Pixie Hollow

Annalise before her first soccer practice.

It's funny how, even when I think I don't want it to, my hand just seems to have a pre-programmed reflex to shoot up into the air whenever someone asks for a volunteer. I almost always enjoy the job after I've gone through the intial phase of wondering, "What have I gotten myself into THIS time?"

...and so it goes with soccer...

The first question you might want to ask a soccer coach would be something like, "Have you ever coached soccer before?" I have not. The next obvious statement might be, "Oh, so you played soccer. Was that in school or on a recreational league somewhere?" I have not played soccer. Ever. Not in a pick-up game, not in a coached game, not ever. In fact, when I mentioned to Stacy that I was coaching, her first response was to laugh right out loud before asking, "You? Soccer?" (Really, she's not a mean person! She's just seen me attempt to play team sports on several previous occasions).

Pixie Hollow

The lucky team to have me picked as their coach is Annalise's U-5 Soccer Team. They are a hopelessly adorable group of girls who love to giggle, kick, and run around playing Tinkerbell on the soccer field. I love them to death because they don't really care that I can't play soccer. They love that I play Tinkerbell with them and give them Fairy Dust before each practice. Annalise looks forward to practice each week and I think she's going to enjoy the sport more than I ever could have imagined.

So far we've had two practices and it's generally chaos each time. I've managed to teach them how to dribble, where to dribble, and to avoid hand contact with the ball. They have a good shot at getting a goal whenever they have the ball and our next challenge is to convince them to spread out far enough from each other to avoid smashing their Pixie Wings. Once they have that down, I think they're going to be a darn good team!

Our games start on September 11th (in time for Daddy to see her suit up in her green uniform one time before he goes). Watch for photos and send lots of good Tinkerbell thoughts her way!

The Cast Removal

On our way

The Machine

Back to the Good Life

Today was the day!!! Justin woke up and bagged his arm for the bathtub one last time. When I dropped him off at school he let me know that he would try to enjoy his last day in a sling but he kindly requested that I not be late picking him up for the appointment!

We took some final pictures to remember the cast and then we headed to Children's Hospital for the big event. He got a little bit nervous when they turned on "the chainsaw" and headed toward his arm - so they stopped to talk about it for a minute. He asked some questions and then timidly held his elbow out for the action. The noise started, the giggling started, the "reverse pliers" came out and ...the ...horrendous ...sweaty ...rotton ...gym sock ...SMELL overcame us! WOW! That is some stinky stuff in there! Some of the cotton stuck to his arm and they advised him not to pick at it because his skin was likely to come right off with it!

His elbow was stiff and his wrist was flopping around all over the place. He asked for the sling again and he rested his arm in it while we waited for X-Rays. He's a pro at that step these days! We got the X-Ray and headed over to the exam room to wait and see which doctor would come see us. (There are two friendly ones and one that we're scared of). We lucked out with a visiting nurse but she took the "scare the pants out of the Mom" approach and even asked if we wanted to put the cast back on!!! I DON'T THINK SO!!!!

He came home with a splint that he has to wear most of the time and we're going back in 4 weeks for one last checkup. His bone has formed around the break but there's still a little crack in there. Looks like football will wait a little bit longer (which we expected) but the pool is open!

Third Grade

Justin's first day of (gulp) Third Grade!

Even though life is hard with only one hand, he gets everything done that he needs to! (With absolutely no complaints)

Here he is in the splint on the day his arm was reset.

Before school started, we managed to have lots of fun with one arm. Here we are for a Fly Off at John's new squadron. He's at HSL-45 and we're happy to be a part of The Wolfpack!


He even managed to be a part of the Padres Action down in the sandpit.

The Third Grade Story

Justin started Third Grade sporting a blue cast covering every last inch of his left arm from shoulder to knuckles. He's been a trooper about it and hasn't complained at all but we know it's a drag. His biggest worry at school is that one lady on the "recess police" told him that he couldn't play Wall Ball unless he had a permission slip from his parents. (This came as a bit of a surprise when I asked the front office about the policy, but...what can you do?) John wrote him a note and everything has been OK since then. He assures me that he will probably be an excellent Wall Ball player when his cast comes off since he's been practicing for so long with only one hand. "Just imagine how good I'll be when I can use both of them to hit!"

As you know, football is also a large part of his life and the cast has caused a bit of a problem there. We started out the season thinking he would miss everything, but the Panthers have welcomed him back with open arms. He's been patiently sitting on the sidelines with us watching practice for several weeks now. I have enjoyed the time with him because I have had a very rare opportunity to hear his view on practice. He sat next to me one night explaining how tackles work and he watched a drill with great passion telling me things like, "See that guy? He'll get the tackle because he's low enough. That guy is going down because he was going too slow." He was right every time! Another night he told me, "I just feel more at home on a football field than anywhere else."

Before school started he was looking forward to seeing some of his friends from 1st Grade. Sadly it seems as though those friendships have faded somewhat since he is no longer in the Spanish Immersion program. From what I can tell, this doesn't seem to be bothering him. I've noticed that he's made several new friends already that he's also very lucky to have a couple of Navy kids in class with him so he's not the only new guy in town. He also has a "new kid" in his class that he knew from flag football so life is good for the kid!

I spent last Thursday afternoon in his class and I got to see how life works in third grade. Mrs. Hansen has a very quiet demeanor and I wondered how she would get along with my "larger than life" son when I first met her. It took one afternoon for me to see that she's got it completely under control! It seems to me that she's taken a "real life" approach to her classroom and she uses money as well as natural peer pressure to keep everyone moving in the right direction. They get Mountain Lion Bucks for making the right choices and they have to pay her when they forget. She also uses clapping rhythms and little verses (Example: "Check your eyes, check your hands, check your spine" when she wants them to listen) to get everyone's attention. Her favorite trick seems to be to wait them out when she has to. The kids govern themselves by "shushing" the other kids who don't seem to notice that she's waiting. After spending one afternoon in her class, I've tried some of her tricks here at home and I'm amazed at how well they actually work!

Justin's class has a student government and Justin is a Council Member. There are several jobs that are elected positions. He ran for Mayor but says he's very happy to have lost to his math partner (even though she's a girl). He says she's very nice and very smart. John and Justin worked on his campaign speech together and he practiced several times at home with us. I think he did a great job!!!

And the best news of all is that we have an appointment for TOMORROW afternoon to get that dumb cast off!! Cross your fingers for our little guy because he's READY to try life without it again. We're hoping for a quick clearance from the doctor so that he can start conditioning and get ready for his first few games. The first game is September 11th and we're hoping he can suit up once for his Dad to see.

Justin's Campaign Speech

"My name is Justin Dolby and I am running for Mayor. One of the reasons I think I would be a good Mayor is because I am trustworthy. I always try to do the right thing. I can keep a promise. I am also caring. I will always listen to your problems and try to help you with them. I am responsible because I have had a pet dog for many years and I help take care of her. When I make a promise to do something I will do it. I am a leader and I like to be a role model.

As your Mayor, it is my goal to make this the best class at Salt Creek Elementary. We will make sure that we learn a lot and HAVE FUN at the same time! I am always willing to help you with your work when mine is done. With me as your Mayor, I know we can get the most Gotcha’s in the entire 3rd grade! So, please vote for Justin Dolby to be your Mayor."

Kindergarten

Snack Time - Taking school very seriously

Waving to her audience at recess

Walking to school with Daddy and Tinkerbell to help her be brave

Working on a self portrait

(Note: Here we have an appearance of the "Flapper Girl" headband)

Writing her name in rainbow colors

Lots of Kindergarteners singing and flapping their arms

Can you believe it? Annalise is in school!!!! She had her first day of Kindergarten on Wednesday, July 21st. I'm thankful that parents were invited to spend the day with them in the classroom because we got to see the routine and understand what they would be doing all day. Her teacher, Mrs. Johnston, was wearing white lace sneakers and a long denim jumper. I couldn't help but smile because it seemed like the perfect outfit for a kindergarten teacher to be wearing.

Let me just say that it was a full house in the Kindergarten wing that day! They had two classes in the same room for carpet time (along with teachers and two parents per child) but the kids seemed to enjoy it. Annalise made friends with several girls and she was generally smiling the whole time from ear to ear. She joined in the writing and reading exercises and she sat like a generally well behaved child on the carpet. (We are scarred from the many calls we've received about her older brother's carpet time antics and we were fearing the worst.) The only drama from the day came when we had a wardrobe malfunction. It seems that her headband served much better as a toy than accessory and she played with it nonstop. She was, however, very fashion forward and she turned it into a Flapper Style headband for the majority of the day. It looked cute on her, I must admit.

Since school started, Annalise has had some ups and downs. She started out strong but then she had some trouble when she realized how much she misses her friends from Rhode Island. There were two days in a row where she cried her little eyes out and I had to push her, heartbroken, into the classroom. We talked at length about Brynn and Gwen when she got home and she now carries a picture of the three of them with her whenever she can. I think she's comforted because I have reassured her that they will always be her friends regardless of where we live.

On Wednesday of this week I got to spend the whole day volunteering in class. The kids were working on writing the sentence, "I see a red ___." Their assignement was to fill in the blank by sounding out the name of whatever abstract item they had painted the previous day. Here's a bit of a shocker: The exercise didn't go very well. I spent the whole time helping them learn how to hold the pencil as well as helping them "remember" what random thing they had painted since I was having difficulty differentiating between a man, a car, an apple, or a tree in their red blob pictures. Mrs. Johnston regrouped and had us write the letters for them in yellow so that the kids could trace the words. (By the end of the year, California has decided that our 5 year olds need to be writing full, descriptive paragraphs - I'll be holding my breath if you care to join me).

Life at home for our Kindergarten girl...

In her continued pursuit of freedom and independence, Annalise is having a hard time acknowledging anything we say that she does not like. With this in mind, she has invented the Language of Bird, which has been helping her out tremendously. Here's how it works:

Mom/Dad: "Annalise? Did you finish your vegetables?"
Annalise: silence...
Mom/Dad: "Annalise? Did you finish your vegetables?"
Annalise: more silence...with some fidgeting added to the mix
Mom/Dad: "Annalise, please answer when I'm talking to you."
Annalise: silence...fidgeting...and now high pitched, singsong whistling to go with it...
Mom/Dad: "Annalise!"
Annalise: "What?!?!?! That was 'Yes!'...IN BIRD!" followed by the rolling of the eyes

Mom/Dad: "Oh...I never would have guessed that...I guess I need to learn BIRD!"

For illustration purposes, let me reassure you that she has undoubtedly mastered the skill of "The rolling of the eyes." This action is often accompanied by folded arms, a loud huff, a 180 degree turn on her heel, and then a retreat to safety with her head held high.

The Language of Bird is now commonly used in our house as a bit of comic relief as well as a good way to avoid giving an answer that someone doesn't REALLY want to give. It's magical! Half the time everyone is laughing so hard that the original offense has suddenly been forgotten. If you're not quite that lucky, you can generally distract people for long enough creating their own BIRD sentences that you think of a reason that the original problem really wasn't a problem at all. Our only issue now is that we need to remind her that BIRD is not a school approved language and that she is going to need to curb it when inside her classroom walls.

Denial

I've spent the last several weeks feeling a strange mix of anger and sadness, which are two emotions I don't generally waste any energy on. It's been confusing for me and I have had a hard time sitting down to write about the start of school for the kids, our return "home," football, or any of the other joys we have been experiencing recently. Quite simply, I was a little bit embarrassed by the thoughts/emotions I was having and I didn't want to share them with anybody. John asked me one day if I was ever going to update my blog and I promptly bit his head off (as any good wife would do when her husband asks if she's doing OK). I told him, "I'm having a hard time and I don't want the world to know it!" He answered, "Isn't that kind of the point of writing the way you do?" This made me mad for a few days but, as usual, I realized that he knows me very well. And that he was right.

Why though? I could not figure out what was making me so miserable!

I finally have an answer for you. It became clear to me tonight as I was reading a book called "Surviving Deployment," which was written by a Marine wife. I was suddenly provided with a great sense of comfort when chapter three told me that I'm completely normal! The author described in detail all of the feelings I have been having and and she wrapped them all up in a nice, neat bow called "Deployment Stage 1." This stage is characterized by, you guessed it, anger and denial. Let me tell you, I've spent so much angry energy recently that it's ridiculous! (The upside is that I've been running farther and faster than I have ever run before).

So I guess if you're reading this, you're going to go on a journey with me. I had planned on doing a big "Catch Up" note claiming that I've been busy, but that's simply not the truth. I've been avoiding reality. This blog is supposed to be about my kids growing up, but I suspect it will become more about me as this deployment comes and goes. It will be a crazy year but we're going to get through it with style, comedy, drama and plenty of stories ... so stay tuned! Over the next couple of days I'll finally get around to sharing all of the wonderful things that have happened to us recently and you can see how my sweet little San Diego kids are faring.

Thanks to all of you who have been wondering where I've been and I promise I'll get the pictures and stories rolling again!!!!

Lots of Love,

~Lisa