Helen's Last Day

Helen with her favorite teacher, Mrs. Coughlin (Mrs. Coffee as Helen calls her)
Helen with Mrs. Culshaw, Mrs. Coughlin's assistant

Helen and Mrs. Mitchell, her speech pathologist

Helen's last day of school was a week ago, it was her last day at Roosevelt Elementary. I think I was more sad about it than she was. She has had a great team of teachers for the last 4 years, we are both going to miss them. I went and bought flowers for her teachers and their assistants. The kids and I waited outside for Helen to come out, each one holding a bouquet. I was told by the teachers that was a beautiful sight. Helen was so excited to see all of us, she knew there would be flowers for everyone. She went and took the flowers from the kids, one by one, and handed them out. We all chatted for a bit, hugged and said our good-bye's, I had tears in my eyes. I'm sad, but excited for our new chapter with Helen's new school. She keeps talking about her new school, and she mentions all her friends who are going too. She even mentions Mrs. Coughlin, and then I have to explain to her that she will not be her teacher next year...I hope it sinks in.

Peter's birthday was that same day. We headed to the cemetery as soon as we left Helen's school. We planted flowers for him, everyone had a job. Helen's was to water. I didn't even have the flowers planted and she went and filled her jug with water. She sat down beside me holding onto her water and watched me clean up the weeds, turn the dirt, and plant the flowers. She was thrilled when it was finally time to water the freshly planted flowers. From there we went to our favorite restaurant and had lunch. It was a good day.

Helen starts summer school on Monday, she can't wait. My other kids, minus Ted, start Bible Camp for two weeks. We have been quite busy already this summer. The pool is up, and there is new sand in the sandbox...so far, so good!!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Let The Summer Begin

Last week Noah graduated preschool, Wednesday Grace graduated Kindergarten, and today Ted, Robbie, and Katie had their last day of school...the summer has officially started! Helen's last day is next Wednesday, Peter's birthday. We are going to pick her up and then head to the cemetery to plant flowers. She will be leaving the school and teachers that she has known for the past four years. It's going to be a sad day, I'm going to miss everyone. They have been such a wonderful group of teachers. Helen is really going to miss them, especially Mrs. Coughlin, or as Helen calls her...Mrs. Coffee. She is the one who taught her how to read, her favorite past time. Peter went to the school to observe the classroom before we decided to send Helen there. He really liked the atmosphere and especially liked Mrs. Coughlin. I'm glad we listened to his instincts and it all worked out, they have been a huge support system for me...everything happens for a reason!

Robbie had a black spot near the area where he had his birthmark removed over a year ago. I thought it could possibly be a tick since he had been camping recently. When I rubbed my hand over it I could feel a piece of it sticking out. In fact, that's how I found it in the first place. I was putting sunscreen on him for the school picnic and felt it. It looked like the tick had embedded itself into his skin. I made an appointment for him the next day at the doctor, if it were a tick, we needed a professional to remove it! It took two seconds for the doctor to tell me, "It's NOT a tick." I kept asking him, "Are you sure?" I guess I thought he didn't get a good enough look at it. According to the doctor, it's a stitch that either didn't get removed, or never dissolved. The body didn't recognize it, so it's trying to kick it out. It's slowly working it's way out, and it's not looking very pretty in the process. We're keeping an eye on it.

Katie played her first softball game of the season the other night, it was called because of the rain. I started to feel a few drops as soon as the game began. Katie's team was up first, she was next up when the player before her made the third out. Katie wasn't very pleased, until someone pointed out to her that she would be the first one up when they batted again. I kept saying, "Please let Katie bat before the rain falls, please let Katie bat..." She got up to bat, hit the ball from her coaches pitch, and made it to base! By this time, the rain was falling harder, Helen went to the car, she was the smart one. When it started coming down even more, I went to get my umbrella, it really didn't look like they were going to call the game. As I was coming back from my car, I saw the teams lining up to give high fives, they had finally stopped the game. Once everyone was in their cars and heading out of the parking lot, the skies opened up and it came down in buckets. Thank goodness we were in the car!! Hopefully we won't experience that again this season!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue