Gimme a Break (and no I am not referring to a Kit Kat bar)

Yesterday, at school Bug was pushed while playing - nothing mean or vindictive, just pushed. He hurt his arm. I wondered back and forth about taking him in and eventually decided it best to double check.

The doctor figured it was fractured or had a fracture called "green stick". We didn't make it to radiology in time for them to check it last night so off we went this morning.

And now, for the rest of the story...

I just got back from our appointments with Radiology, the doctor and the Cast Technician, Boris.



(yesterday after picking Bug up from my friend's house after work - pre doctor)

Bug has definitely broken his arm - his radius to be precise. Apparently the bone is at a 5 to 10 degree elevation from where it should be and we need to go to the Cast Clinic on Thursday to see the Orthopedic Surgeon to see if "manipulation" of the bone is required.



(Waiting at the walk-in clinic yesterday with his pink panther)

He will be casted then. For now, he has a brace on the arm and a sling to keep it stable.



(Trying to figure out the best way to support his arm during the night. This attempt was a fail.)



(Apparently, this way was the most comfortable for the little man.)



(The temporary "fix" until we see the surgeon to rule out the need for surgery on Thursday morning.)

Rockin' the Pixie.

Jellybean has wanted her hair cut to "her ears" for quite a long time and we were never brave enough to let her do it. We thought that she would regret it the minute it was done so, we compromised and each time when a bit shorter and a bit shorter. She needed a haircut a week ago and so, when posed with the question of what she wanted I was again greeted by the "to my ears" comment.

This is what she looked like pre-haircut (with her most favorite doll, Watoto, a well loved doll Jellybean has lugged around since she was 3 years old).

Yes, we are in McDonalds. It was a bit before we could get in to her appointment so, we went for a drink and a rest; we had walked and Jellybean & Bug were quite vocal about their sore feet. (Good thing they weren't around when that was the only way Rush & I could get around, heh, Rush?)

At this point, I think I stopped breathing for a few minutes. It was a LOT to take in and a BIG change. The hair stylist and I thought that, perhaps, Jellybean's vocal button was released as more hair came off because the less hair there was the more talking ensued. I don't know how many times I had to ask her to please stop talking so the girl wouldn't make a mistake she couldn't fix (due to lack of hair). Perhaps I am a hair stylists' worst nightmare - the parent who doesn't like this much change...)


Voila! The finished look. It has taken a lot to get used to; I mean, I "lost" Bug after getting his hair cut because I didn't recognize him and it was no where near this dramatic.

She wanted to look like Rihanna...I say she is the spitting image, wouldn't you? Only 8... and fairer... and blond... with blue eyes...spittin' image. (The funny thing is, she doesn't even know who Rihanna is; she just saw her picture in a hair magazine and said 'I want it to look like that'.)

Meet our little friends...

Their new home...



Meet Fredrico and Rodriguez, the newest members of our family.

I haven't learned to like them yet but, I am getting a bit more adjusted to having them in my house, locked in Rush's room, under lock and key...

We, meaning Rush, bought their home on her birthday and they became official family members on Aug 9. (Rush has yet to really enjoy them as she left Monday to work at the group home - until Saturday. I have bravely been feeding them their crickets and spraying their home and, I have to admit I am getting used to them being around...as long as they are in their terrarium. Still not too hot on the idea of touching them or having them loose (held by children) in my house but it will come.)


She sure is excited to have them; it has been a long wait for Rush. She has talked about having little guys like these for a few years now. Thanks for being so patient, baby.


Bug enjoying just watching the critters...


I am not sure if I really am going to enjoy the fact the Fredrico and Rodriguez are here as it has caused quite a ripple effect. Jellybean wants a corn snake, Bug a tarantula and BigB his own terrarium of reptiles, including one he needs a collar and leash for; yes, a bearded dragon or iguana of some sort. Not for this girl. Give me a dog, a horse, a cow, a buffalo...a rhinocerous even but please, for all that will leave me sane leave the reptiles, amphibions and arachnids out of THAT much of my home (she said somewhat jokingly).

Please welcome Fredrico and Rodriguez to our home and to our family. They will, from now on, be referred to as The Boys or The Critters.

Sometimes

Sometimes it makes life a heck of a lot more interesting to try not to do things the easy way.

Sometimes getting a running start at things makes doing things the hard way just that much more effective...

Sometimes God opens a window when you were thinking it would be a door and you may need to know how to step into a situation through that window...

Why not get that experience young? It keeps you versatile, ready, on your toes and giggling from somewhere near your toes.

Keep life interesting. Don't follow the crowd. Take the opportunity to make use of all the "openings" life presents you with...And laugh while you do it.

You're my Superman

Someone thinks her daddy is very, very special. Someone thinks her daddy is just like Superman.


Someone drew this very lovely picture for her daddy.


Our children should look to us as their role models. Why should we leave it to the teenybopper star of the week or the super hero of the year to be our children's role models? Have you not glanced at the covers of those rag mags while you are standing in line at the grocery store? Do you really want your children looking up to them?

Give your child a godly influence to model themselves after. Make your life a life they should and will want to be like. Show them, with your example, what and who we are to be like by being a living breathing example of Jesus to them. Don't leave it up to the flavour of the week to influence your sons and daughters...it will only leave them heartbroken, discouraged, doubleminded and exasperated...

The Supper

Our present to Rush


Some of da family...


Grandma & Papa's present

a Chi hair straightener which led to her new haircut (which I don't have pictures of yet...)

Opening the present from Mom & Dad


Rush with her ring


Not all of the family was able to make it but, we sure did have fun with a couple sets of grandparents, an aunt and uncle and one cousin. We ate pizza, chips, with onion dip (thanks to our friend, Johnnie, for getting us addicted to that!), veggies, angel food cake, and punch, and we shared lots of stories from Rush's growing up (including some I had never heard from her visits with Grandma and Papa H).

Beautiful Girl

During my blogging hiatus Rush turned 16; we had a party. We went to the spa. We said we would be going again and again and again if we had the money for doing that sort of thing all the time, which we don't, so that was just a pipe dream.

On Aug 1 I took my baby girl (who is no longer a baby but a beautiful young lady) to the spa to celebrate. Following we had some family over for Dominoes pizza (at the birthday girl's request) and angel food cake with raspberries.
The food...

Can't go to the spa without chocolate! I mean seriously!

Aaaaahhhhh, relaxing...

Me & my girl! (I love you, darlin')

Another Super Saturday

This past Saturday was a nice family day. We had no plan, despite our attempts at figuring out what we were going to do. No one could think of anything we would all like, our town is a little lacking in that area unless you can get out to one of the many gorgeous lakes, unfortunately that wasn't a choice for Saturday.

We left our house, flying by the seat of our proverbial pants. No plan. No clue. We were just leaving.

We drove to Extreme Pita to have a quick, healthy lunch. It was delish! The 2 youngest kids had a ham & cheese pita with their own version of the works; their meals came with drinks and a cookie. What more could a kid want? We don't need no stinkin' Happy Meal to make us happy. The food was delicious. Rush had a grilled chicken pita; BigB had a Mandarine Chicken pita and I had a, mmmmm, yummy Mediteranean pita. It was so yummy. Have I mentioned that the food there is very yummy? I did? Oh, sorry. To finish off our meals, as we were still jsut a tad hungry, we split a package of freshly made garlic pita chips with hummus. Well, I had hummus; everyone else had Ranch. How boring.





Just look at that face as Jellybean bites into that pita. Isn't she just screaming, "MMMMM this is delish!"

From Extreme Pita we walked over to the pet store which was a big mistake. HUGE! Here we held some bunnies & some hamsters, checked out some fish, and fell in love with an adorable Boston Terrier pup & an equally adorable soft, fluffy grey kitten with gorgeous blue eyes. This is when we left the store, empty-handed with long, sullen faces.



Rush with a cute little hamster she decided to call Hernado or Fredrico; she couldn't decide.


Tell me how you could resist this adorable face? Tell me! Seriously! TELL ME!


Or this one?! Look at that face! {sigh} What cuties! Now you can see why we left so forelorn with empty arms...

The boys played football while we sunned ourselves and made funny faces at mom whow was always holding the camera...

And then we hopped on the swings to swing the heat away, and to giggle uncontollably as dad gave pushes.



We finished off the day with a family movie and some snuggling. I love days like these...

And he said...

...Look at all those dandelions...


as he looked out across the vast


fields of



...canola

How miserable does she look?

Jewel is not a happy kitty! In fact, she spent most of last night not being a happy kitty. Her kids are gone! Can you believe it?! We actually took her kids away from her!





Yessiree, these kids were gone last night, overnight, and poor Jewel was beside herself without them. She aimlessly wandered the halls of the house last night going from one empty bed to another - missing her kids. Poor, pitiful thing she is.

Of dinosaur fish and ferries

Last Sunday Jellybean, Bug & I took a drive in the country.

We had no plan; we just drove.

We enjoyed some of the beautiful scenary of country living, that I miss and they have yet to truly experience, but do appreciate.




We found ourselves driving up to the ferry and, upon realizing the kids had never seen one, due to all their questions, decided to hop out of the car and take a little walk to get a closer view of the ferry, and to, hopefully see it cross once or twice.


As we waited to see the ferry do its thing, we wandered along the beach area of the river, and watched a boy and his dad fishing. Moments later we watched as the young guy reeled in a fish, and my children watched with their mouths wide open as the fish was revealed.

The dad asked Jellybean and Bug if they wanted to come see a 'dinosaur fish' and they jumped at the chance with a slight backward glance to get the nod of approval from me. He told them how this fish was as old as the dinosaurs and, when he saw the look of shock on the kids' faces, he explained further that this fish was probably only 8 years old but that the type of fish went back to the dinosaurs. That made more sense tot hem and they carried on admiring the fish. Jellybean got brave enough to start asking him questions wherein she discovered that it was a Sturgeon.



We played with the water, sticks and sand for a few moments before heading back to town to get a nice cool treat.

If a picture is worth 1000 words, enough said!

Rush had a bit of a mishap a few days ago, quite a few days ago. Somehow, and I really mean somehow, her phone fell in the toilet bowl (it was a clean water toilet bowl but still...ew!). BigB took her phone apart and put it in a bag of silica sand to desoggify (totally a word!) it.

She's almost 16.

Without a cell phone.

For a few weeks.

It wasn't pretty.

There were tears and withdrawal tremors.

(I only kid. Or do I?)

Let this picture tell the rest of the story to you...

(this was taken while she used my phone b/c she just wanted to 'feel it' in her hands. I think she was joking...the look on her face said she was joking...I hope she was joking...)

My Little Man

turned 6 years old today. Six! Six! Count it...six! Seriously! SIX! Am I the only one who is panicking here!? Does no one else know what this means? Is no one else aware that 6 officially ends all things little, all things "baby", all things..well, does anyone else know that it simply changes the whole dynamics of our family because Bug is no longer little?

Sure, he is the shortest one, for now...but I am sure by the time I get home from work tomorrow he will be taller than me. Because that's how fast he is growing! Does no one else see that? His face is losing that "baby" look and he is looking more and more like a young man everyday and I am betting, by Friday, he will be asking me for the keys to my car. Because that's how fast he is growing! Have you not noticed it yourself? I am even thinking that by the end of August he will have graduated or something. Because (say it with me) that's. how. fast. he. is. growing!



Inspite of how fast he is growing, he still loves to snuggle with me and he still fits in my lap just as perfectly as he did the day he was born (with some modifications obviously because I should not be growing any more). When he lays down beside me, his body still fits perfectly next to mine so that we look like, well, me with a Bug shaped tumor or wart or something. He still asks for me to tuck him in at night and loves to have me read him a story or to sing him a song, or to tell him a 'mommy made-up story' or for the two of us to go on an imagination vacation.

I love the way he looks at me, as he can say 'I love you' with those big blue eyes framed with his 3-inch eyelashes and it absolutely melts me. Girls, watch out! Beware of the eyelashes paired with those big blue eyes; they will get you every. single. time.

I love hearing his giggle when he is being a typical mischievious boy and I love it more when I hear that belly laugh that comes from a deep down glee and happiness. I love to watch his face as he plays with toys or tries to figure something out as there is such a seriousness in his eyes.




I love how gentle he is with his cat mere moments after she has forgiven him for chasing her around the house, shooting at her with his nerf gun or how he gets me to cut off pieces of yard to play with her because he loves to see her playing like a kitten again. I love how music moves him to dance to the beat no matter where we are: home, church, the mall, the river bank...

I love how he feels misplaced and off balance when we aren't all together, as it shows me just how much his family means to him, or how upset he is when he realizes that a certain day isn't a day for us to go to church. I love how he wants to be like his daddy and his pastor, and I love how much dogs love him and love to kiss him; it doesn't matter the dog. I love how he will run towards Luca (my friend's German Shephard) and throw his arms around Luca's neck so he can bury his face deep in Luca's fur and love on him.




I love how he has to run to the stairs to give me a kiss and a hug 'goodbye' 4 times before I leave the house and how he yells my name and runs to the stairs any time I walk in the door, even if I have only gone to get the mail.

He is such a good boy and I love everything about him; God made him with the perfect mix of love, mischief, sensitivity, nurturing, fun and whatever other ingredients God threw in there to make this absolutely wonderfully fantastic boy.





Really? Six? This could take a bit to get used to.

(Pictures taken from his birthday party on Saturday at the Splash Pad and from today)