Kate’s half birthday found me shopping at Costco for the first time in over two months. I bet you can guess where I bought her cake to celebrate at. (Although she had four friends over to help her celebrate, this is the one photo she would let me take. Lol.) We had so much on our shopping list that I ended up filling up a cart, paying, putting stuff in the back of the car and then going in all over again. I spent about two hours there and headed straight to pick up Michelle at her District Honors Orchestra practice. Due to the snow day they were only together twice before their concert that night but they were at a high school together from 8:30am - 2pm so I think they got lots of practice in. Michelle had a blast participating and the concert went so well. Very impressive. It was fun to see friends we haven’t seen for a while there too! This photo is part of Michelle’s fan club. A & L H (not pictured) brought her a rose! Hubby was there as well but had to leave after the middle school section to make sure he could pick up Kate from volleyball practice on time.
Next up to celebrate was Hubby's 45th birthday! Oh, I am so grateful this guy was born and that I have the privilege of being his spouse. Since his birthday fell on a weekday we decided to celebrate early with a fancy dinner and came at our house. He didn’t want to make a big deal or extra work so he bought Nothing Bundt Cake for himself and made delicious pork I had snagged at Costco. It was pretty low key and wasn’t particularly joyous because we had the thought that if you plan on living to be 90, 45 means you are half dead. Ugg. I’m right behind him! I thought about doing a sappy social media post but I just couldn't find the words to say how amazing this man is to me. Kind, super intelligent, hard working, thoughtful, generous, and good looking can describe a lot of people. I just can't imagine anyone being able to understand me and put a smile on my face and in my heart as much as he does. I can't imagine life without him. Well, actually I can but it's pretty miserable so I don't want to.
We had also thought of just the two of us heading out of town but those plans were tanked when we realized Hubby’s birthday week was also our opportunity to get Danny into the Children’s Hospital Complex Concussion Clinic. It’s like the birthday stitches all over again. Lol. Just kidding. Both the Wednesday and Friday that week were dominated by medical appointments. I have to say it is not fun taking him to new specialists and having to relive his traumatic brain injury all over gain. Especially when you leave your house at 6:20am and drive for over an hour. But the sunrise was so beautiful my eyes got wet and my right eye even leaked a little. I was thinking about all the things I have worried about since September it was overwhelming. But somehow seeing that sunrise gave me gratitude and hope. Danny passed his nuerophsych evaluation with flying colors. He was given various tests to see how his cognitive function, including memory, are doing. We were told his scores came in at the same level as the average 13.5 year old boy (even a little above in anything not related to ADHD). Even though Danny only feels like he is 80% back to normal the doctor is confident Danny should be able to do just fine in high school as long as he doesn’t get hurt like this again. This professional opinion is such a relief! And maybe we don’t have to do the MRI Dr. W ordered after all. We will see. Oh, and according to Dr. K, Danny didn’t get a “concussion.” What Danny got was actually a “Complicated Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.” Huh. Maybe if we had been calling it that mouthful this whole time we could have gotten Danny his 504 sooner. Ugggggg.
Also during Hubby’s birthday week baseball started up again with some neat swag donated by Chipotle, Michelle being one of the ones in charge of the Young Women’s activity that included updating their bulletin board, and Michelle had her Showcase Performance. The week before they practiced their routines and make up and took photos. Then it was time to perform their pieces in front of an audience for the first time. I think they did a fantastic job and it was so fun to see not only Michelle dancing but some of her schoolmates. I know they had to change some formations due to Z breaking her foot slipping on ice a couple weeks ago but I couldn't tell. I am looking forward to competitions starting up in March! They are going to be so ready by then. Check out the great action shots S’s mom, J, took at the dress rehearsal. I had asked Michelle if she would be ok with me staying to try to get good pictures and she said no. I bet these are better anyway! We also got a complete Michelle's fan club picture thanks to another dance mom. Danny was next door at the rec center with friends and Kate stayed home after having had a sleepover at our house the night before. Luckily I was able to schedule Natalie's first softball lesson with her new bat for later in the day so she could come with us. Hubby and I also managed to get a date in by heading down to the basement to watch Glass Onion all by ourselves. Danny was at a friend's house and the girls were perfectly content to chill and do their own thing. Well, except we told them they could have leftovers for dinner. The next morning Natalie told me she woke up from a nightmare that I had a baby but the baby came early so I had to be at the hospital for a week and that the rest of my kids had to eat leftovers for an entire week. And the frosting on the nightmare cake was that I made another girl. Poor Danny. I tried to be comforting but I just really wanted to laugh. Natalie seemed relieved to find out I am not pregnant. lol.
Since Hubby was out of town for Danny’s last basketball games it was his turn to get to take Danny. It sounds like Danny played his heart out and got plenty of baskets and fouls to show for it. Sadly his good friend, C, dislocated his shoulder during the first game but they had a first aid station at the facility and even got him a same day appointment at the Children’s hospital to take a look at it. Sounds like if you’re going to get hurt he chose the right place to do so.
P.S. I'm pretty sure this is the snowiest winter we have experienced since moving here. Our rabbit has spent a lot of time in the basement bathtub to keep him safe from low/negative temperatures. Maisie loves it when Marshmallow is indoors. We still have to watch her like a hawk because one second she will lick the rabbit and the next she'll try to attack him. Let's just say I'm glad there is both a door to the basement and a door to the bathroom. I don't know if the kids could forgive the dog if she actually did manage to hurt the rabbit but I have a feeling my spouse would consider it a favor if she got rid of him for us.
P.P.S. When you wake up and check the weather and have the sudden urge to move to Florida because your phone tells you it feels like -18….
Only 2 days left of January! Lord, help me through this!

















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