at doing a round off and was working on back walkovers. Rylee, throughout the year has been a bit of a no fear spaz, throwing herself into whatever stunt we wanted her to do. Usually she ending up on her backside. In front of our audience though Rylee really did her best and landed every stunt she did. I have never seen her do so well. I think she always needs an audience. :)

After all of the girls had shown off what they have been learning Avynlea asked if she could show her somersault. She cradled her cast and did it! I was so proud!

The girls of our tumbling class. Rylee, Avynlea, Brooke and

                 Norah.

Kenedy was taking this class also but had to drop out due to starting up track. All of her meets were on Friday. But she was getting really good at doing a handstand into a forward roll. Hopefully she will keep practicing and continue to get better at her tumbling, I know she wants to and I know she really likes doing it.

After they were done showing off we got to eat some treats and then awards were given. Rylee was given an award for longest plank. In our warm-ups one of the things we had them do was a plank to develop some strength. The girls always wanted to do a contest to see who could hold it the longest and that person ended up being Rylee! It came down to Norah and Rylee and Rylee prevailed, she lasted for at least ten minutes, it was amazing what this girl can do when she puts her mind to it. Avynlea got the award for having the best round-off. It is a shame that she broke her arm and could not show off how good she is. Avynlea really worked hard all year and was improving so much in her skills. I am so impressed with how much she can do and her determination to get even better and learn more. Once that cast comes off she will continue to get better that I know!

Broken Bones

Tuesday evening I was upstairs in my room when I heard some pretty crazy screaming. I did what I always do when I hear screaming like that and Kefford is home, I stayed put. I like to have him analize the situation before I step in because I am not good with bloody injuries and I would rather him deal with it. Once I heard that there was no blood I ventured down a little to see what was going on and I saw Avynlea standing there with her arm looking a little funny. I asked what happened and Kenedy said that she and Avynlea were jumping on the trampoline when Kenedy said Avynlea landed wrong grabbed her arm and started screaming. Kefford was trying to get her to extend it so he could compare it to the other arm to see if anything happened but she kept trying to sit down. Avynlea was pretty pale and kept saying she needed to sit down, from past experiences I knew that Avy is not good with pain or anything weird happening. She gets light headed changing out her earrings. So I stepped in because Kefford was getting impatient with her not wanting to stand and thinking she was being uncooperative. Her arm looked pretty funky to me and so Kenedy and I took her over to Primary Health.

After a little bit of a wait she was taken back to get evaluated and when we said it was a trampoline accident the Nurse asked us if it happened at "Jump Time" a trampoline play place across the street. Apparently they get a lot of business from that place. 

After her x-rays the Dr came in and said it was broken and that we needed to go see an Orthopedic Surgeon. He wrapped her arm up in a temporary cast and sent us on our way. 

The next day we called the Orthopedic Surgeon and after looking at her x-rays they had us go in that afternoon. When he came in he showed us the X-ray and said that part of her elbow had broken off and was imbedded in another part of her elbow and it had to have surgery to be fixed. Not having surgery was not an option since her arm would be useless without it, so she was scheduled to go in at 1:30 on May 1st. We were told that she could not have anything to eat or drink at least 8 hours before her surgery and he did give her a prescription for pain medication which is something the ER Dr did not do. Everyone at this office were really surprised no prescriptions were given for a broken elbow. She was in serious pain the night before and all that morning so it was nice to get some stronger medication. 

The next day we showed up at the hospital and got all checked in.

Alison and Sara came and waited with us and me and that was really nice, I would have been so bored sitting there all by myself. Kefford could not come with us because of work and so it was really great to have the company and support.

While we were waiting a child life specialist came in to talk to Avynlea. I think they are there to explain to kids what will be happening and to help them be more comfortable with things. She brought in a breathing mask and talked to Avy about how they needed to put her to sleep for the operation. She explained the two different ways of putting kids to sleep, one with an IV and the other through a mask. She told her the pros and cons of each and then because of her age let her pick which method she would prefer. Avy picked the mask. The specialist said that sometimes kids do not like the plasticky smell of the masks and so she pulled out a couple of chapsticks and had Avynlea choose a flavor. Avynlea chose mango and then the girl rubbed it all over the inside of the mask to make it smell good. 

She then let Avynlea pick some stickers to decorate her mask with. Once she left Sara helped Avynlea put cute stickers on her mask.

Sara and Alison brought Avynlea a pain pal to stay with her and keep her company and it was a cute little turtle. The hospital gave her a teddy bear to also keep her company so when the time came she was well accompanied.

After two hours of waiting they finally came to take Avy away. I gave her a kiss told her I loved her and watched them wheel her away. This was the point I was super glad to have Sara and Alison there to distract me. It is not a fun thing watching your little one be wheeled away for surgery and I was glad I didn't have time to dwell on it. The surgery lasted about an hour and then Dr Robison came out to tell us how everything went. He had taken a couple of x-rays so that I could see what he did and what it now looks like with a big huge screw holding the bone in place. Before the surgery he had come in the room to talk to us and he asked Avynlea what kind of cast she wanted, she said a pink one with black polka dots. He said OK and I spent a lot of time pondering how they did polka dots. So when he was talking to us after it was over I asked him and he said that they did the pink and then he had to hurry and cut out the black polka dots to get them on. I was so impressed that he took the time to make her polka dots so that she could have a cool cast! He is the best!

He also mentioned how swollen her arm and hand were and that her swollen hand was top five of swollen body parts that he has seen. He wanted me to make sure she kept her arm elevated for the next day to get the swelling down.

Finally we got to go in to the recovery room to see her after her surgery while she was trying to wake up. I thought she looked so little and sweet all chilled out in the bed. The nurses all loved her and kept saying what a great patient she was and they wanted to keep her.

This was a picture I took of her swollen hand before she went in for her surgery. It was even puffier after her surgery. I told her if the swelling never went down I would be forced to call her Fat Fingers Avynlea. She thought that was not amusing. 

When I brought Avynlea home she laid on the couch and Rylee took good care of her. She brought over the gifts that Sara and Alison had given her and laid them all around her. 

On Friday Avynlea stayed home again from school but on Sat we had to go and get Dance pictures and so she had some friends there sign her cast. Then again at church on Sunday she had her cast signed. The Dr put a split down the length of the cast in case of swelling and so we will need to go back in a week or so to get a new one put on. I wonder what design she will get next. Avynlea has been so brave and awesome during this ordeal and I am super impressed with how she has handled it all. I know that she is anxious to get back to school but I think I will miss having her here at home with me. I am glad that she is feeling better and hope she has a quick recovery.