Last day, wheels, 2 a day and a few stitches

Thursday was the last day of school.  It was the last work day for our team - Mary, Katie and I.
:-(  It was bittersweet.  I will miss Mary but am super excited to be a part of Katie's team her first year of teaching.  Both ladies have helped me grow as a para and a person and taught me so much.

Jake was finally done with finals and came away from his freshman year with a 3.3 GPA.  :-)  Yeah Jake!  Yeah, he finally got his wheels back - skateboard that is.  Several months ago Jake went to a friends house with skateboard and helmet in hand.  The plan was for them to hang out.  Jack happened to pass the boys, several hours later, going down the street and Jake was not wearing his helmet.  Without making a scene, Jack pulled over and and asked Jake for his skateboard.  Our expectation of safety is very clear.  He was grounded from his wheels for 4 months.  Finally, some freedom!  

He didn't just lose one skateboard...

he lost ALL his wheels.

Annie had her last day of middle school.  It was bittersweet since 2 good friends and several other acquaintances will be moving away (far away - Maryland, North Carolina, California, South Africa)  The morning was filled with Yearbook signing.  Her group had decided they were going out to lunch.  The original plan was to walk to an area restaurant but it was pouring down rain. I raced to the school, hoping to get there before Annie and her Yearbook were soaked.  Thankfully I made it in time and took a car full of kids.  :-)
   
My folks were with us the last two nights.  It was so nice having them here.  They attended the last gathering of the Kansas East Conference of the United Methodist Church.  Starting in August the two Kansas conferences will merge with the Nebraska conference and form the Great Plains Conference.  In the beginning Kansas and Nebraska were lumped together.  It's interesting how they will be again soon.

A friend made a goal for the month of June and I have accepted the challenge.  Goal for the month of June:  2 boxes a day.  That's the challenge.  2 boxes.  Donate, sell, organize, trash, recycle, whatever.  2 boxes.  We are accountability partners.  We are off to a great start.  Some how we collect boxes in our garage.  Lots of boxes.  We took a truck load of broken down cardboard boxes to the recycling center today - along with a bag of glass, some plastic, and papers.  We also took a large bag of plastic bags to the recycling box at Walmart.

On our way home from the Recycling Center we got a frantic call from Jake.  He was screaming and I couldn't understand a word he was saying.  I asked him to calm down.  More screaming.  I screamed for him to calm down.  I told him we would get home as quickly as we could.  He was able to tell me he was riding his skateboard to his friend Hunter's house and was a block away.  His skateboard wheel got stuck in a crack in the sidewalk and he landed in the street.  Thankfully he was wearing a helmet.  He got road rash on his arm and knee.  And cut his eye just under his eyebrow, on his sunglasses of all things!  We got home and I took a quick glance at his injuries.  I'm so not good with blood.  I went to the sink and got several paper towels wet with cold water and took them to Jack.  He assessed the situation and decided it would be best to take Jake to Urgent Care.  I wanted to go but was still feeling a little queasy.  They got right in and Jake received 3 stitches and a lecture about helmet safety.  Yes, he was wearing his helmet and we think this situation humbled him.  The doctor also cleaned up his wounds and bandaged him up.  I hope his helmet doesn't cause an argument in the future, like it did yesterday.  And it might sound silly but even wearing shoes while skateboarding was an issue yesterday.  I pray this unfortunately situation won't be soon forgotten.

All bandaged up.

And making plans to meet up with friends.

Three stitches.

Annie had slept the night with friends and had just fallen to sleep when "he came running in, screaming like a Banchee.  Ugh!"  She tried to help but was half asleep.  She was calm when we came home.  She was a great assistant to Jack.  I didn't realize it but she cleaned up a lot of blood.  (Oh, that was hard to type...)    

They weren't home 10 minutes and Jake was on the phone with Hunter.  "Can I go over?"  He wasn't in any pain and really wanted to go.  What's a mom to do... "Sure."  :-)

Jack told me after the fact that earlier today Jake was bragging that "I never fall forward!" and he's told me "I know how to fall, Mom!"  (Deep breath)  I am so thankful he's ok!

Jack decided today was the day to trim the trees in the backyard.  I helped him cut the limbs into smaller pieces and bundle them up.  8 bundles from 1 tree.  It looks great back there!  I will take a picture in the morning.  We work until dark.  I'm hoping I didn't get eaten up too badly by mosquitoes.

Annie went to the pool with friends but it was too cold.  They went for a walk and ended up at Target and Petland and who knows where else.  Probably Sonic.  She just got home a little bit ago.

Jake was out until 10:00 p.m.  Actually, he had asked if he could spend the night but we decided another night would be better.

It was a long day.
 
xo