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The Balancing Act
We started this week with our fingers crossed that the stupid dishwasher part would arrive in time for the repair appointment. We were all getting fed up with the paper plates and ability to do only half a load of dishes each time. Luckily, the part came Monday afternoon so that we were all set. It’s so nice to have it back up and running!
I got the cabinet put back together, and even added a shelf while I was at it so that we could organize it better.
My mother and I have been talking about ways to encourage the kids to want to learn to ride their bikes. I bought them all bikes just before we moved a year ago, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that they shoot me down every time I offer to help them learn. Avey got excited about it a couple of years back, but after one fall she swore off of doing it anymore. When she said she’d like the bike I bought last year, I thought she’d come around, but apparently she still wasn’t able to get past that one fall (where she wasn’t even injured). Anyway, my mother sent an official challenge for them on Monday to see whether they could all learn to ride their bikes this summer, making an additional challenge to see if they could do it before Kira gets home from Hawaii in early July.
At first, they were a little indifferent about it. Avey seemed most excited at the prospect, but all were still a little hesitant. In any case, Avey and Hakan both agreed to give it an official go just a few days ago. Hakan has made some good strides in balancing, and Avey pretty much nailed the entire process somewhere between last night and this afternoon:
It’s so awesome to see her accomplish something that seemed so out of reach to her for so long!
Carver has been a total humbug about the whole ordeal, until today. He wanted nothing to do with it from the moment we read the challenge, but after he vicariously experienced Avey’s success, he flip-flopped and said he’d try it out. He had some good success, and seems much more amenable to it now. I assured him that his first day went about as well as Avey’s, so that he can keep the goal in sight. He’s now working on giving his bike a great name so that he can keep up with Avey, who named hers “Storm Rider.”
I also spent the first half of the week limping around on my aching knee. It was getting only slightly better each day, but was noticeably swollen when compared to the other one. On Wednesday, I had an appointment with a joint specialist to consult about the numbness in my arm, so I’d hoped to also ask about the knee. I was quite frustrated at the appointment, however, when without anyone so much as asking why I was there, they wanted to take x-rays. I had already had x-rays taken in April and they were clean, so I thought it was pointless to do more. I finally convinced them to just use the old x-rays because nothing had really changed in my symptoms, and they did, but it was all a bit uncomfortable. The doctor then barely looked at my x-rays, met with me for 5 minutes, and recommended an MRI. Because of everything, I just didn’t even bring up the knee, but the good thing is that the doctor put in a prescription for inflammation to see if that did anything for the shoulder and forearm. I’m not sure it’s done anything for my arm or shoulder, but it seems to have really helped out with my knee, which is almost back to 100%.
Hannah took off on Friday morning for an early visit to the LDS temple in Chicago, which will be closed for renovations for several weeks soon. After horrific Chicago traffic on her way home, she found that her rear tire was flat. I helped her change it out and get her spare on there, and she was glad that the tire place was able to patch it for her for free.
Kira has been hard at work trying to get ready for her trip tomorrow. She seems excited for the adventure, but a little hesitant because this will be the longest that she’s ever been away from any of the kids. We’re not sure what all we are going to do while she’s gone, but we’ll manage.