Today Is a Snow Day

We don't get many bona fide "snow days" here in Utah.  Several years of my schooling growing up were in Virginia, where even the threat of a snow storm was enough to cancel school, whether there were any actual flakes falling or not.  Good times.  But it's different here in Utah.  There is the occasional "late start"-- meaning a two hour delay, but the schools almost never close.  Our snow plows mean business and they get the job done!  In fact, this is only the second time I recall our school district closing. 
You might think snow days wouldn't be a big deal for homeschoolers.  Don't we stay home everyday?  Yes, we do stay home everyday, but friends aren't available to play everyday!  When the friends are out of school, we usually call it a day as well and the kids play with neighborhood friends.

The three of us snuggled up on the couch to finish reading The House at Pooh Corner.  Grandma Fox gave us this book when Clark and Bethany were younger than Peter and Greta are now.  We've been reading a chapter at night for the last month or so, and it has been delightful.  Peter, especially, has enjoyed it.  And when Peter is happy, mom is happy:)

Here is a picture of Peter with the book right after we finished it.  He really liked looking at the map and finding all the places in the stories.

 Faith and George's latest Eureka Crate creation.  This is a subscription crate they get in the mail each month.  It comes with all the parts and instructions and building it keeps these two exceedingly happy for a few hours.  They are enjoying playing with this pinball machine.

As of writing this, Cannon and Faith are off playing with friends, while Elinor happily toils away upstairs studying for the ACT.  Even as a younger child, she has always found standardized tests "fun" to do.  George has a bit of a sore throat, so he and Peter and Greta are watching the 1977 Disney movie, The Adventures of Winne the Pooh.  
Honestly, a snow day couldn't have possibly come at a better time for our family.  Last week's schedule was really intense, and I'm so grateful for how it all worked out, but a day like today-- when everything is cancelled and we don't have anywhere to be-- feels heavenly. 

Last week, on Wednesday, Elinor came down with a terrible cough, sore throat, headache, body aches-- the works.  It looked like the flu to me.  In the past when someone gets the flu, we just take care of them the best we can and wait it out.  Except that this time Elinor had her high school regions swim meet on FRIDAY!!  So we rushed off to the Dr.'s office in hopes of a prescription for medicine that could drastically shorten her illness.  We got the medicine and spent that day and the next in bed sleeping and pounding the vitamin C and Vapo Rub.  Oh, and we prayed and Abe gave her a priesthood blessing.  It didn't look good, though.   By Thursday night she was better. Not great, not even good, but better.  We talked about whether she should go or not.  How it was a bad situation either way.  She would feel terrible if she went.  She'd feel so bad if she didn't go.  She didn't want to get other people sick.  She didn't want to let her team and her relays down.  No win. 
She decided to get up in the morning and go.  Thankfully she felt even better the next morning-- and chlorine kills germs... right?

So, there she was at regions-- the biggest, most important meet of the swim season-- with the flu.  But you know what?  She swam her heart out and got her best times of the season.  I was so proud of her I actually cried after her 500 free race.  I anxiously watched her race worrying that at any moments she might pass out and wondering how long it would take for anyone to notice she was just floating in the water.  But instead, she dropped 13 seconds off her time!!!  

Not the best picture.. kind of a weird angle... but she amazes me.

One more because now it's a happy memory.  Also, because of her 4x100 women's relay, she earned a spot at the State championship in a couple of weeks.  That was her goal this year, and considering what a rough season it was her rotator cuff injury, she is especially happy to get to go to State.

Cannon and George had a super busy week last week.  Their Ballet West Academy Contemporary Showcase rehearsals and performances were down in Provo at the Covey Center everyday except Tuesday.  They did five shows on Friday and Saturday.  They were wonderful and they were SO TIRED by Saturday night.  Here they are when we finally arrived home after the last show.  

Friday night Abe, Clark, Faith, and I went to the show.  One of the fun things about a large family is there can be all sorts of groupings of family members that may not usually be the ones grouped together.  Friday evening was just such a night.

We even went out to eat before hand... ooh... so fancy.  We went to a nearby sit-down Mexican restaurant.  Some of our children have rather picky tastes.  Maybe they'll grow out of it, or maybe they won't.  I don't really care, since the picky eaters probably have me to blame anyway.  But on the way down Faith asked where we were going to eat.  When we told her she said, "I get nervous being around Mexican food."  We all had a good laugh and she went ahead and ordered chicken tenders and fries.  Whatever:)

The choreography was set to Les Miserables music.  George danced to "Castle on a Cloud" and Cannon's number was "One Day More.   It was beautiful-- all the feels!

Now the busy week is done and somehow, miraculously, it all worked and everyone got where they needed to be.  And a day to be snowed in has never felt better!

I Thought January Was My Friend

After the craziness of the holidays,  I am usually so happy to see January come.  I crave the calm and routine after the dizzying pace we keep in December.  I know lots of people don't love January, but I tend to like it.  Not so much this year.  I thought January was my friend, but it was mean to me! I'm  kidding!  Sort of.  Actually, there were some really beautiful moments this month, but still,  I struggled to keep my spirits up and I am not sad to see the month end. 

Faith had A LOT of downtime, and has been more than a little bored.  She took to creating hairstyles on the little kids.

She is a little Who down in Who-ville.

A dead-ringer for Alfalfa.

When Bethany looks back at pictures of her when she was Greta's age, she complains that I never did her hair.  CORRECTION!  I totally did her hair, but it had a very strong forward growth pattern and it was unruly.  When Greta looks back at pictures, she will have similar complaints.  But for the record, her's will be justified.  I don't always do her hair.

In our efforts to help Faith heal from her concussion and hopefully alleviate her symptoms, I took her to an eye Dr. to check her eyes-- specifically the side that got hit by the dodge ball.  In good news, the Dr. said her eyes are healthy.  She did get her eyes dialated-- and judging from this picture, that was a heavy cross to bear.  

Faith and I are still going for our daily walks around the block.  She still gets dizzy and has frequent balance checks, but overall this past week was the first in which we saw some significant improvement in her energy, lack of headaches, stamina, and focus.  So that is really good.  She has an appointment at the concussion clinic on Tuesday and then hopefully we'll have a better picture of the longer term game plan.  

When it is too cold to play outside....

We enjoyed Abe's birthday date with some of our oldest and dearest friends, the Taylors.  We met in our ward in Draper when our oldest boys were babies and we are so happy to still be friends. 

Our family celebrated his birthday on Sunday evening with cake and ice cream and games.

And then the power went out for the rest of the evening.  As we scrambled to find candles to light, Clark said he feared for our family in an emergency.  I don't disagree.

And then Elinor-- being the unique, fabulous person she is--- had the marvelous idea to put candles all over the piano and play Phantom of the Opera music.  Which really did do something to set the mood and so we told ghost stories and laughed and it was great fun.  

 Not that this happens a lot, but you know when somebody posts before and after pictures of haircuts and you think-- "Oh, that's not really an improvement" or " I can hardly tell a difference".  Hopefully that isn't the case here, but here is the before...

... and the after.  I am really happy with the change and most of my family likes the new "do".  Peter has made it clear it prefers it the old way.  But you know, I think he falls into that "resistant to change category".  And that is okay.

Have I mentioned how great it is to have Clark home?  The boys have missed him:)

A Comfortable Pace

January may be cold and dark, but its got routine going for it and it has a more comfortable pace of life.
Cannon was so happy to get to spend much of the day at a Heroscape tournament with "both" of his older brothers-- Clark and Zach.
May I just take a moment to say how nice it is to have Clark home.  He has an apartment down in Provo (the Glenwood-- the same humble complex Abe and I both lived in when we met).  We don't see him a lot, but it's so nice to be able to see him as much as we want to or need to.  We had a baptism in the Fox family this past week down in Provo.  We picked up Clark  beforehand and got some food and talked.  He stopped home for a minute before the tournament this morning.  He and a friend came and played games with us Sunday evening.  We missed him so much when he was on his mission and it just feels so good now to get to be with him.
And on that note- BYU-Idaho is entirely too far away and I don't like it.  I mean, I do like it for Bethany because she is doing great things and learning and growing and she loves it.  But darn it!  I miss her and wish it wasn't quite so far away.

Elinor is wrapping up the high school swim season here in the next couple weeks.  She is so happy to have overcome her shoulder injury that plagued her for much of this season.  She is excited for water polo to get going.  Now that she is half-way through her junior year, she is seeing the end of high school coming faster and faster.  She is dedicating herself to ACT study and trying to position herself for a good launch into college.  I am sort of dying a little inside at the thought of another little birdie leaving the nest so shortly after the last one.  My goodness, it is shocking how fast it happens.  I swear, it took a lot longer to get them here than to see them off.

I took the youngest three to the Museum of Curiosity last Friday evening while Cannon was at dance.  So enjoyable-- no strollers, so running-away toddlers.  Some people live this way!

That moment when you look at your child and hardly recognize their growing-up body.  Gone are the short,soft, and squishy little arms and legs.  All of a sudden they are more of a big kid than a little kid.  They are long and skinny and looking school age.  So weird how that happens.  He's 5 1/2 now.

In case you are interested, these Thanksgiving Point museums are open till 8 and there is hardly anybody there in the evenings.  It's lovely.

Elinor recently placed 5th in the Student Congress event at a speech and debate tournament at the University of Utah.  She was pretty happy about that.  She is also really, really enjoying (far more than she expected) her involvement with the Riverton City Youth Council.  I love how much Elinor loves being active and involved.  She's inspirational.

Abe and my dad were some of the volunteer judges, but of course, they didn't judge Elinor's event.  Faith was supposed to be in the tournament as well, but the "concussed one" was in no condition to do that.

Over the Christmas break and well into January, I completed this 2000 piece puzzle.  For the record, I thoroughly enjoy a 1000 piece puzzle.  A 750 piece puzzle is like child's play.  But a 2000 piece puzzle is, frankly, more frustration than it's worth.  I shall not be duped again. 

It's Going to Be a While

So many of my thoughts for the last two and a half weeks have been directed towards this girl.  As I wrote about earlier, Faith got a concussion on January 8th.  She was hit in the face by a dodge ball (a smaller, harder one) at a youth activity.  We had hoped her concussion would be fairly typical-- rest for a few days and bounce back.  Sadly, we are looking at a much lengthier, complicated recovery.
She has been to the pediatrician twice and a physical therapist once.  She is scheduled for an appointment at a specialty sports concussion clinic and with an opthamologist (eye Dr.) here in the next couple weeks.
She is still very easily and quickly fatigued.  She is having major balance issues and gets dizzy even walking halfway around the block.  She can't concentrate on any school work and can only play piano for about five minutes before she gets a headache.  She is out of swim for a while and spring water polo is most likely not a possibility.  She spends a lot of time in her room listening to audio books.  The pediatrician had prescribed the lowest dose of ritalin to help her be able to concentrated to do school work, and it definitely did help her concentrate, but I am not feeling like that is the direction to take.   She took about 2/3 of the prescribed dose of medication for about a week and she would read books quickly and thoroughly and then write 9 page reports in cursive.  Quite out of character for her.  So while I do love kids reading and writing with a passion, I feel brain rest will be better long term for her recovery.  Hopefully we can get a clearer picture of how to proceed when we go to the concussion clinic.

She is still our smiley Faith, but she is wilting a little under the inability to do her regular activities.  She went to a this week's temple trip with the youth in our ward.  She didn't do any baptisms, rather just sat and watched.  But it completely wiped her out.  She couldn't possibly have swum in the swim meet last night but she really wanted to go out to eat with the team afterwards.  So I went home to get her and take her.  It turns out that was way too much.  She feels best with little no activity.  So here we are.  I'll try to keep posting updates of her status on here. One of the challenges is that a brain injury is completely invisible.  She looks perfectly healthy, but she does, in fact, have a significant injury that is majorly impacting her life.  We are praying for a full and preferably speedy recovery and we would be grateful for any prayers in her behalf.

Cannon Gets Ordained a Deacon

On Sunday, January 12, 2020, Cannon was ordained a deacon in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  This was a very happy day.  Abe ordained him and Grandpa Cannon and Clark were able to be in the circle. 

His neighborhood buddies were also ordained on the same day (one was the week earlier) but he still came to be with his friends when they were ordained.  These boys have all been in the same ward since they were born.  I remember being pregnant at the same time as all their moms.  They've always been an exciting class in Primary and now they are on to Young Mens.

I like to think of all the adventures they have in store together.  Hopefully, we'll see them all head off on missions together in a few years.  And then I'll look back at this picture and cry.

How can you measure the influence of a good father? 

This past Wednesday evening the youth from our ward did a temple trip to the Draper temple.  How wonderful for Abe to get to go along with Elinor, Faith, and Cannon for Cannon's FIRST time going to a dedicated temple.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!

The Fearsome Foursome-- I expect we'll see lots of good in the world from them.

We have a wonderful ward family and I am so thankful for their influence and help in raising our family.  I wouldn't pick any other corner of the world to be planted in.

Bethany's Senior Pictures-- Only One Year Late

Last year when Bethany was a senior in high school, she wanted to get senior pictures done.  For one reason or another, I just didn't make that happen and I felt bad about that.  Fortunately, our photographer for our recent family photo shoot, agreed to take some extra pictures of Bethany with her violin and with her crown and sash for Miss Riverton.  She's happy with them, and Abe and I... well...  we just can't believe our genes combined so well:)