Arm Yourselves

So Miss Lilly has officially been cast free for a week now. She had it removed last Tuesday, after 4 weeks in the offending Vikings-purple-colored cast. She was so excited to be done with it and able to go about her life. But honestly, the cast didn't stop her. She still went on the monkey-bars (but only once, until our friend caught her and gently told her it wasn't a good idea!) and climbed trees and played just as she always does. In a way, I was glad she was going about life and not feeling sorry for herself. But I'm also a mom, so I was trying not to hover while she was playing and climbing, praying for her to not re-injure her arm.

Last Tuesday while at the clinic, our doctor was examining her newly exposed arm. When he declared Lilly fit and fine, she asked, "So I can climb trees and go on monkey bars all I want now?"

The doctor looked at me, now totally understanding why at 2 wks, when he said we could take the cast off and she could wear a brace but he was concerned about re-injury, we didn't bat an at leaving it on longer. "Well, maybe give it a day or two to get used to being an arm again, how about that?"

Lilly held up two fingers and counted off, "Today is Tuesday, so then on Thursday I can go on the monkey bars again?"

I love our doctor. He smiled and nodded, you could tell he was holding back a laugh. "Yes, on Thursday you can go on the monkey bars." Then he turned to me and said, "No offense, but hopefully we don't see you sooner than later!"

That Lilly girl of ours is so much fun. She told me just yesterday how much more fun she's having at recess now that she can climb and play like normal. She's also been working hard on her biking, being able to go about 20-30 feet with two-wheels before gently crashing. I'm sure that will be the next Lilly post--riding a 2-wheeler!

The Painting

I've been spending a lot of time looking at this painting lately. That's my horse, Cookie, in the corner, and she's been gone a little over a year now. A long time ago (okay, in 1996) a good friend of mine painted this picture for me and it's hung in my house ever since. It was a wonderful surprise that I cherish now that she's gone.

I had worked in a small store that was part of a small resort near my house all through my teens. Every summer, I was in that store for several days a week. If I wasn't in the store working, I was riding my horse or other horses for the trail-riding business my aunt ran as part of the resort. It was a dream summer job, let me tell you!

The resort catered mostly to people who had seasonal campers, and Bob was one of those campers. He was an older, retired man who loved to fish. His wife would leave him at the camper for the week, then come up on the weekend. He would get up each day at dawn to go fishing, then come in and have nothing to do the rest of the day until it was time to go back out fishing around supper time. Bob would visit me in the store every day, sometimes for hours, just to talk and visit. He told me about his family, his old job as a mail carrier, the best fishing spots...I would tell him about my boyfriend, my horse, my plans for after high school. We would just talk.

One thing I knew about Bob was that he was an amazing artist. When he wasn't talking or fishing, he was painting. On my last day of work at the resort for the summer of 1996, Bob presented me with the painting above. He had worked on it throughout the summer, having taken pictures of Cookie while I worked (I would ride her the 2 miles to and from work each day) He knew I loved rivers, autumn and old buildings, so the combination of the picture was perfect. The thought was amazing and so touched my heart.

Now that Cookie is no longer alive, I love this picture even more. I see it and I think of her and how so many people misjudged her. We were a perfect pair for almost 20 years. I miss her every time I look into the pasture and see the other horses, but not her. Then I look at the painting that hangs above my couch and it makes me feel better.

Happy Anniversary to me...oh, and Andy too!

Today is our anniversary. We've been together forever, but it was on this date that we made it official and became man and wife. There are lots of obvious ways that Andy lets me know he loves me--he provides for our family, he doesn't cheat and lie, he simply tells me that he loves me. But there are other ways he tells me, too, without using words.



So, happy anniversary to the man who:





*gets my toothbrush ready, sets out a vitamin, and fills a cup of water for me every so often when he goes to bed before me. They are all lined up on the counter, one little way to make my night run smoother.



*sometimes brings me home an extra treat if he stops at the store.



*kills spiders that are climbing on the ceiling since I can't reach them.



*has just as crazy and stupid a sense of humor as I do.



*will watch football, baseball, Grey's Anatomy or The Bachelor with me in bed.



*lets me snuggle up to him and warm my cold feet on his legs.



*always makes sure my fun mower is running in tip-top shape so I don't have to worry about breakdowns while camping.



*usually makes sure to shut off his alarm clock right away and moves about the house like a little mouse in the mornings, since he's awake 2.5 hrs before me.



*will try anything I make, but isn't scared to tell me if it's bad, or needs more salt, or is too spicy. And when he loves it, he makes sure to let me know, too!



*shares my random taste in music and appreciates that you can skip around from classic country to 90s hip-hop to hard rock and back again.

*thinks just like me and will finish my sentences.

*calls me during the day just to talk while he's on break from work.

*is honest if something I'm wearing doesn't look right, but when it does look right, he tells me I'm hot.



*is an amazing husband and father!

I love you, Andy!

Ode to Fall

If you know me, you know that I LOVE fall. It's my favorite time of year by far. Since I'm feeling silly, I thought I'd write a little song about it. Enjoy!

(to the tune of "My Favorite Things")

Apples and pumpkins and yummy fall goodies
Having to put on your jeans, socks and hoodies
Hayrides, bon-fires, trail-rides snake like a string
These are a few of my favorite things.

Football's in session and we love the Packers
Chili and "hot-dish", homemade soup with crackers
Watching the birds fly south on tired wings
These are a few of my favorite things

When it's 90, or below 3, or I'm feeling "S.A.D." (Seasonal Affective Disorder)
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad!

Leaves turning yellow and orange and red,
Having to put more covers on the bed,
Smoke from the wood-stove and temps are cooling
These are a few of my favorite things.

Kids dressed in costumes and looking for treats,
Scarecrows and corn bundles line all the streets,
Hunting and scouting and Thanksgiving,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When it's 90, or below 3, or I'm feeling "S.A.D."
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel... so... bad!

No More 4K, but 4 & K!

The girls started school this week, Alayna in 4th grade and Lilly in Kindergarten. They were both very ready to go back, and honestly, so was I. By the end of the summer, it's been a little too much time with everyone together and the bickering is more often and louder and everything not good. We were all ready for it to be back to school time!



Alayna has had quite the change over the summer! Her teeth have moved considerably with her braces. They are not only straight, but almost lined up and touching like 2 front teeth should be. She also had quite a growth spurt and grew about 2.5" since the end of school. It made for a huge wardrobe change, but we made it work. She's now 4'9" and quickly creeping up on her Gramma for height!



Lilly also had a huge summer and she's more than ready for Kindergarten! She's 4 foot even now and continues to color and do art whenever she can. Her lost tooth and broken arm add lots of fun questions for people to ask when we meet them in the store or at the school for Open House. Her most anticipated part of starting school is getting to go every day!

Mikayla looks a little upset in this picture, but she's not. She's actually in the middle of making a silly face at me (go figure, right?)

She was quite fine with sending the girls off, only needing her "bap-cack" for the picture. As soon as the big girls were on the bus, she clapped her hands and said, "Mommy, let's go eat some brefast, just us two! Then we can play a game!"

Fair-ly Late Post

Finally! I have some fair pictures! This year, Alayna was an Explorer, which is kind of like being in 4H Junior High. She was able to bring more projects, including 1 animal besides Little Britches, and had to fill out a record book, but she still had some limitations on what she could do. Next year, she's a full-fledged 4H'er and can do what she wants. This year, she brought a plate of 3 cookies that she baked herself (she was so proud!), a sequence of 3 pictures of our crab apple tree in various stages of bloom, a birdhouse she built with my dad's help, and an informational book about Manatees. I neglected to get a picture of her with her items, but she did a great job. This is the first year she also gets ribbons for placing, instead of just participating and she got all Blues! Great job, Alayna!


Alayna also was able to show her horse, Chloe, for the first time. She showed in Showmanship, Equitation, Western Pleasure and Horse Judging. Chloe was a little anxious with all the horses and not listening too well, but they did a great job. She got one red, 2 white and 1 pink ribbon. Alayna was very pleased with her first year showing horse, and we were so proud of her!






Both Lilly & Alayna showed a calf for Little Britches on Sunday morning. They worked with their calves over the summer and spent a lot of time getting them to lead, being used to getting handled and washed, etc. Lilly's calf was Crash and Alayna's was Eddie, both named after the crazy possum duo from Ice Age 2 & 3, which are favorite movies in our household.

Lilly in the show-ring
Alayna in the show-ring

Next year, we'll be even busier because Lilly will be a Cloverbud and able to bring some projects to the fair, and Alayna will be a regular 4H participant. She's already thinking about things she wants to bring! As for me, I usually bring a photo or two for the Open class, not because I want to win but because an exhibitor's pass is cheaper than a traditional season pass. Scandalous, I know. But, this year I actually got third place with this photo!

Sorry to Break it to You

I know, I still owe pictures from the fair, but I'm still going through them and making them suitable for this public forum (ie: taking out last names on things, county name, etc. Can't be too careful) But I wanted to put this on here in the meantime, since poor Bloggy has been ignored.

About a week and a half ago, I went on a scrapbooking weekend with some friends. It was so nice to get away for a few days and relax, work on my books and just rejuvenate. I talked with Andy and the girls each day (I was gone Thurs night to Sun) and they all assured me everything was fine. Then I got home. Andy didn't want to worry me with small details, so he didn't mention a few things until I came home.

1) Alayna had a mishap with a screw driver and had a small hole in the palm of her hand. He assured me that antibacterial cream and a band-aid were immediately applied. She looked fine and said it was fine, so I was good with that.

2) Mikayla had a bloody nose just a few hours before I arrived home, the result of her face and the carseat that was being removed from the car crashing together. Again, she seemed fine and all was good.

3) Lilly fell on her arm at an odd angle Saturday night while at a wedding dance. She cried and didn't use it for awhile, but Andy and a chiropractor at the dance took a look at her arm and she seemed fine. Then she fell on the arm again right before I got home, but again, besides some swelling she was fine.

Yeah, well, then Lilly fell on her arm again the next Wednesday, causing it to swell again. It started to worry me then, but she continued to use her arm and not complain about any pain or soreness. The week passed and she continued to seem fine, besides some slight swelling in her arm. The older girls had appointments scheduled yesterday for their school physicals, so I asked the doctor to take a look. He called for x-rays and brought Lilly in to take a look.

"Well, I don't know if it happened the first, second or third time she fell," the doctor said when he came back in, "but it's broken." He said the pain wasn't too bad because the bones were in-line and not misaligned, which causes more pain. We felt awful, but he said it was nothing to worry about and she'd be fine after a few weeks in a cast. The only color they had?


Yes, purple. She was bummed there wasn't orange, and then she was really bummed that people may think she's a MN Vikings fan! She said we'll have to get a Green Bay sticker to show how she really feels. That's our girl--a klutz and a Packer fan!

She's such a loser!!

Lilly has had two loose teeth for a few weeks now. One of them became VERY loose last weekend when she was eating corn on the cob at our friends' cabin. Her eyes flew open and she exclaimed that she broke her teeth! In reality, one of those teeth just became much more loose.

Since that night, she's gone back and forth between nervous and excited for that tooth to be gone. She'd want us to wiggle it, then twist it, then run away in fear, then come back for more. Finally, last night, she decided she wanted Daddy to pull it when we realized her big tooth was already about 1/3 of the way in behind the baby tooth.


Daddy innocently wiggled the tooth a few times, and when she wasn't expecting it, he just yanked and out it came! It was so quick that Lilly didn't do anything for about 10 seconds--we think she was too shocked that it was out. Then she got a huge smile and ran to look in the mirror. After examining her new look, she had to call her Grammas and Grampas and Aunties. She was so excited! The tooth went under her pillow and this morning she reported that she got $2 in quarters from the Tooth Fairy.

She has another loose tooth, the one next to her gap. She's already planning on when and how that one will come out. She says she wants to pull it out this time, unless Daddy wants to. We'll see.

Drama Drama Don't Need a Llama

While I'm still going through pictures and getting things put back in order from our crazy few weeks, I thought you'd all appreciate this story. I did not appreciate it while it was happening just a few moments ago.

Anyone who knows Mikayla, knows that she's quite a spit-fire. We always say that she has every bit of attitude, stubbornness and spunk that Lilly and Alayna didn't get. While the older two girls are usually quite calm and level-headed, even as small children, Mikayla has always been high-maintenance.

Today is one of those hot, nasty, disgusting summer days all sane people hate. The summers here in WI are usually nice and pleasant, but we always get a few days of heat and humidity. Well, today is 90 with dew points in the 70s, or "oppressive" as the weathermen call it. Yummy. My house smells like sweaty kids (you know that smell) and a hint of last night's Chinese take-out. Appetizing, I tell you.

So anyway, the kids are sticky messes and their hair is smashed into their faces. I asked Mikayla if she wanted a pony-tail to help her cool down. She said yes and turned around for me to put it in. I combed her hair and put the pony-tail in, just like she agreed to. Then she Flipped. Out.

"I don't want a pony! I want my hair down!" she wailed while pulling the pony-tail partially out of her hair. I told her that the pony looked pretty and would keep her from getting so hot. Well, that was the wrong thing to say, apparently. She went into full melt-down mode and threw herself onto the floor. Now, remember how I said I've been either super busy or gone for the last 2 weeks, including the last 5 days staying at the county fair? Our floor hasn't been vacuumed since we came home and dumped all of our stuff all over. The crying and sweating child got off the floor with dirt and dog hair stuck all over her face and a ponytail only holding half of her hair. She marched into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and came right back out with a horrified look on her face. I wanted to laugh and cry.

"Mommy," she sobbed, "I sorry I tooked my pony out. Please put it back in so it's pretty!"

I washed up her face, re-combed her hair and put the ponytail back in. Then she went into the bathroom, still hiccuping a little from her fit, and proclaimed herself pretty after gazing into the mirror for 5 minutes. She's now happily playing ponies, with an adorable ponytail sticking out of her head that kind of looks like a horn...interesting.

Falling Behind

The last 2 weeks have been super busy. We had the big county fair, so our time was spent getting ready for it and then participating in it. I have some pics to share, but right now I'm tired and can't find the camera. Just wanted to let you all know I haven't forgotten about you!