It's Spelling Bee Time!

This last week, James participated in his school's spelling bee. Being tested in the classroom, the children were eliminated. The top two spellers in each class went on to the school bee. The top three from each school are going on to the school district's spelling bee.

Our normally outgoing child has a real fear of getting up in front of a group on people. He was pretty concerned about having to get up in front of his whole school at this spelling bee! But he got up the nerve to do it and I was very proud of him....not only because of his ability to spell, but more that he was able to overcome that fear!

He made it through to the third round, spelling "lid", "tickled" and "dillydally" before "designer" got him! Here are some pictures from that day.......

In this picture, James is spelling "dillydally" for Mrs. Fredrick. She is James' teacher in the gift/talented program, and he loves her. She's awesome!!


Spelling and concentrating.....


Waiting for his turn......


All of the participants with their certificates!


Here is James' participation certificate....


As always, I was proud of his accomplishment! The fact that he got up and did what he needed to, was more important to me than his ability to spell well! Both skills will serve him very well throughout his life!!

And on to the "leg" front......I took James to the Dr. on Monday. They re-xrayed the leg and said it was healing nicely. He has been released to go back to P.E. and all "normal" (what does that really mean to a 10 year old?) activity. The only remaining issue is that James is limping badly. When asked about it, he says that his leg doesn't hurt at all and that he's not limping!!!??? We're not sure what that's all about, so he has another appointment in February to be rechecked by the Dr. I think that he's expecting that, within the three weeks, the limp will have disappeared. We'll see....it's coming up on yet another week, and the kiddo is still limping. He seems totally unaware that he's limping! So if that continues, we'll have to get to the bottom of it. Time will tell!

Our Wounded Warrior

It doesn't seem to matter how you try to protect your kids from certain things, they can still happen. On Wednesday afternoon, while innocently playing with Lacey in our yard, James got hurt. Lacey, all excited when she saw the frisbee in James' hand, ran full-force into his leg, knocking him off balance and backward, off his feet. We don't know whether it was the force from when she hit him or when he hit the ground, but James ended up with a broken leg! It never swelled or bruised, but I put ice on it right away and started giving him Advil. Yesterday morning, when he woke up, he was still unable to put any weight on that leg. It was then that I decided to take him to the Dr. and have it all checked out. After visiting our doctor, being sent to the radiology department at our hospital for xrays and then down to the emergency room for "treatment", we finally headed home with a game plan. The orthopedist office was unable to see him until Monday, so the ER set him up in a "knee immobilizer"....a splint that goes from high on his thigh to his ankle, and put him on crutches with instructions not to put any weight on his leg.

On Monday, we'll go and see the ortho Dr., who will decide whether or not to put him in a cast. He broke the fibula, the secondary "support" bone in the lower left leg. It's a hairline fracture, that thankfully doesn't need to be "set", but is very painful none-the-less. Two days later, the pain seems to have subsided (unless it gets bumped or moved suddenly), and the reality of what the next month or so will be like for him. It's so hard for an active 10 year old to sit around, but I guess he'll figure it all out!!

The worst part of the whole thing (in this 10 year old's mind!) was that the day it happened, we had been at WalMart and we had gotten him a new Nerf Dart gun with some of his Christmas money. Now he's benched for awhile. NO running and jumping for several weeks and it's just killing him that he can't go out and play with his new toy!!!

Making the best of things and getting used to the brace on the leg and the crutches...


Trying to figure out how to walk with the crutches and carry his new toy at the same time!! Something tells me that the broken leg isn't going to keep him from having fun!!


Happiest when on the computer, with his toys at hand....

He is so excited, though, that he is now using Skype to visit with his friend, Hugh, who lives in Melbourne, Australia!! Ahhhh, this modern world is such a wonderful place. Skype saved the day today, as Hugh and James kept each other company, getting to know each other better (so much better than old fashioned emails!!) and even "shooting" each other with their Nerf guns! Too funny!! By the end of the evening, I even got used to having that Aussie accent in our living room with us!! It's wonderful to see their friendship grow, and at such a perfect time for James! Hugh seemed happy with it all too, as he is at home enjoying his "summer break" from school!! :)

Here are the boys, enjoying their time on Skype......

Thank you, Hugh......for being the great kid you are and for keeping James company!! He really enjoys hanging out with you!! How we wish we could meet you and your family in person, but this is the next best thing!

I will keep everyone posted on the progress around here, when there's new news to report!!