Spring Break 2018

As I looked at Facebook over the past week, I have to admit I was envious of all of the families that headed to the beach or Disney or even to visit family on the other side of the country.  I think that had to do largely with the fact that we started the kids spring break at home.  I tried to start it off with something out of the ordinary, but most of my ideas involved being outdoors, and it was rainy and cold.  So, we went and painted pottery and went out to eat for lunch. 

We also went shopping to get Audrey a desk for her room as part of her birthday present to redo her room with a mermaid/ocean theme.  It was a successful shopping trip, but now it puts us under pressure to get her room painted to complete the transformation. I am sure I'll post more pictures once we're done. 

The next couple of days were a mix of playing around the house and running errands.  Wednesday, the kids and Billy went to drop off the dogs in Greenville and visit with our parents. The dogs got to have their own spring break adventure in Greenville while we finished off spring break driving to the western part of our state. I think they enjoyed themselves judging by how tired they were when we picked them up today. I also think they got a fair number of treats, because we got pictures at least daily from my mom of them standing by the treat jar waiting patiently. 

On Thursday, we left to go to Columbia.  We visited the Phi Mu house, walked around campus for a bit, and ate dinner at Flat Branch.  The chokes and cheese is still amazing!

Friday morning, we got up bright and early to head to KC.  Our first stop was Lego Land and Sea Life.  But, for dinner, we got to hang out with some friends we haven't seen in a long time.  We got to see even more friends on Saturday too.  It was so fantastic to see so many friends that live on the other side of the state.  That was when I stopped being so jealous of everyone else's Facebook posts. Times have changed from when we were hanging out with most of these folks in college, but it was so fun to see them and their children.  I have a ton of fun pictures of the KC part of the trip, so I pared it down to a few of my faves.  Sorry to the KA crew, because I didn't snap any pictures when we were together!

What's better than playing with Legos?  How about playing in a pit of foam Legos?!

Seeing our kids with our friends' kids just makes my heart smile. 

A life-sized blue man made of Legos sounds like someone you want to be your friend...right?

Seeing to of my favorite Phi Mu ladies at the same time was a real treat...and the donuts were good too!

Who wants to be an astronaut?  Barrett does look pretty good in a space suit. 

We also managed to stop by Shakespeare's in Columbia on the drive home.  I had almost forgotten just how good their pizza is!  I mostly mention this because I couldn't resist sharing this picture.  

Today, I was pretty sad as we drove home.  It wasn't because I didn't have fun.  No, it was quite the opposite. It was that I enjoyed so much seeing our friends and was so sad that we didn't have more time to spend with them.  I am so thankful that God has put so many amazing people in our lives, and it's awesome that so many of them live near each other in KC. We need to make sure it isn't 2 years before we go back again. So, here's to next time!  

Puppy Days

It has been almost 3 months since we got Tripper.  He has grown so much that I've almost started to forget what he looked like as a little pup when we brought him home right before Christmas.  In those three months though, there is no doubt that he has become a part of the family.  I think we've all grown pretty attached to him, even Stella.  It's funny, because when he first came home, Stella wasn't all that pleased to have him around, but now, I think she'd miss him.  He's learned when to stay away from her and not to bother her when she's eating, and she even likes to run with him in the yard.  

Tripper couldn't be better with the kids.  He and Barrett could run around chasing each other and rough-housing all day.  The hardest thing with Barrett's broken arm has been for him to not run around with Tripper. 

Fletcher is better with keeping Tripper in check than the other kids.  He will assertively tell Tripper "No, bad" if he does something Fletcher doesn't like.  Every once in a while Tripper's puppy teeth will catch on one of Fletcher's hands when they're playing though, and then Fletcher bursts into tears and hides from Tripper until he's calmed himself down. 

Audrey likes to play with Tripper, but she likes him most when he's sleepy and cuddly.  If we're watching a movie, those two are snuggled up on the couch together.  

Overall, Tripper has been a good dog, but he's still a puppy and still being trained.  He still isn't completely house trained, but has at least reached the point where he knows he's made a mistake when he does have an accident in the house.  I think he just gets so distracted when he's outside that he forgets to take care of business; he seriously just loves to be outside.  Sometimes, he just lays in the grass when we let him outside (after tearing around the yard like crazy for 5 minutes, of course).  This week, he started digging in the mulch we just put down around the landscaping in the back yard.  Part of me thinks that Stella is the one that gives him the idea, and then he's the one that just follows through and gets in trouble.  Tripper will also jump up on the table and get food if no one else is in the kitchen.  He's learned not to do it when we're around, but he isn't afraid to seize the opportunity when no one is looking.  

Tripper's laid back and friendly personality hasn't changed since the day we got him.  I am very thankful for that, because as big as his head and paws are, I think he is going to be a pretty big boy!  He is so long now, he can stretch out across the entire couch.  He is currently the same height and length as Stella, but he hasn't completely filled out.  

I am really looking forward to continuing to watch Tripper grow.  As much as he loves being outside, I know he's going to love the lake this summer. He's really brought a lot of joy to our family.  He'll never replace Jack, but he's definitely solidified his place as part of this family.  

Sunny Days

It never ceases to amaze me what sunshine can do to lift my mood.  In the winter it is cold outside, the sun is often down before I get home from work, and I find it much more difficult to stay positive when challenges arise. As we move toward spring and the days get longer, I am looking forward to spending more time outside in the sunshine.  I enjoy feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin.  I love how the warmth of the sun thaws the ground in the spring and the earth erupts with color.  Seeing the sunlight illuminate the vibrant colors of the nature that God has created humbles my heart.  Maybe that's why it is so much easier to push through the challenges of life without letting them get me down when I can see the sun shining.

As I ponder the impact of the physical sun on my mental state, I can't help but be struck by how this is also a metaphor for the heavenly Son.  When I don't spend much time in the Word or prayer, I feel off balance.  Challenges seem insurmountable, and I begin to despair.  Yet, when I let the light of Jesus shine in my life, the weight of the world starts to melt away.  And there, in the midst of the hurt, frustration, and struggle, the light of Christ warms my heart and opens my eyes to the vibrant opportunity to glorify God.  I am by no means perfect at this, but I always seek to live in the light of the Son.

So, as we enter another spring season, I pray that God will help me to see the good in the world around me instead of dwelling on the bad.  I pray that I'll make the most of the opportunities to spend quality time with my family, and that I'll have the gentle spirit to be patient and find humor in all of the bumps along the road.

The Big Break

As a parent, I've had many of those moments when I can see that one of my children is about to cause a mishap, and then I seem to move in slow motion as I attempt to stop it.  This happens when they're dropping a cup of milk on the floor and it splatters all of the kitchen.  I've also had it happen when they're running around the yard and trip over a fallen stick.  Occasionally, it happens when we're at the park and they are climbing on the jungle gym and fall.  Every time they fall, I immediately check to see if they're hurt, and when they aren't or it's a minor scratch, I praise God.  Relief rushes over me, I dry their tears, and I watch them run off to play again.

As a parent, I also get a sinking feeling in my stomach every time I get a daytime call from the kids' school.  Last Monday, my phone rang, and I saw that number.  When I picked up the phone, it was the sweet and gentle voice of the school nurse.  She informed me that Barrett had fallen from the playground at school, and landed on his arm.  He was saying his arm hurt, and she thought I should come get him.  She was so calm, and I was so conditioned to my children falling and being fine, I figured it wasn't a big deal.  I still agreed to come get him and take him to urgent care.

When I arrived at the school about 20 minutes later (I had to drive there from work), the arm had swelled up pretty badly and the nurse was pretty certain it was broken.  So, instead of urgent care, we headed to the ER.  This whole time, Barrett was clearly in pain.  I couldn't make him laugh or really even talk to me the whole time we drove to the hospital.  When we got there, the nurse's were cheerful and tried to engage him by asking questions, and he just didn't respond to them.  All he'd say was that  his arm hurt really badly. They gave him some potent pain killers after we got checked in, and about 15 minutes after that, I saw him smile for the first time since I picked up from school.  At that point, I was able to relax.  I'd had broken elbows before, and I survived.  Now that he was perking up, I figured he'd get some x-rays, they'd put on a cast, and we'd be out of there before bedtime.

When we arrived at the hospital, they went through the standard set of questions about what happened, when did it happen, where did it hurt, etc.  They asked me several times though when he last ate.  By the third time they asked me, I started to get nervous.  I knew why they were asking.  In the back of their minds, they were thinking some sort of surgery.  I know that's a standard question, but the exactness they expected in the answer made it clear that they knew it was a very likely scenario for Barrett. About an hour and some x-rays later, they'd determined he'd fractured his elbow and needed pins to hold the bone in place while it healed.  Pins mean surgery. On top of that, it was too late in the day to get him in at the out-patient clinic there, so we were going to have to stay overnight at Children's so he could get the pins put in first thing the next morning. The good news was that the pain medicine was doing it's job, and the nurses put on a splint to hold the arm in place until the next morning.

At 5:15, they took Barrett for some additional x-rays before his surgery.  By 5:45, they'd administered the anesthesia and by 6, they'd rolled him away to put the pins in his elbow. Billy and I were more nervous than Barrett.  He didn't seem to care; I think he was just enjoying the additional screen time he got while he was at the hospital, since he was prohibited from doing much of anything else.

An hour later, the surgery was over, and we were taken to Barrett in the post-op room.  I was wholly unprepared for what happened next.  His arm was in a red cast, just as he'd requested.  He still had an IV hooked up along with some other monitors.  As we walked in, he was attempting to roll onto his stomach, and the nurse was quickly trying to rearrange the cords and monitors so he wouldn't hurt himself.  We began to talk to him, and it became clear he wasn't completely awake yet.  He was, however, very angry about the cast that was on his arm and the pain he was feeling beneath it.  He kept rolling, trashing, and hitting the cast with his good hand.  He was yelling things like "set this off of me," "I don't want this," and "my arm hurts." It was hard to watch even though I knew it was just a reaction to the anesthesia.  I shouldn't have been totally surprised either, because he has never been good at waking up from a deep sleep. I ended up climbing up in the bed with Barrett and bear-hugging him to help calm him down and prevent him from hurting himself worse.

It took about 30 minutes for Barrett to get past the angry, disgruntled stage.  Honestly though, he may have just been hangry, because he hadn't eaten since 2 pm the previous day.  As soon as he had calmed down, he asked for breakfast.  The nurse brought him a Sprite and some crackers to start with, and after chowing down on those, he was allowed to order breakfast.  Once he was fed, he was back to his normal self.

Within just 3 hours of surgery, Barrett was begging us to let him get up and go play.  He was tired of sitting in the hospital bed, tired of screen time, and tired of the hospital jammies.  So, the nurse let him get dressed in his normal clothes and go to the kids' playroom.  He did so well there, that she talked to the doctor about letting us go home, which we did about an hour later.  Were home in time for lunch!

Through this entire experience, there are two things that have been absolutely clear.  First, that God is working for us.  For instance, I was supposed to be leaving on a work trip the day Barrett had surgery, but I'd canceled my trip just the week before.  Also, a neighbor was able to come stay with Audrey and Fletcher so I could get to the hospital before Barrett's surgery.  The second thing is that Barrett is a tough kid.  He definitely has a sensitive side, and there are still a lot of tears shed when he gets really upset.  But, through this entire experience, he hardly cried or whined.  He took it all in stride, and his positive attitude made the whole thing easier for everyone.

While those first days were stressful because of the hospitals and general logistics of it all, the next couple of weeks are still going to be rough.  Barrett has to allow his arm to heal by resting, keeping it elevated, and not being too rough.  The combination of those three things is next to impossible for a kindergartner that's been cooped up in the house all winter as spring is starting to emerge outside.  I am definitely praying for quick healing and patience with the healing process!