Just Another Day In Crazy

Yesterday morning when we got up, Lexi had some battle scars that must have happened after we put the girls to bed the night before. There was no mistaken what they were either - scratches from her loving sister...right near her eye. I have no idea what we're going to do with this crazy child we have. I have no idea how she scratches because I keep Maddie's nails cut super short.

Here are a few pics of Lexi...she was particularly photogenic yesterday and not only that but cooperative, which we don't get often.

She's showing me her "owie", thus her finger is over it!

Here you can see it much better.
Even with the dirty face, I really love this pic.
Faces of Alexis
Max was even cooperative yesterday. He's looking so old - must be the kids! He's only 6.
A couple of the girls together.
I have no idea what they were laughing about but another one of my favorites.

Update from the Ortho

I have pictures that I took today but alas, no time to download from the camera and upload. I'll do that tomorrow.

I just wanted to update on my appointment. A neighbor came and stayed with the kids while Joe and I went to the orthopaedic specialist. And the news is good! No surgery! WOOHOO! The doc said that the break was nice and clean and it was still lined up perfectly. She said typically it would take about 3 weeks for the "sticky" bone to be seen on an xray so I go back on the 18th of August for a second xray and then a follow up appointment. Since I have arthritis and it's affected (or is it effected - damn I can never figure those out) my bones, mine may or may not be healing typically. Only time will tell.

The visit was pleasant except one unfortunate incident. I was sitting on a hospital bed with my left foot up on it and my right foot on the floor. Joe was sitting to my left in a chair and the doc was sitting on her little rolly chair. Behind her was a computer with my xrays up on screen and she was talking away. She picked up my foot and started feeling around a little bit. She gestured to the xray and said "And I imagine that THIS," as she firmly presses her fingers onto the area where my foot is broken, "is where it hurts..." Holy Mary Mother of God that hurt! I almost came unglued and jumped probably a foot and said quite loudly "OW!!!!!!!" In turn, Joe jumped so high off his seat, I thought the poor man was going to hit the floor. I wanted to look at this broad and ask her WTF she was thinking! MY FOOT IS BROKEN! Holy moley that was unpleasant! Joe and I discussed it afterwards and decided she had a look of amusement on her face and we pondered whether she keeps track of these things.

Doctor writes in notebook: Patient 132B - pressed fingers firmly into broken bone area. Jump reaction: 8.5 out of 10. Let's see if I can get a 9 out of the next suffering soul.

Next time maybe my foot will have to kick her in the chin when she does that.

More good news - I don't have to sleep with this enormously heavy boot on. I hadn't been sleeping with it on anyway but at least now I have it ok'd. I can also walk short distances on my heel without the boot as long as I can tolerate it. Tried it this morning, uh, no. Won't be trying it again anytime soon. She also told me that in a couple of weeks I can attempt to put on a sneaker (NO sandals or open shoe - a sneaker only) and see if I can get around with that. If I can, I can go without the boot. Again, the last thing I want is one of my precious children stomping on my foot and rebreaking it. NOT my idea of a good time. So I'll probably try and tolerate the boot as close to 6 weeks as I can.

Sooo, that's the update! Pictures to come tomorrow!!

Ever So Graceful

Anyone that knows me IRL, knows that I'm not what you'd consider graceful. I've never taken a dance class, ice skated, done gymnastics or anything else that requires balance and coordination. Walking without falling typically requires most of my brain cells, which is why you'll rarely see me chewing gum and walking simulaneously (hahaha, just joking....well, maybe not). This lack of grace started quite early on for me. I think I was around 3-4-5 years old when I tripped going into our living room (there was a 1" step up into the living room) and caught myself by putting my hand on our wood stove - that resulted in a burnt palm/fingers. And that was just the beginning...there was falling/rolling off of our deck, falling in the middle of winter on the bottom step and cracking my back across the stairs, broken fibula in high school that required surgical intervention to stabilize the break with a metal plate and 3 screws, at least one fall on our frost covered deck of the last house, the hilarious but humiliation fall while running up the stairs at MSU when I was wearing a leather trenchcoat (hands deep in my pockets with my discman turning out some Alanis) and fell in such a way that I was like a turtle on it's back - I couldn't get my hands out of my pockets because I was laying on them on the flight of stairs...oh the list could go on for a very long time. Sooooo, you may not be surprised by the photos you see below...

Please, if you cannot see the photos clearly, click on the picture and it'll open up the full size pic for you to see clearly.

Yes, that's right, my friends. I broke my stinking (hahaha) foot. Friday morning, the kids and I had plans to go with the neighbor and her kids to the beach for the day. After a week of rain, this 80+ degree morning was going to be a rockin' day. I'd spent the entire rainy week cleaning the house from top to botton and I could go to the beach and spend the entire day, GUILT FREE. So the kids were outside playing while I packed up my rig with our beach gear. I had one lone bag left in the house and we'd be off for a day of sun, sand and water. I was feeling pretty good, had a little bounce to my step (that should've tipped me off right away that something was going to happen). I bounded up the stairs a little bit quicker than I normally would have and on the 2nd to last step, I think the tip of my right shoe caught the edge of the stair and since I was travelling at warp speed (which would equal fast turtle to most of you normal folks), when I bought my left foot up and caught myself, my foot slipped off of my sandal and I felt/heard this loud POP! Followed closely behind that was the foot numbness and then the blinding pain. I walked from the doorway over to the couch and sat down. I took my sandal off and did the pain dance. Oh you know the one - where if you hurt your finger, you squeeze it tight as you rock back and forth as you hope that you cut the circulation off to your finger as to diminish the pain? Yeah, that one. I was trying to do that with my foot. Once my fogginess cleared, I took a peek at my foot expecting to see bruising, swelling, ugliness in general. Uh, nothing. Hmph. Must be ok then. I put my foot on the floor and saw stars...guess maybe it wasn't going to be alright. So now what? Ok, I need to call Joe. For some unknown reason (or maybe it was the extremely painful foot), I thought my cell phone was in the car in my cup holder. So I had Nate open the door of the Explorer (I'm yelling directions to the kids from a kitchen chair I'd managed to crawl over to by the door) and had Lexi get in and look for my phone. My heart sank when I heard her say "it's not there Momma". Crap. OH! I had a small brain fart...it was in my back pocket.

Just a little background info - Joe has been working at the main facility of the company for 2 weeks. It's end of quarter, there's TONS of stuff going on and he's been working his butt off (and still going to school 2 nights per week).

Sooo, I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Joey. The building that he was in his made of concrete and the cell service is non-existant in there. So I wasn't overly surprised that he didn't pick up. No problem, I have 2 more numbers I can try - one a direct line into the building and then also a cell phone # of the guy he was working with. Uh, got voicemail on both of those. While it wasn't my first choice, I decided to give Joe's cell number another try and leave him a message. I was completely shocked when he picked up. I was so relieved and then felt guilty that I was bothering him that I ended up crying and could barely get out words. When I finally got out a short version of what happened, he told me he'd be in the car in 10 minutes.

After I got off the phone with him, I sent a text message to my neighbor and told her I had a change of plans, that I'd hurt my foot and Joe was coming home to take me to the ER. Within just a minute or two, she was walking up the same stairs where I'd met my fate not 15 minutes before. She stayed with me until Joe got home - she watched the kids, kept me company...was a really good friend.

Joe would normally be 45 minutes away when he's at work but since he was at their main facility he was an hour and a half away so he made it home sometime around 11:30 (the fall happened at 9:30). Joe loaded the kids in the car as I slid my butt down the very stairs that did me in and then hopped on one foot to the car, which Joe had gotten within feet of the stairs.

We made the 35 minute trip to the ER, where everyone in the county had fallen, had a chainsaw accident, been run over by a car. After about 40 minutes of waiting as a family, I had Joe take the kids to the park while I waited. I finally got called back after about an hour and a half. Then it was same old, same old. Doc comes in to ask what happened. I laugh, give a quick version of what happened and then I have xrays. Doc pops his head in really quick and says "You have a broken foot. I'll be back in a bit to show you the xrays and let you know what we're going to do for it." Thankfully, once I actually got back into the consultation room, things went fairly quickly. And before I knew it, I was sporting an "ortho boot". It's stylish, a pretty shade of grey and comes with it's own freakishly long and stretchy sock.

So without further ado, some photos to help you visualize my humiliation... :)

Ah yes, the scene of the attack.

When I arrive in hell, this will be my mode of transportation.I guess I should explain a little bit more. When they gave me the ortho boot, they said that if the pain was tolerable, I could just walk out of there. I gave them that WTH look. Dude, my foot is BROKEN. But they said a lot of times, the ortho boot distributes your weight more evenly on the foot and many people don't need crutches. Uh, not me. I put weight on my foot and thought I was going down for a second time that day. So, I got the crutches. And to quote a dear friend, "Crutches are not made for fat people." And I just had to reiterate that. They are NOT made for fat people, especially ones with arthritis. Using the crutches to get from the hospital to the car and then into the house has left me with armpits and shoulders like jelly. I wonder if I could get a massage of my armpits? Hmmm, I'll have to ask my friend, Candy, she's a massage therapist.

Anyway, it became apparent quite quickly that the crutches were NOT going to work well for me. As we were pulling into the driveway, Joe says "what about a walker? Do you think that would help you get around?" I told him I wasn't sure but I'd be willing to try. As soon as we pulled into the driveway, the neighbor that sat with me earlier that day came over to see what the verdict was. After I told her, I mentioned the walker thing and she said that her MIL had a walker in their basement and I could use it.

So if it weren't bad enough that I broke my foot, I'm hobbling around like a 90 year old with a walker. But hey, it made it MUCH easier for me.

So, here's my walker. And the result of a fracture of the 5th metatarsal is the gorgeous grey ortho boot.

Me and Natey kicking back and relaxing.
So I have to keep it elevated for another day or so and put an ice pack on it every 2-3 hours for 30 minutes at a time. I have an appt on Tuesday with an orthopedic surgeon to make sure that nothing further is required (like surgery). The ER doc said it was a nice, clean break but he's not an orthopedist and wanted it looked at again.

I'm grateful that it really doesn't hurt much. After the inital couple of hours, as long as I wasn't putting any pressure on it, it was as if it weren't broken. But then I'd flex my toes and it would shoot pain towards my toes and up towards my ankle simultaneously. Then I'd remember, oh yeah, my foot's broken and there's a reason I'm wearing this extremely hot boot. I also figured out a way to walk today. As long as I keep all my weight on the heel of my foot and keep my foot at a 90 degree angle, it doesn't hurt much. I just have to go slow, which isn't all that far from typical. :)

So that was our excitement for yesterday. The doc said that I should be in the boot for about 6 weeks. And I'm hopeful that it'll be a MAX of 5 weeks. We'll see what the ortho says on Tuesday. :)

I haven't taken many pictures of the kids this week as I've been cleaning like a mad woman and just haven't taken the time to pull out the camera. I spent 3 and half hours in the playroom weeding out toys, cleaning and sorting. I moved onto the office and scraproom and spent 2 days in there - a total of at least 6-7 hours. The entire upstairs got an overhaul too. Soooo, since I finished all the cleaning, I decided to bake. :)

I had a neighbor over last night for a girls night in of mini homemade pizzas (hoping to post that recipe next week), pigs in a blanket and Toll House Pie with Haagen Daas Vanilla Bean ice cream. YUM!

Here's the recipe that I found on Bakerella's Blog :

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell

2 large eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 cup chopped pecans

Serve with ice cream (optional)

Preheat oven 325 degrees F.

Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high until foamy.
Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter.
Stir in morsels and nuts and spoon into pie shell.
Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.

NOTE: If using frozen pie shell, use deep dish style and thaw completely. Bake on baking sheet and increase baking time slightly.

My Favorite Meal of the Week:
Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork

While I don't normally post much about it, I love to cook and bake. I'm thinking about maybe posting some recipes here and there when I try something new that's a big hit.

When we went to the fair a couple of weeks ago, one of the new food vendors this year was BBQ'd pulled pork. It was the absolute best - it wasn't overly salty, had lots of flavor but wasn't too hot, etc. Since then, I've been determined to try this at home but when looking for recipes, I kept running into the "dump a bottle of your favorite bbq sauce into shredded pork". I've made it like that before and neither me or Joe really cared for it. It was too salty and way too overpowering taste wise - you couldn't even taste the pork. I finally came across a recipe that called for McCormick's Slow Cookers BBQ Pulled Pork seasoning packet. I decided to give it a try!! Here's what you want to look for in your spices/seasonings aisle:

The recipe:

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

YOU WILL NEED:

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast, well-trimmed or boneless pork loin roast
1 package McCormick® Slow Cookers BBQ Pulled Pork Seasoning
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

1. PLACE pork in slow cooker.
2. MIX Seasoning, ketchup, brown sugar and vinegar until blended. Pour over pork. Cover.
3. COOK 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH. Remove pork from slow cooker.
4. SHRED pork, using 2 forks. Return pork to slow cooker; mix and heat with sauce before serving.

Makes 10 servings.

IMPORTANT: For best results, do not remove cover during cooking.

This was the exact same seasoning that they used at the fair. And it tasted even better than the fair! I actually used a Boston Butt roast and while it worked well (just fell apart, super moist) it was a little too greasy for my taste. And since you remove the pork, shred it and return it to the drippings in the crockpot, next time I will buy a leaner cut of meat if possible.

Oh yeah, and it makes a TON! I used a roast that was a little less than 3 pounds (had a small bone and a huge hunk of fat) and we ended up with enough for dinner last night, a lunch for Joe for today and dinner for tonight for me and there was still some left over!!

Today's Artwork

brought to you by Crayola

Here's Maddie's masterpiece - she called it "daddy". You can totally see the resemblance; the hair, the goatee, the winking eye and the lopsided grin. Not sure about the inflamed foot though. :)

And Mr. Nate's work - daddy's Husqvarna (thus the big H on it) lawn mower with attached bagger filled with grass. And he added his John Hancock.
And Miss Lexi Lou's beautifully colored tractor scene. I love that she colored the pigs blue.

Nate is finally holding his crayons/pencils with the correct tripod grip (mostly). His contol has MUCH improved over the last year. And in the last 2 months, we've really noticed the girls hand control improving as well. Both girls (especially Lexi) have perfected the tripod grasp on crayons and can do pretty well staying within the lines. Maddie, who's leaning more and more towards being a lefty, sometimes has trouble deciding which hand she should use. She has better control with her left (in my opinion anyway) but there are times she's insistent upon using her right. Who am I to tell her not to? So she switches back and forth! :)

Up Your Nose!

Maddie and daddy were rough housing yesterday and she ended up with a slice right under her nose! It bled like crazy for a bit and she even had us put a bandaid on it. We've been putting Neosporin on it a couple of times a day because if it dries out, it tends to open back up. She's been a real trooper letting me put a warm cloth on it to wipe all the nasties away and put new medicine on. Here's an up your nose shot where you can see it pretty well!

A Day at the Beach

Our neighbor has been going to our little town's lake/beach religiously for the last 2 weeks because her kids are taking swimming lessons. The kids and I tagged along today and I really wish I would've tagged along 2 weeks ago! The kids and I had a GREAT time! Anyone that knows me IRL knows that I'm extremely fair skinned...as in, will burn within an hour even WITH sunscreen on. So I was completely overjoyed to see an entire section of the beach shaded and empty!! WOOHOO! I guess people actually go to the beach wanting to sit in the sun - go figure. :)

We spent a good 3 hours there and really had a blast. I was actually surprised that Nate didn't play much in the water. When we first got there, he asked if he could go in and I walked out with him and tried to tell him not to go up past his upper thighs...and I think he didn't really understand because after we walked out of the water, he wouldn't go back in. VERY unusual for him since he loves playing in the water. The girls went in a lot but with one exception, never went up past their mid/upper thighs.

Other than the shade, the best part of the beach is that there's a lifeguard on duty. I am NOT a swimmer...honestly, it wouldn't hurt my feelings to never be in the water again (outside showering, of course). It's this fear of drowning thing...I have it. And really, the reason I hadn't tagged along 2 weeks ago is this insane fear that Nate wouldn't listen to me and get in trouble in the water and then not be able to help him. So the lifeguard on duty was a big draw for me. And I shouldn't have worried anyway since Nate listened perfectly...ok, well not perfectly. He had this little issue with throwing sticks into the water.

Anyway, I know y'all want to see the pics... here ya go! :)

As usual, Nate finds a way to incorporate numbers wherever we go! The arrow is pointing to the number 10 that Nate wrote in the sand. 10 indicates the number of sand castles he built. I really need to find the boy some big ol' plastic dump trucks to take with us for next time. All we have are the original metal Tonka trucks and those are WAY too heavy to lug to the beach.

Lexi playing with a bucket!
This was the ONLY time one of my kids got wet beyond mid-thigh...and it was because she lost her balance and fell. She immediately came running out to wipe her face and arms! Silly kid! They'll eventually get the hang of this beach going!
Doesn't he look like such a big boy these days? *sniff, sniff*
Lexi
All 3 heathens enjoying a snack!
Nate loved playing in the sand!

Give A Little Love

It doesn't happen often...but it DOES happen. :)

Fair Photos 2008

Here are some pics from the fair! We ended up not going to the fireworks on Saturday so these are all from Friday night.

Joey and the gang before the rides started up. Maddie is sitting next to Joe.

The girls waving before their first ride began!
Nate picked a truck for his first ride!
Maddie checking us out on the way by!
Lexi on the merry-go-round!
Maddie on the merry-go-round!
Natey on the merry-go-round.
Ah yes, the dizzy dragons! LOVE Nate's smile on this one!
The bumblebees!

Natey riding the dragon roller coaster with Maddie!

Lexi on the left, Maddie right.
And the infamous slide that they loved! Here's Nate on the home stretch!
And Daddy and Lexi. If you click on the pic to see the larger version, you'll see Lexi's ponies are blowing backwards!
And Natey after having ice cream for dinner!
Lexi after having her ice cream dinner.
And Maddie after HER ice cream dinner!

The Fair 2008

It's once again fair time here in our small town. Last year, it was take it or leave it when it came to the rides. This year, we hoped for better...and they delivered. They LOVED the rides! And we spent 2 solid hours going between the 8 kiddie rides that our small town fair offered. The favorite of all of them? A HUGE yellow slide that you ride down on a piece of burlap. A slide? There were helicopters, Dizzy Dragons (think of an enclosed Teacup ride shaped like a dragon), motorcycles, trucks....and their favorite? A big yellow slide.

We got to the fairgrounds a bit early and the kids were planning what they wanted to ride first. Take a peek...

I have pics to post but we're headed back to the fair again tonight to see some fireworks! :)

Seems Like So Long Ago

I was going through some video clips earlier today and found these gems. It seems like oh so long ago. These were taken in April 2006...so Nate was just about to turn 3 and start at the elementary school. The girls were 17 months.

This is Maddie being silly.

Nate when we were teaching him his ABC's. It's amazing to think how far he's come since this video, 2 years ago.

Who knew pushing a plastic trash can around could be so funny? Maddie's doing the pushing and Miss Lexi is following.

And Miss Lexi doing a little dancing! Notice the dog almost being displaced off the back of the couch because she was bouncing so hard? :)

I had to edit this post because I found this video and couldn't resist posting it! This one was taken in September of 2006. Maddie's dancing cracks me up! She was the one in green.

Back To Summer School '08

Every summer since Nathaniel turned 3, he's gone to the summer program at the elementary school. One of the concerns with autistic children is regression but thankfully, Nathaniel's never experienced it. Because it's a concern for typical autistic children (there's an oxymoron for you), Nathaniel is eligible for, and goes to, the summer program...even though, I really don't think we'd see any regression if he didn't attend. Nevertheless, I love that he gets to go. He's easily bored at home unless I keep his day packed with activities and it helps break up the summer for us. He had a couple of weeks off from school and yesterday marked the beginning of the program. He goes MTW from 9:30-11am and there's only 4 kids that are in his class. The program lasts 4 weeks. Then he'll get about 5 weeks off before he starts kindergarten.

Apparently the hour and a half he spent at school, coupled with having friends over yesterday afternoon and playing in the sweltering heat and humidity, proved too much for the little guy. At 7:30pm last night, he started to fall asleep in the chair so I asked him if he was ready for bed (he typically goes to bed between 8-9pm) and to my surprise he said yes. After I got him all tucked in, I did a couple of quick things around the house and when I went back in not 5 minutes later, this is what I saw....he was already passed out.

More Outside Fun!

Joey had some computer work to do today so while he was busy with that, I took the kids outside to play in the pool for a bit. Nothing too exciting but here are a few shots...

Miss Maddie

Miss Lexi
And of course, my Natey...

And a PSA: The color of Nate's eyes has NOT been photoshopped. When I was showing Joey the pics, he asked if I enhanced the color of Nate's eyes. He was surprised when I told him no...that REALLY is Nate's eye color. The natural light outside really makes his eyes pop right out. :) Add those super long eyelashes in and he's irresistable!!