Yup...

...broken.

A prefect 3 for 3

Because in the Petersen House, Sydney, wishes really do come true! (see blog post Jan 13 "No bunk-beds were harmed")

Technically it's not a perfect 3 for 3 since we don't know if she actually broke it or not.  Syd Vicious fell off her scooter and when she came home she had a visible physical deformation above her elbow...yet the x-rays were negative for a fracture.  We go back in tomorrow to re-image and see if there are any signs of bone healing and that will tell us if it broke or not.  We will then go from there.  Not sure if that's where our kids are taken out of our custody or not...

"It's been awhile"

I'm sure all of you "Stained" fans would agree that although an "exciting" story, it's time to move on to other facets of our mundane lives.

Cammer got her cast off the day before Aaron and I left for our New Orleans trip, making it much easier for my mom to keep her clean while we were gone.  As you can see, she's pretty happy about the event.

The next morning Aaron and I caught one of the three flights leaving Rapid City that day and flew to New Orleans where we then rented a car and drove to Houston to visit Aaron's brother, his wife and new baby. Why not fly to Houston?  We were going to New Orleans for an Air Force work thing and they paid for the ticket to New Orleans.

Being our first time in Houston we did all the touristy things like go to the Alligator park

visit Galvaston (by ferry where we saw dolphins swim) and view the carnage left by Hurricane Ike

and visit the beach on the Gulf of Mexico where Nathan was really excited to take a picture while wearing his mom's old sun glasses

and also where we received a call from my mom watching the kids that our newly out-of-the-shop van was dead at preschool and she couldn't get it started to get the carpool at the elementary school and, of course, it was snowing on them as they tried to jump the car.  That led to an hour long phone tag with neighbors, tow-trucks and good citizens to get the kids picked up, our van back in the shop, and my mom to the airport to pick up Aaron's car we left at the airport.  Just another relaxing vacation!!

After a few days in Houston we then headed back to New Orleans where Aaron had his USAFP Conference and I attended classes with him.  I now know everything there is to know about Vitamin D deficiency vs Vitamin D insuffuceny (and yes there is a difference), and I also know a lot about Regional Pain Syndrome as pertains to children of deployed spouses/parents.

This is our group of friends at the Lafeyette cemetery right before we got ripped off by the cemetery caretaker and or grave robber.  He sat and told us all about the cemetery and then said that the cemetery collected donations from visitors for upkeep, but then said we just needed to give the money to him.  You can decide where the money actually went.

 There were many beautiful areas that we got to see and enjoy.  It was great to be able to see these very old sections of the United States.  One great thing about New Orleans is that you get that "old world" feel in our very young country.

Here's me by the Mississippi River and the Steamboat where we had a creole dinner our last night

Here's Aaron and I on Bourbon Street (before 10 because we weren't there for boob-fest so much as for the experience - although we came to realize that any time on Bourbon St is boob-fest time)

And here's the view of our room on the 40th floor and the Carnival Cruise ship (that we weren't on) passing by

It was a great vacation, minus me getting food poisoning the last day there (no the vomiting was not from the contact buzz from Bourbon Street).  Special thanks to mom for allowing this adventure.

One for the 2010 DUI tally

I'm just going to assume that everyone I know knows that I have diabetes.  If you don't, NOW you do.  I "manage" it with an insulin pump although some days, like Tuesday, it manages me.

Every once in awhile my blood sugar drops.  My lips go numb, I get tired, my hands get shaky and really cranky (or any combination of those).  That's on a good day.  Sometimes it drops too fast and I don't recognize the signs until it's too late and I'm really low.  When I get really low you can say that I get "drunk".  I get disoriented, VERY confused, and on rare occasions I don't know where I am.  The biggest problem is that when I get that low, I don't have the capacity to recognize how bad off I am. 

Tuesday night I was driving home from piano lessons with a mini van full of kids (my kids) when my blood sugar dropped.  Unfortunately it didn't just drop, it plummeted.  All I really remember looking back is that I made sure the kids had their seat belts on and that I missed the turn onto Sheridan Lake Road (to get to our neighborhood). 

What I don't remember is this...

Apparently I was "driving" around the neighborhood by the school (not close to home) when I rammed a Jeep parked on the side of the road.  Wait... it gets better!  I then drove away and continued heading for home.  So I was in a hit-and-run where I was the runner.  We finally get home, the kids are crying, telling Aaron that I crashed the car and I'm looking at the van trying to figure where that huge dent came from.  Aaron grabs Alex and they go off to find out who I hit while I sit inside drinking my weight in apple juice.  Luckily 1. Alex knew right where we were 2.  the people were really understanding and 3. we have great insurance.  Our car is now a haven for all things sugar (treats in every nook and cranny). 

All kidding aside, we are all fine and I'm just glad that no one was hurt.  Minus the Odyssey.

Cast: part 2

So as happens fairly frequently with young kids, the short arm cast slid off.  Trying to remove her coat was the problem.  I tried to put it back on right away, but Camryn ran away yelling "No!".  It didn't even last 24 hours. The newer version (applied by Dad) should stay put and has already been decorated.  She looks happy now, but it wasn't that way initially.

No bunk-beds were harmed...

The bunk-beds weren't even involved but knowing that would be the first question, considering our past history, I thought it'd be best to clear that up right off.

So on Monday I was sitting at the computer cataloging pictures on the computer when Camryn fell off the other office chair and landed on our hardwood floor.  She had a good cry and told me her arm hurt, but then went off to play.  Throughout the day I would notice her holding her arm once in a while but not excessively and she played fine all the while. 

Tuesday came nicely enough but when Camryn turned and knocked her arm on the banister she really let out a cry.  I had Aaron check it that night and with Aaron using all of his training and almost no response from Camryn with all sorts of checking we decided it was nothing.

This morning (Wednesday) Camryn was throwing a fit because I was washing her blanket and as she went to leave the laundry room tripped on the clothes basket and fell over onto the carpet.  She once again landed on her arm, but this time she screamed and I couldn't find a way to calm her down.  Off to the clinic we went and 30 minutes later we were looking at her x-ray and a small but noticeable buckle fracture in both her distal radius and ulna.

The casting went smoothly, minus that fact that they didn't have any colors, and thankfully it's only a short cast because that whole way out of the clinic and to the car Cammer was yelling "mom! take it off!".  She better is now.  I was hoping that this would prompt the end of thumb sucking (she's a left-thumb sucker) but she is obviously ambidextrous in that department so there goes that hope.

Sydney was with me during this whole process and when it was mentioned that she's the only kid to not have a cast now she looked at me and said "I want a cast too! Really bad!".  With 2 out of 3 now having had a cast, I'd say the odds were in her favor.

Hope you are better than this - Carolyn

7

So Alex turned 7 last week. It's amazing that I've been a mom long enough to have a 7 year old.  We of course got pictures and thought I'd share them with the world.

Looking at last year's picture I see now that he's older but I guess I didn't notice it until now.  That and when he told me that he wasn't a baby anymore. 

He loves 1st grade and has recently joined the "Jump Club" which is exactly as it sounds.  They meet twice a week and jump rope.  "Coach" Aldridge teaches them tricks for an assembly at the end of the year and Alex is one mean double-dutcher.  Right now his life's ambition is to lose a tooth as he seems to be the only 1st grader who hasn't yet.