Do you not know what causes that?

Orchestra

Okay so the photo is blurry. The music was great at the All County Orchestra concert. We finally talked Hilary into auditioning and she got in despite not practicing. It was a very nice concert.

Isaac wanted to spend his birthday at school with the French teacher. They had open house for 5th graders. When he got home we surprised him with a video camera! I can't wait to see the wacky things he does with it. I already told him that tonight we go over the rules of use.

Race for the Cure

Hilary and Isaac are doing Race for the Cure this morning. I'm just sitting in the car crying. Grandma got diagnosed and had her mastectomy in October. She was amazed at how many people talked about breast cancer - why it was even on her soup can! She had no idea it was a one month long thing. She just thought she was out of the loop. I'm watching all the people in pink stream by my car. The signs. The t-shirts. The huge tufts of balloons and even some pink hair. I can't help but feel a bit defeated today in my own personal race for a cure.

The Truth About Molly

We are at the American Girl store and Hilary was trying to be pleasant. She said of Molly's chocolate mousse, "This is so good that I wish I could meet Molly."

Lilah says, "Molly is a doll."

We all cracked up laughing.

Hilary in Japan!

She made it!  She sounds like she's having fun from her emails.  I'm really excited for her.

If Ada submitted a flight plan...

So you know my love of flying (NOT), well I'm tracking Hilary's flight to Japan.  One sight says, "Sorry. We are unable to determine the current location of this flight. It may be that the flight is temporarily beyond the range of our tracking network or over a large body of water."  So I looked elsewhere and got this flight path, looks like Ada submitted it to the FAA.  Last real info was that she was over the Bering Sea with about 2 hours left in the air...

Recycling Bin 1

Hilary 0

That is all I have to say. *snort*

Maturity

It supposedly eventually gets around to all of us.  I'm a big believer that it comes in waves rather than a flood.  With that, I'd like to proudly announce that my daughter is now a licensed driver!  She can drive alone.  While she is still subject to the laws that surround the graduated licensing program where we live, she has few restrictions by the authorities about her driving.

That said, I found it refreshingly mature of her to announce, immediately after her skills test, that she was too nervous and upset to drive, despite passing.  Her goal was to be able to drive herself to school tomorrow in her own car.  But tonight after driving around, she announced that she is not yet ready to do that.

I am so proud of her for admitting that to anyone.  I told her that when Grandma took me to take my test and I passed, I immediately drove home and kicked Grandma to the curb.  When she asked where I was going I reply, as I drove off, "I don't know..." At least Hilary knows where she's going and that she will arrive safely.

Photo (c) Grapevine Photography

Purple!

Hilary got her purple belt this week in Tae Kwon Do.

Missing Softa

We subscribed to something called the PJ Library, where Owen and Clara get new books and sometimes music in the mail. We got a CD this month.  One of the songs is about how much the family means.  It goes through and has you guess the member but uses the Hebrew word, like Abba instead of dad.  So after singing about Softa, Grandma, Clara and Owen started saying that they missed their "Softa" and wished she weren't dead.  At least they are talking about it.

Lilah doesn't want to say anything.  If someone says "Hi Grandma's house" as we pass by, she gets angry. She's a bit clingy and mean.

Hilary asked me yesterday what was wrong. I said I'd had a rough day. She asked why. I said I missed Grandma.  She said "Oh, I thought that was everyday..." It is everyday. Every. Day.

Thanksgiving Weekend Wrap Up

Excuse my jumbled thoughts, they were composed on the fly in a much more coherent way but too many have bottled in my brain like a traffic jam and now it's just not as pretty!

Ada loves Laurie Berkner, a singer for kids.  Well there is one song called Victor Vito she really likes.  I just figured out why.  Listening to the lyrics the first line is: "Victor Vito and Freddie Fasco ate a burrito, with Tabasco."  Only Ada hears: "Victor Vito and Freddie Fasco, Ada Burrito and Tabasco."

Owen and Clara have been busy this weekend. I love watching their reading and writing bloom. Clara is more interested in spelling and reading.  She's paired up with the spelling queen, Lilah. (Good choice!)  Owen prefers writing and drawing her words.  So I came downstairs to find out house labeled.  Each room has a drawing and a label as to what the room is...  Pictures later.

Lilah was inspired and did her own label for her room.  There is a paper cup, taped to a piece of paper that says: If you find money, put it in the cup, it's for tzedakah.  She also learned to make her own beaded kippot. (I have these pictures but they aren't up yet.)

The little girls all cleaned their rooms nicely because of the Jewish House Fairy. 

Benjamin had a rough weekend. Due to my error we didn't get his medication refilled. Then today he slept through the day waking up at 5:30 p.m.  It was a crazy day and both Kevin and I thought that the other had him up and that he was peacfully hanging in his room. Oops.

Grandma is much the same. And I know some of you are really sorry that she decided to die during NaBloPoMo, but the writing it out has been good for me.  Today she was only semi-lucid, but I'd never admit that to her.  I was trying to make conversation, so I said, "Grandma, it looks like you've lost some weight."  "Obsome bait?" she asked. "No, lost some weight." "Obsome bait?"  "Grandma, you must be misunderstanding me..."  She frowns, "Noooo."  I tried again, "Grandma, I must be mumbling..."  "Yes," she agreed with a big smile.

While I was sitting there holding her hand she slept.  She woke up once and said to me, "I'm not sure why I'm holding this box."  When I asked her what box, she moved her hand to indicate that she thought MY hand was a box.  I said, "That's my hand."  She smiled, "Ooooo."  I could hear the "silly me" implied in the sound.

Mom is not dealing well living with her at the nursing home, of which mom was a resident first.  Mom is calling me to say Grandma is colder, mottled, having periods of apnea. I rush over and she points to Grandma, "Can't you see why I called?"  No, I can't.  She looks exactly the same.  I just nod and tell her I'll come every time to hold HER hand if she needs it.  I let her know that I understand how hard it is on her.

You just don't know what to expect. I explained it to a nurse today:  When labor is approaching, you know it's coming. You probably know the signs.  You probably know what to look for.  You might start having contractions.  You might even think, "Ah, this is labor."  But then the contractions stop.  You know that they will start again one day, but you're not sure when.  All you know is soon.

All we know is soon.  We don't know when.  And thankfully this is no induction at this end of the life cycle.