Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Please dont call Childrens Services!!!

I use to work with a very funny woman who had grown kids. She would laugh at me when i would talk about the kids and the latest crazy thing they had done, or talk of the struggles of having little ones. As most Mother's who are on the other side of raising kids, she had alot of great advice and wisdom and alot of funny stories. She once told me that when her kids were little she'd joke that they'd written the number for Children Services in Crayon on their bed room wall! Every time I start to feel guilty about something I feel like I did wrong or fudged with the kids, I remember that story.
Spring has finally arrived in Ohio and it's been just beautiful here. The warm weather and sunshine has had us outside playing every chance we get. As many of you know, Alex is a typical 9 year old boy with and extra serving of daredevil mixed in! He climbs and jumps and flips off everything. Yesterday we were out playing and he did a kamikaze type jump off a wooden picnic bench but it rolled just as he was jumping and he fell back and caught himself on his arm. I knew that it hurt, but just figured we'd ice it take some Tylenol and just give it some rest. but then tonight at dinner he was still complaining that it hurt so i figured we should head over to urgent care and have them take a look at it and sure enough..... BROKEN..... The x-ray shows a buckle fracture of the distal end of the radius.
When they walked back in and said Yep it's broken, my heart sank...the poor kid had been walking around for 24 hours with a broken arm, and I had thought he was just being dramatic or trying to ham it up for a little extra attention.... oops.... my eyes filled with tears and I told that I was so sorry, and he in all of his 9 year old wisdom and compassion said "don't worry Mom you didn't know, it doesn't hurt THAT bad".... which made me feel better until I realized that he was doing the comforting when i should be comforting him! (Another pang of guilt) but he was a trooper when he put the cast on and for now thinks it's kind of cool. it's a flag cast but the lady put glow in the dark stuff on first so the stars and stripes glow!!! Pretty fancy!
We of course had to come home and make some phone calls to the family to let them know that his 9 year lucky streak had come to an end... I'm actually amazed he made it 9 years with NO broken bones... so now he's had stitches (3 last summer) and 1 broken arm... I'd be fine with that being it!!! On the way out the security guard behind the desk said something to Alex and when he was struggling to tell the guy what happened I was thinking in my head what Alex was struggling to say and so I said "I did it last night... and then I said I mean HE did it last night.... and then I thought OH crap now they are gonna think that I broke his arm ... they're gonna call Children's services... but then i smiled took a deep breath and remembered....
The number is already written on the wall in crayon.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Happy 10th birthday Skye!

I'm stealing this idea from one of my friends, but it's a good one. I'm going to try and remember to celebrate each of my family members on/near their birthdays by doing a blog about them and why they are so awesome.
I thinks it's very fitting that the one to kick this blog-love-fest off is my niece Skye! This lovely young lady just turned 10 years old a few days ago. She is a RIOT!!!
My favorite story to date about is Skye is this; In kindergarten when a little boy in her class professed his affections for her she got mad and yelled at him.... a few weeks later when he tried to kiss her she got mad... pushed him down, kicked him in the side and screamed at him that if he ever did that again she'd kill him. OK so I'm not saying violence is a good thing... but come on.... that's just funny stuff right there! If she's spit on his neck then it'd be worthy of a movie. I think that story will resurface a time of two when she starts dating!!!
Skye has incredible BLUE eyes and her hair has ALWAYS looked like it needs to be brushed, even WHILE your brushing it! She's a very smart girl and has a surprisingly mature insight into many things. For our wedding she signed our picture frame "don't let fights get you down, have a great marriage" even at 10 she knows it's not about the wedding, it's about the marriage and how you deal with the bumps in the road. I love this girl and can't believe this is the same chubby cheeked pacifier having little girl that mopped up my sister's kitchen floor with oil from the "fry Daddy" .... I told you this girl is a riot!
Happy Birthday Skye Marriah

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Crocus not just signs of spring anymore...

Yesterday I noticed that the crocus had finally popped up infront of Ben & Danielle's old house. I thought about taking a picture and e-mailing it to them. But as it turns out they were a little busy, Having a baby! Now every time I see purple crocus bloom it'll remind me of the day Little Marian was born! Our dear friends The Gibbs welcomed there third little girl into the world late last night.
Marian made her entrance swiftly, they'd only been at the hospital for 45 minutes when she arrived. and though we've been referring to her as "The Little Lady" in our house, little she is NOT! At 9 pounds 11 oz. and 21 inches! She's the size of a 2 month old! :) I just can't imagine little Danielle waddling around the last few weeks carrying a 9 1/2 pound baby!

Both Danielle and Marian are doing well. I can't wait to hear all about Abbey & Amelia's reaction to her and stories of how helpful they'll be in the weeks/months ahead!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIAN!!!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Just being nice!

The Winter Blah's..... if you've ever lived in the Midwest, in particular Ohio, you know ALL about the Winter Blah's..... you go weeks at a time without sunlight.... the cold.... the dreary gray sky...even the snow turns gray. We were in full on Winter Blah mode for the last few weeks. It was everywhere and Everyone had them. Then suddenly last Tuesday there was a break in the clouds and out came the most glorious ray of sun shine. It was heavenly and the snow started to melt people started to smile.
I think it's no coincidence that last Tuesday a wonderful lady I've come to know at Alex's school did something so nice for the students and teachers at Westgate. She too had noticed the winter blah's had hit and so she went and bought 40 bright yellow smiley face balloons and had us take them around to every classroom. The kids loved it, the teacher's loved it, and how can you not have a smile on your face when your walking around this an obscene number of Giant yellow balloons!
I came home from that and put the following on my Face book status
"I love it when someone surprises me by being completely nice for no other reason that to BE NICE.... what a refreshing way to start the day! "

It sparked quite a few comments, and brought back a great memory from my little brother about my step-mom
Always think of nice things you can do for other people without asking
I hadn't realized that this too was something I'd inherited from my step-mom, but I love to do little things for people and surprise them. I use to joke that I don't do it for the other person, I do it for me. I love how it makes me feel. To drop off a loaf of banana bread, to bring up the recycling containers for a neighbor, too surprise a little friend of the kids with a little treat.... It's an awesome feeling. And I try to do it at home too, like leaving a little love note on the mirror for Theo to find, tucking a joke in Alex's lunch box, making the frosting PINK for Leah or bringing home a Lighting McQueen cup for Ethan. I love seeing their face, or hearing them chuckle... it just makes ME so HAPPY that I'm making someone else happy! Most of the time it doesn't cost me a thing, and it's not usually something i plan out... I just love it when the opportunity presents itself that I can make someone Else's day a little nicer....you just have to remember to looks for those chances.
So for the first time in Blog history... I'm giving you all an assignment.... you have to do 5 nice things today for your family/friends or complete strangers. They don't have to be HUGE... they don't have to cost... just surprise someone and make them smile... and report back to me... I can't wait to hear the stories!