Never a Dull Moment

I am constantly reminding the kids to close the door to the bathroom so that Nicholas does not go in there. But to no avail, it is left open more often than not.

Today, I found the phone in the toilet.

I am not positive, but I think the kid pictured below, wildly waving the toilet paper around, had something to do with it.

Hot Day at the Pool

Yesterday we met my sister, Paige and Chloe at my parents house and spent the day swimming in the pool. It was 85 degrees and sunny. Even my mom got in the pool, which is very rare. All factors have to be in line: Hot weather, no breeze, and the pool has to be heated to at least 84 degrees.

It took Isabella and Nicholas a half an hour to get used to the pool and not be scared to death. In my genius way of thinking, I was having a conversation in front of Isabella about her chest floatie, and said that if we didn't put arm floaties on her too, she might flip over. Well, that was the end of that. She wouldn't go in the pool because she thought she was going to flip over. My Dad finally coaxed her into sitting on the edge of the pool (with Crocs on) and dangle her feet in. From there we got her in the pool and she was fine after that. Nicholas is going to take some more work. I got him in the pool while I held him, but he would only let his legs get wet. By July, he should have his arms in and hopefully by August, I can put his floatie on and let him go. I am not holding my breath though.

The Kid's Gift to Nick

For Father's Day, the kids made stepping stones for Nick to put outside in one of the flower beds. They each (except for Nicholas) decided how they wanted to decorate their stone. They had so much fun making them. Isabella had a screaming fit when we put her hands in the cement, and then went completely nutty when we held her hands down and wouldn't let her lift them out of the cement. God forbid she should get her hands dirty!

Nevertheless, they turned out perfectly, and Nick loved his gift!

Father's Day Cookout at our House

Both families came to our house for a cookout, but by the time I got the camera out to take pictures, Nick's family had already left. So this is all I have......

Taylor and Shea were, of course, celebrating Father's Day with their Dad.

He Can Find Trouble in the Safest Places

I have a pack'n play set up in our master bathroom so that when I am in the shower, Nicholas can sit in it and not get into trouble. There are usually a bunch of toys thrown in there for him to play with. Usually Isabella sits in there with him and they play together.

Unbeknownst to me, 2 markers made it into the pack'n play, and Nicholas thought it might be fun to stick them up his nose over and over again. I am not exactly sure why he chose his nose over all other body parts but it was the only place that had marker on him.

He was very proud of his body art and kept wanting to look in the mirror.

Post Surgery

Shea's surgery was successful on Wednesday. She was very brave, and I was so proud of her. The actual procedure only lasted 45 minutes. She now has a large pin that goes from one end of her bone to the other. She woke up feeling groggy, thirsty, and ORNERY! The orneriness lasted for 2 days. I was ready to clobber her, but I was trying to cut her some slack. Thankfully, she seems to be snapping out of it.

She traded her sleek, purple cast for a big lumpy awkward wrap and will have to wear it for the next couple weeks. Once we see the doctor to remove the stitches, they are going to fit her for a removable cast that she will have to wear for the rest of the summer. By Hilton Head, she should be ready to swim and bike ride and build some awesome sand castles.

School Drug Programs

The drug program at the school is very thorough, and if their desire is to scare the hell out of kids from doing drugs, then they are doing a very good job. Shea was given a prescription for Tylenol with Codeine, which I have been giving her before bedtime every night. Both Taylor and Shea are concerned that Shea will become addicted to codeine. I have assured them that she will not become a drug addict as long as I am in charge of administering the medicine.

I never thought I would be in the position of convincing my kids that it's okay to take a drug! Well done, school!

Update on Shea's Wrist

Today we met with the orthopedic surgeon. He recommended that she have surgery to insert a pin into the bone to ensure that it heals properly. He concurred with the ER doctor that this was a bad bone to break and that it was imperative that it healed correctly. Our alternative was to put her wrist in a cast for 12 weeks with an 80% success rate. Which also meant the entire summer in a cast. With the surgery, the rate of success is very high (somewhere in the 95% range) and she will be in a cast for 2 weeks. After that they will design a removable cast for her so that she can shower, and most importantly - SWIM in Hilton head!

The bad part, obviously, is that she will be in surgery on her first day of summer break. She is a little scared about the surgery, but in the meantime, she has a cool purple cast that she has 3 days to have all her friends at school sign!

The Dyson Has Met It's Match

I love this vacuum. When we purchased it, we had Skeet and Hunter, the 2 golden retrievers, and we were desperate to find something that could handle all the hair. It did a really good job.

One of Dyson's claims to fame is that it never loses it's suction. Recently I noticed that it wasn't picking up the stuff on the carpet like it used to and I thought it was broken. I took the filter apart and cleaned it all out, but it was still not picking up with the hand held part of the vacuum.

Nick took the vacuum apart and found this stuck in one of the tubes.

I am not exactly sure how I sucked this thing up in the first place without noticing it, but for future reference, Dysons do not pick up baby bottles. At least not successfully.

The Daredevil Took It Too Far

Shea and her friend were racing around her Dad's yard on Sunday in their go-cart and almost flipped over going 30 mph. Somehow, in an effort to stop the cart from rolling over, she broke her wrist. I still don't understand exactly how it happened. I took her to the emergency room on Sunday night at midnight because she was in excruciating pain and couldn't sleep. (Still at her dad's house, but not being taken seriously.)

Of all the little bones in the wrist to break, this apparently, is the bad one. (Why am I not surprised) According to the ER doctor, if not healed properly her wrist, hand, fingers and eventually arm will lose all function, and will essentially become a dead limb. Just what you want to hear about your 13 year old and her RIGHT hand at 1:00 AM. They put a temporary cast on it, doped her up with Tylenol and Codeine and told us to call an orthopedic surgeon first thing in the morning. We have an appointment on Thursday.

Summer break starts in 7 days! We leave for Hilton Head in 6 weeks! No swimming, no bike riding, no sports... UGGGHHH!

Shea, on the other hand, is very pleased with her battle wound. She is getting an outrageous amount of attention at school, and is loving it.