I am loving my medication increase!!

I really hope it is good for me. Until I go for blood work, which I should have done last week, I won't know and won't have to decrease it so I am procrastinating. High calcium levels can cause kidney failure, and calcium deposits in soft tissue and even the brain. It isn't something we can ignore too long, but for now I am doing just that. I feel so much better right now that I really want it to be okay.

Today I took my son for sedated dental work in the morning and the girls to their final dress fitting in the evening. This is a day that could not have happened on my lower doses of medication. I am tired but B"H functioning. I am not numb or tingly. I am okay and I am enjoying it.

Maybe Wednesday, once everyone is back in school things will slow down and I will make the time to take care of myself. For now I am enjoying the ability to take care of my kids and there is a lot of taking care needed to start a school year off well!

Great start!

My girls are all happy with their teachers and so am I. We got the teacher we asked for for ER (my youngest daughter). TF (my second daughter) got a teacher my oldest had and had a great year with. My oldest is happy with who she got as well, even though we have no experience with her.

All of the children in ER's class were given stickers with letters on them to spell their names. She only had one of one of the letters that she needed multiples of. She picked herself up, went up to the teacher and asked her for another one! She made me so so proud! She seems to have said goodbye to the socially anxious, overly shy child we used to see everywhere but at home.

We had a party tonight to celebrate a great first day of school. We had soda (a rare treat here), cookies and fancy popsicles. I am so relieved that today went well. Starting school off well, with good teachers, ironed shirts, and smiley faces, is so wonderful.

Last year I was barely out of isolation from radiation when school started. No one bought them new skirts, their books weren't covered and they certainly weren't ironed. It was B"H still a great year, but it didn't start out in a comfortable way. The year before my little boy was inpatient, starting the day before school started, for 11 weeks.

A school year starting with us all home, prepared and smiling is worthy of an even bigger party than we had.

The evenings are cooling off, but the kids are still enjoying the pool. It was hard getting them out for bedtime tonight. I told them that they could have leftover soda, from our party, with supper if they got out of the pool and into nightgowns expediently. I can't say they hopped to it, but they were ready by 7:30pm which had us on track for a reasonable bedtime. If it wasn't a school night I would have let them stay in until it was really dark.

Both of my older girls are vying for the opportunity to bring ER to her first full day of first grade tomorrow. They are going to make sure she knows where her classroom is (the school is a bit confusing with split floors, so I am happy she has this help), make sure she knows where the bathroom is and watch out for her on the playground. They are all so excited to be in school together.

I anticipate needing to keep them from leaving for school well before the gates are open. They are so happy and that means I am as well.

Are we ready?

School starts for the girls tomorrow!!

The two oldest start at 9:30am. I go with my third daughter at 3pm. It is going to be quite the day.

My oldest daughter's books need to be wrapped still, but she doesn't need them for the morning. She seems to be in no hurry. The younger two wanted them done and ready early. It is funny how different the personalities are!

My oldest just took last years school books out of her bag tonight. I was a bit shocked to see her doing it, since I assumed she had cleaned out her bag the last day of school when the other two cleaned out theirs. Two months later her bag was still waiting! I know she loved her teacher and had a great school year last year. It seems she is still trying to hold onto that. I understand. I am praying hard that the year to come is as successful for her and she is just as happy. Her teacher last year was phenomenal and understood her so well.

Last school year was an excellent one all around. It was one of those years that everyone grew physically and emotionally. I hope that this is another such year for all.

Manicure was nice but I think I am a massage lady.

I was pampered, poked, filed and even cut a little bit. I like the end result, pretty fingers and toes, and getting out was great. Coming home to a house full of sleeping children was better. My husband cleaned up with the kids and got them to sleep while I was out, which was a wonderful treat for me. My kids aren't hard to get to sleep, I love bedtime kisses, cuddles and singing them to sleep, but I needed the night off.

I didn't find the manicure or pedicure in of themselves relaxing. It was a bit painful and I don't need extra pain. Part of the "problem" if you want to call it that, was a not so comfortable chair. It was hard and metal. If I do this again in five years I think a spa is called for. Somewhere with jet foot baths, comfortable chairs and sterilized equipment.

I am picky, eh?

We had a great day. Friends came over (mine too, not just the kids') and played in the pool this morning. After they left we had a pizza and pickle picnic in the living room since it was too hot to have it outside.

We are squeezing as much fun as we can into the last couple days before school starts!

Busy busy

I am enjoying my medication increase while I can. I am less numb and twitchy than I have been in a long time. By all rights I should go and get my levels checked to make sure my calcium isn't too high, since the endo increased my Alpha D3 to a level that has caused problems in the past, but I have too much to do.

I found out today that my girls all start Sunday, not Wednesday. AC is the only one starting Wednesday in the end! So much for Sept 1st.

I have been covering books and found we don't have enough book wrapping paper. I got all of ER's books that we purchased covered but she will be getting more when she starts school, so we need more paper or she has to agree to clear plastic covers. I think clear plastic is better since you can see which book it is and it helps with organization, but pink wrapping paper with hearts is what she wants. I can't blame her.

We are enjoying the last days of the pool. My kids have had friends have been over playing daily. B"H summer is still in full swing, though the whine has started to creep in. I am happy school is starting. Two months of vacation is a long long time. It was great, but there is too much of just about anything.

Today I brought the girls for their final dress fittings. They are B"H beautiful dresses. They are personalized for each child and just perfect. The hemming should be done this week and we may have them before Shabbos. Even though they can't wear them until the wedding, having them hanging in the closet should be enough to make them feel like princesses.

The weather is finally cooling off a bit. I should think about turning off the ac and opening the windows. Tomorrow is only supposed to be in the mid 80s! After weeks of temperatures hovering around 100, this is huge.

Tomorrow I am treating myself to a manicure and pedicure. I haven't had either in five years. I need to get out and have a bit of space away from the house and the kids. An hour or so to myself will hopefully do a lot towards keeping me smiling at them and enjoying the last couple days of vacation. If I am able to enjoy it I will be in a much better place to be able to help them enjoy it as well.

Home stretch!

I took all three girls shopping. We exchanged ER's too small school skirts for ones that fit. We are done with back to school shopping!

I brought the girls to the paper goods and book store and we got them all wrapping paper (it is like gift wrap, but plastic coated for wrapping school books) that they like along with the last odds and ends they needed. We got more notebooks, calendars for all, pencils, pens, a hot glue gun, lots of tape and a stapler among other things. I think we are set for a while.

It is such a relief. We now have books, clothing and supplies done! I also fixed up a backpack for AC. I was given a free one, a medical conference extra, at one of my daughter's PT appointments years ago. I didn't want to use it as it was so we made it into a cute(r) backpack for preschool.

It wasn't easy to find boy friendly patches. Most of the ones I loved were butterflies, dolls or flowers. :) I finally found the bears and AC loves them too. They are fuzzy and cute. We ordered them Friday morning, they arrived today and I had them ironed on before bed time!

We have to cover books still but I am no longer worried about school starting. We are pretty close to ready! We have B"H done all of our excursions and the rest can be done from within the house.

Low key day

We had a quiet day today. I made waffles for supper. The kids played in the pool and made a watermelon into watermelon balls. The neighborhood children were in and out. I did a bit of laundry.

I am not feeling great, but it was a wonderful summer day none the less!