Last Days of Summer and Operation Date Is Set

Dear Kiddos, 

Our post picks up at the end of July. When you big kids attended Martial arts camp, Hailey and I did fun things together. On the last day of camp for Nathan and Hannah, I asked you Hailey what you wanted to do. You said make crafts and go to Costco. We went to Costco and spent the afternoon making minions (since we had just watched the Minion movie earlier that week). You were so proud of your work. 

Long days of playing calls for days of relaxation. Sometimes you just ask for some cucumbers and you just lay back for a few moments. Afterwards you always ask if you can eat the cucumber. 

Hailey, Martial arts is going really well for you. We figured out that wearing a jacket during class makes you hot and start to show asthma symptoms. At martial arts, after you get your power stripe, you have to wear your jacket. After the first day, you started coughing after class. I thought you were sick, but then you stopped coughing a few hours later. I called the doctors and they said that it could be  possible for you to cough after being overheated because your heart can't keep up with your oxygen needs. 

You still continue to be your silly self. Making banana tiaras... 

And dancing in your underwear with your siblings. You are just an interesting kid for a mom to be around. 

In August we dog sat another dog and she was the best. Almost convinced us that we need a new dog. Almost. 

Board breaking in martial arts was a big focus towards the end of this cycle. Hannah got to breaking black AND yellow boards and Nathan got to black AND green. 

Hannah really wanted to go to epic fun before summer was out so we went to cash out some gift certificates that we got pre-pandemic. It turns out that those certificates were no longer valid and so we picked 2 things that the kids really wanted to do and 30 minutes later, our adventure at epic fun was over. 

Hannah, since your birthday party got rained out last year, we decided to hold another one for you this year. You really wanted an art party so an art party is what you got. You invited a few of your friends from school and church to come to the house and do art. You all decorated cookies, created shrinky dinks, and poured paint over canvases. 

We had some snacks and cakes for the kids to eat. Nathan decided to make some cake balls, that ended up looking more like cake blobs, so we called them cake blobs and they were delicious. 

The kids also played pin the face on the Picasso. 

Here are the obligatory first day of school pictures. I've also pulled up the previous 2 years to document how much you all have grown! 

Hailey, we finally heard back from the cardiac surgeon and set a date for your surgery. We have to get a lot of things in order before you can have surgery: figure out your blood type, sign up for blood donations, and have a dentist clear you for surgery. Now that everything has been completed we just wait. The surgeon did a great job in explaining what will be done in the operating room as well as what we should expect before, during, and afterwards.  The good news is that the mortality risk for this surgery is low, like 1% low. But the thing we need to worry about most is the possibility of having to do this surgery when you are older. Apparently due to the anatomy of your heart, the blood flow out of the heart has created a membrane (scar tissue like substance) by your aortic valve. It is starting to spread close to the valve, so it is important to remove it before it actually reaches the valve. Also, while they are doing that, they will shave off the bulgy part of the septum that is between the 2 ventricles. 10.11.22 will be the date. We just need to make sure you are healthy before the surgery. 

After we got your blood drawn for a typing test, we got some froyo. 

Team gymnastics is going well for you Hannah. You love going to gymnastics every week and everytime I see you, I can see improvement. I can tell you are working hard and you are looking forwards to the competition season. 

Belt Testing happened last week. Hailey you got promoted for the first time. You were so excited about it and worked so hard during the belt test. I sat at the edge of my seat the whole time, nervous about whether or not you were working too hard, but you seemed to be ok. 

Hannah, you are 2nd level brown belt and once again this cycle, you were promoted not 1, but 2 levels. 

Nathan, you being a 4th level brown belt was expecting 1 or maybe 2 levels (since Hannah got 2 levels), but Sensei surprised you with a promotion to the red belt. This is huge because after going through the levels for a red belt comes the journey to the black one. 

After a long belt test, Hailey, you requested some more cucumbers and relaxed. 

  Baseball season is about to start. It kind of kicked off this weekend with tryouts. We look forward to seeing what team you end up being on and who will be on your team this year.  

While Nathan had try-outs, Hannah and Hailey had playdates. Hailey, you love playing with your friend that you met last year at ducks class. He is going to a different school this year, so hopefully we can keep the connection. 

Well, back to a busy week. I am officially a co-lead teacher at the preschool and will be teaching the 3's class. So I will be teaching in the morning, change my hat to chef to prep dinner, change to a chauffer hat, put on my artist hat and draw while I wait for the kids to finish their activities, change back to chef to finish dinner and then put on my roller derby helmet in the evenings. On Fridays I am coaching Nathan's first lego league team and on Sundays I am teaching the pre-K class at Chinese school. It's a busy week but its everything that I want to be doing. Mom life is tiring  exhausting, but I am loving every moment of it. 

Until next post, 

Love,

Mommy