Anna's Big Owie

Miss Anna has finally had her first visit to the ER. She posed for this picture, taken shortly after returning home this morning. Her lip was still a little swollen at the time, but has since returned to it's normal shape.

So here's the story--This morning, we were running around getting ready for church. I was pushing the boys through breakfast and having them get socks and shoes on while setting out Bibles, coats, etc. Rob and Anna were upstairs getting dressed. Amidst all the chaos, one of the boys ran to me and told me Daddy needed me. I ran up the stairs to find Rob cradling Anna on the ground with her whimpering. Rob looked up and said, "Anna cut her lip falling on the bed frame. I think she needs stitches." I didn't really want a closer look, so I got a wet washcloth and then we shifted gears for an ER trip. I had to call a fellow nursery committee member to cover us for the day, then we were off.

We got the kids out the door slower than I expected due to the fact that the boys were both hysterical. They were so upset that Anna was hurt, thought she would be in the hospital for days, or even that she was going to die. We assured them that she'd be just fine and it wouldn't take too long. Anna and I sat in a chair while the boys got ready. She clutched her blanky and whimpered quite a bit, but she handled it all better than expected. She had been calling herself "Tommy" all morning and I asked her, "Did Tommy get hurt or did Anna get hurt?" She replied in a sad voice, "Anna."

After a seat switch, we were off. We thought it best that one of us sit in the back with Anna. We put Matthew in the front with me, which he found pretty cool, especially since HE could open the door and DADDY couldn't. We arrived to find the ER parking lot pretty empty and got the troops inside. Anna and Daddy checked in while I got the boys settled, then the two of them headed back for treatment. The boys and I did pretty well together in the waiting room. We read books, watched The Three Stooges, took a walk to the gift shop (which was closed) and found a vending machine. I had oodles of change, so I treated them to a candy bar. By the time we returned from our walk, they were ready for us to go back and see Anna. She was picking out a toy from the toy box and looking like she got decked in the mouth. She was pretty swollen from the stitches and still sobbing lightly.

Anna held up pretty well while both the nurse and the doctor checked her mouth. Turned out she had cut her face above her lip and the cut went pretty deep. Thankfully, it didn't go through to her mouth and her teeth were perfectly fine. Her nurse is a friend of ours from church and works in Anna's nursery, so that helped her feel a little more comfortable. They tried to "glue" her ouchie shut two or three times, but it didn't work, so they had to do stitches. Rob and two nurses were needed to hold her down, and I guess she's a pretty strong little girl, because they were all exhausted by the end. She got three shots right in the sore area, then four stitches. By the third stitch, she was arching her back and popping her legs up in anger and frustration. Rob was able to hold her once it was all done and they were cleaning up. She'll go back on Saturday to have the stitches removed.

Anna whimpered quite a bit all the way to the store to get the ointment for her mouth. We let her pick out a special snack (Princess fruit snacks) and got her a movie with several different Nick Jr cartoons (one of which is Kai-Lan.) She's been pretty okay ever since and is back to her normal activity level. She did take a three hour nap this afternoon, which was desparately needed. We have to keep the wound clean and dry until the stitches are removed, so I think we'll be eating as non-messy as possible. Should be interesting, especially since the oven died again today! But that's another story.

Thanksgiving 2010

We just got back from our whirlwind trip to visit the relatives for this Thanksgiving. I'm rather tired as I write and I'd have to say I might not remember everything that happened since I spent much of my time in a tired stupor. I haven't slept well for over a week now and sleeping in "foreign" beds doesn't help much. But we did manage to have a good time in spite of my sleepiness.

Our first stop was at the Fulkerson household. Rob got off work a little earlier on Wednesday so we could begin our journey before the bad weather hit. Our trip was pretty good and uneventful. We didn't even hit much traffic. I had purchased five Patch the Pirate CD's for an early Christmas present, so the kids had a good time listening to them. (On sale at Majesty Music right now--one of the CD's was $5 and one was free!) Mom was at home to greet us.

My brother Joel, sister Mandy and their families joined us on Thursday. We had a great spread of food. My mom was raised southern, so there is always more food than can feed a small army at family gatherings. Fine by me...lots of little tastes of all my favorites! We had a marshmallow fight in the afternoon and both of my boys agreed it was the highlight of the whole trip.

Thursday night we took off for Normal to visit Rob's family. I poured over the Black Friday ads that night and found one store that had what I wanted for Anna's Christmas present cheaper than anywhere I had found it. So, Rob and I took off at 5am to do a little shopping the next day. It was the easiest Black Friday shopping I've ever done! In and out of the store in about 20 minutes, then home to finish our shopping on-line. I took a nap afterwards, of course :)

We had a wonderful dinner with Rob's family. We all visited for a bit afterwards, then headed to his brother's house for our nephew's first birthday party. We had a fun time seeing him smear icing everywhere and get lots of great presents. Then we took the kids to Hobby Lobby to just kick around for a bit, then back to Grandpa and Grandma's. The kids and I all went to bed early that night and my sweet husband even slept on the couch in an effort to see if I could get some sleep. I woke up several times, but at least I went back to sleep easily. Anna woke up crying at one point b/c she had become uncovered, but nothing major.

We had a nice breakfast this morning then we left for home. We made a few stops here and there and got home with plenty of time to spare before the Parade of Lights. It's our favorite parade of the year! They turn the lights off downtown and all of the floats are decorated with lights. Anna was given a teddy bear and a glow necklace, they all got tons of candy, but Ben made out like a bandit. He was given a stuffed dragon, a teddy bear, a Hot Wheels car, and a glow necklace! He graciously gave his teddy bear to Matthew. Ben has gotten at least two if not three big items at each parade we go to! He's just a magnet for free stuff, I guess.

Our tree is now up, but not yet decorated. I'm too tired to direct the children yet, so we'll save that task for tomorrow afternoon. Right now Rob is bathing them and putting them to bed in preparation for a busy Sunday :)

Girls Morning Out

Today Anna and I had a little time out just for ourselves. There was a craft fair in nearby Ixonia and I decided we'd get a little "girl time" in. She's no longer in a stroller and at just the right age to understand that she's having some special time with Mommy. We took off just before nine and after missing the turn, found the little elementary school that was hosting the craft fair. The room wasn't very big, but it was jam-packed with lots of craft vendors. Anna did pretty well holding my hand as we looked at each booth. I had already decided to buy her something special and she knew it, so she looked very carefully. It is my habit to walk once around a fair/market/etc before deciding to purchase anything, so it was hard for Anna to understand that! She didn't fuss when she was told "no," thankfully.

About half-way through the fair, she needed a potty break, and then we headed back in. One thing that caught her eye was a pair of M & M earrings. We passed on that one b/c she doesn't have pierced ears yet and I personally don't care for clip-ons. We saw several vendors with doll clothes, but she wanted the "not-for-sale" dollies. Then we happened upon a booth selling bead bracelets. The girl who made them was raising money for a field trip. I had Anna look at the cheapest ones and boy, did she look. She took her time and carefully looked over each bracelet, trying on several before rejecting them. I asked her which one she liked and she said, "They're all broken!" I had to explain to Anna that they are wrap around bracelets, then she chose a pink one. And then half-way around the room she decided she didn't want it anymore! I think her cousin might enjoy it, so she has a little Christmas gift to give :) We did find some cute Care Bears in homemade bags and she picked out one she liked. Well, she actually picked out TWO but I had her settle on ONE.

Then we went to a little kids' shop where everything was priced very low. She chose a nutcracker for each of her brothers and I found a cute sign for displaying school papers. We had a really fun morning together, which she didn't want to end because she asked if we could go to another store! I had to get home and prep for a workshop, so that didn't happen, but it was a very fun time.

While we were gone, the boys worked on making bird houses in the workshop. They loved their nutcrackers from little sister. Matthew is carrying his around everywhere!

Health Update

It feels like absolutely forever since I've been to church due to sickness and injuries around here! Rob caught a cold back in October that has a lingering cough that he still hasn't gotten rid of. I think Matthew had the same thing back in August and he's over the cough now. Ben came down with it a week after our trip to Illinois, so he and I stayed home the first Sunday of the month so he wouldn't spread his germs. Since all he has left is the cough, he's been cleared to go since.

The day before he came down sick, I worked all day at a craft fair with my upline at her craft/SU booths. It was alot of fun, but I was rather the sore the following day. Since Ben was sick, I took the opportunity to stay home with him. That evening, he and I worked on getting the final summer clothes out of their drawers and the last of the winter clothes into the drawers. I then kicked/shoved the huge tub of clothes into the hallway and pulled a muscle in my leg. It wasn't until three days later that I figured out what my problem was! I thought I was still sore from the craft fair, but it was that tub that did it.

Then the day after I finally felt all healed from the injury, I came down with the head/chest cold thing. I think I'm finally over the worst of it and am just left with the cough. Anna has as of yet to show any signs of coming down with it, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

There is a silver lining to this cloud: A bunch of kids around here are coming down with a stomach bug. By keeping Ben home when I have, he's missed contact with the siblings of these children. I'm hoping our household is spared of that illness!

The Day I Got Lost

This week in language arts, Matthew had to choose from three titles and write a story. He wanted me to let all of you know that this is a made-up story. :)

The Day I Got Lost

I was walking down the street with Mom and Dad and there was a bookshop and there was a book I really, really wanted and I looked at it and looked at it and found the book I really wanted. By that time, Mom and Dad had already gone to a market to get some food and when I said, "Hey, Mom and Dad, look at the book I wanted," they weren't there. And so then I ran to try and find Mom and Dad. Then at last I found them in the market. And after we were done, I asked if we could get that book and they said yes.

When Mom and Dad found I wasn't there, they started looking through the market and saw me coming in the door, scared to death.

The End

Birthday Weekend at the Fulkersons

This is a picture of my birthday cake, made by my favorite sister, Mandy. I gave her free reign on the cake idea...all I wanted was the phrase "Cake is Awesome" somewhere on the cake. And I still have most of the head left if anyone's hungry...

Saturday night we all met up at my parent's house and had a nice dinner together. The kids played and then went to bed without a whole lot of fuss. Sunday morning we were up and ready to go to church after a yummy big breakfast. My poor dad came down with something and didn't feel too good while we were there, but we enjoyed what company we got from him :)

All three of the kids went easily and happily into their respective Sunday school classes, which is rare. Anna usually cries and Matthew usually wants to stay with us, but they did great this time. I'm glad they did go because the sermon topic was "What Would Jesus say to a Wiccan?" Very interesting and well-done sermon, but I think it might have scared Matthew a little bit. If you're interested in hearing the sermon, send me an email and I'll send you a link to the church's website.

Afterwards, we went back home and had meatloaf. I never understood when kids said they hated meatloaf when I was growing up. Obviously they have never had my mom's! It has a cheese layer in the middle and is super-yummy. My sister and her family joined us for lunch and then we spent the afternoon eating cake, playing, and visiting. The kids had a snack around 4pm, then we got them ready for trick-or-treating. Anna wore an authentic Chinese dress and we dressed her up as a Chinese princess. Ben was a fireman and poor Matthew was King Boo, a.k.a. a plain ghost. I didn't do a very good job on the costume and the poor kid kept tripping everywhere. We renamed our venture "Trip or treat" because all five the kids tripped! The four older ones tripped while going house to house and my little nephew Zach tripped coming into Grandma's afterwards. Poor guy had a big bump on his head to prove it!

The kids came home with buckets full of candy and we had a yummy pizza supper. Rob and my brother-in-law Chris made pizzas with the intent of seeing who's was best, but it was hard to decide. Mandy's family took off not too long afterwards and we put three tired kids to bed.

Ben woke up in the middle of the night having gotten sick on his bed. We think he just overate on Sunday. Poor Matthew, who was sharing his bed, jumped into mine. He was brave enough to go back to bed with Ben once everything was cleaned up and the sheets were changed. Ben woke up feeling perfectly fine the next day.

We took off Monday morning and had a decent ride home. Rob and I were so full from eating so much that we barely ate a thing before lunch. We got home and hit the ground running, doing some unpacking and grocery shopping. Little Anna was all grandma-ed out and fell asleep at 6pm that night. We had a great visit all around!

Birthday Weekend with the Litwillers

This past weekend, we went down to Illinois where I celebrated my birthday with family. We did so much that I think I'm going to separate the story into two separate posts. The above picture is of the kids at Rader's farm. The cutie in the back in pink is my niece Makenzie, beside Ben's head is nephew and new walker Zach, and my sister is carrying the next one. So, six cousins in one shot isn't too bad!

We left on Thursday morning to head down to Normal. The kids were rather well-behaved on the trip, which is good b/c I had a terrible tension headache that day. Anna cracked me up...she was so excited to go to Grandma's that she had her shoes on as soon as she woke up. Rob packed her into her carseat holding all kinds of stuff as a joke, but she didn't care. She was headed to Grandma's! The kids all had their own lunches to eat as they got hungry and Anna said she wouldn't eat hers until she arrived. She did eat some on the road, but did indeed finish the rest after arrival.

The next day, we headed out to Rader's farm. The weather was predicted to be cool, but there was no wind and lots of sun, so it was perfectly fine. The kids had a ball running around the place and exploring all of the neat things to do. Matthew's favorite was a giant jumping...thing. Can't really describe it, but it was very large and he could bounce and flip all over the place. My niece was pretty brave up there and held her own quite well. Anna would only go up if Daddy was with her. We went inside for a snack, played some more, and then headed to a hibachi grill for lunch.

The kids just loved watching the "show" at the hibachi grill. None of us had ever been to one, so it was a real treat. Anna didn't care for the fire shooting up from the grill before the cooking commenced, but I think she found it interesting otherwise. My mother-in-law got a little sneaky and told them it was my birthday, so before too long, I had a headband on complete with chopsticks. Then a few staff members came out and sang a song in Japanese while banging on a drum. They wanted me to dance with them, so I made Anna get up and dance too. She loved it and on the way home said, "I got to dance with Mommy and nobody else did!"

We had a big family party that night so that all of us could meet Davis, the newest addition to the family. He's a cute little guy and we sure enjoyed playing with him. We had a great time visiting and playing around with all of the cousins. Rob's cousin took a bunch of crazy pictures, along with some nice full-family shots.

The next morning was more low-key and I even found a few minutes to steal out and spend a gift check I had. Then we went out for my birthday lunch at Avanti's. I hadn't been there in years and I always enjoy their sandwiches. Afterwards I did my best to help Rob pack, then he dropped me off at my sister's for a cardmaking class. There were four ladies in attendance and we had a great time making some cards. Rob and the kids had already left for Pontiac so I rode to town with my mom.

I'm trying to get pictures onto Facebook, but it keeps kicking me off the internet, so hopefully they will get loaded soon. Next up, Birthday weekend with the Fulkersons.