And We Have Recovered

Whew . . . and I mean it! There was really no break once we got back home. It was a day of unpacking and laundry and then right back into life.
Tuesday we held a movie night at our house for Marlie's Girl Scout Troop. I have to say though, 8 5 and 6 year old girls is soooooo much more tame and manageable than the same amount of 3 and 4 year old kiddos!

Wednesday we spent at the park and relaxing with Daddy.  Actually, the park wasn't very relaxing.  Evan tripped and fell and instead of hitting his head he caught a ledge with the corner of his mouth and split the side open.  I freaking hate mouth injuries!!! There is waaaayyy too much blood involved and I am always immediately convinced that someone pushed a tooth back up into their head!  His cheek is now only slightly black and blue . . . but it took a few hours for the blood to totally quit flowing.

And then there was Thursday . . . oh help me. Last summer when Marlie had her cast off I stayed in the waiting room with Sam and Evan. I heard a lot of screaming but I was told that was when they pulled the pins out and popped her elbow. So Jayson told me the cast off wasn't that big of a deal in itself. WRONG!! Let me paint a picture for you . . . the saw is on the table as we walk in and Marlie lost it. The nurse says she is going to start and I explained that she was most certainly not going to start. I kindly explained that she needed to bring in another nurse, because best case scenario she wouldn't need the other nurse to hold Marlie down but then she could help me with the other 2. Well, it wasn't the best case scenario. Marlie was hysterical and holding my hand while her arm was held by 1 nurse and the cast was getting sawed by another nurse. Evan was simply clinging to my leg surprisingly not screaming. Samantha had her hands tight over her ears and had crawled under the exam table to try and get away from the noise of Marlie being hysterical and the saw.

I forgot to mention that Samantha did this before we left the house . . .

Luckily it's only slightly black and blue now as well . . . someone asked me if I just had accident prone kids . . . I don't think so, I think I just have 3 kids!  And if you're wondering, she was sitting in a chair putting on her socks and fell off and hit another chair.

We headed to the park again after the doc on Thursday . . . though on the way there I totally stopped and got everyone a milkshake and myself some caffiene.  A morning like that sometimes warrants a little chocolate before 10am!  I thought playing at the park would force Marlie to use her arm - it did not.  It took almost 3 days!!  I was sooooo close to taking her back to recast it . . . it's tough to tell sometimes if someone isn't doing something because of pain or fear.  But here is our cast collection (I would like to stop this collection now!).  And that's how much Marlie's arm grew in 10 months!

Friday was actually supposed to be spent with a quick trip to Nashville for portraits . . . but after a little debating with myself, I decided I didn't need to remember this little season of life on a canvas with one child who wouldn't bend her arm, one with an extremely large not on her forehead, and one with a black and blue cheek.  Nope - I will reschedule!  So we went to the park again for a picnic - we are trying to spend all of our time outside before the heat truly kicks in!

Saturday I led a lemonade stand for Alex's Lemonade Stand, a national foundation for childhood cancer.  I would highly recommend reading the background on this foundation started by a child who ultimately lost her battle with cancer (www.alexslemonade.org).  This weekend was their National Lemonade Days so I gathered up people from our MOMS Club and got to it.  In just 5 hours we raised $400 . . . and hopefully imparted a little bit of the idea and purpose on our kiddos.

After we broke down the stand Marlie and I headed for a little girl time with Girl Scouts.  Their troop used the rest of their cookie money to treat the girls to bow and flip flop making.  It was cute.

Then it was home to relieve Grandma who had been at the house with the kiddos since 8am!

Today was a little bit of relaxing and then a birthday party . . . followed now by some more relaxing and prepping for tomorrow.  All 3 kiddos start swim lessons in the morning . . . and one of the coolest chics I know turns 6 tomorrow!!!!!