Poppy had her final soccer game of the season on Friday night (They won! Whee!), and we went straight from the soccer field to the Japanese steakhouse to celebrate our 5-year-old friend’s birthday. I loved the “clear soup” served at the beginning of the meal, Pete ate nearly all of his Hibachi shrimp and Poppy ate least tried her Yakitori. I call that a win.
The kids loved the show the chef put on at the table, despite their initial concern about the flames. Poppy even tried to catch a bit of fried egg in her mouth — “tried” being the operative word; it ended up on the birthday girl.
On Saturday we took advantage of the parents’ night out at Pete’s tae kwon do place so Rockford and I could go see “Star Trek Into Darkness,” where I ate popcorn for dinner and spent a few hours trying to decide whether Benedict Cumberbatch makes a better good guy or bad guy. (My final conclusion: Bad Guy. He makes bad look pretty darn good.) The kids were exhausted when we picked them up, and they went to sleep with zero fuss when we got home. It was a win-win-win-win Saturday night.
Monday: Pot luck dinner
It’s our homeschool co-op’s Demo Night, when the kids show off what they’ve been doing this session. Pete is very excited about his role as the Big Bad Wolf in his puppetry class’s performance of “The Three Little Pigs.” I’ll be bringing Black Bean and Corn Salad and at least one peanut butter sandwich.
Tuesday: McAlister’s Deli
One of my goals this week is to actually do Weight Watchers. (I’ve been paying for their services for quite awhile, but as it turns out that alone isn’t at all effective.) So yesterday I looked up the McAlister’s menu to figure out what I’d be ordering. I’ll either get the “choose two” with a chicken salad sandwich and a chef’s salad — for a total of 17 Points — or just the regular-size, 12-Point chef’s salad.
Wednesday: Pizza subs
The kids made lists this weekend full of options for their kids’ choice nights. And yet, we’re having pizza subs again. Maybe Poppy will pick something else next time.
Thursday: Crunchwraps
With all the talk about food and kids’ choice night, Rockford asked if he could have a Rockford’s Choice night. Which means we’ll be having crunchwraps every Thursday.
Friday: Baseball game
The game we were going to go to a few weeks ago was rained out — they still played, I guess, but we didn’t go — so we’re going to try it again this week.
We’ve reached that point in our school year when the kids ask me every morning how many days we have left. As of today, the answer is 9. There was much rejoicing about that, even though they know full well that we’ll be doing a our usual June session. I think they’re just excited about their annual end-of-school ice cream breakfast.
Science
This week the kids read about the life cycle of a ladybird beetle (aka the ladybug). The specimens in our ladybug garden have entered their pupa stage. They haven’t been as entertaining as they were last week, when they were very active little larvae.
The last of our trio of caterpillars finally entered his chrysalis stage this week, so now the three of them are all busily metamorphosing in the butterfly hatchery. I’d never given much thought before to exactly what goes on inside the chrysalid, and I kind of wish I didn’t now know that the caterpillars completely liquify themselves before they reform into caterpillars. It’s an amazing and totally gross process.
First, the caterpillar digests itself, releasing enzymes to dissolve all of its tissues. If you were to cut open a cocoon or chrysalis at just the right time, caterpillar soup would ooze out.
I’ll never look at a butterfly the same way again. Nature can be pretty creepy.
I see a wing!
History
This week we talked about the Black Plague. It was a pretty bleak history study.
Reading
Poppy seems to have the same issue I have with reading in that she reads too fast and then can’t remember what she read five minutes later. So this week she started a reading journal, in which she’s supposed to summarize each chapter as soon as she’s finished reading it. I feel kind of bad for doing it, because I certainly wouldn’t want to interrupt my reading time to jot down any thoughts, but I think it’ll be good for her in the long run.
Extracurricular
Most of the kids’ extracurriculars are winding down, too. Poppy’s last soccer game is tonight, Pete’s it tomorrow, and Poppy’s ballet recital is this weekend. I’m looking forward to having less running about for a few months.
Hello, lovely readers! I asked my sweet friend Brook to share a little about her son with you today. And here’s what she had to say –
I can hardly describe Gabriel to you. He’s too close to me: My very heart.
I can tell you that close friends say he’s a spitfire and too smart for my good. I can also say he’s persistent, perceptive, funny and full of energy. He has his mama’s eyes and his papa’s smile.
He also has Cystic Fibrosis — a genetic, life-shortening, chronic illness.
We put a lot of work into keeping Gabe as healthy as possible. He eats six high-fat, high-calorie meals a day accompanied by pancreatic enzyme replacements because his body doesn’t absorb fats and other nutrients properly. He does chest clearance twice a day to keep the mucous in his lungs from settling in and creating inflammation and scar tissue. He uses a nebulizer and inhaler to thin that mucous and dilate his airways. And when he gets a cough, we ramp into overdrive to keep everything moving.
So far, so good. He’s almost exactly two-and-a-half years old.
I know that over time the symptoms will take a toll. It’s pretty likely he’ll develop CF-related diabetes. He’ll always have to focus to keep his weight up. Eventually, his lungs will have borne the burden of too many coughs, too much inflammation, too much scar tissue, and they won’t be able to support him. Whether this happens when he’s 20 or 50 is anyone’s guess. The median life expectancy for someone with Cystic Fibrosis right now is in the late-30s.
Which is amazing, really. Thirty years ago, CF kids didn’t make it through elementary school. Newborn screening leads to early diagnosis and early intervention. Modern therapies have made it possible to keep patients healthier longer. And there is amazing research being done right now to treat the disease at a cellular level, helping the CFTR protein function as it should, which keeps that mucous from getting all sticky and problematic in the first place. I’m hopeful.
And I worry. He’s my baby; how could I not? I pray (and pray) for more tomorrows. But I know he’s not mine to hold onto, not really. So in the between-times, I cherish him. He really is amazing.
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation uses donations effectively and efficiently to support promising research on a number of fronts. Please consider donating. Please consider Gabriel.
May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness month, and Brook would like to see at least 30 people to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in honor of Gabe. This family is so dear to my heart. I wish you could all meet them; I know you’d love them, too. If you have a few (or several) dollars to spare this month, I hope you’ll send it to CFF.
I had avocado tacos at my favorite Mexican restaurant yesterday, and Rockford and the kids gave me a Doctor Who t-shirt and Doctor Who Yahtzee for Mother’s Day. It was a nice day. Last night the following phrases (among others) were uttered:
“Well at least I got a Dalek.”
“Ooo, you got three Silence!”
“You need a Cyberman to get the small straight.”
“Four Weeping Angels! That’s very good.”
“I only got two points for the Silence. That’s pretty bad.”
“Sontaran Yahtzee!”
This week we’ll be eating out more than usual, which is fine by me. Sometimes I love cooking but lately I’ve been not-so-enthused about it. Which may explain and may be explained by the reoccurrence of the same 5 meals every week lately. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy on the wheel of repetition. Or something.
We’re going to try to switch things up a little and try out some new restaurants rather than ordering pizza every week. This week we’re going out for Mongolian beef. (Or something else for other people, maybe, but I’ll be having Mongolian beef.)
Wednesday: Family dinner
Rockford’s sister and her fiancé will be in town. We will be dining with them.
Thursday: Orange chicken
I think this is week three for this one. Maybe I’ll remember to thaw the chicken this week!
Friday: Out again!
We wouldn’t normally be going out twice in one week, but we’ve been invited to a friends’ birthday dinner at a sushi restaurant. She’s turning 5.
Monday is the last day of this session of our homeschool co-op. It seems like it went really quickly this time. Poppy’s been taking a class on Weaving and one about Fairies, and Pete’s taking Puppets and my class, Superheroes 101.
The Superheroes class has gone OK, but the disparity of abilities and attention spans when you’re dealing with the 3- to 5-year-old age group is always a little challenging.
History
Yep, this week we read about the Ottoman Turks conquering Constantinople. Pete’s been singing the song all week. We didn’t do any crafts or activities this week, but I did find a rather cool Ted Ed presentation on “The City Walls of Constantinople” that we watched a time or two.
Poppy discovered that we could access ebooks from the library on the Kindle! She’s been reading “Magic Tree House #37: Dragon of the Red Dawn” on it.
I checked out a very-incomplete copy of the first level of Hooked on Phonics to try out with Pete. Most of the cards and all of the little books are missing, so he’s just been working his way through the main book. He’s doing really well with it, though; I think it’s building his confidence on the reading front.
I panicked a little bit yesterday when I read the instructions for the kids’ Ladybug Land kit. They said to take the larvae out immediately, and I’d left the poor things in their envelope for days. They were pretty still when we put them in their biodome. They perked up pretty quickly, though, and now there are about 20 very creepy ladybug larvae creepin’ around in there.
We’ve reached that point in our school year when the kids ask me every morning how many days we have left. As of today, the answer is 9. There was much rejoicing about that, even though they know full well that we’ll be doing a our usual June session. I think they’re just excited about their annual end-of-school ice cream breakfast.
Monday is the last day of this session of our homeschool co-op. It seems like it went really quickly this time. Poppy’s been taking a class on Weaving and one about Fairies, and Pete’s taking Puppets and my class, Superheroes 101. 
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