So There

Kylee is learning about heritage in Social Studies. I don't even know our heritage. I mean, I think know there's some Indian in there somewhere. We called Pops, but he thought knew exactly what I thought knew. There's definitely Indian. I guess I'm gonna have to make some different phone calls. (Grandmommy, get busy with the research!) Some boy said in class today that there's no way Kylee has any heritage; she's way too white. I mean, really, the girl is white, but we have heritage! So there.
(Right, Grandmommy?)

I hate sight words. One of Blaine's sight words this week is 'usually'. He has always said lusually. Now I have to correct him. I hate it. First hectacolla; now lusually. When marote (remote) is a sight word, I refuse to fix it. Get used to it, teachers! I won't I won't I won't correct marote. So there.

Balmorhea for Labor Day

We took our second trip to Balmorhea this summer. We had talked about going camping with the Rosales and Batistas, but we couldn't be gone the whole Labor Day weekend, since everybody had stuff going on. Carlo and his family had never been to Balmorhea, so we decided to go for the day. We left El Paso at 7 a.m. Saturday morning to make the drive.

We got a great tableright by the high diving board, and since that's where we spent most of our time,it worked out just great! I don't know how many times they stood in line to jump,but it was a lot! The girls and I even got tricky!
There was also swimming, eating, watching the kids, being silly, feeding and watching the fish and turtles, and just hanging out.

We didn't leave the park until 7 p.m., which means we spend eight and a half hours of fun. Before we drove back, we ate at the Bear's Den, where the kids got their own tables........SO grown up! The boys even had a salsa eating contest, and that salsa was HOT!!

They didn't want to leave each other and were so excited to hear we would all stop in Van Horn for gas. None of the boys saw each other in Van Horn because they were all asleep. They played so hard. Kylee and Kaitlyn were the only children awake. Kylee wouldn't stay that way long. It was a fun but exhausting day! Can't wait for our next adventure with these friends!

Me: Stenographer; Him: Stenosis

On August 29, Daddy finally had back surgery. He's been so miserable for so long, and it was time! He, Dawn, and I flew to Dallas the 28th for the big day.

His surgery was scheduled for 11 a.m. We had to be there at 9 to get him ready. When we text this pictureto the grandkids, they got a big kick out of it. His doctor got a little backed up on the surgery before his, so we had to wait a while. Of course, he wanted his phone back!But finally the anesthesiologist came in to administer the good stuff!He was teasing him that when he gave him the stuff to make him sleep, he was going to make him auction for him. I wanted him to take my phone and video it, but it was a no-go. Daddy doesn't remember if they asked him to or not.

The Methodist Hospital for Surgery in Addison was amazing! As Dawn and I waited the three hours it took, they called her cell phone three times to let us know what was going on. The doctor came out and told us the surgery was a success, and he fixed all that needed to be fixed. His nerves, which should have been round like a pinkie, were flat in three places (stenosis), and he had four bulging discs and some calcium deposits they "shaved" off. (OUCH!) He said we could go up to his room and wait, and he should be there in about 45 minutes.

When he came up, he had a nasty little reaction to the anesthesia that made him very anxious. Evidentally, it's pretty common in men. His cut was bigger than we expected,about six inches. No wonder he kept saying it felt like they had put a knife in his back!

I stayed until Wednesday; then flew home. He got out of the hospital Wednesday, but had to stay in Dallas a couple of days just in case he needed to see the doctor. He flew home Friday, and he is now at home resting and healing. We're all hoping this surgery did the trick, and he will feel much better soon!

Bully Beware Part II

Sorry about the slow update on the bully. Daddy had back surgery in Dallas, so I've been up there vying for daughter of the year. More on that to come.

Right after I typed Part I, Mr. Garcia text Joey just to see what was up, and Joey told him about our bully situation. He immediately wanted to know why this was the first he had heard of it. Come to find out, he's the head of the committee against bullying at Blaine's school. Well, who knew there was such a thing?! Anyway, he said he would "handle it" and that there would be no problem. He also told Joey there was no need for him to go to the school Monday morning, just to let him handle it.

Later when we were explaining to Blaine why Joey wasn't going to the school Monday, he said, "Oh, it's okay. Julian asked me Friday if we could be friends. I don't want to be his friend, so at first I said no. But then I decided I would try it." That seemed to make Blaine feel much better.

I'm not sure what all happened, but Blaine said Mr. Garcia called him out of class Monday and talked to him about it. Now things are all better, and Blaine is back to himself.

Yay! I hope that's all I ever have to say about that.

Bully Beware

I hate bullies! I've never encountered one, really. I guess maybe in Pecos, we all knew everybody's parents knew each other, and it would not be tolerated. Times, they are a'changin!

Two weeks ago, Blaine started being teary when I would drop him off at school. He never said anything was wrong, and he would suck it up pretty quickly, but he was different. He would ask a million questions as I dropped him off, hesitant to get out of the car, and he would make sure I was coming to get him right after work. I thought maybe he was just tired or worn out.

Then Monday, after we dropped off Kylee and were headed to his drop off, he LOST it. I mean, shoulder-shaking sobbing. He said it was because Mrs. Martinez had said it was far enough into the school year that now she was going to be stricter. I told him he would be fine, because he knew how to act and it didn't matter how strict she was if he was behaving. It didn't help. He then cried that he was scared. I told him I didn't believe he was scared of Mrs. Martinez, and he spilled the beans that there was a boy in his class, Julian, who was calling him names and wouldn't leave him alone.

I don't want to coddle my kids. I don't want to be that mom that thinks her kid is perfect and no other kid should ever look at them funny. But I also don't want to be that callous mom who doesn't care.

I asked him if he had told Mrs. Martinez, and he said no because he did not want to be a tattle-tale. Trying to call his bluff, I said I would park and walk him to the playground and talk to the monitor, THINKING he would NOT have that. He said, "Okay. Let's go." I walked him to the monitor, told her he was worried about this kid, and he wasn't comfortable. She assured me she would take care of it and told Blaine to show her which kid it was. As I drove away, I saw Blaine walking off with Briana,her arm around his shoulder.

I sent his teacher an email, expressing my dilemma between coddling and ignoring, and she called me, telling me that the assistant principal and she had talked to Julian, and I was not overreacting. He came home from school and said everybody had talked to Julian, and he felt better. Joey talked to him, quizzing him if Julian had touched him, or if it was just name calling. Blaine assured him it was just name-calling. Tuesday morning, he got out of the car the old Blaine.

Wednesday moring, we were back to teary and a million questions. Thursday morning, same thing. I told him that if that boy bothered him, he needed to tell somebody, that everybody knew the situation, and that he was NOT being a tattletale. His Daddy questioned him Thursday night if the kid was hitting him. Blaine assured us he was just calling him names and would not leave him alone.

Friday, Julian hit him. Blaine was coming down the slide at lunchtime, and Julian had hid behind the slide and jumped up and slapped his face as he came down. It busted his lip. Blaine said he got in 'big trouble' and they called his parents. Joey is going to the school Monday morning. Last night when I went upstairs, I found thisin my bedroom. At first, I was appalled! I text D'Anne, who has two boys, and she said it's a Dad thing because her husband did the same thing. I also guess I don't want him to get killed, because this Julian kid is huge, after all. Bully beware!!

Oh, how I hope this situation is QUICKLY worked out! Stay tuned.

Also, just to prove he is still my happy seven-year-old, this is him last night.