I am still a bit traumatized from the events of yesterday.
Niall got his palate expander and braces installed yesterday before school. It was a bit much for a little guy to deal with. He felt OK to go to school afterward, but only lasted about 20 minutes. He called me to say he was feeling weird and tired. He seemed to feel a bit better as he slowly practiced eating and swallowing on a maple bar donut. But, he is still in quite a bit of pain when the ibuprofen wears off.
Later in the day, I picked Coral up from school and took her to an eye appointment in the Pediatric Opthamology Clinic at Primary Children's Medical Center. She has been having real trouble with her eyes and I decided that the only doctors likely to be able help us would be the ones who work with these problems in infants and small children. The eye doctors we have seen lately for glasses and contacts for her do not seem to really grasp the problems she has.
Coral was seen in this same clinic when she was 9 months old for the initial diagnosis of her problem. It was a bit emotional to return after 17 years with similar feelings of worry and hope for answers.
Our appointment lasted 3 hours. Coral's eyes have changed in some, as yet unexplained, ways. She needs to see an even more specialized diagnostician and needs to consider the possibility of eye muscle surgery.
It will take months to sort through all this, but if anyone can improve Coral's vision, I feel certain these are the doctors to do it. I am sad that she has to deal with this. I am concerned that her poor vision has contributed to other challenges she has faced and continues to face at school, etc. Mostly, I am grateful that she was born in a time and place where she has had access to help and that she has been able to live a relatively normal life in spite of these serious problems.
Kevin is mostly concerned that she drives-now that we know she does not have anywhere near normal depth perception! Actually, he has been looking for an excuse for all his feelings of parental horror at having a teen driver in the house, and this is the first real reason we have had to worry:)
I spent the night having worried dreams and woke exhausted to Niall still in too much pain to go to school. To add to my stress, someone stole one of my lovely pumpkins from the porch. They must have been very motivated, as it weighed over 30 lbs. Aargh!

Pre Halloween Fun

Caitlyn and India dress up for the Regional Stake dance. Leith's 'Phantom of the Opera' costume is on the stair rail behind India. I could never quite catch him for a photo at the Ward party. He had a rose tucked into his belt, but gave it to a little girl early in the evening-suave. I will have to replace it so his costume will be complete on Halloween.

Coral was cramming for the ACT and didn't get in on the pre-Halloween fun. She did pretty well the first time, but wants to raise her math score.

India wore this dead bride get-up to the Ward party and won best costume for the youth category.

Niall as a Special Ops soldier. Thanks, Dad, for the uniform.

Me as Dolores Umbridge with my young friend Sarah, aka Professor Trelawney-Divination teacher. We were totally robbed in the competition. Apparently the judges were not Harry Potter fans.

My costume is coming right along. I need to fashion a hat to go with it. Those party-goers familiar with Harry Potter loved it. The cat brooch was the perfect touch- Thanks, Mom.

In a bizarre twist, several of the older ladies in the Ward did not understand that I was in costume. They asked me where I got the beautiful suit(JCPenny & an upholstery shop) and wondered why I don't wear anything like this to church. I didn't know quite how to explain.

Even though Kevin is no longer working in Provo, the boys look for opportunities to get down there to the BYU Creamery!

Here is Coral playing the clarinet at the Alta HS football game. She plays the bass clarinet in concerts, but not here.

Kevin and the boys watched the game sitting near the band. Kevin says that there is a reason the term 'band geeks' was coined-Coral being the exception, of course!

Niall is hoping that John McCain will add orthodontics to his anti-torture legislation efforts.

He is in a 'world of pain.'

India performed in the Draper Arts Council Youth Review over the weekend.

She had a waltz solo- or duet- which looked wonderful- too bad the guy wasn't a little taller!
She looked great on stage, but sadly she was actually really sick with the croup virus and couldn't sing her solos because her vocal cords were so inflamed. She couldn't even talk, really. It was disappointing, but overall the whole experience was good- fun & friends!

I am pretty much over this election at this point. After watching the debate last night, I feel that we are not breaking new ground here and will not in the next few weeks. Let's just vote tomorrow and move on! There also ceases to be any more entertainment value in any of it. During the first debate, Coral and I kept a list of humorous/obnoxious metaphors, cliches, word choices, etc. My personal favorite was when McCain used the word 'festooned'. Yesterday's debate offered very little verbal interest. The VP Candidates were excruciating to watch in their own way. And, let me just say that it is time for the Palins to hire a nanny and get that baby-and their younger daughter- put to bed on time. I am frankly annoyed that they seem to be using the children as a prop. I think the Republican party is using Sarah Palin as a prop, too, but she is a smart adult and has made an informed choice to play the game. Perhaps, however, future campaigns ought to include a review of present and past cast members of Saturday Night Live in their vetting process. Lastly, here is a list of words and phrases that should be removed from American English after this election, if not sooner: Maverick, Without Preconditions, Keep Americans in their Homes, Wall Street Corruption, Attack Pakistan, $5000 Tax Credit, the Last Eight Years, and Warren Buffett. Perhaps I have omitted your favorite- feel free to add to the list!

One of my favorite sayings is:
The world would be a perfect place if we could all parent each other's children.
(I'm really hoping I got that apostrophe in the right place, as I don't have time to think hard about it!)
I think about this saying when I feel that someone is criticising my children or my parenting or when I am tempted to do the same to someone else or their children.
And yet, sometimes, especially with teens and their friends, I am aware of situations in which I feel drawn to involve myself. Sometimes I think hard and refrain. Right now, I am aware of one situation that I may have to jump into. Even though I know there is risk to my child's friendship, I think the risk to the spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being of her friend is dire-I am not sure how to proceed...

Niall got unpleasant news today: he will begin a first phase of orthodontic treatment next week. He is really nervous about pain and does not have the appearance driven motivation to 'suck it up', so to speak, that the girls had-he is a lot younger than they were, too. It is a hard sell for him. He likes his current tooth configuration because he can make a convincing 'bunny' face. We will have to think of some good bribes....

While India and I were trying to allay Niall's fears, Leith informed us that when he gets braces, he will not care if it hurts because he will act like a real man. Nice.

(Coral snuggles with a 'bronze' William Shakespeare)

Last week I attended the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City with Coral and the other Advanced Theater students from Alta HS. What a nice group of youth! Coral chose not to compete this year, and so she and I saw all the festival plays- Gaslight(AMAZING), Julius Caesar(very satisfying), and Moonlight and Magnolias(extremely off color)-as well as having nice lunches and watching different rounds of the High School competitions. Coral's friend Elowyn placed in the Monologue category- Congrats!!!!
The new drama teacher this year is really good. After going from a weak program two years ago to total chaos last year, I am happy to see such a turn around. I feel really sad, however, that, as Coral is a Senior, she will not really benefit. She is very talented and has not had good opportunities to excel. In spite of feeling it has been a loss to her, I also feel that maybe for some reason, things are as they should be and that perhaps this is not a path she should plan to pursue after HS.