Now What Size Am I?

This kid just cannot be convinced that it is time to start using the potty ... this little routine went on for a good five minutes.

Remembering

Our local park had a temporary 9-11 memorial installed for the 14th anniversary.  Flags were placed around the lake for each of the first responders who died that day.  I remember parts of that day so clearly, and others have been blurred from my memory.  There is no arguing though that it was a pivotal day in our history and the biggest historical moment of my generation. It's not something I've ever talked to the kids about, but having the memorial in town seemed like a good opportunity to teach them about this very sad point in our history.  They listened and had lots of questions and did their best to comprehend what I was saying.  Merrill wasn't so sure she wanted to go to the memorial, but in the end they all decided to go with me.  The girls were very interested in looking at the pictures and reading the names on each flag.  It was a very moving sight.  To make the night even more memorable, Millie was asked to "play" taps by a man who was involved with the installment.  We are living in such a tumultuous time (perhaps all times are tumultuous and we can only know the true weight of them as adults?), but we are so unbelievably lucky that the war zone that was 9-11 is not a daily life experience for us.  I suppose it's not luck at all -- it's thanks to the brave men and women who give their all to protect us.  

And Breathe

I am so very glad that the past 2 1/2 days are now behind us.  This afternoon after I dropped the girls off at school after their dental appointments I had the hugest feeling of relief.  Whew.  That.is.done.

Merrill was able to get her cast put on yesterday and the dental appointments went well today -- both girls were very brave and handled the situation with grace.  It was a long morning as the dentist got behind on schedule and we were there for 3 hours, but it was an uneventful morning.  That's all I could ask for.  Merrill is slowly coming around to her cast, though she's never going to love it and she is already tired of people asking what happened.  This one doesn't care for being in the spotlight at this point in her life.  Can't say I don't understand, but it's kind of hard to hide a big purple cast on your arm and people are curious.  Kind, but curious.  I told her soon no one will even care anymore as they will be more concerned about themselves than her.  That's a hard concept to believe when you are 6.

We're half way through our second week of school and still working to find our groove.  After school activities are slowly beginning, but we won't have our full school-year schedule until mid-September.  Of course, dance for Merrill started tonight.  She went, but wasn't sure she wanted to participate.  A sweet girl in her class coaxed her out onto the dance floor though.  She was a little more energetic than I would have liked given her cast, but I was glad she was out there. We continued with piano during the summer, so we still have that on Thursdays (another activity that is going to be difficult for Merrill), PSR starts next week for the girls and Teddy and Millie start gymnastics a few weeks into September.  Oh, and of course Teddy is doing soccer on Saturdays for a few more weeks.  But that's all ;).  I can see how by the time they are all in high school I'm going to be ready to put a ban on extracurricular activities!

For now, I'm glad they each have found things that they love to do.

A few pictures from the emotional roller coaster that has been the past couple of days...

I *thought* Merrill would be able to go to school on Tuesday -- the day after the fall -- with her splint on.  And technically she could have, but it was quite clear that she just wasn't ready for that step yet.  Not without the hard cast (plus I would have worried about her getting bumped around).  She REALLY disliked the splint and the way it looked on her.  I did pretty much everything I could to keep her calm and relaxed about it.  Like watching her morning show on my computer in my bed while eating her breakfast ...  Millie and Teddy came up to show their support.  And it turned into WAY more than one show ... sometimes you just have to break the rules.  Note that she is hiding her arm under the covers.  She didn't even want Millie and Teddy to see it. 

Eventually I was able to convince her to get out of bed and get dressed and I did my best to decorate the splint with some drawings.  We played a few games of Candy Land and that helped and a visit from her cousins perked her up even more (as did a quick visit from my mom -- who then came back later in the afternoon to watch Teddy and Rosie while I took Merrill to get her cast). 

Sometimes breaking an arm requires going out and buying a new outfit that coordinates with your new purple cast to make you feel just a little bit better.  And sometimes breaking an arm requires that EVERYONE in the family buy a new outfit that coordinates with your new purple cast so that you can all be brave about new scary things you have to conquer (like the dentist).  Yes. I did buy everyone new purple clothes (except Teddy who already had a purple shirt).  Don't judge.  

Merrill FINALLY let me take a picture of her with her cast showing after school.  It took some convincing though -- it's for posterity's sake only ;).  I think she looks cute in her retro 80's all purple outfit.  

I was also able to sneak a few at dance...

Did I mention how glad I am that this is behind us and we can concentrate on healing and smiling again?  So. Glad. 

Week Two

Annnnddd THIS is how we're starting week two of school:

I'll give you three guesses as to whose arm this is... (hint, it's not mine!)

Need some help? 

Probably not the one you expected, eh?  Merrill fell this afternoon after school, tripping over the little fence around their climbing tree (after sliding out of the tree and scraping up her other arm).  She landed on her left forearm and cracked it right in the middle.  Not a bad break, but a break.  She has this lovely splint on for now (which she does not like and let the Dr. know just how MUCH she didn't like it and that she wanted it OFF right then at the emergency room -- the Dr. actually commented that he had never seen a child fight a splint like that before because of the pain.  He was both confounded about what to do {we were both afraid she was going to rip it off the minute I let go of her} and impressed by her tolerance for pain). We will call the orthopedic Dr. in the morning to schedule getting the cast on.  They wanted to wait in case there is any swelling that needs to go down.  After a LOT of tears and screaming I was finally able to get Merrill calm enough to leave the hospital felling pretty secure that she wouldn't try to take the splint off.  A purple popsicle from the Dr. helped as well as the promise of a stop to Bread Co. for the dinner she missed.  I don't think it helped things that the after-care hotline advised us not to feed her before taking her to the emergency room (in case she needed a sedative), so she was very tired, hungry, and scared.  I am glad we went to the emergency room and not to urgent care though because everyone there was very patient with her.  She perked up quite a bit with dinner and was able to ask calm questions about the splint and the cast and what was going to happen and now she is sleeping peacefully next to me.  Hoping the pain doesn't wake her in the middle of the night (she had a dose of medicine before we headed to the hospital and once it kicked in she's been managing well). Wish us luck that getting the cast on goes better than the splint!

Oh, the girls are also scheduled to have major dental work on Wednesday... I'm really not so sure about that now.  With all this going on though, I'm grateful for several things: 1) health insurance, 2) being able to cover the dental work that insurance doesn't pay, and 3) that I don't have any baking jobs scheduled for this week! (or any other kind of job that would make it hard to take care of these kids...).  We are very lucky that things like this don't break us.  Not every family can say the same. 

One Week Down

We wrapped up our first week of school Friday night with an ice cream social at Teddy's preschool followed by dinner with friends (yeah, that's right, we had ice cream before dinner ... it was a crazy night!).  Despite the fact that the kids had been coming home tired and grumpy and all those other adjectives that describe kids (and adults) who are going through a transition, we headed out for a night of fun.  And it was a fun night until we got home at a late hour with three EXTRA tired kids ;).  It would have been easier to stay home and put everyone to bed early, but where are the happy memories in that? Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and go for it.

The girls loved reliving their preschool days

And Teddy loves LIVING his preschool days!

It turns out one of the little girls in Teddy's class has a sister in Merrill's grade at the same elementary school.  They haven't ever been in the same class, but know each other by name.  It was nice to talk to the mother and meet another family with kids at both schools.

We had too much fun hanging out with the Spiegel's to take pictures, but I snapped this one at the end of the night (probably around 10 o'clock).  Those are some worn out kids right there.  (Just missing the oldest who preferred hanging with the grown-ups). After dinner, when it got too dark to play outside, they came in to watch a movie while the grown-ups played a very dated game of Celebrity Taboo.  I have to say, spending time with grown-ups is very enjoyable! (and something we probably don't do enough).  It's nice that it can be managed now that the kids are getting older.

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet.  Teddy's Saturday morning soccer was cancelled due to rain (after we got there of course), and I headed to a baby shower for Mary Saturday afternoon, but other than that we didn't do much.  Which was a good thing.  Everyone was still working through their grumpies ...  Getting back into the school routine is rough after doing things our way for a whole summer.  Very thankful that we have a slow roll-out of after school activities and that things didn't start all at once!

{Interview with a Three-Year-Old}

• What is your favorite color? blue and orange
• What is your favorite toy? cars
• What is your favorite stuffed animal? puppy
• What is your favorite thing to sleep with? "I like to sleep with you"
• What is your favorite fruit? strawberries
• What is your favorite cereal? cher-i-lows (cheerios)
• What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? a bar (Lara bars)
• What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? noodles and carrots
• What is your favorite dessert? ice cream (chocolate)
• What is your favorite drink? milk -- almond milk and water
• What do you want to eat for your birthday dinner? pizza
• What is your favorite animal? puppy
• What is your favorite book? Stinky and Dirty (two new books)
• What is your favorite song? You are My Sunshine
• What is your favorite game? the Lowly game (a Richard Scary Game)
• What is your favorite t.v. show? Mater and Lightening McQueen (Mater's Tall Tales)
• What is your favorite movie? Cars
• What is your favorite thing to do outside? play on my bike
• Who is your best friend? Peyton
• What do you want to be when you grow up? I don't know
• What is your favorite outfit? I don't know
• What is your favorite snack? graham crackers (only at Lainie's!)
• What is your favorite holiday? Easter

They just don't make them much sweeter than this

Legos

I dropped the girls off for their first day at Lego camp this morning.  Can't wait to hear all about it!