'skeeto Jesus

My children were overtired already from having had a cousin sleepover last night.  However, the "cousin return" took a little longer than I anticipated and we found ourselves rolling into town around 9:30.  That's a full 2.5 hours past my children's bedtimes.  Yikes!!  All the same, as I was rounding the bend toward home, it occurred to me that our community fireworks were scheduled for "dusk/after the 8:30 baseball game".  Hmmm....

Another nice thing about living in a very small town is that it's a lot like going to a Lutheran church.  You can show up pretty late to the party, still expect to get a decent seat, and no one really judges you for it.  So, with the last shred of good judgement thrown right out the window, I tooled through town toward the baseball diamond.  It turns out that I wasn't alone in my late arrival (again, much like attending a Lutheran Church...).  Several other cars and I formed a parade and snaked our way into the parking lot at the Community Center. 

The problem was that Carter had fallen fast asleep in the back seat long before and that meant that we couldn't get out of the car to see where the baseball game stood.  I figured that it couldn't be too far from the end, so I told the kids that I didn't know how long we'd be waiting but that it "shouldn't be long". 

The focus of the discussion for the next 15 minutes was not the origin of fireworks or how fireworks work or how much longer even.  The discussion centered around "skeetos".  Kailin kicked it off by asking if we could get out of the car when the fireworks started.  I said that we surely could (stand right next to it since Carter was asleep).  Then she wondered aloud if there would be mosquitoes out.  Because if there were, she mused, she would not want to get out after all, but then hoped she'd still be able to see.  A HUGE discussion regarding how mosquitoes come to be ensued and when the "discussion" started to get loud, I demanded silence and then asked each child to explain to me where they think mosquitoes come from.  Kailin, as it turned out, had a great bead on the whole process including laying their eggs in water.  I was impressed.  Colby was on entirely a different track.  The way he's got it figured, the mosquitoes are babies and then they drink blood and get bigger and drink more blood and get bigger and then "someday when they're a Grandpa 'skeeto bite, they die and go to 'skeeto bite Heaven and be with 'skeeto bite Jesus."  LOVE that he's getting the message and I'm amused that he thinks that " 'skeeto bites" go to Heaven.  I really hope he's wrong!!

So the fireworks started and we scrambled out of the car.  Kailin was put off by the noise, but drawn in by the beauty.  She was hooked.  Colby didn't care about the noise and loved the fireworks and the "sparkles" and was sold.  Carter slept on.  The fireworks went on a long, long while.  I wished desperately that I had my camera with me so that I could take pictures - not of the fireworks, but of the kids' faces as they enjoyed them.  It was priceless.  I checked on Carter a few times and he was still out cold.  The finale came and the kids were beyond wowed and amazed.  We opened the van door to find Carter awake and smiling - he had the biggest grin on his face.  I was so sad that we didn't realize he was awake and get him out, but it looked like he'd seen enough.  He kept talking about how loud they were and how pretty "in the sky". 

I have very fond memories of climbing into the car as a child, pajama clad and full of excitement as we headed off to the fireworks.  Tonight I got to share that with my own children.  I'm hoping that the beauty of that will shine through tomorrow when I'm experiencing the aftermath of severely underslept children.  I'm sure it will.  Right?

Ouch!

Carter fell and ripped the nail on his ring finger back pretty far.  It bled like the dickens and he howled about it.  We put a bandaid on and things were much improved.  The next morning the bandaid fell off and in determining whether or not he could just go without a bandaid, I discovered that he'd actually torn the skin off under the nail as well.  A bandaid was a must - both for pain management and because that boy is into EVERYTHING.

We found that the best combination was a small, waterproof bandaid over the top of the tip of his finger and then a larger bandaid wrapped around the tip of the finger in the opposite direction.  I was rebandaging his finger and he was asking again if he could just not have a bandaid.  Whenever my kids injure their hands, it's a difficult thing because kids are so very tactile.  Having recently shaved off a chunk of my own index finger with a cheese grater, I know first hand that a finger injury is not fun.  But in Carter's case, it's especially hard on him because he only has one hand to begin with.  There isn't much he can't do with his one hand and his short arm, but with a bandaid (or two) on his fingers, his dexterity is a lot more compromised than his sister or brother's would be.  It's one of those little things that remind me that he IS different from the other kids.  We don't generally think of him as different (in fact, Steve wrapped the bleeding finger in paper towel and instructed him to "hold it on there" - uh....with what??), so when we're reminded it kind of catches us off guard.  And that's a really good thing because our little guy definitely doesn't define himself by his difference - so why should anyone else?

bloom where you are planted

 Several years ago, we spent a hard working weekend stripping sod off of the yard in front of our house (seemed like it was just as hard to remove as it was to get it to grow in the first place!) to make way for a perennial bed.  I carefully designed the shape of the bed and ordered my plants after doing my best to plan for a variety of heights and bloom periods.  Despite the fact that our home is built on what was once fertile farmland, digging in showed that we have rocky, clay like soil.  I wasn't expecting that.  I wondered if my garden would fail entirely.  I was in too deep to turn back, so we forged ahead.   My plants were just going to have to bloom where they were planted and that was that. 

The plants arrived and I was sorely disappointed.  They were TEENY.  They didn't look a thing like I expected.  I planted them all according to the spacing guidelines and watered them religiously that first year.  Still, I was sure that I would be spending my entire life weeding because there was PLENTY of room for weeds.  My plants did grow, but they didn't look like much - even by season's end.  

 I hoped that they'd make it through the winter and, sure enough, most did.  They looked a bit better that second year - they flowered and were fuller than they were the first year.  Again, I was somewhat disappointed and contemplated adding in a bunch more plants to get the full look I longed for.  I didn't give in, though, and tried to enjoy what I had that year.

With each passing year my garden has grown fuller and stronger.  The Echinacea have gone wild (being a native perennial, that's not particularly surprising) and have self sown themselves into a major presence in my garden - where once there was just one.  The lilies are multiplying and have tons more blooms each year.  I'm guessing it'll take another year or two and my garden will be nearly exactly as I envisioned it.

There are plants that didn't make it and some have, in turn, been much larger or spread wider than I ever could have dreamed.  My garden is, and always will be, a work in progress.  There's one major thing that has changed since I planted this garden those years ago.  I have learned to love it just as it is.  I've learned to appreciate the beauty in the changes - both anticipated and unexpected. 

Building our family has been a lot like growing my garden.  It didn't look at all like I expected in the beginning, but it has blossomed and grown in ways I could never have even dreamed.  I try hard to appreciate it for what it is - always.  We have times that are truly beautiful and some times that I wonder how we'll ever get past all the weeds.  It's hard to remember that rough times pass, but they do.  Kids move past their challenging phases.  All of a sudden I look around and realize that we're through the thick of the battle and that my garden is looking pretty good again.  We've had to bloom where we were planted - which wasn't a garden with gorgeous soil in the beginning- but we've come a long way and put down roots.  We're ready to weather the seasons together and come out stronger for having gone through them. 

As we celebrate Father's Day today, I'm so thankful for my amazing husband - the one who's helped me build our beautiful family and who has cheerfully accompanied me every step of the way.  I fall in love with him all over again every time I see him with our children.  Together we have built something truly beautiful and I'm thankful to God every day for giving me such a wonderful man. 

If the glove fits...

Carter's been helping me in the garden in the afternoons while the big kids are at school.  Mostly he likes to dig in the dirt in the squares that aren't planted, but he also likes to help me put the seeds in the holes and cover them back over with dirt.  It was fun to see his interest in what kinds of seeds they were and a proud moment that he could identify most of the things on the fronts of the seed packets when I asked him to bring me certain seeds.  He doesn't like to get his hand very dirty, though, and is always jonesing for my garden glove.  I ran in the house to grab a pencil and came out to find him trying to put it on.  Of course then I was running back into the house for my camera.

I really hope that my children (or some of them anyway) will enjoy gardening as much as I do and I hope that all of them appreciate the goodness that comes from growing your own food.

sleeping sky high

When we bought Colby a mattress in anticipation of Carter coming home, we thought Carter was going to be a girl and that the mattress we were buying would become a top bunk.  Thus, we wouldn't be needing a box spring.  Well then Carter was a boy and not so much a girl and the mattress we bought will be Colby's bed...well....forever.  It hasn't been sitting well with me for quite some time that he doesn't have a box spring.  His bed is an antique headboard and footboard that my aunt and uncle had painted with a camping scene for him.  It has boards under the mattress, but our rough and tumble little guy is forever knocking them loose and I just felt like his mattress was floppy.

I figured when we bought Molly Kate's bed, we'd buy an extra box spring and use it for Colby and then I'd be able to sleep easier at night (no pun intended).  A got a serious deal on a couple of box springs a couple weeks ago and we picked them up last Sunday.  I'm thinking maybe Colby's bed really wasn't supposed to have a box spring because it's REALLY tall now (don't mind the Hello Kitty slipper under his bed!).  He adores it, though, and we're leaving it that way.

Steve is going to be building a loft for Kailin's bed over the summer.  We're choosing a loft over bunk beds because it will give us the open to put Molly Kate's bed directly under Kailin's like a traditional bunk bed, or turned out at 90 degrees.  And it gives us the option of putting Molly Kate's mattress and box spring directly on the floor which might come in handy with her short stature.

Kailin asked me the other morning if her bed was "probably going to be up at the ceiling" when Daddy was done building the bunk beds.  "No, honey, not that high.  How would you get into it?"  "Oh, I didn't mean all the way to the ceiling.  I meant as tall as the (overhead) light."  "No, honey, you still wouldn't be able to get into your bed!"  "No, the bottom of the light!  Where that little bump hangs down."  "Sweetie, you wouldn't be able to sit up in your bed!  Why don't you just wait and see how tall your bed is.  It won't be long now!"  "I'll try, Mama."  I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing at her idea of a sky high bed.

the good one

On Friday we learned that Carter will need surgery on his arm.  The good one.  That's right - total shock to us as well.  I took him to see an orthopedic surgeon because there is a bony prominence at the end of his short arm, and I wanted to see if he was going to need a revision.

The x-rays revealed that he has a complete humerus in his short arm.  He will eventually need revision.  The bone will continue to grow as long as he is growing and when it becomes painful they'll "revise it".  We were prepared for that. 

Radial-ulnar synostosis is also what the x-rays revealed.  And we weren't prepared for that.  Radial-ulnar synostosis is a fancy way to say that Carter's radius and ulna bones (the bones in the lower arm) are fused together near his elbow.  We noticed that he's unable to get from a palm down position to a palm up position and this is why.  Fixing the problem would entail work near his elbow and would include a high risk for nerve damage.  Getting his hand into a better position where he can get to a palm up position by pivoting his elbow in toward his body involves surgery near his wrist.  There's much less chance of nerve damage and the Dr. feels like with only one hand, it's important for him to be as functional as possible.

I trust Dr. Black - he's got a long history with our family.  He did my sister's hip surgeries when she was a teenager and has been screening her kids for hip issues since they were born.  I trust that when he says that this is the best decision for Carter and that we need to optimize his mobility in the one had he has, he knows what he's talking about.  And I trust that the risk of nerve damage (much less near the wrist, but present all the same) outweighs the detriment of having a decreased range of motion.  Most of all, I trust that God has a plan for this little man and that no matter what happens, we will get through it.  When it comes to your kids, you just do. 

In all most likelihood what will happen is an overnight in the hospital for pain management, a week in a splint, six weeks in a cast, and then four to six more back in a splint.  It's certainly not optimal to be doing this during summer since it is something that could be put off until fall.  However, waiting til fall would mean that he might be in a cast or a splint or still having follow up appointments when we need to be in China bringing Molly Kate home.  So summer it is.  Surgery is scheduled for July 3.  I know that my smiley, sweet boy is tougher than he looks and he'll do just fine.  And he'll have his family by his side to help him through.

We're going to spend the next few weeks getting in as much water fun as we possibly can!

Just add water

How is it that after a truly horrific trip to the grocery store with the kiddos this morning (let's just say that the three year old was the best behaved by far and I'll let you draw your own conclusions from there), suiting up the kids and adding a little water can entirely turn the day around?

I fixed lunch while Steve set up the kid wash we built last summer.  I didn't have high hopes for a fun afternoon for anyone.  Sometimes I love being wrong.  It was as simple as add water.  The minute Steve turned the water on, a total transformation occurred.  Where there was grouching and crabbing and fighting, there were giggles, and play, and shouts of joy.  It was an incredible blessing to have an afternoon so different from our morning.  We wound things down snuggled up on the couch watching "Hop" and munching popcorn.  Hooray, hooray for a day of change!

I'm being brave and adding myself to the Ni Hao Ya'll Sunday Snapshot contest this week.  People submit some amazing photos and it's always worth checking out!  These photos were all taken with my trust OLD Canon 10D and my 300mm zoom lens  fstop about 4.6-5.4 and I didn't pay much attention to shutter speed.  No post processing because I'm sorely, sorely lacking in post processing skills. 

oh my aching heart!

Today was Colby's last day of 4k.  After today, he's a 5k student.  FIVE K!!!!!  Oh my aching heart!  He'll be half day again next year and that gives me comfort.  I'm really happy that our district still offers half day 5k because I feel like kids have so little time to just be kids. 

That aside, FIVE K!!!!!!!!  Where has the time gone?  I feel like next week he'll be graduating high school.  I know it won't be more than a month.  

batting practice gone bad

I took Colby to pick up his t-ball shirt tonight after dinner.  There was a game going on at the baseball field and a bunch of kids lined up for batting practice in the cage.  I asked Colby if he'd like to stop and watch the kids batting for a few minutes.  He definitely thought that was a fantastic plan.  So we watched.  And the first kid we watched swung and missed.  About 25 times.  I squatted down next to Colby as the kid swung and missed and swung and missed.  "Do you see that kid, Colby?  What's he doing?  Hitting or missing?"  "Missing."  "And is he throwing a tantrum or stomping his feet or calling the game stupid?"  "No."  "What IS he doing?"  "He's trying again."  "Yep, he is."  No sooner were the words out of my mouth and the kid was done.  He left the batting cage, dropped his helmet, and gave it a whack with his baseball bat.  Hmmm....not the lesson I was trying to teach.  I was cringing when Colby looked up at me and said, "Well now THAT wasn't a good choice!"  Lesson learned after all.  Love it. 

completely random

I often have completely random thoughts, observations, or ponderences (yep, made that one up myself.  Pretty proud of it, too....)  Here are a few - in no particular order.  In fact - RANDOM.

*tucking Colby in at night is a lot like trying to wrap Jello

*The ribs cooking in my crock pot right now are nowhere near done, but they smell delicious and I'd really like to dig on in.

*I love, love, love when Carter hugs me with both arms and I can feel his short arm pressing against my neck. 

*Tomorrow is the gubernatorial recall election in our state.  I have received no less than 25 phone calls from the party with which I am NOT, nor have I ever been, affiliated.  They want to encourage me to get out and vote.  This is important to them.  Isn't it a little counterproductive??

*I really like the word gubernatorial.  I'm not sure why there's a b and not a v.  I'm sure that there's a very good reason for it, but I actually don't want to know.  It would entirely ruin it for me. 

*I seem to be out of random thoughts for the moment, but I'm going to start recording more of them.  Maybe someday my kids will be amused by my ramblings.  Or they'll think I was crazy as a loon and say, "well that explains a lot!"