Faces, Frowns, and Smiles

So, I was goofing around the other day, and taking pictures of myself (I know, weird, right?) I was actually seeing what my glasses looked like, because mirror images are so decieving....ANYWAY. I was looking at these pictures, and thinking about our faces. And the children's faces. You've heard "the eye is the window to our soul". I watch people, and my kids, and I tell my kids to "watch that face you're making".

A face, is amazing, it's so pliable and able to show so many things, love, joy, anger, frustration, amusement...and it's so much more reliable than words. I've seen people saying one thing, and their faces are saying a complete different thing.

My kids too, studying their expressions is so helpful, knowing what they are thinking, what their intentions were, knowing if they are really hurt or just faking it, and the expression I love most, their smile :D

I defy anyone to not smile when a baby smiles a big grin at them!! And like I always tell my girls, the prettiest face is a face that smiles easily, and looks happily upon people. Um, not that I always do that...but it's the plan :D

But it's pretty basic, frowns are ugly, smiles are beautiful. God made it so perfectly! Which makes me wonder what God's face will be like...

And on an ending note, Christians and their children are some of the smilingest people I know!! Must be that we have something wonderful to be happy about!!!

Donuts, Paints, and Smiles

So what do you do with kids when you pass a Krispy Kreme store, and the hot light is on??? Why you stop in for an impromptu field trip and a dozen donuts of course!! And we got there just as a fresh batch was coming out of the rising cycle, so we got to see the whole thing from start to finish. It was sooooo exciting :D Actually it is pretty interesting, and it's a plus that you know you will get one of the best donuts on earth when it's done! Anyway, the kids all enjoyed their donuts, but Kay Leigh...well, she had a really funny way of enjoying hers. And you can tell from her grin here, that she is enjoying it mightily!!

She scraped all the icing and sprinkles off.

And licked her fingers very appreciatively. But did not eat the donut itself..

And this is what her poor little scalped donut looked, before I put it out of it's misery...in my tummy :D

Painting time!! Yes once in a while I'm brave enough, or else I feel like I have time to clean up the mess, and they get to paint. I have some cool little trays for paint, and giant bottles of different colors, and shirts for them to wear. I wanted to get pictures of them so studiously painting, but of course as soon as they hear the camera go on, and see the flash, they start posing :D This is Carolyn, putting her inspiration on paper...

Kay grinning, because she know's I'm taking pictures...

Checking to make sure I'm still there...she did pretty good painting with one hand by the way!

Carolyn's big eyes that she uses so much when she comes asking for something...

And the masterpiece!!

I do fix Kay Leigh's hair by the way, it just does't stay put very long :D

Arms, Wagons, and Hospitals

Mmmmm, yes, well after a week of flu and all of us being cooped up in the house, Kay Leigh wanted so badly to go outside and play with the other kids. She was still sick, but I knew she was just so tired of staying inside, so I decided she could go out for just a few minutes while I finished up dinner. Literally, ten minutes......

Five minutes later, Carolyn came leading a crying Kay Leigh. She said, "The wagon tipped over and Kay Leigh fell out, and now her arm hurts." I still had no clue what we were in for. So I brought her in and took off her coat, and did the usual checks, you know, gently feel the arm up and down, see if she can grab your finger, etc. No screams, no yells of "Owie", everything seemed fined, so I put her coat back on, and was getting ready to send her back out. She wasn't even hardly crying, just you know sniveling a little, like kids do when they get scared and scrape their knee. She wanted to take her baby doll outside, I got it for her, and it fell on the floor. And that's when I noticed, she was trying to pick it up, but couldn't get her left arm to work. She was trying, it wasn't cooperating. That's when my stomach knotted. I called Travis back over, and this time we took her shirt off too, and.....mmm yeah, trouble, swollen elbow and there was an inverted curve in the back of her arm. Aaaa. So we got a long wrap bandage, and wrapped her arm to her body, I got good clothes on, and combed my hair (so I didn't take her to the ER looking like a crazy neglectful mom type) all in less than five minutes, and off I went for the first time to the ER with one of my babies. Travis called his mom and dad who were there in fifteen minutes, and then he joined me. They confirmed at St. Alphonsus that her arm was broken, they did x-rays, and I must interject, she was a trooper through all of this, no screaming, a little fussing, not even any crying. She did however, clam up, my little jabber-jaw wouldn't talk to anybody, and she'd scrunch her eyes shut when the doc or nurse would come back in :D

Well, ok, broken arm, they set it and we go home that night, right?? HA, no such thing. It was a bad spot for the break, the bone in pushed in toward the elbow, and if it's not set right, it slices through nerves and arteries, and could potentially cause her to lose all use of that arm. GASP. So they call a orthopedic surgeon, he looks at the x-rays and comes and talks to us. "So there are three degrees of seriousness in these types of breaks, 1 and 2 just need setting, 3 requires surgery. She has a 3." Then he said that he didn't work with kids much, so he was transferring us to St. Lukes where there was a top-notch pediatric orthopedic surgeon. So at 9:00 at night, Kay and I got our first ever ambulance ride :D It was thrilling :P So, surgery, ok, there's another complication, she got a chest x-ray, and they are seeing stuff in her lungs that leads them to believe she is not a good candidate for anesthesia, so when we go down to the operating room prep in the morning, they tell us she's not good to go, they'll have to wait. But there's a catch, the longer they wait the more chance that her arm will be irreparably damaged....but if she goes into surgery, she could develop really bad pneumonia and...well, let's just say, by the end of this talk, Travis and I were totally freaked out. And lots of prayer was going on. So they put her in pediatric ICU, so that she would be watched closely, and if there were any signs of the arm getting compromised, they'd rush her into emergency surgery. This is what she looked like in there, she did really well, partly due to the doses of morphine she was getting (they made her itchy and soooooo cranky) and she watched Ice Age over and over and over again :D The hardest part for her were the two times she had to fast to prep for her surgery. That was miserable for her, even worse because the morphine also causes thirst. She was running high fever, and so she was always sweaty, and they were giving her breathing treatments every four hours to try to get her to cough up the gunk in her lungs. Needless to say, Travis and I weren't sleeping all too well, but that's ok. We were just worried about her.

So finally on Tuesday at 4:30 in the afternoon, she went into surgery. The pediatric doctor thought she was probably fine, and would do well; she wasn't improving any more, and the arm needed to be fixed so they'd just do it, and watch her overnight to make sure no problems arose. This was 48 hours after we'd brought her to the ER. She went in and the surgery went great, took less time than they expected and the arm bones cooperated and went where they should right away, without any incisions being made. They put three pins in her elbow, and covered it with padding and a splint. We went and saw her in recovery and she was bit uncooperative coming out of the anesthetic, but they gave her some Demerol and she settled down. Drugs are amazing :D Back up to pediatrics, and she was watched overnight, and slept, but already seemed better, the arm wasn't hurting her like it had been, and she was talking to us a lot more. This is her the next day, I put her gummies on her tummy since she didn't have a hand to hold the bag :D She was so much more perky!! What a relief to us.

She still had moments of being pitiful....

But at eight Wednesday night, they gave us permission to take her home!! She's laying there watching us get everything ready. She was so happy to get loose of the IV and the other moniters she was hooked up too. Ironically they transported her down to our car in the very thing that had gotten her there, a big red wagon :D

As the hurt little girl, she got to pick what she wanted to eat, she said, "Nuddets and fwies". So that's what she got, and doesn't she look so much more happy here??

Well, mostly happier :D

Um, she may have gotten a little tiny bit spoiled in the hospital, with everyone doing their best to keep her happy :D

On Friday I took her back to get her real cast on, the hard one. We chose pink so it'll go with her Easter dress :D And she got these glasses in a bucket of goodies that a couple of dear friends brought us in the hospital. She's all recovered, back to walking straight (she was pretty wobbly when she started walking again) and back to being a stinker, and figuring out how to use her cast as a lever. Amazing how fast kids recover from things like this. Three weeks and the pins and cast come off, and she's good to go, the doctor said, babies this young heal so fast!!

On an ending note, through all of this, our family and church family were so kind, and helpful, and such a blessing, and it was such a comfort knowing that hundreds of prayers were surrounding our little girl, and seeing that God just kept His hand of protection over her. I can't imagine going through life without knowing that He is taking of us, and being able to trust my kids to Him. Of course something like this, even though it wasn't super serious, just reminded me that we tend to just kind of push God to the background of our lives, reading Bible once in a while, praying when we feel like, but then something happens, and suddenly we are totally dependent on Him!! Very much like our relationships with our kids...they think they're doing just fine without us, until something bad happens, then they can't get enough of us :D I'm glad He's always so kind and patient with us, and always welcomes us with open arms.

And our families, so thankful for them, they are so ready to help and support, and take care of things for us. And our church family, came a visited and prayed with us, and brought gifts, and meals when we got back home...Can't think of a better place to be when something like this happens! Anyway, it's done, we're thankful, and now we can get back to normal for a little while! Hopefully this is the last emergency room visit for a while :D

Adios!!

Smiles, Dolls, and Tea Sets

So, the big day has come and gone, Kay Leigh's birthday. My little baby is entering her toddler-hood, officially. Let's all scream together, ready??? Mmmmm, well, she is a typical toddler, full of energy that I envy, full of curiosity, full of things she wants to say but can't :D She's saying full sentences, likes her classes at church, loves coloring with markers, and charms Daddy's heart. She also loves her big brother and often has to know that he's in the room with her to be to sleep peacefully. She watches Beka's every move, and tries to everything she does, with often disastrous results. She simply annoys Carolyn, rare are the moments when they are peacefully playing together, but I have noticed that those moments are increasing! We love her, with all her quirks and faults, and her lovable faces and sweet kisses to all of us. We've decided that we'll keep her :D

Here she is posing with the baby accessories my mom got her, she is very fond of playing mommy, I'm just sooo glad girls don't become mommies at this age, they aren't very gentle :D

Here's a picture of her looking at her new tea set, she loved this present too. She loved all of her presents of course, but she received clothes for some gifts, per my request, I was WAY more impressed with them than she. She looked briefly, tossed and went looking for more toys :D She's not quite to the age of appreciating clothing yet.

The bag's as big as she is!! In fact, we took one of the sacks later and carried her around in it :D That handsome guy in the back looks familiar too....oh yes, that's Travis! A rare glimpse....

Taking care of the baby doll that her Great Grandma gave her...

I did not make her a cake, since she really didn't care at this age. She got chocolate chip cookies and ice cream, I didn't figure you all would want a picture of that :D

Girls, Cakes, and Candles

Greg's birthday, January 26th, just noticed I blogged none of those pictures...so what's new. These first pics are of the girls though, at his party. Grandma Dean always bring each sibling a little something, which is so kind of her, and this time it was bracelets. The girls were thrilled of course. I'm not sure what Kay was doing here, it looks like she was praying, but I don't think so, unless I was peeking during prayer time and didn't know it :D

Beka showing off hers...

And yet another funny face from Carolyn, with her bracelets.

And of course, Greg had a cake, an eggless chocolate cake, no less. I have to figure out how to make stuff with no eggs (or else not eat it, which i suppose is a viable option) and food coloring is not great either, for Carolyn, so the kids are getting a lot of chocolate, or white, or just plain :D But he wanted a dinosaur cake, this is what I came up with. He seemed happy with it, and it tasted pretty good, if I can say so myself.

Present time!!! Who doesn't like that? Greg got great boy stuff, legos, a pair of safety glasses, a reachy tool, fake grenade...

A really neat and huge nerf gun...

And many other things. I'd say he liked turning 6 :D

And we didn't light anything on fire with the candles. Successful party!!

Legos, Fists, and Fans

Gregory, thanks to his daddy, has turned into an avid Lego builder and creator. This first picture is a spaceship he and his dad built together. There will be pictures in subsequent posts of more things that he's built himself using instruction manuals. He's surprisingly good at these, Very proud of him! And as you can tell by his face, he's pretty happy too :D

I threw this picture in for free, it's our dog Bogey, he's getting big, but still just as nice! The only reason he's standing still for this picture, is because he has to go outside!

An impromptu group pic, with FISTS!!

Someone got these fists for Greg a while ago, and they make noises when you punch something or someone with them. Greg loved them, and Kay Leigh finds them very entertaining as well. She was chasing Greg around with them, and he was hamming it up and acting like she was really getting him, pretty funny :D

Remember playing with fans when you were a kid?? Not the part where you stuck your finger in and nearly got it chopped off, but the part where you'd talk in it and make your voice all garbled, and where you let it blow your hair straight up...

Kay loves apples, but there's a problem, she only eats a tiny portion this way, then we have a half eaten apple laying around. So I've started cutting them up, the other kids were so thrilled to get a piece of apple with a tiny bite out of it!

And the final picture, back to the fan, using it to blow a ball across the floor.

Happy times!

Oriental, Faces, and Snow

I decided it was time to make another blog post!! Had a few pictures, although must say I haven't been taking many....been busy I guess, grabbing the camera is sometimes the last thing I think about. Too much going on, screaming tots, schooling children, dogs underfoot, snow and mud getting tracked all over :D It's all great, but time consuming! So I've been limiting (or attempting to limit) my time on the computer. That's been allowing me to get less stressed and enjoy my kiddos more! Hooray! We'll see how long it lasts :D

So first picture. Travis and I have discovered that one of the best ways to stay connected during his school semesters is to have a quiet dinner together after the kids are in bed. We get something special and easy to prepare, and reconnect while we enjoy it! It's cheaper than going out, and doesn't require a babysitter! HA! So anyway, my father-in-law gave me this really neat oriental dish set for Christmas, in my favorite color and I love the pattern. So this was our first meal using it! We used to have sushi with eggrolls, but I just found out I'm allergic to eggs, so.....no more eggrolls for this girl. We found that potstickers are a very yummy substitute! And we also have a nice little oriental teapot and teeny tea cups :D Adds up to fun!

Next two pics. Who knew how much fun kids could have with stairs?? Tons. Up and down, sliding on bellies or bumping down on their rears, or....

if you're really lucky, getting a ride on your sister's back :D

Gregory is a Lego freak!!! He loves them, and he and his dad come up with gorgeous lego creations together. Which I might add, break during use, and guess who has to figure out where those tiny little parts go?? Mmmm, yes, Me. But I'm very proud of his creative abilities, shows sign of being very much like his father, which is a good thing :D

Kay Leigh is our resident cut-up, she makes us all laugh all the time. She can also make us all cry too, but we won't dwell on that :P

She has a smile and face that melt our hearts, she's going to be the spoiled baby of the family, no doubt there!

Our snowfall of the year, it was a pretty good one, so the kids had a lot of fun with it.

Here's Beka, not sure what she's doing...

Carolyn riding her bikes on the slippery driveway, yes she did learn the hard way that it's not good to go really fast and try turning on wet cement. I did warn her, but you know how these independent types are, they've just got to find out themselves :D

Key Leigh loves her hat, and her hood, and her gloves. She's wearing the little coat I made way back for Beka, it's made it through three little girls, and I've never made another one :D Maybe someday I'll make one for a granddaughter...yikes, what a thought!

Greg wanted to make a snowfort, and proceeded to roll this huge ball, he couldn't even hardly move it :D I think they did eventually make a fort type thing, don't know if there was any snow left for snowballs...

So that's that. I'll post a couple more pics in another post!