Not the weekend we hoped to have...

I swear this was the week that simply would not end!!!! You all know about the sick toddler and the broken arm.  And by now I'm sure most of the world has heard my ranting about the teenage girl on her cell phone who ran a red light and totaled my husband's truck.  We're very fortunate that he & Parker weren't seriously hurt.  They both have bumps and bruises and Trav's had a mild concussion, but it could have been a lot worse.

 We can't say for sure yet that the truck is totaled, but just by adding up the exterior damage (which includes a bent and cracked frame) it seems like it might be more money to fix it than it's worth.  And of course that's before we even consider the damage to the electrical system.  Still I suppose once the insurance adjustors have their say we'll know more.

 So that was Saturday morning.  And of course that changed our weekend plans.  Instead of going to the cabin and going fishing, we all stayed home all weekend.  Probably a good thing too, between the stress of everything I was feeling pretty zapped and of course Travis and Parker just needed to rest.  We did have a small dinner Saturday night to celebrate Nana's birthday, but that was as exciting as the rest of the weekend got.

It wasn't a total loss though.  Today we went out for burgers at Red Robin and then started planting our garden.  I can't tell you how thrilled my kids were to help out with that!

I can't help but pause with today being Memorial Day and just be thankful.  For the men and women who gave their lives so that I can enjoy the freedoms to celebrate with my family.  But I'm also so thankful this weekend that I still have half my family to celebrate with.  Because really, that accident could have had such a different outcome.  I have a lot of faith that God's Hands played a big part in keeping them safe. And I'm so thankful for that!

Fearless

I've always said that Gideon is just a little bit too much like his Uncle Cody for my comfort.  Don't get me wrong, I love my baby brother.  He's one of the very best men I know.  But he's also one of the most injury and accident prone.  I think it comes from being fearless.  He never stops or slows down because he's not scared of anything.  And quite often this lands him in a cast or a brace or with stitches or something.  In a way I guess it's good to be fearless.  You're not afraid to speak out and stand up for what you believe.  But to a mother, it's also terrifying.  We've learned after 4 years that Gideon is a pretty fearless kid.  I mean, that's why he has no front teeth.  He smacked his face the same way, in the same spot on the same piece of furniture twice within two weeks while trying out some "tricks."  He gets pounded by the surf while body boarding and still we can't keep him out of the waves when we're at the beach.  I guess some kids just have to learn the hard way.  Earlier this week he stuck his finger in the cigarette lighter of grandpa's truck and got a pretty severe burn.  But guess what, he'll never do that again.

So yesterday while I was babysitting, Gideon was running around upstairs with the neighbor kid and I knew they were running and jumping and being wild.  Actually they had plastic daggers and hooks and were playing "Pirates."  Anyway I heard the crash and I heard the scream and I knew it was bad.  Before he even reached me holding his right arm and screaming that he couldn't move it, I knew it would need x-rays.  Just the way he carried it and the way it swelled made it very obvious that this wasn't just a bump.  So after icing it, and giving him some tylenol we went to the dr and got some x-rays.  Sure enough he broke both bones in his right arm just above the wrist.  The good news is though, that it ws a stable break so it wasn't displaced or anything.  The Dr. said they usually have an orthopaedic surgeon set it and cast it and by the time we got through with x-rays it was nearly 5:00 so no one could see us yesterday.  Besides it's a good idea to wait a day or two and let the swelling go down a bit before they put on a cast on it.  So after trying to keep him from moving it as much as possible last night and this morning, we finally went to see the orthopaedic who put a cast on it for us.

 Normally he said he would just put a splint on it for a few days and let the swelling go down before putting a cast on it, but since we're going into a holiday weekend and because we had a hard time keeping it still to begin with he went ahead and decided to do a cast. 

 He made another interesting observation after seeing Gideon's other bumps and bruises.  He said that 90% of injuries and accidents seem to happen to 10% of the people.  I actually believe that because of Cody. According to the Dr. it looks like Gideon is in that 10%.  It's only a nightmare for me as his mother!  Gideon seems to think it's pretty cool to have a cast.  He's already learned that it's hard and can be used as a weapon. I don't know if my furniture or my sanity will survive this, but we'll have to try I suppose.

I hope and pray he maybe learns to slow down and be a little less rambunctious.  But if I've learned anything by Cody's history it's that this is only the beginning of a life full of bumps, bruises, casts, stitches & concussions.  Because if it doesn't kill you, it means you need to get up and try it again.

A lot like SUMMER!!!!!

I can't even explain how much we've been loving the unseasonably warm spring this year!  I think my kids would live outside if I'd let them.  As it is they're only inside to sleep usually.  And even dragging them in at bedtime causes much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 We got our garden spot tilled and fertilized.  We're planning to plant in a week or two. In the meantime the kids enjoy playing in it.  That's Morrison with Gideon.  He lives two houses down and he and Gideon have become great friends this past few weeks.  Nearly everyday, Gideon's outside at 11:00 waiting for Morrison to get off the bus from kindergarten.  Then they play until bedtime.

 We've also been to our other dear friends' house to play in their splash pool.    That's been great fun!

 Camden, Emily, Gideon & Parker. 

 We've also broken out the slip & slide at our house a few times, so that's been really fun and usually attracts most of the neighborhood kids.

 Batman & Ironman aka Gideon & Morrison.  They spent two straight days in those costumes!

 And of course we're still loving having Tyree  a few days a week. I thought I was pretty clever getting them matching outfits!  Aren't they just darling!

Other than that, the only news is that I've been running a lot of races and have some big ones coming up that I'm really excited about.  I was supposed to be starting school next week and had registered for two classes, but then found out that one of them was cancelled for the summer due to low enrollment, so now it looks like I won't be starting until the fall.  Oh well.  I guess if that's how it's supposed to be...

Someday I'll have to Explain...

I knew the question was coming.  And I was dreading it.  Well not exactly dreading it, just not sure how I was going to handle it. 

It's my own fault really.  When I made the family calendar for this year I put in photos of several of my sisters who were pregnant last year.  (They were the most recent pictures I had of them at the time.)  So when I flipped over to May a few days ago and there's Cami 38 weeks pregnant with Gage (and looking gorgeous I might add) Gideon instantly recognized "Aunt Mimi with Baby Gage in her tummy." 

And that started the conversation I'd been anticipating his entire young life.  First it was about Tyree being in Aunt Jesse's tummy.  He wanted to know how she got there "Heavenly Father put her there." Then he wanted to know how He did that.  "He just did." After answering that same question the same way at least 4 dozen times he wanted to know how she came out, "They went to the hospital and the Dr. took her out." Then he wanted to know how that happened, "Because the Dr. knows how."  Again he got stuck on that and it took him asking and me giving the same answer about 40 times before he was ready to move on. And then he wanted to know who's tummy I was in. "Grandma Cindy.  You know she's my mommy."  And from that he figured out all on his own that daddy used to be in Nana's tummy.  (Which of course he made a point of telling her last time we were over at their house.  Just in case she didn't know already. I thought my mother-in-law was going to fall over she was so surprised.)

And then came the inevitable, "Mommy, who's tummy was I in?"  I took a deep breath and said the name of his birth mother.  His confused expression said it all, "Why I in her tummy?" He asked.  I tried to keep it simple, "Mommy's tummy was broken.  But Heavenly Father wanted you to come to our family, so He put you in her tummy and she brought you to us." 

The "Why's" and "How's" continued for another 20 minutes until I was absolutely exhausted with answering the same questions over and over again, but I tried not to get frustrated with him.  That's what 4 year olds do.  Ask question ad nauseum. About everything!

And this was an important conversation.  See I want my kids to understand how special they are.  How much they were loved by their birth family.  They need to understand that they weren't "given up" or "given away."  They need to know that they aren't "Mistakes" or "Accidents."  Perhaps they didn't come to us in a traditional way, but I firmly believe that God always intended for these two kids to come to us. (I still maintain that it wouldn't have mattered if they were ours biologically or not, these were the two kids we were going to get regardless.  I know that with every fibre of my being.)

But how do you explain all of that to a 4 year old? 

You don't.

All you can say is what I said to Gideon, "Heavenly Father loves you so much.  And He knew that you needed to be in our family so He found a way to get you here.  And daddy and I are so happy to have you!"

Someday I'm sure I'll have to answer the tough questions about the how's and the why's.  And if anyone has any suggestions about how best to cover those subjects, please let me know.  In the meantime, I only hope that my children understand how very much they're loved. Families are forever.  Regardless of DNA or who's tummy they came in.