With Dreams to Fly

Hudson has recently become obsessed with flying and these are the questions I have been fielding as of late...

H: "Mom, why do birds fly?" M: "because they have wings." H: "Why do they have wings?" M: "Because that is how God made them." H: "Why didn't God make me with wings?" M: "I don't know, but we can fly in an airplane." H: "That is not the same, I want to fly by myself."

After that conversation he randomly will say...

H: "I wish God would change me into a bird."

then after we killed a moth in the house...

H: "Mom, why do bugs have wings?"

And we begin again.

So he took things into his own hands and came up with this contraption of balloons, grocery bags, and a blanket. He had me readjust the balloons probably 10 times to see if he could get it to work. After each adjustment he would jump of the stool to see if he could fly. To prevent any further adjustments I would say, "Hey you did it, you flew!" He would say, "that wasn't flying, fix the baloons."

Lessons in Parenting: Be Positive

Two months ago

H had never been one to run and jump into the pool. He liked the pool and the idea of swimming but if you happened to stop by and we were in the pool he would most likely be hugging the wall (in the shallow end) or with floaties, a life jacket, and a tube. We always tried to encourage him to swim with us and if he agreed our necks usually had red marks from him holding us so tightly. I decided to try out swim lessons and see if this would help ease his fear and improve his confidence.

He was actually excited and I thought, "this is going to be good." Well, for the first week I called Steve everyday after the lesson and would ask him if swim lessons were over yet. H hardly listened to the teacher, barely made any effort or had extreme fear. I would say things like, "Hudson it would help if you would listen to the teacher and do what she says" or something to that effect. I would usually get no response or "I hate swim lessons".

One night when I was trying to decide if I should just pull him out of the lessons I had a thought, "Look for the good and be positive." I then thought of something he did well during the lesson and went and sat by him and said, "I saw that you put your head under water and held your breath during your swim lesson this morning, that was awesome. I think someday you are going to be a really great swimmer." His face immediatly lit up and he looked at me with a smile and said, "really?" The next lesson was better and I continued with the positivity. Each lesson was better and I always pointed out the positive things to him. Something clicked.

Two months later.

He jumps in the pool and says, "Do you want to see my streamline?" Steve and I just stare in amazement as he swims across the pool. He moved up three levels in swimming and his teachers say he is one of the best swimmers (of course they probably say that to most, but we believe it). At some point I will get a video of it, it is a crack up.

So, I am learning to focus on the positive and hopefully my kids struggles can become strengths.

Bahama Rama Mama

If I were to stay in AZ this would be the reason. Bahama Bucks.

My favorite desert is the Bahama Rama Mama. Or BRM, now that I am a regular customer. Shaved ice whipped with cream and a scoop of ice cream on the bottom. 91 flavors. From Apple to watermelon with every blend in between. Please do not think ICEE. It is the furthest thing from those stale balls of ice drenched in syrup.

If we do not end up here I will open a franchise and run a family business.

First Steps

I better document Everett's first steps before he starts to run. He actually took his very first step when we were on our way to Disneyland. We stopped at the McDonalds in Quartsite CA and I was playing with him out on the front lawn. That was on May 13th.

Poor kid has had a fat lip or two, learning how to walk on the tile.

Little Pink Cast

Sadie went to the pediatric orthopedist yesterday. She has what they call a "Toddler's Fracture" (good call Adam). It is very difficult to diagnose because it is barely visable on an X-Ray. The urgent care doctor actually misdiagnosed the fracture and what he pointed out to me as a fracture was actually normal bone. I was thinking he was clueless but at the same time felt lucky that he thought there was a fracture. The pediatric doctor said the urgent care doctors have a hard job because they see so much. He said, "if you brought me a kid with a stomach ache I wouldn't have a clue what to do." Good point.

Sadie got to pick the color and before they even pulled out the options she said, "pink!". They were all laughing at how excited she was to have pink.

The good news is her cast is below the knee and in a few days will be able to walk on it as much as she can tolerate. I was relieved to hear that. Other good news, I asked the doctor how I could improve my kids bone health or if there was something genetically wrong. He said the kids are healthy and that these breaks are not uncommon from age 0 to 3 years old because they are top heavy, (this is not including Hudson's recent broken arm). He said there was nothing wrong with their bones.

The bad news...well, she has a broken leg, no swimming for 3 1/2 weeks, and dealing with a cast in the 110 + degree weather.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Trust me, I would rather be blogging about what an amazing time we had at Aspen Grove, Everett learning to walk, or even Hudson learning to make his own bed, but unfortunately I have to blog about another broken bone. You ask why I have to? Well, several reasons really. 1. Word gets around and people ask details, so it saves me time (selfish, I know) 2. Sadie would ask years from now why we journaled Hudson's broken arm and skipped over her broken leg 3. We would look like abusers if we tried to hide it.

I now feel I have every reason to be totally paranoid about my kids getting injured. But what am I to do? How can I predict these unfortunate events? Is the solution for them to never jump on a trampoline again? Maybe I am doing something wrong, it can't be milk or calcium, they both drink plenty of milk, but maybe not enough of something else? Their genetic makeup? Somebody tell me because if I hear the word fracture or broken come from a doctors' mouth one more time I am going to lock us in the basement! Or at least take Mike up on his idea of making bubble wrap clothing for our children.


Alright the story. We were loving our vacation at Aspen Grove with Steve's family. The place is a dream (more on that later). After picking up Sadie from her day camp on Wednesday we noticed Sadie wouldn't put weight on her left leg. I thought at first that it might have been cramped or asleep, but it persisted. I asked Sadie and she said, "my friend hurt me and that wasn't nice, and they wouldn't stop jumping." I went to her camp counselor and asked if they knew of a time when Sadie fell or hurt her leg. The counselor said that on the tramp Sadie started crying and they thought she hurt her ankle. (She didn't fall off, these tramps look impossible to get injured on). She didn't complain after they picked her up and then they went down for naps and were picked up by parents. Adam assessed and said if she didn't put weight on it in the morning to get an X-Ray.


This morning I took her to urgent care and the doctor said "cortical compression fracture of the tibia". There are two hairline fractures, one by her knee and the other close to the ankle. We see the pediatric orthopedist Monday that we just discharged Hudson from last week. Unbelievable, I am in shock, but could be worse.

Tribute to Dad

There are three wonderful Dads I need to acknowledge today. My own Dad, Steve's Dad, and my kids' Dad.


Ten things I love about Dad
1. When I was a child gave us piggy back rides to bed
2. I don't think I would have learned to water ski with any other Dad. He is VERY patient and determined.
3. He taught me how to throw a softball, and I was always amazed how he never used a glove.
4. He would take us to the track to run together.
5. He taught me about money and how to use it.
6. He is always there to talk politics with me.
7. Always believed I could accomplish ANYTHING. It was never uncommon for him to say "I think you would be great at that".
8. My favorite words of Dad's are "phenomenal" and "skiwampus"
9. He loves my children
10. He ran marathons



Ten Things We Love about Tom
1. He will be there in times of need. I can remember Tom showing up in the middle of the night more than once.
2. Takes the kids on nature walks
3. Loves to hike, bike, and cross country ski
4. Teaches us about finances and budgeting
5. Extremely charitable.
6. Tells THE best jokes
7. He creates memorable experiences for the whole family (ie Aspen Grove)
8. If we ever have a family history question we know to go to Tom
9. He is extremely organized. Steve has borrowed many scout plans/activities from Tom that he has filed. These plans include map, packing list, and activities (all from things he did in the 80's and 90's)
10. Loves his grandkids




Ten Things we love about Dad
1. He absolutely adores his children. He is always saying, "Sadie's my girl" or "Everett is so handsome" or "Hudson is such a good kid"
2. He plays nonstop with the kids.
3. The kids love Daddy Day b/c he takes them to McDonald's, swimming, and they work together.
4. He works hard to provide for us
5. He explains how everything works to Hudson.
6. It is not uncommon to hear Hudson say, "Daddy needs to come home and fix this". If anything breaks Daddy always seems to figure out how to fix it.
7. He loves to play loud music and dance with the kids
8. He is goofy, usually having to do with dancing or playing his air guitar. He can get H and S laughing so hard to the point of wet pants.
9. He creates memorable experiences (Disneyland, Pinetop, Camping...)
10. His favorite thing is to be with us.

We love you Dad!