Sprained not Broken :-)

The final verdict: Sierra's arm is sprained not broken. So she will wear her splint for four weeks. She can take it off to bathe, but needs to keep it on 24/7.

Her cheer coach met with me and we talked about the incident. The school has filed an accident report. It looks very bad to have an injury during a school sponsored activity. So the other cheerleaders have had a good tongue lashing and everyone is now committed to safety. We know that with stunting there is an inherent risk. We had to sign a waiver at the beginning of the year, that warned us of this risk. Sierra loves stunting and is good at it. Accidents happen, we know this. So I told the coach that we aren't mad, but we are concerned. She feels the same way. She considers these girls her kids and she does all she can to keep them safe.

So all in all, I think it was a good lesson for everyone on the team. Hopefully it wont happen again.

Poor Sierra :-(

Sierra was at cheer practice yesterday morning, and they were working on some stunts. Well short story, she was dropped, and fell on her arm. Her arm immediately swelled up above the elbow on her bicep. So they knew something bad happened. So we picked her up from school, and alternated ice and heat for a while. The swelling went down and she started to get some more mobility. We waited until late afternoon to see how it was feeling- she still couldn't move her thumb and her fingers were ice cold. So we went in for an xray. We will hear today what the final decision from the radiologist is. So she has it wrapped in a splint for now. So after just getting her hip back in working order, now her arm is messed up. I've decided she can only leave the house wrapped in bubble wrap from now on. Her arm seemed to be feeling a little better last night, so we will hope it is just a sprain in her wrist/thumb area. We will keep you posted.

On a happier note- she finished her first mid-term of 8th grade with a 4.0. This is a goal she has been working on, so she is quite proud of herself. So are we!! Way to go kiddo!

Being a Parent

Eric and I have been struggling these past few weeks with being parents. It can be such a challenge sometimes. By 6:00 when he walks in the door, I feel like I am pulling my hair out and ready to go for a kid free drive and never come back. Wow! That sounds so bad putting it into writing. We are trying to balance discipline with love, and choosing the right battles. We have implemented a chore chart that we have had for some time now- every day it is a battle to get Justice to cooperate and do it. He is also addicted to the computer games- if his time is up, or he can't play because something else needs to be done- he comes completely unglued and has developed a mean streak. I am usually in tears before he apologizes and settles down. UGH! Sierra is growing up so fast- it is hard to keep up with her and her "growing pains". Sometimes I think it is harder for us to watch her make these changes. We aren't ready for her to be an adult, and she wants so badly to do all these grown up things. If she had an emergency break- I think I would be pulling it right now. She is a good kid- we have to keep that in mind. Montana is on auto pilot most of the time, but she has such a tender heart. If something disturbing is on TV (scary, sad, or even mildly violent), or if someone has hurt her feelings, she can't play with a friend, or we need her to clean her room- hoowee- the tears start flying and doors start slamming. Eric and I are working on not counteracting each other. The kids have figured out that if dad says no, just ask mom. Hopefully we can change that. It's a good thing I love these kids!!! I guess this is why we love the good days and moments so much!!! Here's to the next moment!!

Jenn goes back to school

What? It's true, I am a student again. I have decided to take a class about Early Childhood Development. I am trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Teaching & kids have always been a constant in my life, so I am thinking of either becoming a teacher or opening a preschool in the future. Who knows. Anyhoo, this is a step in that direction. I started my new class last night and it was mezmerizing. I was so into it I was laughing at myself. School is easier when you only have one class at a time. This is just a community ed class, but it counts for career ladder credit. It's complicated to explain but it counts toward credit if I should decided to go on to a degree. We were talking about brain development last night. We were comparing slides of brain cell connections between an infant , three year old, nine year old, and a fourteen year old. Your brain absorbs all the information it can- then through a natural process called "pruning" your brain discards all unused information over time. So in comparison, the newborn slide, and the 14 yr old slide looked very similar. So this lady in the class says, "That must be why teenagers act like such babies!" We all laughed.

Montana also started back to her art class. She is so talented. She is always doodling and using all the paper in the whole house for her artwork. She is with a new class and is having the new class blues. I am sure she will warm up to them after a week or two.

Dance Weekend

Sierra was signed up for a dance camp in Salem (just past Provo) this weekend. It is about an hour away, so we decided it would be fun to spend the night in a hotel rather than come home and drive back the next morning. Sierra worked hard, while Justice, Tana and I played and played. The first night we dropped Sierra off, then we went back to the hotel and swam for a long time, went out to dinner, shopped a little, and then went back to pick her up. We had just enough time to let the kids swim again for about an hour before the pool closed.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel. They did a nice continental breakfast with fresh waffles, yum. Then we dropped Sierra off for the day. We swam some more, then decided to go see a movie at the mall. When we got there, there weren't any movies that the kids wanted to see. So we played at the playground there for a while. Tana and I got a pedicure- that was the best part. Sierra was so mad she missed all the "fun" stuff. We went to Cracker Barrel for lunch. Shopped for a while there and spent some time on the rocking chairs on the porch. That place is so fun. I bought the kids some cute toys that I loved when I was little. Justice got an old metal slinky. I haven't seen one that isn't plastic for a long time. I bought a pack of Fruit Stripe gum, the one with the zebra who has the colored stripes. I use to LOVE that gum. Tana chose a beanie baby jaguar- remember that craze. Anyhoo, we had a great time.

We went back to pick up Sierra at the dance studio and watch them perform the dances they learned. They are suppose to perform them at an upcoming Jazz game, but we don't have any details about when that will be- so we will see. They learned some cute dances- but overall Sierra said it was a waste of time. Not very challenging and she didn't like the dances. Oh well, we had fun!

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

Here are some pics of Sierra cheering at one of her first volleyball games. They looked really good. Such CUTE girls. It was fun to listen to all the kids around us talking about who they had a crush on and general Jr. High life. They sure are a bunch of potty mouths though. I don't remember anyone swearing back in my day :-) hee hee. The game was really fun! They really can play!

Fun Weekend

Tana performed at the T-ville High School football game with her mini drill team. It was so cute. For only two days work they looked pretty great. We all had great big grins on our face watching her perform. She had a great time and did such a good job. We ran into lots of old friends, not to mention in was the 20th class reunion for 1987, so it was old home week. (Although not my alma mater- I knew a lot of Chris' friends) Sierra was there with her dad, my mom and family were there, and my friend Amber were all there to cheer her on. It was a fun time.

After the performance, mom took the kids for a sleepover, and Eric, Amber and I went out for sushi at Suehiro. It was so good. I would have never thought that I would be a sushi fan. The thought of it use to give me the willeys. But I absolutely love everything I have tried- even the squid seaweed salad, which sounded so disgusting, but was so yummy. We had fun laughing and yaking.

Then today the kids and I had the primary program at church. The kids did a great job with their lines. Justice had his memorized and just belted it out. Tana was really shy and talked real quiet but was so proud of herself when she was done. I had to sing a number with the teachers and bishopric. The whole program was great and there was such a great spirit. I was letting the tears flow, just couldn't hold them back. It's so nice when you have that feeling of being in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. I just wish Sierra and Eric could have been there. Eric was in Ft. Hall helping a friend chop wood for the winter. He came back so sore and tired. What a good guy! We also went to moms for dinner. She is such a great cook. She always puts out a good spread and the kids love being over there. Mom and I painted each others toes, while dad and Eric were drinking beer and laughing at us. It was a fun time.

Now it's back to the daily grind!!