March in Review

The 'Birthday Month' has passed and it is hard to believe, but we are just 2 weeks away from Easter! Well, hard and not-so-hard to believe. On our end, Craig has something going every night this week, and next week will be the same....it really is a love/hate thing!

Since we haven't been able to keep the blog posted as regularly as we'd like, and we'll be running from now until June, we're going to attempt instead a month in review, and will update the blog with pictures when we've got a spare moment or two (what are those?!?).

Craig & Nia: Well, Craig was a part of the funeral for the FedEx co-pilot from San Antonio who died last week when the plane he was landing was flipped by wind shear in Tokyo. He wasn't just another guy at FedEx, he was also a family member to a choir member we are good friends with at our church, and he left behind a wife with 3 sons aged 12-17. The funeral was awesome (in the awe inspiring way) with a stream of FedEx vehicles leading the funeral procession to the burial ground, and Craig had to help with the handling of the casket. Funerals are always hard, but it is even more difficult when the death is so public and violent, and the deceased is your age! All accounts are that the line between the precision of our military (he was a combat pilot before working for FedEx and was buried with full military honors) and the precision of FedEx was very hard to decipher. The president of the company was there, along with all the higher-ups, and the company offered around the clock security to the family, to shield them from the media. Wow.

I finally healed from my foot injury (the boards fell on the nerve center on the top of the foot) only to have a severe breast infection follow, leading to the nursing (again) of Claire, who had partially weaned. Finally, after a round of antibiotics I healed enough to wean cold-turkey! After that, I had to have another tooth the Sheboygan dentist treated extracted, as another segment of an instrument was left in the root of the tooth. The healing of the extraction site was slow going as it abscessed and so 3 weeks later, I was finally able to eat semi-solid food again. Gross, I know, but it happened. When I looked into finding out what my legal options were, I found out the bad dentist is deceased, so I guess that book is closed. I have one last injury to report, and that is having dropped a heavy chair on the top segment of my upper right foot, I now have swelling and discomfort (again). I've GOT to start wearing shoes!

Somewhere in between there, Craig lead the choir in the singing of the National Anthem at Spurs and Rampage games (basketball & hockey). I was able to sing at the Spurs, and Ella attended the hockey game on a special date with dad.

Ella won a Rampage shirt (yea!) and included it in her hi-light list for the month. She was also thrilled with finishing her English curriculum early, and becoming an official 'tween' on the 24th. She is also proud to announce that she earned her Junior Aide Award from Girl Scouts, and she hopes to have the Bronze Award earned by the end of the upcoming session.

Natalie is becoming a pro at removing her teeth, and is now missing both front teeth! She is most excited at the prospect of losing the teeth that were next to those, as they are both very wiggly right now! Her other hi-light was beginning to learn 'Fur Elise' on the piano, and sounding out the theme song to Star Wars on her violin.

Grace loved turning 6 on the 27th, especially the transition from little kid to big kid, as she is now included in the weekly violin and piano lesson schedule. She is beginning to read the BOB books, and though she still has moments when she isn't quite sure of what she is sounding out, she is well on her way to reading. Her hi-light of hi-lights was finding a zebra print cowgirl hat at a garage sale, which she makes a point to wear daily!

David is showing an interest in the phonics aspect of letters, and is eager to try to ride a 'real' bike, now that he has mastered pedalling on his big wheel tricycle bike. He is often found playing cars or being Mr. Incredible (mom's favorite is when he eats cake, he always says he is 'just having a little workout, to stay loose!' ), and he is by far Shiner's favorite child, and the two are often found playing together.

Claire continues to be the child we learn even more from...she has to buck the trend to be memorable, right? She took so long to wean, in part, due to a now diagnosed allergy to lactose. Not just intolerance, but out-in-out allergy. This really helps to explain why she would get hives from 'odd' foods (like ranch dressing). Because of this allergy, her potty training never made it past day 1... Intestinal distress does not an easy day of training make! Mom's hope for her is to try again next month...in the meantime, we are weathering the trials of her hourly tantrum drama, and love, love, love when they pass and our sweet, singing, laughing gas baby returns to speak of duckies and give spontaneous hugs and kisses!

The shared hi-light of all the kiddos was getting to see Monsters vs. Aliens with dad on opening day. This was the 'big' gift for the year, instead of a group party, and all agreed they can't wait until it comes out on DVD. We get to hear of various amusing scenes from each of them at least once a day....

The girls each earned another armful of badges in scouts this past quarter, and they will be working feverishly the next couple of months to get the awards they most desire. We will have the summer off to decide who wants to continue on next year, and who would rather try another activity. In the meantime, we are attempting to get their Science Fair projects underway, and anticipate the busyness of completing curriculum, recitals and practicing for Auntie Ivy's wedding!

So there's the month...looking forward to April...hope all is well with you and yours!

Love Much,

The Meissler 7