Seriously

Mason was at a friends house and decided to hang upside down on the dome with just his legs, like a monkey. Except I think monkeys use their tails. And maybe their hands if they start to fall. This monkey fell straight on his face. His lip and nose swelled up, nose bled, and off we went to the ER. Again.

They checked him for concussion, but he's fine. No stitches needed in his lip. Thankfully, for many reasons, including that I didn't want to take them out again (I just got the final three of the last round of seven out). He may have a fracture in his nose, but it's straight so they didn't feel the need to x-ray. They just gave him a round of Motrin and sent us on our way. Another beanie-baby and I have officially met my insurance deductible this year.

All told, though, we were in and out in less than an hour. We got the same nurse that we had 13 days ago. She was very nice. Still hoping to not see her again soon.

Camp fire

Cindy built a campfire pit for us just off our back deck. I'm not quite sure what sort of flame accelerant was used to get it to light after all the rain, but after a period of time the kids came in claiming victory, "fire!! fire!! we have fire!!" We quickly got out the marshmallows!

By the way, Kenzie wasn't required to wear the helmet, it was a leftover from scooter-riding earlier. Although it doesn't seem like a bad idea...

Work!

It was Take Your Child to Work day today. Kenzie has been so excited, counting down the days for the last two weeks. Finally this morning arrived. As we were heading out she looked up at her window and said, "I used to just sit up there and watch you leave. Now I get to leave with you." She was dressed in her best little black dress with her matching handbag (stuffed with books).

I had a few meetings that she endured. Don't think the reality of "work" measured up to the excitement, but she did great. After we had lunch we went to a high school where I had a guest speaking assignment. We met in the faculty lounge. She thought it was pretty cool that the high schoolers couldn't come, yet she could! Then she sat in the back of the classroom while I spoke to the kids. She took it all in.

We went back to work and she made a couple of friends with kids of my coworkers. All in all, very fun day.

Security

We pulled up in a parking garage tonight. Mason popped out of the car rather quickly, spotted a security guard, yelled at the top of his lungs, "I know you pull people over." She clarified that she wasn't a police officer, that her job is to make sure people are safe, not to arrest them. He wasn't convinced. He said, "you look like a police officer." She tried again to convince him, but he clearly wasn't happy with her.

Doctor's report

and a slight correction from the patient

April showers

It's been so rainy this winter. But today we had a nice patch of sun. Even if it didn't get up to the promised 70 degrees, it still felt good. Seems like a good time to provide a general "status update."

Our yard still looks like a flood hit it not too long ago, so this Spring promises lots of opportunities for work parties. We are...dare I say it...almost done with the permitting process for building June and Bob's house (going on our property right next to ours). Current goal is to have them settled into their new place by the end of June! There will be ample new opportunities for more yard work after all the construction.

We have also given in to the "kid schedule" that so many parents boast about, but we were hoping to avoid. It's the one where parents become cab drivers between the five birthday parties per week, and varied nightly activities. Tuesday night Kenzie has gymnastics. Wednesday Mason has basketball and/or tee-ball. Thursday Kenzie has cooking class, followed by basketball. You get the drift. It keeps Cab Driver Cindy most occupied.

Cindy has been working just about full-time as a substitute teacher. She has quickly become in hot demand, serving in several long-term positions. This week alone she had to turn down two jobs. This "flexible" schedule isn't all it promised to be, but with Grandma June watching the kids, it's nice to have the option for her to work more hours.

Mason and Kenzie have both been spending a lot of time at Grammy and Grampy's, almost to the point where I'm feeling guilty about it. Almost. It's so easy for us and the kids just love it down there and spending the night. Oh, and I'm sure it's not an accident that Grampy has a new airplane on the living room table every time we go down there. Mason starts playing with the propeller and Grampy is quick to let me know it's okay if he does that. Yeah, it's all part of the plan for Mason to become an avid airplane fanatic. I understand it. Doesn't mean I like it, but I get it. How about something smaller, like, say, baseball cards?

Dressed for dinner

We're going over to our neighbor's house for dinner. The kids took a bath and dressed themselves...can you tell?

Gymnastics

I went to gymnastics!It was great!I did a cart wheel!I go on Tuesday.

One handed

Other than a slight inconvenience, the finger hasn't slowed him down one bit. Here he is at the park running on a kid gerbil wheel...and falling off of it. He hit all the highlights, including a good romp in the dirt. You'll notice that the bulky wrap didn't last long. We tried. Next step: bath without getting it wet. Yeah, right.

Sibling love

The older the kids get, the more they become each other's best friends. Super sweet moments are offset by other annoyances, but every once in a while they remind us how much they love each other.

Kenzie was sitting at the breakfast table and said to Mason, "Mase, even when we don't see each other every day, we'll still be brother and sister. We don't have to see each other but we'll still love each other and be brother and sister." I asked her what she meant and she said, "Well, when we get older we won't live together, so we won't see each other every day like we do now. But we will still love each other."

Then when Mason needed to endure me changing the dressing on his cut, he wanted his sister. She hugged him. He tucked his face tightly into her neck. She told him, "you can do it, Bud, you can do it. Say 'I can do it!'" He did. Together while I worked to pull the dressing off they both chanted "I can do it!" Later when the new dressing came off during nap, he wouldn't let Cindy put a new one on until his "disduh" was home.

Best night ever

Mason was sitting at the counter today and in a nostalgic voice said, "Mom, last night was the best night EVER." I looked at him and said, "you mean the one we spent in the emergency room?" He said, "yeah. We got to go out to dinner and I got to pick out the restaurant AND the food."

Poor baby...slices the top of his finger off but is happy about it because he gets a milkshake from Red Robin. Perhaps we have cut back his sugar intake a bit too much.

Second trip to ER in one month

The good news is that we found an ER that is closer and we now love. They guarantee that you'll be taken back to a room immediately and that a doctor will see you within 30 minutes. Our whole Friday night adventure took less than an hour and a half. (And they gave each kid a little stuffed animal. Mason's showing off his lion in the picture.)

It started with Kenzie and Mason both coming in the house screaming. All I heard from upstairs was, "blood!!!" Sure enough, he had removed the top area of his finger. They were playing in our bird bath and came across some broken glass, presumably from a floating glass ball that broke over the winter.

At first we went to our doctor's office, but they took one look and wanted us to go to the ER for more comprehensive care, fearing tendon damage. Mason was such the trooper! That kid must have a really high pain threshold. The only time he really cried was when they were injecting straight into the wound, and even then it was a dull whimper with only one real tear. He said, "Mom, it huuurts" and I could tell it did, but he was very calm. As a preventative measure they wrapped him up in a sheet like a burrito, but I think he still would have just laid there.

Kenzie, meanwhile, wanted to see the action up close. She watched each of the seven stitches go in, later telling us how the doctor would make a loop then tie it back. As she told Mason he was a little upset that he hadn't been allowed to watch and told her, "Sister, I wish you would get a cut and have to get stitches so I could watch." Ah, that's love.

He's bandaged up, but hasn't even mentioned any pain, so no meds, and he's back to full speed. But it does annoy him that he can't eat quite as well with his left hand.

Easter ham and eggs

The Big Bad Wolf

A couple of weeks ago we went to our church retreat. At our "no talent show," Mason and I did an interpretive reading of The Big Bad Wolf.

Karate kid

I love the cat in the background on this one...he's done with karate.