M&S Harris Family: April 2013

I knew it had been a while since I had posted on the blog, but when I checked it tonight, I couldn't believe it had been almost the entire school year! It does feel like time is flying by that quickly! So, rather than get overwhelmed trying to catch up, I'll live by one of my mottos these days, which while not inspiring to many, it's what keeps me going many times -- "something is better than nothing". I use it in my exercise, blog, journal, scrapbook, pretty much all areas of my life...So, here goes:

We are grateful that March is behind us. Never having any surgeries in our family (well, for our kids), to have two just three weeks apart was a little stressful as parents. Zelle was a trooper with her surgery, and now that it's behind us, it seems well worth it. She breathes more easily at night, and just in general. We went on a jog the other day, and she said, "Mom, I can breathe through my nose!" Totally worth it. She woke up from anesthesia better than anyone I've ever heard of. It was as if she'd taken a little nap. She was alert, not nauseous at all, and not sleepy. She had some miserable moments, but mostly we just enjoyed watching good movies, and having our usually very busy child around. It was kind of great.

In fact, Zelle was well enough, that by the second week of spring break, we headed out to Woodside. It was so fun to see Mom, Dad, Clint, Diana and kids, and Sam and Elise. It was wonderful to meet new baby Evelyn. We mostly just enjoyed being together outside. There's something about Woodside that makes me never want to leave the property. I feel like I could just stay in that little oasis forever. It's so peaceful. We read, took golf cart rides, played soccer, went on a walk through the "Hopa" (it will forever be the Hopa now, right?) And lots of wonderful dinners together with time to visit! That was the definite highlight of our March.

We got back into school the next week, and by Thursday, it was time for Susie's eye surgery. Something about messing with the eyes that made me nervous...Anyway, after sending her down the hallway in her little hospital pj's with the doctor, Mark and I waited in the parent waiting room, and then they only let one parent meet her in recovery. I went in and it was hard to see little Suse with a blood-spotted rag over her eyes, and on her pillow. She was pretty tired and out of it. It took us a while before she was alert enough to head home, and then she was in quite a bit of pain that first afternoon home. The second day was better, but still not too fun. We listened to books on tape, and played games where you didn't need to see things. By the end of that day, she was up for watching a movie with sunglasses on (in an already pretty dark room - actually kinda funny). She made rapid progress after that, and I think that surgery has been a succes, too, although we'll know more in a couple of months.

Just five days after surgery, Suse performed a piano piece at Waterford, so that was another big phew! She was a trooper to do that, and we were proud of her. In other news, Zelle and Abby are playing middle school soccer at Waterford. Last week, we watched them play at the same field we used to watch Peel play on just a few years ago when we moved here! Crazy. Speaking of crazy, between everyone, I counted 10 soccer games this past week. They're fun to watch, though. Lu is also practicing every day after school for her school play, "Rip Van Winkle." She likes doing the play, but says her part is cheesy, so she doesn't love her part. So funny. Natalie loves to pretend play, and she and I play a lot of "horses" together. She's always named "Splat" and I'm "Blackie." We have races, etc. Very cute, and very hard to get anything done :). I'm very much trying to enjoy this funny, cute baby (although not a baby at all) even though I don't get much done at all! Soon I will...

We had a great visit with the Kearons these past couple of weeks. Zelle, Abby and I got to go to the Young Women meeting with them, which was great. The talks were fantastic and the spirit in the conference center was almost overwhelming. Truly. We also had a cousin sleepover with the Kearons, Bec's three oldest, and our kids. It was really fun, and great to see them all together - lots of cute friendships. We loved Conference weekend - well, I should say some of us...Goose said at one point, "we already watched this movie," after we'd watched the first session and the second one came on.

Finally, I had a meeting for parents answering questions about high school registration this week! It's been fun to talk to her about the different things she's enjoying and those she hates. She hates French (rough teacher, rough kids in her class), but loved genetics (again mostly teacher based, of course - Mr. Bromley). It's interesting to think how much good teachers make us think we like a certain subject, but a lot of the time, it's just the teacher we like/don't like. Anyway, she's thinking about trying crew in the spring, some computer programming, and photography. It's been fun to explore with her.

We are happy, healthy, and grateful! Lots of love.

Zelle minutes post surgery