Ellie has ankle surgery and is a trooper

A few years ago it was discovered, after a long time with ankle pain, that Ellie had a small bone fragment that is chipped in one of her ankle bones. It’s referred to as an OCD. At the time the local doctor said just watch it. Fast forward over two years later and she sees a new orthopedic surgeon for joint pain in her wrists and knees. He says he doesn’t see any structural issues in those joints but revisits this OCD. After imagining he recovers a surgery to repair it. The surgery is simple but the recovery is long- 6 months. Ellie says no but David and I believe that this goves her the best future and stability as an adult. So Feb 3, 2022 she has her first surgery. 

It takes place at JohnHopkins and she makes it through the day well. She was really nervous about it, especially the needle. But they give her the gas mask and then the IV so it works out for her. Doctor says surgery went well but he is not clear why this happened to her originally. 

It’s been 4.5 weeks since surgery. Ellie was home for a week and returned to school on crutches. She’s been managing like a champ. I’m really proud of her. She hates her crutches and that she can’t practice jujitsu for a while, but she has kept up with her school work and navigating the world on crutches very well.

She has started light physical therapy ans has a long road of Recovery ahead but she’s taking it day by day ans step by step. Her patience are surely a great virtue!

She sees the Doc on the 21st and hopes to be released from the book then. We shall see. 

I didn’t want to skip documenting this big part of Ellie’s teen years. I know this is hard for her and I’m really proud of how she’s managing it. 

Her scripture

Clair was invited to read scripture for church

A few weeks ago Clair was invited to read the scripture as part of church service by one of the leaders of the youth ministry. She quickly excepted the offer and awaited her opportunity. The opportunity came along with a very long scripture reading in comparison to what the visiting children usually get to read. I was proud of Clair because she approached it with joy, preparation and eagerness.

We were surprised to find out that being part of scripture reading meant showing up at 8 AM on Sunday morning to go through a rehearsal before the first service, reading at the first service, and then reading again at the second service. It meant a really long morning. I was worried that Clair might not be up for that but, once again, she surprised me with her happiness and willingness to go along for the journey.

On Sunday morning came she was up and easily ready to go. She had picked out her own outfit the night before and it was a good one. just her and I got up because we knew bringing the others along for a full morning at church would make grumpiness so we left the others at home to watch online. We had breakfast together and headed off to church on time. We went in and found our place. Claire loved being behind seen and had lots of questions about what was happening. She was very interested in the stage and the audience and the technology and the overall process. Many of the bandmembers were oppressed by her happiness and energy.

At the first readthrough she read it a bit fast and we asked her to slow down. At the first reading at the 915 service she did quite well and had to slow down a bit. I asked her to consider slowing down just a bit more for the 11 o’clock service. By the 11 o’clock service she had perfected it. I am so proud of her. She was literally bouncing off the walls with joy. She was also snuggling me backstage looking around and watching while waiting her turn to be engaged the next time around. The minister was happy with her today and told her she did a great job. Many people stopped her on the way out of church and told her she did a great job. She told the youth leader that she really wants to do it again sometime. 

As we were walking out of church between church services because I needed a little bit more of my coffee that I had left in the car, a few people stopped her and complimented her on her reading. As we were walking to my car she says “I am famous.“ That was followed by a little giggle.

As we were leaving the church around 1140 this morning she was still giggling and she told me that she was happier than she had been in a long time.

Clair does have a heart for God. We were so lucky that this verse was all about God‘s love which she fully understands and promotes and supports and lives each day. It was just a wonderful experience for Clair and I am so grateful that she had this experience and that I got to be her mom along for the journey of watching her be herself in the big world. She does have so much to bring to this world!

The Tiny Tea Shop

A few years ago kids made David and I are romantic dinner one night in the dining room where they served us. Ellie has been wanting to do this again. She decided she wanted to do it all granny was here for the three of us. Tonight we made it happen. You were menus as well as our reviews of the service as solicited by clair at the conclusion of the meal. 

Ellie was surely in charge of the whole deal, and she had to do a little convincing to involve her brother and sister. As a result of the convincing there was a bit of entertainment with the meal at centered around the fact that Max and Clair were captured slaves that worked at the restaurant.  Max put on quite a variety of outfits and craziness for us throughout the evening.

Clair enjoyed being a helper and tried to be silly a bit. She did come in and share a few jokes at one point. She enjoy dressing up and looking nice like her sister.

We had a delicious meal of salad, with borscht, and dessert.

Whole dinner experience went on for almost 2 hours. I think everybody had a good time and their dreams came true. I like seeing each of them get to add the room touches to an event like this. And it was wonderful seeing Max his pain was lower than it had been for a long time. I only wish I was able to stay that way but it’s spiked backed up before bedtime.

Poor Max

Max has had pain in his lower right abdomen for 16 days and counting. We’ve been to the pediatrician twice and the emergency room twice. No one can help. Now we wait for an appointment at John Hopkins for two months. I feel horrible becuase I don’t know how to help him. He’s worried and he hasn’t been able to go to school for two weeks. He likes school. I want him to be able to return. 

His pain ebbs and flows but when it’s bad, it’s bad. 

I hate seeing my kids in pain. I wish I could help him. He’s getting a bit depressed too. We are doing a lot of praying.

Meanwhile, Leo is dutifully keeping him company all day most days. Thank goodness for Leo! 

Art and school projects

I love the little projects they do. I wish I could keep them all.  But I can not keep them all. I try to balance enjoyment, display, saving in the school year bucket, taking photos and it trashing. 

This one was cute, so here’s a picture. 

Clairs first sleepover

Claire was invited to a friends ninth sleepover birthday party. This was to be her first potential sleepover away from family and she was not sure if she wanted to participate or not. We agreed she would go and hang out, and she would bring the stuff to stay, and we would check in around nine and decide what she wanted to do.

The girl was busting at the seams with excitement and energy when I spoke with her via FaceTime around 9:15 PM last night. She was having a blast and wanted to stay. She was in her pajamas and her bed was set up. She had chocolate on the side of her cheek and she had things to tell me a mile a minute. But she didn’t wanna hug and kiss or anything like that, she wanted to get back to her friends. I was so happy that she was having such a great time.

So fast forward 12 hours and I head over to pick her up around 10 AM this morning. When we get there, and told the girls have a place to perform for us before we leave. We all go upstairs and watch them perform this hour lemonade play. It was very cute. I love the energy and innocence of the play. It was well coordinated and they honestly did a great job.

Noteworthy, when I got there, Clair was not interested in running to give me a hug or anything like that. I did get a slight smile, but other than that, she was interested in finishing what she started.

After the play was over, the moms began to help the girls pack everything up. We had a lot to collect for Clair but we did, and we had at home. She was very happy. I just waited for the crash.

She had some raspberries and toast, and then we sat through church together. She rested on me the whole time. I thought she might fall asleep and even told her it was OK if she did. She said that she needed to stay awake for church. I did suggest later that she had a nap, but she was determined to make it through the day without a nap.

We had a nice afternoon and played some games. She did get an early shower, and I’m waiting for her to be ready to fall asleep at any point in time now. But she has hung in there, and I am so glad she had such a great first sleepover.