I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cheering our children on in their various efforts, but, PHEW.

The last month has been C-R-A-Z-Y  B-U-S-Y with classes ending and end-of-year programs and such.

I am now gleefully checking things off of our list of things we do, particularly classes some or all of our children have completed or that are in (or will soon) break until September. (For my own recording purposes, I am noting days/times and participants.)

• 4H {All}–Check! (Third Wednesday monthly Sept–May)*

• Junior Achievement {Larry and Mo}–Check! (Every other Tuesday afternoon Sept–April)

Larry and Mo had a great time at the BizTown event in Nashville. Larry was a Mail Delivery employee and Mo was a Chief Financial Officer for the Pet Store.

• Children’s Bible Drill {Larry and Mo}–Check! (Sunday nights Sept.–May)

Both of them both finished strong at the State Meet. Larry answered all 24 questions correctly and received a State Superior Award, while Mo answered 21 questions correctly and received a State Winner Award.

I wish I could say I have photos but I don’t. I do have a really good excuse, but you’ll have to trust me on that.

• Church Choir (and Spring Musicals) {Larry, Mo, Li’l Bro, Li’l Miss}–Check! (Sunday nights Sept.–May)

Mo had another solo part this time, though without words. Still he rocked it out literally in the Blues band, even dancing on the stage with his harmonica!

Mo was also chosen to demonstrate a sample Bible Drill this past Sunday morning prior to the Church Musical. He was very excited to be chosen, though he told me on Saturday afternoon: “When Ms. Ashley called my name to stay after practice, I was a little worried I might be in trouble at first.” I said, “Did you have any reason to be worried?” He giggled and said, “Well, mostly, no, but I wasn’t perfect during practice either.” At least he was honest.

Larry chose to opt out, but his Choir Director informed him she would have a back-stage job for him next time he decides not to sing. 🙂 We do allow the boys to opt out of the Spring Musical, though they are still required to go to the practices, as Church Choir is their music class and they have wonderful teachers. I was so glad though that Ms. Jennifer encouraged him that she “needs everyone even if they are behind the scenes.” I think he kind of enjoyed her noticing his absence and suggesting she had a job for him even if he didn’t want to sing.

The little ones performed on Sunday evening, while Mo performed on Sunday morning.

• Community Bible Study {All}–Check! (Friday mornings Sept.–May)

• Youth Bible Drill {Curly}–Check! (Sunday nights Sept.–May)

Curly finished up at the Youth State Drill on Saturday along with an 8th grader from our church. He was in a field of tough competition, but he still completed 23 out of 25 drills. He hopes to go back to the State Level in the Youth Division next year, which will be his 5th year in Bible Drill.

As May continues, we will wrap up Ballet for Li’l Miss on Thursdays, which will culminate with her Spring Recital on May 29.

Have I mentioned that Papa already opened his pool, and the 5 oldest have been IN it? I have dipped my toes in it. The weather has been very warm, but the water is still in the 60s to 70s. Too cold for this Momma, except in an emergency!

Grammy decided Li’l Bit needed her own little pool, but she likes to have company.

And speaking of Grammy, she has found that one way to her littlest granddaughter’s heart is a pop-ice … or two.

During the summer, we will continue with:

• Speech Therapy for Li’l Bro and Li’l Miss two hours each week (day and time TBD; one hour each individual)

• Boy Scouts on Thursday evenings for Curly

• Taekwondo for all of the boys on Tuesdays and Thursdays (though we may go on some alternate days/times), along with my assistants who take photos and videos for me.

[flickr video=7154421934 secret=c713a2ab3f w=400 h=225]

I am also thankful for medical appointments that are done with good reports and for medical surgeries that have been postponed (I’ll share more on that down below).

On May 1st, The Prez and I took Larry, Li’l Bro and Li’l Miss for their annual cardio appointments. The news was excellent!

Li’l Miss is doing very well, and the doctor does not want to see her until next May unless we notice significant changes.

Li’l Bro is doing very well, and the doctor found no changes in his aneurysm from last year, which is really great news. He does not want to see him until next May either. He also did an annual echo on Li’l Bro and found no reason to replace his valve anytime in the near future. The longer we can wait on this, the less open-heart surgeries he will endure.

Larry is doing very well, so well, in fact, the doctor does not want to see him for TWO years. He reiterated how well his heart surgery was done in China, how sick he had been with an infection in his heart, and how amazing his language has come along given his age at adoption and heart defects (which commonly affects language processing).

Really, we are praising God for these wonderful reports on their hearts. We do NOT take these good reports lightly as there are just no guarantees, but we are so grateful for their good health.

Next week, Li’l Bro heads back to the audiologist for another adjustment on his BAHA. He also will continue having regular hearing evaluations as the last one in April showed moderate hearing loss in his “good” ear. Kind of not-so-good news, but the audiologist feels each new test is a better representation. She commended his maturity since the last test and was certain it was a valid reading this last time.

In other medical news for Li’l Bro, I am SO HAPPY to report his surgery scheduled for May 16 has been MOVED to August 22. You may wonder why in the world I am happy about this? Well for several reasons, but for starters, I didn’t want to do it and didn’t have any peace about it. He was scheduled to have a nose revision, where the Dr. would take cartilage from his ribs to place in his nose. Not only does this procedure involve a lot of pain usually, but it also comes with a Dr’s order of NO SWIMMING for “at least 6 weeks.”

Seriously. I also felt like this surgery was going to put a big, red STOP sign in his amazing progress in speech. And for what? Basically a COSMETIC surgery. Yes, it is needed eventually but it is certainly not necessity in the near future.

But the best part about it all is that a very dear friend was able to TAKE our time slot for her daughter’s surgery, which had been originally scheduled for June 20 … about the time she is projected to be on a plane to China to bring back her precious waiting 2-year-old son.

I told the Dr.’s Scheduler, who is a real gem and happens to be a Christ-follower as well: “You know the fact we have this May 16 date is NOT a coincidence?” And she says, “I know. I know.” This all happened last week, and I am just SO THANKFUL it worked out for our friend to get the date. It all worked out so perfectly, and none of us have any doubt that God worked this all out!

Medical Recap:
• June 15: Li’l Bit’s Heart Cath (exploratory and interventional if he finds collaterals)
• August 22: Li’l Bro’s Nasal Revision Surgery

Amidst all of the STUFF, we have managed to find some time on a few evenings to take a ride around the neighborhood with our 5 bike riders and 1 stroller rider! I will have to share in another post all about our newest independent bike riders!

And what do you do with all of those lids of various colors? Do you throw them away? Yeah, I used to as well, but they are GREAT for sorting, exploratory play and keeping a little student wannabe busy for a good 20 minutes with supervision of course.

*We will also continue caring for the 26 chicks we have, that are growing by INCHES it would seem each day. As I type, we are preparing to move them to their permanent home at Grammyland. See next post. 🙂

Here is a sneak peek!