Stitches

Well, it happened.  The first stitches for one of our kids.  And first ER visit for that matter.  Not that we've never been there before.  Tory's kept us busy in that department.  Remember his eye and his hand?  Yep. 

So two weeks ago on Tuesday the 10th, I was just getting the 3 little kids ready to head out the door to take Coen to his preschool Co-op.  I was in the kitchen and Coen "calmly" came in and said, "Mama, I don't think I will be going to school today."  I could tell by his voice that this was different than the normal everyday tone when he says he's not going because, "I don't like this shirt...or pants...or shoes."  I turned around and his little knee was dripping with blood.  He had been playing with Claire and fell on a metal computer part that the kids had gotten out of Tory's computer parts drawer.  It was a really sharp edge and just sliced him open.  I tried to clean it up enough to see the damage.  I finally got a good look at it and knew he was going to need stitches.  It was a good one.  So we waited an hour since I was watching my friends little girl.  I packed some pb sandwiches and raisins for the kids since I had no idea how long we'd be at the ER and off we went. 

Do you like Coen's nice art work all over his legs?  All three of the little kids were sporting the same drawings that day.  Can you guess who the artist was?  Perfect timing....

Coen was really good and didn't seem to be in any pain at all.  Probably not a lot of nerves there on the knee.  We chilled for a little over an hour and watched some good PBS and ate peanut butter sandwiches.  Beckham had the hardest time.  He was so tired.  His nap time starts at 10:00 and he was way overdue.  Everything went well and Coen got 4 "heavy duty" stitches since it was on his knee.  Personally, I think he should have gotten 5.  What's up with the huge gaping hole in the middle?!  Oh, well.  About two hours later the doctor sent us on our way with instructions to keep his leg from bending too much, only showers and no baths, no swimming and to avoid running and wild play for TWO weeks!  OoooKaaay.  There's a reason one of Coen's nicknames is "Ener-G".  He's my little boy who skipped right over walking so that he could run!  We'll try our best!  They wrapped it in an ace bandage which did kind of help him not to bend it as much.  He made it the two weeks without any rip-outs so I guess that means success!

Everyone wanted to check out his stitches when Dada got home that night.

OK boys...no more ER visits. Got it?

And that goes for you, too, Tory!

Freedom Flyers

Austin and Dallin have been in Running Club this year.  They are the Freedom Flyers.  Every Tuesday they run for an hour after school.  Coen, Claire, Beckham and I all go, too.  It's been fun and the kids have all loved it.  This week was their final day and they had pizza, ice cream and awards for the kids.  All of the runners got a medal and then the top runner in each grade with the most mileage run got an extra award.  This was the first year our school has done Running Club.  I was impressed with how many kids joined and ran each week.  We'll definitely be doing it again next year.

Dallin

He was the top runner in the 1st grade!
He ran a total of 26 miles!

Good job Dallin!

Dallin just cracked me up each time.  Most of the time he was just in his own little world.  I could totally tell sometimes he was pretending to fly or be some animal or who knows what else.  Other times he'd finish up with some sort of treasure he had found along the way.  He brought me everything from a large huge foam board to a little dead snake (luckily he had stuffed it in a water bottle he also found along the way.)  Dally Boy has quite the imagination!  Cute boy!  I guess he did enough running in between scavenging to win his award though.  Ha!

Austin

He was the top runner in the 3rd grade!

He ran a total of 43 miles!

Good job Austin!

I wasn't surprised that Austin won.  He was quite serious about his running and rarely stopped to walk.  He had a goal each time and tried to meet it.  He had fun but didn't stop to walk with his friends that's for sure!

So it looks like we might have some future Cross Country runners!  Yeah!  Best sport EVER!  Did you know I ran Cross Country in High School?  Yep, it's true.  And I loved it.  Don't worry Tory, they can wrestle, too.
:)

Way to go Austin and Dallin!

C U @ the finish line!

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I got to sleep in a bit and had a delicious breakfast made for me by Tory-pancakes with homemade strawberry orange topping that he invented himself and was soooo good!  We went to church and got to hear the kids sing some cute songs to all the moms.  Coen refused to go up on the stand to sing so I got a nice close-up seat on the front pew.  All the moms got a bag of all kinds of chocolate kisses.  Then at home Tory made me a delicious dinner.  We had Fiesta Pasta Salad, Stuffed Shells, and the most delicious green salad made with the new food processor he got me!  I've been wanting a new processor for so long.  The one I've been using used to be my Gran Gran's and I'm not sure how long she had had it before me!  It balanced on 3 legs and you had to hold on tight or it would dive off the counter.  So, needless to say, I was very excited!  He also hooked me up with some good listening tunes for my exercising.  I went running the next day with my tunes and cut 8 minutes off my usual run!  I don't know if it was the music or the lovely day or both but...wow!  Ha!

I sure am thankful to be the mother of my five most wonderful children in all of the world.  They are my joy and my gray hairs but I love them for all that they are.  I am so excited to have them home with me every single hour of every single day in just a few short days.  

I got a dozen of these most beautiful roses from my wonderful Tory.  I think they are the prettiest roses I've ever seen.  So full and ruffly!

And of course I have to say how wonderfully thankful I am for my own mother.  She is the best person I know and the one I want to be like forever. And I'm so thankful for my mother-in-law and for the fun we have and the lovely person she is.

Happy Mother's Day!

School Projects

Austin and Dallin have both had some fun projects they've been working on this month.

Austin had to do a book report in the form of a newspaper.  The book he chose was perfect for this and he had a lot of fun coming up with all of the parts.  He had to include an article about the main character, an article about the summary, a travel ad to one of the locations in the book, a comic strip, an advice column, a picture of the main character, and either a word search or cross word puzzle.  Oh, and the title of the newspaper had to relate to the book.  I thought he did a great job and I guess his teacher did, too, because after he brought it home she asked him to bring it back again and now it's hanging in the hall at school.

*He used blank newspaper print for this project.  If you don't have any at your home you MUST get some!  We bought a ream when we lived in Colorado Springs and have used it for two moves, wrapping paper, posters for EVERYTHING, packing away my holiday decor every year, arts and crafts, etc, and we still have tons left!  It's lasted us over 6 years!  And it wasn't expensive at all.  I'm just sayin'....

Dallin had an assignment to create either a poster, mobile, diorama, etc, of a desert animal.  He chose the Diamondback Rattlesnake.  He had to include the animal in its habitat with its food, shelter, and a predator.  He made his animals out of salt dough and then painted them.  He made a large bird for the predator, a mouse for its food, and also made some cacti out of the salt dough.  He absolutely loved this project and was very excited to bring it to class where he said, "All the kids thought mine was the coolest."  :)

This week has also been teacher appreciation week and the boys have brought in little notes and things for their teachers every day.  One of the days they were supposed to bring in a snack so we sent in oranges with a little note "Orange You Special" attached.  Another day they brought in a flower (one of my pretty Easter Lilies that are finally blooming!) and a little sack of almonds wrapped in green fabric with "I'm Nuts About You" and stuff like that.  I kind of think it's fun coming up with fun ideas for the teachers each week.  I just wish they'd do it earlier and not at the end of the school year when things are already so crazy!  But they didn't ask me so...oh, well.  Ha.

About Time

I think it's about time for a new post, don't you?  This blog has been stuck on May Day for too many weeks!  I'm not quite sure where May went but it's almost over and it has been a full month!  I guess I'll go back to the beginning since the last time I blogged was May Day.  Wow.  Watch out!  Here come some posts!  And I've got some for my food blog Simply Real Food, too, so watch for those coming as well.

May Day

You know I love May Day.  This year it was a very, very cold day!  No sunshine and lots and lots of rain!  I still had to make May Baskets for my kiddos, though.  We went to church and then they found their little baskets after we got home.  I did some basket "weaving" the night before while Tory did the shopping for the goodies this year.  I love to see what he picks out.  He got them chocolates and a pair of swimming goggles for each of them.  Except Beckham.  He just got chocolates which he donated to Dada (kind of like his Easter basket.  Poor kid!)  Hope you all had a wonderful May Day!

Ding Dong!

Surprise!  Chocolates and swimming goggles!

Claire wore her goggles for the rest of the night!

Where Were You?

On September 11, 2001 Tory and I were walking into a clinic in Colorado Springs for our very first ultrasound of our very first baby, Austin.  We were so excited that beautiful morning.  We walked in and looked up at the television in the loby right as the second tower was hit.  I'll always remember that day.  It's never been the same since that day has it?  So many things changed.

Last night I turned on the television to check the weather.  We were having quite the storm.  I never watch TV.  If I had a TiVo I wouldn't know what to record with it.  But I turned it on last night and after I was satisfied that we would be safe for the night a Special Report came on.  It was the President of the United States, President Obama.  He announced that Osama Bin Laden had been killed.  9 years, 7 months, and 20 days after September 11, 2001.  It doesn't seem that long ago in some ways.  But it's been the entire lifetime of every one of my children.  The news reporters told us to remember this day.  Remember where we were when we heard the news that he had been killed.  And I will remember that it was May 1, 2011, May Day.  And while the death of this one man doesn't end the threat of terrorism, it does bring a sense of relief and closure and an appreciation for the military and the work that they do so far from home to keep us safe.

Thank you.