Another Cross Country Update

I took Jenna back to the doctor yesterday and he is very pleased with the progress for her knee. He said the inflammation is down so she no longer has to ice it. He took away one home exercise and added another one. She doesn't have to go back to see him again this week, so we'll go back again next Tuesday, September 14th. He may release her to run next week which was music to her ears. Please pray that one more week is all she needs to rehab the knee and she can run in the last two meets of the season.

Cross Country Update

After finishing in the top five for her school at the first two meets, Jenna now has to stop running for two weeks. She's devastated. Her right knee has been bothering her since almost the start of cross country. On Monday of this week I took her to an orthopedic doctor. He took x-rays of the knee, said he didn't see anything wrong, she could continue to run to tolerance and sent us for an MRI. Before we had the MRI the lady at registration told us that our out-of-pocket expense would be $1900. I about fell off my chair! Thankfully she told me that BEFORE the MRI was done. I told her thanks, but no thanks. We then came home and I called a place called In Motion here in Spring Hill that several people from our church go to. They specialize in chiropractic and deep tissue massage for sports injuries. We went there Wednesday morning and the doctor said Jenna has patellofemoral pain syndrome. This is where the knee cap has shifted and is grinding against the femur. Also, her right hip is too loose and her quad is too tight. He told Jenna not to run for two weeks which is hard for her - especially with cross country being a short season. The doctor gave us home exercises to do as well as ice the knee twice a day. She also has to go for therapy three times a week. So pray for Jenna - she's not one to sit still. The doctor did say she can bike and swim so that's some good news. We're trying to help Jenna see the big picture and help her understand that by getting this taken care of now, she'll feel better in the future and will be ready for spring track.

Marching Band

This year for marching band Seth switched from trumpet to contra (marching tuba). Here are some pics from practice last night. I'll get better pics later in the season when he's in uniform, but this gives you an idea of the instrument he's playing.

Cross Country

Jenna is running cross country for her middle school, Spring Station Middle School. They had their first meet yesterday and she did great - placing 27th (not sure out of how many) with a time of 14.06 for 1-1/2 miles. This was her first experience ever running an event like this in 90° weather with about 90% humidity at 4:00 in the afternoon. She was the first sixth grader from her school to finish. (Sixth, seventh and eighth grade girls all run at the same time.)

First day of school 2010

Seth's first day of his sophomore year at Independence High School (8-12-10).

Jenna's first day of sxith grade at the brand new Spring Station Middle School. (8-12-10)

Jenna's Bedroom Makeover

For her birthday this year, Jenna wanted to re-do her room. With the help of a friend from church, her room was transformed from a pink little girl room to a sophisticated pre-teen room. Jenna chose a pretty combination of green, blue and chocolate brown. The painting was done last week and we spent this week looking for bedding and accessories. I forgot to take a picture of the wall with the window. Jenna chose plain green curtains for the window.

Jenna's Birthday

Jenna stretched her 11th birthday out into a weekend-long celebration. On Saturday night we went to Otters for dinner followed by dessert at Cold Stone Creamery. On Sunday, Uncle Brad and Aunt Sharon came down and went to church with us and then we went to Olive Garden for lunch. (Aunt Sharon has a birthday one week before Jenna, so Jenna likes to celebrate with her.) After lunch, Sharon and Brad came to our house where we had a chocolate chip cookie/Cool Whip dessert that Jenna requested. I also made cupcakes for our small group that night for Jenna's birthday. Jenna wanted peanutbutter pie for her "actual" birthday. We had that Monday night after she opened her gifts. Tuesday was her actual birthday. I took her out for breakfast to the Donut Palace and she chose meal in foil for her birthday dinner.