Jackinator

No Shadow!

Happy Groundhog Day!  Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow which means an early spring!  Let's hope he knows what he's talking about.  There was a half day of school yesterday (and a house full of kids again for me all afternoon) and no school today due to 'inclement weather.'

Here's the official report:

Phil Says Expect an Early Spring!

Phil's official forecast as read February 2nd, 2011, at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, PA:

Here Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Groundhog Day, February 2, 2011
Punxsutawney Phil was raised from his burrow
By the call of President Bill Deeley.
He greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.

After casting an inquisitive eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,
He proclaimed that the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl!

Back to the business at hand...
He surveyed his surroundings carefully and found that there was no shadow around,
So, an early spring it will be.

4th of July

Strange title for a post in January, you say?  Well, at this rate, that's when the kids will finally get out of school this year.  Yet another day off due to snow yesterday.  But we made good use of the day by attending a town Snow Party - lots of sledding & snow sculpting.  Our local on-line news group, NK Patch, covered the story.  In the first picture of their gallery, you can see Jack & Amanda on the right, walking up the sledding hill.  Jack, hopefully, has gotten his fill of snow & sledding because there will be no more of that after his surgery on February 8th.

Update on Pop-Pop Tony:  the triple bypass surgery was a success!  He is doing well and should be able to come home from the hospital this weekend. 

   

Snow Central

Yet another day off from school due to Snow.  The one good thing about this is that Jack should be pretty sick of snow by the time his surgery date rolls around.  Because after that, no more going out in this weather.  He'll have to be laying low to let his leg heal. 
 
Jack had Isaac over today and spent the afternoon playing outside & mildly torturing Amanda and her 2 friends.  The price for major torture was shoveling the driveway, so that forced them to keep it under control!

P.S.  We'd like to wish Uncle Tommy, our little friend Hal, and cousin Molly, all avid followers of Jackinator, a Happy Birthday!

Pre-Op Post

We met with the orthopedic doctor today about the procedure to remove the plate from Jack's hip.  No unpleasant surprises.  The date is Tuesday, February 8th and the procedure will take about 2 hours.  As long as there are no complications and he's feeling up to it, he can go home that night.  He'll miss school the rest of that week and will be on crutches for a few weeks.  After 2 weeks, we'll have a follow-up appt. to see how his leg is healing.  I'm leaning toward a wheelchair for school since it worked out so well last year.  Then he'd still be able to 'play' at recess.  The doctor is not sure about Jack doing a spring sport BUT he will be able to participate in the 5K training program that I am coordinating for his school!  In fact, the doctor said that was a GREAT spring activity for him.  I am going to train with him but I won't be surprised if I can't keep up with him.  The training program starts the first week of spring and runs (ha ha) twice a week until the Forest Park "Fly Like an Eagle" 5K, which is May 22nd.

And, on another pleasant note, the Snowshoe Snowman that the kids built won a town Blizzard Photo Contest and a $25 gift certificate to a local hardware store! 

sNOw School

Another foot & counting.  Jack was out in the snow for a while today playing 'tackle' football with Dad.  He says running in this much snow is a bit tiring on his leg, but 'not too bad.'  He also helped Amanda & her friend, Madison, make a snowman.  Even the snowmen need snowshoes today!

 
 

Ho Ho Ho and Snow Snow Snow!

Santa arrived and we had a very nice Christmas!  Jack's main gift was a bow & arrow set (archery is very good for Perthes kids; not much strain on the hip.  You need good arm strength which most Perthes kids have because of crutches, wheelchairs & swimming).  His favorite gift, though, seems to be a mug in the shape of a toilet.  I'll have to have a talk with Santa about that one; apparently there's a wayward elf in his midst.  Jack also received video editing software, and a device that lets you create your own music.  I'll be posting the results from 'Jackinator ProductionZ' shortly!

 
   
Snow is in the forecast for today & tonight - we may be getting a foot!  Jack is looking forward to sledding, which he hasn't been able to do much for the past 2 winters, and Amanda is looking forward to testing out her new snow shoes from Santa.  Oh, and here are Osi and Mr. T enjoying their new 'couch':

      

Holiday Tidings

The stockings are stuffed, the kids are wound up and Dad is out shopping; must be Christmas Eve!  Hope everyone has a Happy, Healthy Holiday Season.

  

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!  I am most thankful this year for a healthy family.  Here is a letter that Jack wrote in school:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I am very grateful for what you do for me and these are some reasons why.  I'm thankful that you teach me sports and try to make me the best I can be at them.  Thank you for making me meals and giving me a place to sleep.  Also I'm very thankful that you put up with me when I'm being annoying and stuff like that.  Thank you for all these things.            

Love, Jack

First Snow

Yes, you read that headline right.  Today we had our first official snow, with a 1 hour school delay to go with it.  There's not much snow, but I'm certainly glad not to be contending with crutches or a wheelchair this year. 

Happy Halloween!

Jack had a great Halloween - he was a bloody zombie and was clever to incorporate his limp into his costume!  And boy did that blood look real - it was quite gross to apply.  He made it 3/4 of the way around the neighborhood before he got tired.  He went trick-or-treating with his friends Matthew and Jordan, and Isaac met up with us, too.   Amanda was a crazy ghost and spent a lot of time mapping her route for maximum candy retrieval.  She managed to go through 2 complete neighborhoods and says she thinks she pulled a hamstring.  So, she can run a very hard 2 mile race for the State championship one day (she finished 25th out of 200+ varsity runners from around the state!!) but gets 'injured' the next day while trick-or-treating.  Hmmmm, it seems Halloween candy is dangerous; I may need to confiscate it :)