family art time

summer fruit

We're on our last big bag of frozen strawberries from the ones we picked last summer. (And they're starting to get a little frosty.) Our blueberries, blackberries and peaches are all just about gone. I'm so glad fruit picking season is just around the corner. Can't wait!

casted

Well, our son has his cast. I haven't actually seen him yet. Braden just emailed me this picture of him from his iphone, and I expect them to be home within the next 30 minutes. But here he is! Caleb told me he wanted a black cast, and it looks like that's what he got. Let's hope it's super protective. Despite Braden and I both watching Caleb like a hawk, he has managed to fall on his arm almost every day since he broke it. I just keep praying we survive this time and his arm heals properly! :)

I'm sure you've noticed...

...yes, we have given Caleb a much needed hair cut.

home surgery

We had to do our own little home surgery the next morning--cut off Caleb's shirt. There was no way that skinny sleeve was going to fit over that fat splint! At least the surgically removed shirt was a very loved shirt (read: overworn, too small, ratty and stained).

er #2

Caleb took a minor tumble off the little landscaping border in our front yard yesterday morning. His arm looked fine--no bruising, no swelling, no marks, maybe a hint of a bump--but over the next few hours, he cried on and off, favored his arm, refused ice cream at lunch, bawled for his daddy, took a nap and woke up crying. All very unlike Caleb. So we finally decided to take him to the ER.

As I was literally grabbing the last two items I needed, my friend Maria showed up at my front door with flowers and a note. Of all people, SHE would be the one to 'happen' to show up at my front door as I am preparing to leave for the ER. She said I'd been on her heart and she was praying for me. This happens with her all the time! She's such an example of being sensitive to the Spirit, ever listening to the Lord.The kids and I met up with Braden at the ER. When I explained to the doctor what happened, he somewhat confidently said, "Well, it's always good to get it checked out so you can be sure, but it's probably just a contusion,"...only to return a few minutes later after looking at the x-rays to inform us that, no it was not a simple contusion, but Caleb had broken his arm in 2 places, on the edges of each bone in his forearm. Nothing severe, but 2 small breaks nonetheless. The doctor said Caleb probably put out his arm to stop his fall and the bone buckled under the force of the fall. Caleb's story from the beginning has been that he fell on one of the tree roots in the yard.
Caleb did awesome the whole time. With the help of a little heavy-duty pain killer and a popsicle, he just laid back, crossed his legs and chilled while his arm was splinted. He even got a little loopy at one point. :)I am learning something about our daughter. When something serious occurs, Madeleine is focused, helpful, patient, caring, responsible, quiet, attentive, perceptive and takes the initiative to perform needed tasks without being asked. She's such an unfocused silly, sweet scatterbrain so much of the time, it's quite remarkable how she intuitively knows what to do in a serious situation like this and focuses in. Maybe she will follow her 5 year old heart and be Nurse Nancy, after all. (With all the nurses in our family, I wouldn't be surprised!)After getting re-splinted (because the first splint wasn't long enough), we finally left the hospital with a prescription in hand and super hungry, as it was past dinnertime. We dropped off the prescription at the pharmacy next to Chick-Fil-A, and went there as a special treat for dinner. Caleb is doing well. The splint seems to have alleviated a lot of the pain for him. Just keeping it still and straight I guess. Monday we'll see an orthopedic and get a cast.
So there you have it, Caleb's gotten stitches and broken a bone. But I have to say, he's not a crazy kid. Both just kind of flukey accidents.

bambi

I peeked out the back slider watching Caleb playing Bambi. In the first pic, note the big antlers (Bambi) and the pathetic antlers (The Bad Deer--all his antlers are broken because he fought Bambi).

maps

The other night, right before bedtime, Garrick called. He had acquired some used maps and a globe and wanted to bring them by for the kids. The globe has a light bulb in it and is now Caleb's nightlight in his room--so cool! The world shines as he goes to sleep.

The large maps grabbed Maddie's interest. She's always loved maps. We've looked at the US map so far, pointing out where we live, the states where other family members live, our journey down to the beach last summer, all the states Mommy's been to, capital cities, and so on. Lots of learning and lots of fun!

ps--Note Maddie's personal hair fix failure. :) She's a funny one!

bobe-ism

tuh-ETT-toh: a.k.a. connector a.k.a. the coupler that holds train cars together.

that's some hair!

Caleb can get some awesome morning bedhead......especially when his hair gets too long (which is pretty much all the time).

However, as far as crazy hair goes, I don't think he'll ever top this little fellow's hair.

spaghetti squash

It's never been something I have enjoyed eating. I've seen recipes where you serve it like spaghetti, but come on, it's so not spaghetti. However, one spaghetti squash arrived in my local vegetable co-op bag. It sat in the fridge for a while, and finally I said to my mom--I've got to cook the thing, can I just steam it? Yes. Halve it, put it in a pot with some water, cover and steam for roughly 30 minutes. (Much better than roasting it, by the way.) That was step one. It then sat in the fridge for 2 more days.

Step two: now what do I do with it? Well, I had an inspired moment. I scooped it out of the skin, put it in a pot to warm with a healthy glug of cream, some garlic powder, salt, pepper & a generous sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Oh yum! It was actually quite good.

spring is here

Happy picnicking!

caleb playing candy land

"I am skatebowding to dere," as he slides his piece to his next spot.
"Smash! Smash!" as he hits my piece as he goes by.

he writes!

I wanted each of the kids to make a card for my dad, celebrating his (2nd) retirement.
I told Caleb I wanted him to draw a picture and then he could tell me some words and I would write them for him.

"How do you spell FaFa?"
"F-A-F-A."
Pointing at the letters on the fridge, "Which wettuh is the F?"
I showed him.
He ran off and came back about 2 minutes later with his picture.
I was so proud of him!
Good job, Bobe!
This is the first word Caleb has written.
(And the 14,759th fish with sharp teeth.)

dancing

The other night after dinner, Maddie and Caleb began dancing to the music that was playing, all directed by Miss Madeleine. It was one of those times when once Braden and I realized what was happening, Braden quietly went and got the video camera and I quietly went and got the nikon, and we both quietly watched. It was hilarious! Maddie was trying to bring what she saw of pairs ice skating during the Olympics to the dance floor. Hold up! I missed that face.

Oh the beauty of my dance!

my growing greenhouse

In just about 2 weeks, I'm going to be able to plant some of my first seeds outside, and 2 weeks after that, a few of my cold weather seedlings will be planted in my garden. I'm so excited!

So far planted: nasturtium, marigolds, 9 different herbs, green onions, escarole, peppers and lettuces. For this weekend: tomatoes, fennel and more green onions.

ireland, part four

Castle Completion.
Maddie has embellished her sugar cube castle! She painted it brown and added grass and a moat. We're hoping to get a flag on top in time for our St. Patrick's Day Family Finale on Monday.
(Ireland, part one.)
(Ireland, part two.)
(Ireland, part three.)

what a cute pudgy boy we have!

I know I posted this picture of Caleb before, but I just had to post it again. It's gotta be one of my favorites. :)

trains, animals...and caleb

I was making my bed, Caleb came in pushing his small trains on the floor.
"Shhh, Mommy. The trains are being very quiet."
"Oh, well I will tip-toe around and be very quiet while I finish making the bed."
Long pause...thinking.
"Mommy, you don't haff to be quiet. You are not in dis story. Onwy the twains are."

Typical Caleb these days...

"Caleb, it time to wash your hands for lunch."
"Mommy, baby rabbit."
"Oh, okay. Baby rabbit, it's time to wash your hands for lunch."
"Yes, Mommy."

"Caleb, are you still hungry?"
"Mommy, I pwetending to be a baby jagwah who is bwack."
"Ohhh, okay. Baby Jaguar, are you still--?"
"Mommy, not Baby Jagwah. AAA baby jagwah who is BWACK."
(Not to be confused with Baby Jagwah.)
"Ohhh. AAA baby jagwah who is black, are you still hungry?"
"No."
And then Braden and I just started having a little fun with him, asking 'a baby jaguar who is black' all kinds of questions.

If Caleb is not Robin Hood or Diego, he spends much of the day as a baby t-rex, baby rabbit, baby jaguar, baby squirrel, baby whatever...why always a baby I don't know.

field trip!

We went on a field trip to the nursery! (That's really code for: 'we ran errands the other day,' but shhhh! don't tell the kids.) Going on errands with me is a bit novel for M & C, as my mom normally watches them for me while I run errands.

I really did want to take them to the nursery, as Maddie is helping me plants seeds as a part of school and we needed to buy a few supplies...It's just that we had to go 3 other places before we could get there. Not wanting to lose the kids' interest and happy spirits, I created a list for each of them: picture & place. Once we completed an errand and got back to the car, they each got to scratch that place off their list with my "special" green pen.

You know, it really helped keep them occupied. They carried their lists into each place, they told me where we were going next, they happily scratched items off, and they had a great time at the nursery. I'm filing this idea away to use again, it's a keeper!

* happy 21st to tarrah *

Thursday we went over to Braden's parents' house to celebrate Tarrah's 21st birthday. Hard to believe she was just a little, brand new teenybopper when I first met her! Now she is a sweet young lady.

We had two cakes, yum! Carrot cake and tres leches, which happens to be a cake I've been wanting to try for some time now. Muy bien, folks! (Now you go try it some time.)

After gifts, we put the kids to bed, then played a game. And while we played our game Co-Co stank it up for us. Good grief, what did that dog eat?!! (And I was blaming my kids during dinner. For shame!)

It was a memory for sure, and we had a good laugh about it!

and a good mornin' to you...

...from Maid Marion and Robin Hood.

flowers from bray

buckwheat hulls

Braden and I have long been wanting some new pillows. We've looked several times at pillows but have been unsure of what we want and hesitant to spend the big bucks for quality pillows. But then I read about buckwheat hulls......and 20lbs of hulls (and about $35) later, Braden and I now have buckwheat pillows on our bed. I simply filled two zippered pillowcases with the hulls until the pillows felt comfy to me. That first night I fell in love with my pillow! I don't think I'll ever go back to normal pillows again.

(Beyond being super comfy, buckwheat pillows are hypoallergenic, naturally dust-mite retardant, compostable, and buckwheat is grown without pesticides. The hulls can be refreshed simply by pouring them out of the pillowcase and into a tray and letting them sit in the sun for a couple of hours.)