Living in Munchkinland

Last week was our last week of school. It was mostly cold and drizzly that week. May is on record for being one of the coldest and wettest in Denver history. Davis's "welcome to high school" party was a big bust as it was freezing cold and wet in the park. And then his career at STEM was over. It was so odd and weird. The timing of the shooting added to the sadness anda unease of the end of the year for the kids and parents. We are all still struggling a bit as a family and as a community. Luckily, the sun came out for Sam's end of year activities. Michael and I attended his Storyline presentation (which functions as the culmination of his year's worth of projects and learning) and were very impressed. The next day was field day and the sun was shining! Davis and I went and hung out in the park with the Anastasis group and it was really fun. The director of the school let Davis participate with the kids and I was so grateful! They had a food truck come and Sam g...

And life goes on. It's not easy. It has been hard and imperfect. But the wheels keep on turning. Michael flew out of town for work, Davis went back to school a tiny bit at a time, Sam got a cold and had to go to the doctor, bills had to get paid, groceries had to be shopped for, yard needed to be worked on. Life. Reintegration for Davis was hard. The first day we went back was intense with lots of crying. Davis was part of the group that was classified "most affected" because a child was shot in his class. They didn't get back into their rooms or even their wing of the building. The teacher was amazing and told the kids that even though two of the kids were absent and one was in the bathroom, that they were a family and they all had grief and everyone was part of this moment. I could tell it made Davis feel included. No kids in that group got their stuff back (laptops phones backpacks) as those room could be off limits for months. Two days last week they went back f...

Last Tuesday there was a school shooting at Davis's school. My school where I taught the last two years. Neither of us was there. Davis had a fever. I had taken him to the doctor the day before and she had said it was up to me if he went back the next day. I told him he had to go back for algebra (his last class of the day) at least since he is struggling in that class. At the last minute, I changed my mind. I let him stay home. Ten minutes after that class started, two of his fellow students started shooting. One of those bullets went through Davis's classroom wall and shot one of his classmates. I don't know how much to write. We are all afraid of the media. I've been journaling. I will come back later and add my journal tucked into posts in the past. maybe. But we are okay. When it happened I heard first from a mom who I know through Sam’s school. The text conversation went like this: Does your son go to Stem on Ridgeline and Plaza? He does. Why? There is a sh...

Despite being incredibly busy with the show, we still managed to do some other things around here during our first few days of May. We had a cold, rainy May Day, but I still folded up some baskets and stuck flowers and candy inside and Michael delivered them 'ding and dash" style to the neighbors anonymously. He had flown home early and I was happy that he could help! Friday of course was the show. Saturday we had really nice weather and I was glad as we had our concrete guy come out with his team and pour us a new sidewalk! It was a really a give a mouse a cookie scenario, as I purchased a "garden in a box" from resource central the other day and then decided I had to dig out some new flower beds. Once Michael and I started designing the new beds, I thought I needed some new sidewalks. Since we were putting in new sidewalks, we had to move the AC unit. Then we decided if we were already digging up the sprinkler system for the new sidewalks, we should get it repai...

This weekend was Sam's school musical. I have been helping direct the show since the beginning of the semester. Sam at first didn't even know if he wanted to be in it. Then he decided he might have a tiny part. Then I convinced him to audition for Skuttle the seagull. He did and was cast and then realized it was a lead! You guys, it is not just motherly pride when I tell you that he did amazing! He killed on his role. He truly blossomed this semester through this role. He gained confidence and swagger and has fallen in love with acting. My heart is full. He was just so good. The show was great too. I didn't know if it was going to be okay until the morning of the show, but it somehow all fell together. The main director, Michelle, is a rock star and totally pulled it together. The art teacher created gorgeous sets and props as well as all the costumes. The whole school worked on some aspect of production. We performed two shows on Friday and one on Saturday. My mom sent ye...