Strong Arm

This is what happens when the doctor discovers his 6yo patient can remove her own cast:

The short arm cast wasn't working, so the doctor ordered a long arm for 3 weeks this time.  She can't twist her arm, stretch it out, and she definitely can't take this one off.  He seemed to think this would be the last cast she will need, and I hope that's the case, mainly because it was hard enough before the cast to get her to help clean up.  It's amazing that the cast prevents her from picking up after herself, but she still manages to put together fashionable ensembles such as the one above.

Casting Call Take 2

Yesterday when I picked then kids up from school, I noticed that Victoria's cast wasn't quite right. Her fingers were barely hanging out of the opening, and her thumb wasn't even visible. I asked her what happened and she said she didn't know. Then I figured it out. She had taken off her cast. Somehow she figured out how to wiggle her little arm out so she could show her friends what her arm looked like. So, I called the doctor, and they had me bring her back in for a redo. I was not very happy, but now she has a pink and purple cast to show off. The guy who wrapped it seemed to make it impossible to slip off again, even for my little 6yo Houdini.

'Twas The Night Before School

I'm exhausted, but I'm almost too excited to sleep.  I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve.  Why, in the middle of April, do I feel like this?  My kids are going back to school tomorrow.  They were out for Spring Break, and then today was a teacher work day, so they've been home for a whopping 10 days.  It's been a lot of togetherness for us all, so tomorrow will be just as good for them as it will be for me.  The one thing that concerns me is summer is a hell of a lot longer than Spring Break.  My saving grace is that I will either be in class all day Thursdays and Fridays, or I might be working full-time, depending on how things go.  Regardless I will have at least a weekly break, unlike last year, when I was ready to throw in the towel by July.  Don't get me wrong, I love my children.  I'm just not the Suzy Homemaker type that is able to be a fantabulous mom with unlimited patience and creativity, and the ability to keep a clean house while entertaining the children simultaneously.  But, I have another month and a half to prepare for that.  Until then, I will enjoy my day of solitude by indulging in chick flicks, a nap, a bath, and whatever else I can squeeze in before 2:45 p.m.

Easter

It's 9:30 a.m., and I've already been awake for 3 hours.  I blame my husband who decided to come into our bathroom at 6:45 and flip on every light he could, awakening myself and my 2 bedmates.  Surprisingly Sophie was the only on in her own bed last night; it was the older 2 bunking with me.  Vic is milking the arm thing, and Trev...I don't know what his reason was, but I was too tired to argue last night.  I'm just as exhausted today, so I see a nap in my near future.  Anyway, the big kids had to wait about an hour for Sophie to wake up, and then we gave them their baskets.  The Easter Bunny was super generous this year, and everyone got an Ipod Shuffle.  She knew how annoyed I was fighting with all of them over my own Ipod, so she decided to get them each one, even the baby, despite Mr. Easter Bunny's protests.

Last night we did a night time Easter egg hunt, an idea I got from Pinterest, natch.  It was super awesome, and I think I enjoyed it just as much as the kids did, because it was so pretty.  Oh, and I must say that it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to put those little glow bracelets inside the eggs, but the hubs was quite helpful with that.  The key is to tie them in knots.  I also taped the eggs, so they wouldn't bust open, and you must get JUMBO eggs, not the bitty ones.

I think it's been a pretty good Easter so far, especially considering at this time last year, the big kids had already been banned from the egg hunt, and everyone pouted for the rest of the day,  It's still early, though.

 The girls planted "magic" jellybeans yesterday.

This is what grew from the magic jellybeans.

Look Ma! No hands!

We're now 3 for 3 with kids that have been in casts. It seems Victoria's guardian angel was taking a break when she decided to show off by swinging with no hands. She lost her balance and ended up backflipping into the dirt face first. At first I thought that was the worst part until she started complaining about her left wrist. She continued to cry non-stop which is very unlike the tough girl I know. Then I looked down and noticed the swelling. It was slight but visible. I made a makeshift splint with a towel and took her to the orthopedic doctor who thankfully has an after hours clinic. After about 3 hours, my tough little nugget left with a pretty pink cast. She had broken, not one, but both bones in her wrist because if you're going to do something you should go all in. She was the ideal patient as usual. I'm thankful to have one child that is. She's very excited about showing her friends and having them sign it, but I predict the novelty will wear off quickly since it is her dominant hand, and she's already having trouble with day-to-day tasks. Luckily we're looking at 4 weeks at the most, so we'll have to give her a handicap during the egg hunt.

*The first pic I took was of her in the waiting room at the ortho doc. You can see my pathetic attempt at a splint. Anyway please know she posed like that on purpose to look pathetic. I know this because she told me.

Big Plans, Little Follow Through

I always want to mess with my kids every year, but usually the day sneaks up on me, and I forget.  For once, I pre-planned, and I had big plans this year.  I was going to draw on their faces in the middle of the night, scare them, spray them with silly string, and cook them an April Fools' themed dinner.  Well, I accomplished one goal.  I cooked them a reverse dinner. It looks like a pimento cheese sandwich with mixed veggies and a cupcake, but it's really sliced pound cake with  tinted icing, orange and yellow Starbursts and a green Fruit Rollup, and meatloaf cupcakes topped with pink mashed potatoes.  I actually surprised them, mostly because every time they set foot near the kitchen, I screamed at them to leave.  In my defense, if I hadn't, they would have been under my feet with 20 questions about dinner, and they would have ruined the only thing I actually accomplished today.

This is supposed to look like a grilled cheese sandwich, but I put too much red food coloring in the icing, so it looks more like pimento cheese.  Let's pretend I meant to do that.

Meatloaf Cupcakes before and after Icing.  I could have piped it, but who am I kidding?

 The complete meal.  Looks a little sloppy because the icing melted a little- much like a real grilled cheese.

This is when they were trying to figure it all out.  The big kids actually loved it.  The youngest couldn't get past the mashed potato icing and just kept whining, "I don't like it!"

I got my ideas from this site.  Go there if you want to see how my food should have looked.  I've already explained my artistic challenges, right?