Snow Day

It has been over two years since our last snow day.  While we did have a "rain day" in the fall due to Hurricane Sandy and the predicted heavy winds, rain, and power outages that never really came, on that day, John was out of town, my kids still went to school, and I sat in Panera writing letters of recommendation, working on the fall play program, and grading papers.  There was nothing bonus about that day except for the ability to get a decent amount of work done.

But yesterday was a gift.  A true gift.

We went to bed Tuesday night with not a flake of snow in sight.  There was none on the ground, and certainly none in the sky.  The forecasts ranged from 2-4 to 4-6 inches overnight, but with all of the hype and build-up that often leads to nothing but disappointment, I was not expecting much.

My alarm went off at 4:50 am as usual, and instead of immediately hitting the snooze alarm once, I looked out of the window.  What I saw was a winter wonderland.  The moonlight shone on on the snow-covered branches of the trees in my back yard and a thick carpet covered the ground and driveway.  It was beautiful.  And thrilling.

The school had not called a delay or cancellation, but instead of getting in the shower as I normally would, I waited for an anticipated phone call.  It took a long time - so long that if my prediction of at least a two-hour delay wasn't correct, I would be late for work.  But eventually, we got word that there was a delay.  I snuggled back under my blanket for another hour.  When my alarm went off for the second time, I showered and then moved to the kitchen, where John sat enjoying a cup of coffee.  He had prepared a batch of pancakes that sat waiting for the breakfast crowd.  The kids woke, and it was while we were having our yummy, unexpected breakfast that the best news came - school was cancelled.

Because of the way our school district handles weather cancellations, snow days are truly like days added back to our lives.  We have four more days with students scheduled in our year than the required minimum that most schools schedule.  If we have no weather-related cancellations, we teach for those four days.  If we have cancellations, we do not have to make up or reschedule those days.  Some people do not like this method of handling snow days; I love it.  While neighboring schools now have to go to school on Monday after thinking they had that day off, for us, yesterday was a complete bonus day.  We never had Monday off in the first place and we have nothing to make up.

We enjoyed our bonus day.  We played in the snow for almost two hours.  We had hot cocoa.  We played with baby dolls and Legos.  We grew crystals.  We made up stories.  I got some things ready for Everly's birthday party this weekend.  We listened to music.  We took naps.  We sang songs.  We ate Girl Scout cookies (ok, that was mostly me).  We took our time and relaxed.

And in the end, we felt rejuvenated by our bonus day.  Ahhhhhh...  I love snow days.

Surgery is scheduled

I think I have spread the word about this to most people already, but in the interest of keeping up with my record keeping, here is the latest:

One week ago, John and I picked the kids up at school a touch early and we headed to Children's Hospital for Cortlan's follow-up appointment/surgical consult. We had never been there before (fortunately, we have had no need before now), but we had heard that it was pretty fantastic.  The rumors were, for the most part, true.  The check in process was very efficient.  They gave us a buzzer (like you sometimes get at restaurants) so that they could easily notify us when it was our turn to head back to see the doctor.  This was necessary because the waiting room was huge.  There were aquariums, televisions, different stations set up with electronic games and coloring, and there was even a section of docked and secure ipads with apps for the kids to play.  All of this was great - because as we were the last appointment of the day, we ended up waiting for quite a while.

Once were finally called back to see the doctor, we had even more wait time.  Fortunately, my kids like to draw and color, and I had paper and crayons with me.  They drew pictures, we sang songs, and we all started to go a little stir-crazy.  A physicians assistant came in for a check, and then finally we saw the doctor.

The doctor explained to us that Cortlan's sleep study was abnormal.  Specifically, he had an average of 2.7 "episodes" of sleep apnea per hour, which, as far as I can tell, means that his breathing stopped or drastically reduced for some amount of time each episode.  At times, his blood oxygen levels decreased to 86%, when it should be 97-98% for a child his age, as explained to us.  Despite the fact that it initially seems a little scary to think that he is essentially stopping breathing nearly three times per hour, this all puts him in the category of "mild" sleep apnea.  When compared to having episodes every couple of minutes, as some people do, 2.7 per hour does seem mild.  Still, it is more than enough to be considered a problem that needs to be taken care of.

Cortlan will be having surgery on April 23rd.  At that time, he will have both his tonsils and adenoids removed, as well as several other procedures, including a "soft" scope through his nose, a "hard" scope through his mouth that goes deeper and is more investigative than the ones he had in December, and a biopsy.  These things will be done to farther examine the causes of the apnea as well as the narrowing of his trachea that was discovered in December.  He will have the surgery done at Children's Hospital (as opposed to the surgery center) and will stay overnight for observation due to the slightly higher risk of his case.

I know that some of this sounds disconcerting at first, but we are very hopeful and optimistic about the outcome.  We aren't blowing this off, but we also are not making a big deal of it, either.  In fact, one of Cortlan's friends from school is having nearly the same procedure done one week after him - he had the same sleep study done with 2.9 episodes per hour.  The most frustrating part of it all has been the timeline and that we aren't done with this all yet.  But, two months will go quickly, and we are looking forward to having it behind us and for Cortlan to get some much needed relief.

Random Stuff

• It kind of stinks when you come to find that the people who you thought were older than you are actually the same age as you...and that you probably look "that old," too.  I suppose what is more important is how old I am on the inside, right?
• I had to take Everly to the doctor's office this morning.  Turns out that there is nothing wrong, but she was devastated when she found out that she couldn't get a shot...To the point that the doctor asked if she had her flu shot yet, in hopes that we could find some shot to give her. 
• Cortlan's sleep study came back abnormal.  We meet with the surgeon who recommended the study on Monday to go over it, but the preliminary results that I have received indicate sleep apnea and the surgery that he went in for in December is once again recommended.  We will know more on Monday.
• I am forced to wonder if there are any jobs that are low-stress these days.  I can tell you that teaching sure isn't one of them.
• Cortlan has been learning how to spell many words.  The latest:  b-u-t-t.  The funny thing is the look he got on his face the first time he spelled it for me, and that he has only spelled it and hasn't actually said it.  It could be worse.
• There is something about February that makes it seem like the longest month of the year.  And there is something about it that makes me yearn for the beach.  
• I am a big fan of dance parties in the kitchen while I am cooking.  And my kids laughing.

The coming of another milestone

Cortlan is in Kindergarten.  For many moms, Kindergarten is the big milestone.  They watch their children get on the bus on the first day and try to hide the tear or two (or many) trickling down their cheeks.  Things will never be the same, they think.

Maybe it is because Cortlan never got on a bus or maybe it is because we have continued the same routine that we had for most of his life, but Kindergarten didn't affect me in that way.  I never thought that Kindergarten would be the milestone that made me feel that there was no going back.  No.  The milestone that I anticipated would make me feel that way? When my babies loose their baby teeth.

And yesterday, at our dentist appointment, the news came - Cortlan has his first loose teeth.  Two of them.  And it won't be long before they are gone.  The baby face has already significantly changed, but will now change even more.  The little teeth with the spaces between them that mark his youth will soon be replaced with a gap and shortly thereafter filled with much larger pearly whites.  To me, this marks the change from a little guy to a boy.  And it will be those same teeth that he has when he is a man. 

Really? He only gets to keep those little teeth for six short years?

They grow too fast.

Mr. Yucky

Every day for the past week, she asked me if they came. She is persistent. She has a good memory. And she doesn't let things go easily. Yesterday, when I went to the mailbox, she said, "Mommy, make sure you let me know if the Mr. Yucky stickers came, ok?!" Even I was excited (relieved?) when I saw the self-addressed envelope had returned to us, full of "Mr. Yucky" stickers.

This all began a couple of weeks ago, when Everly learned about safety at school; part of the lesson concerned safety at home and in dealing with household chemicals. Clearly, the discussion involved Mr. Yuck stickers, as Everly was suddenly determined that we needed to have some, and she clearly conveyed that on the way home from school. I told her that I would look into it, and I came to find that you can send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to an address at Penn State and they would send some to you for free. For days, Everly asked if I had done so. And then, for days after I did, she asked if the stickers had come yet. I explained to her the process of how the mail works and the likelihood that it would be a while before we got them. That gave me a day or two reprieve.

When she saw they came, she was thrilled. She no sooner got her coat off before she was at work.

We are all feeling much safer now.

The Haircut

She jumped up and down in excitement when she found out that today would be the day she could get her haircut.

And she is thrilled with the results.

Groundhog Day

Usually, Groundhog Day falls during the week and we catch the prediction at some point in the day.  This year, with Groundhog Day on a Saturday, it was a little more exciting.  The kids got to watch the big event and were so pumped.  (Phil had made a visit to their school earlier in the year with one of the members of the Inner Circle.  Everly has been sleeping with the stuffed replica they gave all of the students ever since...they even got "gold coins" commemorating the experience, so this was a pretty big deal.)

Groundhog Day on a Saturday also meant a great excuse for a play date.  Square pancakes and a fun snowman craft (who knew that Phil wouldn't see his shadow!) bookended by kids playing nicely by themselves and adult conversation that was scarcely interrupted made for a perfect morning.

Getting ready to make the snowmen.

The kids enjoyed the challenge of getting the rice into the socks.  Not all of it made it in.

 

Next up was dressing the snowman.

So proud!

Of course, no snowman would be complete without some buttons!

 

The finished products!