Jadon - Sixth Grade

Jadon had a super sixth grade year at Woodmoor.  His homeroom and language arts teacher was Mrs. Duncan-Sembroski.  His math teacher was Mr. Vander Hijde.  He had Mrs. Peterson for health, science and social studies.  Masumi was his nurse, and so much more, again.  This team of teachers was phenomenal.  We can’t say enough good things about them individually or collectively. 

Some of Jadon’s favorite things in each class were:

Language Art

Reader’s Theater - skits and plays
Writing about Camp Korey – His teacher had to ask him to stop writing about Camp Korey.

Math

Super Bowl Project - planning a trip to the Super Bowl
Dream Bedroom Project - designing a dream bedroom
Both these projects had a budget and require fairly extensive research.  He also had to make presentations for each.  He enjoyed getting into the details of things.

Science

Robots- teams had to construct and program a LEGO robot
Balloon Launch - teams of students constructed balloons and launched them
Museum of Flight Mission to Mars Field Trip – Each student had an assigned task as they went on their Mars Mission.  The class had to learn to work together to have a successful mission.

Social Studies

Mapping project that involved creating an island and naming all the landmarks and features – Jadon’s island and features all had names having to do with skeletal dysplasia.  He was very creative. 

In general, Jadon enjoyed being on the decorating committee, which included decorating other student’s desks for his or her birthday.  He continued to like music and PE.  He liked making new friends.  He liked participating in the Dolphin Dash, a PTSA fundraiser, with his grade and with Kalina.  He liked the sixth grade class parties.

Band was, of course, another favorite.  Jadon got to play a variety of instruments this year and he loved that!  Timpani are his favorite (they are bigger than him). 

There were also a fair share of life lessons learned.  He learned about working in groups.  He discovered what he liked about that and what he did not like so much.  He learned that his friends are now big enough to help him get up if he falls.  He learned a little about what it is like to live in Uganda through the Sister Schools program and was eager to contribute to that.  He learned what it means to have a growth mind set and how to better have one. 

I won’t go into details, but Jadon transitioned from having an IEP to having a 504 plan.  Kind of a big deal. 

I was not present in the sixth grade classrooms helping this year but I still found ways to get involved.  I helped with the sixth grade book sale and some other fundraisers.  I was also able to help with planning the sixth grade party and creating the sixth grade legacy gift.  

Jadon is excited about the transition to junior high.  We are again blessed in that Masumi will be going to school with him again next year.  This will make their ninth year together.  They make quite a team!

 

 

Welcome back night.

 

First day of sixth grade.

First bus ride of the year.

Ugly Christmas shirt day (we could not find a sweater).

 

March band concert.

 

Mission to Mars at The Museum of Flight.

 

Ready for the Dolphin Dash.

Jadon walked a lap before driving his scooter.

Dolphin Dash with Kalina.

June band concert.

Balloon launch.

 

What a team!

 

 

Bend - August 2014

Sometimes it seems like the only traveling we do is LPA related!

In late August we went to Bend, Oregon for the LPA District 11 fall regional.   The drive to Bend took about 7 hours.  The ride was beautiful and we were all looking forward to going to a new destination. 
 

We met some LPA friends that live in Bend for dinner that night.   We always enjoy seeing the Varcoe family.  We also met a new LPA family at dinner, the Charons.  All the kids seemed to have a good time while the adults chatted.  It is always fun to reconnect with families we have known for several years and meet new families.    

The regional was small, only about 50 attendees.  We have learned to enjoy both the small and large regionals.  The large ones give us the opportunity to see more people but the small ones give us the opportunity to spend more quality time with the people that are there. 

Jadon and Kalina enjoyed the kids’ room on Saturday.   There were lots of cool arts and crafts, perfect for Kalina.  There was also a special visitor – a great horned owl.  The kids loved seeing it and learning about it.  Becky Curran, an LPA motivational speaker, was the guest speaker in the afternoon.  Here talk offered a little something for everyone in the audience to take away.   We had a nice banquet and fun dance (more on that later). 

Jadon was probably the most excited about this event.  Two of his good LPA friends were at the regional and they were the only ones in attendance around their age.  That meant the three amigos had lots of quality time to spend with each other.   When they were all present, they were pretty much inseparable and crazy!  It was great seeing the three of them - Jadon, Matthew and Tanner, having so much fun.  It reminded us of why we go to LPA events. 

Kalina liked spending time with Emerson and Jayden.  Such sweet girls!   

We also met another LPA family.  Their little guy also has a trach.  He and Kalina made quite the pair on the dance floor!

We left Sunday and enjoyed a different and equally beautiful ride home.  We really do live in a beautiful part of the country and our road trips give us a chance to see some of this beauty.    

 

 

 

We made it!

 

Yummy dinner location.

 

Beautiful view!

 

Ready to start the day.

  

Great Horned Owl.

 

Fun learning about owls.

 

Spin art time!

 

Crown...

 

Mask...

 

Finished!

 

Face (arm) painting.

 

Kalina's new fried Jayden.

 

Jadon, Tanner and Matthew.

 

Kalina on the dance floor.

 

Someone was happy we were home.

 

Jadon also wrote about this event at school.  Here is what he had to say.

 

August 2014 - The Battle and Dance of Bend, OR.

By Jadon Fry

Homeroom: F-7  Mrs. Duncan-Sembroski

            "Hey Jadon!" Andy, the president of my Little People chapter called.

            "Yeah?" I called, driving towards her.

            "These rockets are extra. Do you want them?" she asked. I looked. She was holding four foam rockets. The tips reminded me of really hard footballs, and there was a foam tube attached to the ends of them.

            "Sure! Thanks." I said as two rockets were handed to me. "I hope Mom and Dad let me keep these." I thought to myself. I watched Andy give the other two rockets to two of my friends. They looked at me, then looked at each other, nodded, and ran over.

            "Jadon, can we please have your rockets?" they asked. I hesitated, knowing that I might not have the rockets again. "Mom and Dad probably won't let me keep these, anyway."

            "Fine, but I want them back." I told them.

            "OK!" they cried.

            That was a BIG mistake on my part.

            I watched as they ran around to get more people, Then, they met in the center of the big dance floor and sent three Little People to each side. So, there are the six Little People with four rockets. My friends, Matthew and Tanner, were talking together. They started talking about rules for something. I drove away on my scooter. I headed into the hallway for some quiet. Being around a hundred little people for two or three hours was a little tiring after a little while.

            After five minutes, my dad came out.

            "Jadon, you should go inside. Something happened that I think you might want to see."

            "What?" I asked, puzzled.

            "You'll see." Dad said. He headed inside. I decided to follow him.

            Little did I know that the word "quiet" was not going to be experienced for another hour and a half.

            While I had rested, a rocket battle has started. Little People were firing rockets everywhere. After five minutes, however, it was just my two best friends, Matthew and Tanner.

            Matthew and Tanner are also really aggressive, but in a nice way. Earlier that day, Matthew, Tanner and I were in the lobby of the hotel we were staying at. I forget how it happened, but we had a cushion/shoe-stealing battle. Matthew would run up to Tanner while he was sitting, grab his shoe off his foot, and run away. Tanner would then tackle Matthew in an attempt to get his shoe. Both lost many shoes, both got them back again, and both got tackled a lot.

I ran around with a pillow bigger than my head and started whacking the two and defending myself. It was really hard for Tanner (and Matthew) to leave because Tanner said, “OK Mom, one second.” Then, he walked over to Matthew to shake hands, then turned to leave, spun around, and whipped one of Matthew’s shoes in the air. Then, as he left, there was a Thunk. The shoe hit him in the head. He wobbled and fell, while the whole lobby laughed.

            In the midst of the chaos of throwing, ducking and dodging, Matthew saw me, picked up three rockets, stuck one in him armpit and one between his feet, then using his free hand and rocket, fired it at Tanner's knee, got the stored rockets, and ran over.

            "Jadon, can I get a ride?" he asked. I knew that his leg was sore. I didn't know why, but it had been the entire weekend. He also knew that I only give Little People rides.

            "Sure. Hop on." I said.

            Matthew's rocket had hit its target. Tanner's knee buckled, and he fell. While he was down and I was talking to Matthew, he looked up, grabbed a rocket, and fired a really poor shot at Matthew's head. It missed, and Matthew was able to get on.

            After he was on, I became a battle cart. Matthew is only one year older then I am, but can catch well. First, he decided to get rid of the rockets that he had gotten. He told me his plan. I got ready. Matthew stuck one behind his back but in arm's reach, then he did his plan.

            Matthew threw one rocket so fast, if it hit, I'll bet it would've put someone in the hospital. Unfortunately, he missed. The rocket flew over Tanner's right shoulder and fell. Tanner looked behind him at the rocket, then back at us.

            "HA-HA-HAAAA!" He screamed because Matthew had just fired a rocket at his chest. And he hit. Tanner froze, groaned, then, as if in slow motion, fell on his face. I laughed. Matthew (who's really good at getting on/off my scooter while moving), leapt off, and ran to tackle Tanner, who was on his feet. As Matthew charged Tanner like an angry bull, Tanner looked at me with pleading eyes. Matthew was almost on Tanner when Tanner rolled/skid on the floor. Matthew sooo overshot Tanner, (still looking like a bull) and Tanner ran over to me.

            "Jadon, how come I don't get a ride? I'm your friend, too."

            "Because Matthew asked first."

            "Oh. Jadon, can I PLEASE get a ride, now that I got Matthew off???" Tanner asked.

            "For a little while."

            Tanner grabbed two rockets, gave them to me, and clambered on the back of my scooter. I gave him back the rockets and drove towards poor Matthew, who had hit the wall, while looking shocked, confused, and hilarious as Tanner threw a rocket at his leg.

            "Ohhh!" Matthew groaned as he wobbled for what seemed like an hour before falling back. When he got up, he threw a rocket at my leg.

            "Ahh! Tanner, can I have a rocket?" I groaned. There was no reply, just a blue cylinder coming from behind. I snatched it, and charged Matthew. He was ready, however, and threw a rocket at Tanner.

            "HA-HA-WHAT-THE-HECK!" Matthew yelped. Thud. Tanner leapt off my scooter, and Matthew's rocket missed him by a foot. Tanner, laughing, threw a rocket at Matthew's stomach. Matthew hit the ground, but the rocket missed. Matthew had rolled to the side and was running towards me. I realized Matthew was trying to get on.

            "NOO!" Tanner boomed, throwing his rocket at Matthew's feet. They missed, and Matthew clambered on. Tanner looked furious, and looked for a rocket. There weren't any close. He tried to run for one, but was stopped by my rocket, tripping him. Tanner looked up, grabbed the rocket I had just used to trip him, and prepared to throw, his eyes full of anger. I saw him get ready.

            "DUCK!" I yelled. Matthew didn't need the warning repeated. The rocket shot towards Matthew, and I heard a big Thunk. I glanced behind me. The rocket had just missed Matthew's head and had crashed into the wall.

            "Hey, Matthew. Think you can duck defend me a little as well??" I called back, as yet another rocket was launched and missed me by three inches.

            "I would, but I'm too busy a little too busy defending my-OUCH! TANNER!! THAT WAS A DIRECT HIT IN MY BELLY BUTTON!!" Matthew roared. Tanner looked all innocent but was trying super hard not to laugh, then turned, fled, and cracked up. Matthew leapt off, grabbed another rocket, jumped back on, and fired one single, excellent shot at Tanner's bum. It hit, and Matthew and I cracked up as Tanner did an awesome facedive.

            "Thanks Matthew. That was a good shot." I said.

            "Yeah, it was. Do you need have any rockets you need me to throw for you, or do you want-Duck." Whoosh. "Thanks, Matthew."

            "Here's a rocket. You might need it." Matthew said as a rocket slowly came towards the side of my head. I grabbed it. "HA-HAAA! YOU MISSED!" Matthew yelled at poor Tanner, looking upset and very sad.

            I saw Tanner pull back his hand to throw a rocket at Matthew's chest. I thought up a plan super quick.

            "Matthew, hold on tight when I tell you." I whispered, not waiting for an answer because Tanner was ready. Tanner threw the rocket. "Now."

             I did a quick 360, then, while Tanner stood there, shocked he had just missed, I fired my one shot at him. It hit Tanner in the chest. He pretended he was killed, wobbling around, then fell on his bum, then his back. He groaned and got to his feet. That he turned to find his parents, which was why he didn’t see Matthew fire another rocket, which made Tanner do another epic facedive.

            After Tanner got up and looked like he wanted to seriously kill Matthew, the DJ running the dance we took over and then turned into a battlefield said that the next song would be a "partner dance."

            "Jadon, I'll be right back. Stay in running distance." Matthew said. "Why?" I asked. I got my response a second later, when Matthew leapt off my scooter, walked over to Tanner and began to dance with him. I cracked up laughing. Seeing these two boys, my really good friends who shot rockets aimed to kill one second ago, now dancing, was just too funny!

            Of course, that lasted for 15 seconds. Then, Matthew gives Tanner his best innocent smile. I knew him well enough to know he was going to do a really funny prank, and Tanner was going to fall right into the trap.

            "Oh, Tanner?" Matthew asked in his high, innocent voice.

            "Yes, Matthew?" Tanner responds.

            "LOOK-IT'S-YOUR-MAMMA!" Matthew yelled and pointed. As Tanner spun to look for his mamma, Matthew grabbed a nearby rocket, and hit Tanner in the stomach. Then, I watched Matthew use the same rocket and smack Tanner in the head not hard, but with enough force to knock Tanner down on his bum. While Tanner was yelling in pain and his wanting for revenge, while holding his stomach and his head in pain, and Matthew and I are cracking up, Matthew runs over and hops back on. That meant I became a battle cart again.

            "Wow Matthew! I didn't know you could dance soooooo well!" I teased him as he got settled and armed. 

            "Jadon, do me a big favor. Shut up, drive, and WATCH OUT FOR THAT ROCKET!!!!" Thump. "OUCH!!”

            "Hmm. Tanner must be up, and he must be mad."

            "Jadon, are you SURE this is the FASTEST you can go??!! I just got hit again!!" Matthew roared in the back.

            "Yep. Tanner is really, really, REALLY mad." "I'm sure, Matthew."

            By the end of the night, all three of us had lots of bruises. My arms were almost numb, my belly felt like a few more hits and I would've barfed, and my legs felt ready to collapse. Matthew also couldn’t walk, he didn’t feel like barfing, though, but his hands were a lot more numb then mine. Tanner, however, was a different story. He was mumbling about needing to ask his parents for an ambulance when I left (I left first). We would be sore for a while, at least to the middle of the week.

            The next day, we left for home. On the way home, I kept thinking about how much fun I had and how to make the next LPA regional like that. I realized Tanner was the most aggressive I've seen him. I made a mental note to be armed the next time we meet.

 

 

 

Camp Korey - Summer 2014

As we prepare for Camp Korey summer camp 2015, I figured I better write the Camp Korey summer camp 2014 post (yikes, I need to do some writing).
 

Jadon had the privilege of attending summer camp again last summer.  He was as excited as ever to go.  Luckily, we were pretty busy before camp so the wait for camp to arrive was not too bad.

Finally, the day arrived – August 11.  We arrived at camp a little after noon for check-in.  Jadon was happy to see his friends.  He was especially happy and surprised to see his friend Dillon from camp last year.  We saw Dillon in San Diego and he told us how much he loved Camp Korey.  He said he wished he lived close enough to go every year.  He lives in Arizona so there is some expense for him to get to camp.  A Camp Korey angel heard about Dillon’s desire to return to Camp Korey and got his airfare donated so he could attend.  The look on both boys’ faces, to see each other and be at camp again, was priceless. 

Jadon had a great time Monday and Tuesday.  We don’t hear too much about camp as it happens but we did learn the theme – Harry Potter. 

Wednesday morning came and Jadon was a little quieter than usual as we prepared to go to camp.  You see, this year, Jadon was able to spend two nights at camp, Wednesday night and Thursday night.  This was a big step for Jadon.  I could tell he was a little nervous and, honestly, so was I.  Once we got to camp, he seemed better but our goodbye hug lasted a little longer than usual.

Of course, Jadon was on all our minds a lot on Wednesday and Thursday.  I worked hard to keep Kalina busy visiting friends and playing so she would not think about him being gone too much.   I think maybe it was the hardest on her.  She and Jadon have a very special relationship.  Kalina was happy when we received a picture from camp Thursday night.  She finally had proof her beloved brother was ok. 

We got Jadon from camp on Friday morning.  He gets what I would call “post camp blues” for a little while after camp.  He is quiet and reflective about the events of the past week.  He does not say much, even when directly asked.  We give him his space and let him ponder.  We know he will talk when he is ready.  Once he is ready to talk, he gets out the weekly schedule and gives us a detailed account of each days’ activities.  Of course, he had an awesome time.  He really enjoyed the archery (new this year) and the sneakout at night. 

People ask us what Camp Korey means to Jadon.  It is hard to put into words for many reasons, the main one being that we do not fully understand, and we never will, what Camp Korey really means to him.  He gets to spend a week with his friends, people who all kind of look like him and have similar issues.  He has a week of no one staring at him or pointing at him or laughing at him or trying to take his picture.  He has a week just to be himself without reservation.  That is special for him.  I call it Camp Korey magic.   I am looking forward to next year when Kalina gets to experience the magic, too.

Here is a something Jadon wrote about Camp Korey at school.   

 

Camp Korey 2014 - The Sneakout

 

 

            Yawn. I was preparing for bed at Camp Korey. Camp Korey is an AWESOME camp that serves serious and life-altering medical conditions. I go to the Skeletal Dysplasia week. What I really LOVE about my week is it's almost all Little People. Besides the counselors, we don't see another big person for a week (Monday to Friday). That's what my friends and I love about Camp Korey.

            I was in my cabin and room (Mom calls camp a luxury camp, rooms like mini hotels with 4 bunk beds a room and own bathroom). I was going to brush my teeth, then go say good night to my friends and counselors. I was going to get my toothbrush when my door slid open and light poured into the room. I looked up. One of my counselors, Cam, was at the door.

            "Jadon, please get on your scooter and come to the door NOW." He left. Behind him, I could see my cabin of eight boys and a lot of counselors quietly head for the door outside. I smiled. I knew what was happening. We were going to sneak out!

            I jumped on my scooter and rolled out of my room and towards the door. My cabin was waiting. One counselor was standing by the door, clutching the handle.

            "SHH! All right, I'm going to open the door to check if it's clear. If it is, I'll signal. If not, back to your room quickly and quietly. Got it?" We nodded. She slid the door open, and stuck her head out. Another counselor, Mike, went over, but she signaled it was clear. With me in the lead, we went down the ramp.

            "Where to?" I whispered to Mike.

            "Bungalow," he whispered. I gave him a quick nod, then headed towards the building.

            "Why here? The medical staff sleeps here!" I thought, but went towards the building anyway. We hid behind a car.

            "So, you know how I'm the lifeguard?" the lady counselor whispered. We nodded. "Well, the camp isn't too picky about getting the pool keys every night, so I might have held onto them for a bit longer. Remind me, who likes the hot tub?" she asked. With that encouragement, we quietly ran to the pool. We got in and put our feet in the tub.

            We were there for half an hour. Then, we quietly crept back to the cabin. Once in, I finished getting ready for bed. When I was dozing, I noted the time, 10:30. "Huh. Better than last year." I noticed. I then drifted off to bed, thinking of the AWESOME week I had at Camp Korey.

 

 

Ready for Camp Korey!

 

Here we come!

Jadon and Dillon

Grandma and Grandpa Sladek Visit - July 2014

Three days after we got home from Park City, Grandma and Grandpa Sladek came to visit us.  They arrived late Friday night. 

 

On Saturday morning, Jadon, Andy and Grandpa went to see the Planes Fire and Rescue movie.  Kalina, Grandma and I had girl time.  We painted our nails and Kalina had fun decorating them with her nail art supplies.  We all met for lunch at Red Robin.  We had a nice afternoon at home.  That evening Andy and I had dinner function so Jadon and Kalina got to spend lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa.  They enjoyed making homemade pizza for dinner and playing while we were gone.  We are not able to leave Jadon and Kalina with many people so we are thankful that we can leave them with our parents!  

 

We had a fun Sunday at Emerald Downs, a horse racing track south of Seattle.  It was Food Truck day so we enjoyed some different cuisine.  Kalina and Jadon had fun betting on the horses.  Kalina’s picks were based purely on good sounding names and what color the jockey was wearing.  She did surprising well with this method.  She and Grandma won something on four of the six races we watched.  Not bad!  Jadon discovered the stairs where we were sitting were half size.  He and Kalina spent quite a bit of time just walking up and downs the stairs, because they could! 

 

 

 

 

On Monday we went to Snoqualmie Falls.   It was beautiful!  After lunch, we went on the Boehm’s Candies and Chocolate factory tour.  Yum!  It was not too long and it was pretty interesting. 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a long day on Tuesday.  We left around 6:15 AM and took the 7:10 AM ferry to the Olympic Peninsula.  We drove to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park.  It was a beautiful day and we saw a ton of deer.  Jadon, Kalina, Grandpa and I went on a short hike (they had a paved trail).  We had lunch at the lodge and enjoyed the scenery, but not the bugs.  While we were there we met another little person, and she had diastrophic dysplasia like Jadon and Kalina.  What are the odds of that happening!  We had actually met her years ago and it was nice to run into her and her family again.  We surprised Jadon and Kalina and stopped by the Olympic Game Farm on our way home.  That place is always fun!  The elk were especially friendly on this visit.  We also stopped at a lavender farm on our way to the ferry terminal.  We made it home for a late dinner after a long, exciting day. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday morning we went to the Space Needle.  You couldn’t ask for a better morning.  We had spectacular views.  We had lunch at Duke’s and then went to MOHAI (the Museum of History and Industry).  MOHAI is one of our favorite museums to visit.  Even Jadon and Kalina like it. 



 

 

 

 

Thursday was our baking and music day.  Grandma made two cheesecakes – one for Andy’s birthday and one for the MKA dessert auction.  I made eight batches of scones for Andy to take to work for Friday treats.  Grandpa spent lots of time practicing with Jadon.  He taught him tons of different drum rolls.  Jadon picked up on the technique without much difficulty so they made lots of progress.  Grandpa is such a good teacher.  Too bad he does not live closer so he could give Jadon lessons all the time!  Jadon and Grandpa had fun playing some duets, too.   Kalina had fun teaching Grandma how to play games on the Wii.  They was a lot of laughter coming from the tv room. 

 

 

Friday was Andy’s birthday!  While he was busy at work, the rest of us took a trip to Bellingham.  We took the scenic route, on the Pioneer Highway and Chuckanut Drive.  We stopped along the way to take lots of pictures.  We visited Village Bookstore and wandered the streets on downtown Bellingham.   We had a nice lunch and stopped for ice cream on our return walk to the minivan.  We had a nice birthday dinner with Andy and enjoyed his birthday cheesecake.

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday morning, Jadon, Andy and Grandpa went to the driving range.  Going to the driving range is Andy’s annual practice for his company’s golf outing. While they were there, Kalina, Grandma and I went to Glazed and Amazed and painted some pottery.  Grandma and Grandpa graciously agreed to watch Jadon and Kalina in the evening so I could take Andy to a special birthday dinner at Canlis.  We had a nice time and a delicious meal.  Jadon and Kalina enjoyed their last night with Grandma and Grandpa before they headed home.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a wonderful week we had with Grandma and Grandpa.   Lots of fun and laughter and memory making.