I’ve had such a busy month with dentist appointments and activities here and there, and the latter part of February being called to the office for a 5-day training.  I have been exhausted most of the time and just looking at the calendar before I flip it after tomorrow makes me tired again.  

When the kids and I went for our semi-annual dental check-up last month, I found out that I needed a filling on one of my molars and that not only Ryland needed to have an infected tooth pulled out, but Ryan also needed to have his two baby teeth pulled out to give way to his erupting adult tooth.  So appointments for these visits were booked for this month. 

February 7^th.  Ryan had his Winter Concert. The Grade 7 Concert Band played Frere Jacques, Theme from “Symphony No. 1,” Sawmill Creek, and Grandstand March.  That’s him in the middle carrying his trombone after the seventh graders finished their performance. 

 

I couldn’t get a good shot of him while he was playing because he was seated somewhere in the middle of the band.  I’ve always had good shots of Reggie while playing the flute because he was always at the front.  But trombone players are seated in the middle.  Can you see him in this picture?  You get just a glimpse of him behind the two girls.

 

February 9^th.  I took a half day vacation to prepare for Ryland’s 9^th birthday celebration which we had that Saturday.  And if you think it’s not that bad to host a birthday party for 11 nine-year olds, think again.  Just read my experience last year and the year before that.

 

Ryan had also been busy with basketball practice and games.  They had morning practices on three Monday mornings, which started at 7:30 a.m.  Since it was still dark out, I walked with him to school.  I wasn’t comfortable making him walk alone when it was still dark.   

February 14^th.  They had two back-to-back games on Valentine’s day.  They won both games.  Oh, Ryan was so good in those games.  He’s good at defense.  He may be small, but he’s slick at the court.

 

February 15^th.  I attended a townhall meeting at the office where I received my fifth annual Perfect Attendance Award.  Yes, thank you very much.  I now have 4 of these glass plaques sitting on top of my desk.  The first year I received the award, I was given a $50 gift certificate instead.  I also had training at the office that day.  And what was supposed to be a half-day training was extended to five and a half days.  So I had to get up really early during those 6 days that I had to go to the office and you know how much I don’t like that.

So I had to leave the house while the two younger kids were still eating breakfast.  It’s actually quite convenient now because Ryan is already 12 and Ryland, 9.  As long as I leave them a schedule that they could follow, like this one, they’re all right: 

7:30 Eat breakfast

8:00 Punas and dress up

8:30 Leave the house 

When I watched Ryan’s game at 5:00 p.m. on the 15^th, Reggie wasn’t home yet and instead of watching the game, Ryland chose to stay next door at my sister’s place. When we came home, I found this note on the kitchen table: 

Read This: 

Hello! I have rehearsal with the wind ensemble at school at 7:00. 

Ryland is eating dinner at their house, their nai nai (did I spell that right) said it would be alright. 

See you later,  

-          Reggie 

That’s my Reggie.  And it’s actually nanay (mother) and not nai nai. 

February 16^th.  This was the morning when Ryan and Ryland had their teeth pulled out.  I told my supervisor that I was coming in late.  Although their dad drove them, us, to the dentist, I just had to be there for their first tooth extractions. And in the afternoon, I had to hurry home because Reggie had a performance that night at the Optimist International Band Festival at the Winnipeg Convention Centre.  I left the two young ones at home because they weren’t interested in watching Reggie play.  There was a time when I would drag all of them to attend Reggie’s concert, back when they were still younger and I couldn’t leave them home alone by themselves.   

Reggie’s Wind Ensemble Band played Havana by Robinovitch and on their second performance of a piece title Souvenir by Erb, the band players stood up and gathered at the back around the audience and by the wall.  The lights were turned off except for this sort of luminescent lamps that made everything white, like their sheet music, glow in the dark.  Then a CD was played and the band players accompanied it with their instruments and there were visual effects on the front, resembling that of what you would see inside a kaleidoscope.  Then a huge bouncing ball was thrown at the audience and we all passed it around.  It actually hit me twice on the head and the next time it came my way, I had my arms ready to pass it on to the next person.  Neon coloured pingpong balls were thrown next, and the kids who were there tried to grab and collect them from the floor.  I also grabbed a few.  Towards the end of the piece, there were also silly strings and confetti and bubbles.  It was such an exciting experience and they got a great review from the adjudicator.  That’s Reggie standing at the aisle holding his flute before their second performance. 

February 20^th. Ryan had two games, 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.  And I had to attend a meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Reggie’s school regarding their upcoming Jazz Band trip to Brandon.  How could I watch the 6:00 game and also attend the 6:30 meeting?  If I could only be at two places at one time, right?  Well, I did watch the first 20 minutes of Ryan’s game.  Reggie’s school was only ten minutes away from Ryan’s school.  The meeting was only 20 minutes long and I made it back to Ryan’s school just in time to watch him make the final shot for their team that night. They lost that second game, but hey, what’s important to my son is that I saw him make that basket.