Please Fasten Your Seatbelts

I had the brilliant idea of getting all of the school physicals, immunizations, and dental checkups appointments done as soon as school was out. So our first full week off of school has been spent running back and forth between 10 appointments. We're all done though and I'm relieved to have one (ten!) less thing to do before the next school year rolls around.

I was a bit nervous about Kristina's appointment. She hasn't had consistent dental care and I figured she would need a little work done. Watching her sitting in the chair, I flashed back to a similar moment two years ago when I accompanied her to a Ukrainian dentist office. I had known her just a week and was trying to understand the unusual connection I felt to her. Two years later, she sputters a mile a minute in English with her thick Russian accent and calls me "mom". Who but God could have orchestrated that? It turns out she had three small cavities and the dentist was able to take care of everything that day. She was a real trooper and the only problem was that she couldn't talk while the dentist had the drill in her mouth. :)

In addition to all the doctor checkups, the boys have all been in basketball camp at my high school this week. Several of my students play on the varsity team and are serving as coaches. They were quick to claim the boys and take care of them when we walked in on Monday. My students always had lots of questions about my kids and family, so it was good for them to finally be able to meet. Most of them were shocked to learn that the collage of photos of kids on my desk were all mine. Usually they'd count them and say, "Five? You've got five kids, Miss L?!" Things are going well and so far, Samuel has been voted MVP and won a shootout challenge. At almost 5'9", the twins are taking advantage of their growth spurt.

So we're off to a running start with all of our "down" time. If the rest of the summer is anything like the first week, we'll be exhausted by August!