It's Off!

After nearly six long weeks since that fateful day, the day has finally arrived!

It's time for Luke's cast to come off!

 Just look at this sweet boy!  Ugh...I just want to squeeze him!  He is just so stinkin' adorable!  This is his last morning to wake up with his cast on.

I loved all of the sweet sentiments on his little cast.

 But I'm ok with it going away too!

 In about a minute, the cast was OFF!  YAY!!!

 Luke was happy for the cast to be off, but wasn't quite sure what to do with his arm.  He held it in the familiar position for a long time.  

I wonder if his skin was a little sensitive from being in the cast for so long.  He acted like it hurt if we touched his arm.

Another round of x-rays just to make sure things are looking as they should.

Things look great!  The doctor said that Luke's wrist is 90-95% healed.  The cast was ready to come off so that Luke could start moving his wrist around and get things working again. He can do almost everything now, with a few exceptions.  No jumping on the trampoline or off of the furniture and no motorcycle riding.  (:

We have to go back in two weeks for one last set of x-rays and hopefully Luke will be released to do all of his normal activity. 

 I told Luke that if he did a good job at the doctor's office that I would take him to the water park to celebrate having his cast off.  He was so excited!  I didn't remind him that he really didn't like the water park last year.  He had so much fun playing in the water with Abby!  What better way to celebrate finally not having to worry about getting keeping the cast dry.  It was perfect!

Now we just have to pray that we don't have any more broken bones!

A Very Welcomed Visitor/Helper!

A few weeks back I made a very sarcastic comment to my mom about coming out to help with our garage sale.  Little did I know that a few weeks later she would call to say that she was coming if we wanted her to!  How could I say no?!  A visit from my mom!  I would never say no!  I also had no idea how much I would need her help!   More to come on that.

It worked out just perfect that Grammy made it here on the day of Abby's last softball game.  It stinks to live so far away from family, so it is very special when an out of town family member gets to be here for things like this.

Ben and Luke are old pros at hanging out at Abby's games.  Luke loves the games.  Ben endures them.

I have no idea how we would have pulled off this garage sale if Mom hadn't come out to help!  With all that has been going on in the last few weeks and in my current foot status, it was very difficult to get things ready.  I worked as hard as I could whenever I had time, but there was still much to do.  We worked late in the hot garage to get everything ready for the next morning.

Thankfully, with Jon and Mom's help, we got everything as ready as we could.  The garage sale was a success!  The main point of the garage sale was to make some money for our trip to Ireland with Ben.  We had a goal and we made it!!  Praise the Lord!!  I love when I can see Him at work working things out just perfectly!

Friday night was mine and Jon's anniversary.  We didn't make any plans because of the fact that we were having a garage sale, and up until a few days before the garage sale, we didn't know that Mom was going to be here.  We ended up going to Tulsa to a Driller's game complete with fireworks.  FUN!

Yeah...and then there was this... all week long...

We went to Tulsa on Sunday after church.  We spent a lot of time at one store and my knee was very tired.  I mentioned that if we were going to go to Target, that I would be willing to sit in a wheelchair.  Yep, I've sunk to that low.  Ben and Abby were thrilled and said they would be happy to push me.  Fortunately/unfortunately there was a powercart.  Oh the humility... I hated the thought of having to use one of these things, but the thought of kneeling on the scooter just wasn't pleasant either.  I have to say that there was much  laughing as Luke and I powered through Target.  Luke still talks about how funny it was!

There is always plenty of time for playing cards while Grammy is here and during the summer!

Grammy and Luke love to go for walks together.

Kiddie Park is a must!

And so is "the ice cream factory"!

(Also known as Braums!)

Signing Luke's cast was quite an ordeal the whole time Grammy was here.  Luke was completely against letting her (or anyone else, for that matter) sign it.  On the night before she left, he finally let her sign it.  So sweet!

Thank you so, so much, Mom, for coming out!  It was so nice to have you here!  I don't know how I would have made it through the week without you!

Foot Update

Ugh...just thinking about my foot issues brings tears to my eyes every time.  I wish I could say that, since my last update, things were progressing in a positive direction and my foot is getting better.  Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. 

Here's where we are at:  I went for an MRI at the end of May to see why my foot wasn't getting better with just wearing the boot.  I found out that, not only do I have tendinitis, but also tendonopothy (thickening of the tendon) as well as a tear of the tendon.  The MRI showed some other issues also, but they are apparently "non-issues".  The doctor gave me a list of options:

1. More time in the boot.  (Ugh...)
2. Fully immobilize my foot in a cast and/or us a knee walker or crutches.  (Seriously?!)

3. Surgery.  (He really isn't a fan of surgery since the tear is (apparently) not that bad.  I'm totally ok with that!)

We scheduled an appointment for a few weeks out to see how my foot was progressing in the boot.  I just prayed that by the time I went in, things would be better.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.  My foot just continued to hurt.  I went to the doctor not sure what he would say.  I was pretty worried.  He's not sure why my foot isn't healing and said that the next step is to not put any weight on my foot.  He explained that this is a process and I have to realize that I have a broken foot.  Having a torn tendon is very similar to having a broken bone.  It just takes time.  He still isn't in favor of doing surgery as surgery on a tendon is not easy.  It is tricky and a very long recovery.  

Sooo...in comes the knee walker.  I have dreaded this since the very first mention of it.  And yes, when he talked about it at this visit, I cried.  I have three kiddos.  We are busy people.  How in the world am I going to use that thing all of the time?  I guess I just have to suck it up, figure it out and continue to pray for healing.

If only the smile on my face meant that I like the scooter...

Please continue to pray with me for complete, miraculous healing of my foot.  This has been a long process and I am weary of it.  The emotional toll has been huge and I am SO ready to be done and feel normal again.  I will update again as soon as I go along this crazy adventure.

Boot Makeover

 So...I've been wearing this lovely boot for the past (almost) three months.  I'm a little over it.  I, however, have some great friends that wanted to "bedazzle" my boot.  This old boot sure could use a facelift.  How could I turn them down?  I couldn't!  I said, "Absolutely!" without any hesitation!

 Deborah, Kathryn and Lanae couldn't wait to jump on the bedazzle bandwagon!  Lanae ran to her craft room to grab the goods!

 Here is the very dull, boring before picture.

 And the after!

Thank you, friends!  I'm already getting great compliments!

I'm sure my doctor will love this one!

OK Mozart Week

We have lived in Bartlesville for four years now, and this is the first time that we have participated in any of the OK Mozart events.  I can't believe what we have been missing out on! 

OK Mozart is a week long celebration of music.  There are events going on in several locations throughout the city.  Some are free, some are not.  Some are for kids, some are for adults and some are for the whole family to enjoy.  The variety of music during the week is fairly broad.  There is something for everyone!  (Well, maybe not the heavy metal lover...)

A friend gave Jon and I some tickets to a concert since her and her husband were going to be out of town and unable to attend the concert.  I had no idea who was performing, but was excited to see what this OK Mozart thing was all about.

We were thrilled to be able to see Esperanza Spaulding, Gerri Allen and Terri Lyne Carrington.  WOW!!  What a concert!

There were little mini-concerts for the kiddos each day and I figured we couldn't pass up the opportunity.  (Of course, I'm always a fan of free fun!)  So, we went to as many of these as we could!

This is a group called Claptet.  I really wish Ben had come with us.  He would have loved it!  Luke lost interest really fast, but the group was great!

The Three Little Pigs opera.

This was part of the family series.  The Amici Brass Quintet.  Ben was in love!

 All God's Critter's with local storyteller Fran Stallings.

On Friday (Abby's birthday)  Ben and Abby participated in a music workshop with some of the Amici Orchestra musicians.  Such a great opportunity!  As part of the price of the workshop, Ben and Abby each received two tickets to a concert.  I was thrilled that we would be able to go to the outdoor concert at Woolaroc.  I have heard what a great concert this is, but have never been.  I wondered if Abby would be ok with spending her birthday listening to music at Woolaroc.  Thankfully that was ok with her!

We have been told to pack up our dinner and take it out to Woolaroc.  Being as though it was Abby's birthday, we didn't do that, but we did take some snacks.  It was perfect!

 We ended up finding lots of friends to sit with.  Again,  it was perfect!

Jon, Ben, Abby and I loved every minute of this amazing night!

Thankfully, a dear, sweet friend kept Luke for us.  I'm sure the night would have been a lot different with him there! 
THANK YOU, HEATHER!!

 I am so happy that we were able to take part in so many of the week's activities!  We are all really looking forward to next year!  We will not be missing out on OK Mozart again!

Happy Father's Day

When I asked Jon what he would like to do for Father's Day, he said that he would like to grill hamburgers and hang out outside all day.  He didn't want to have any kind of plans.  He just wanted to spend the day outside with the fam.  Sooo...that's exactly what we did.  There weren't very many pictures taken, but there were some cute ones!

Of course, the day started out with a few little presents!

(Check out the cute bow!  Abby made her own bow for her present.  Jon thought it was the perfect accessory for the morning!)

Happy Father's Day, Jon!  Thank you for being such a great father to our children.  I appreciate the example you are setting for them as such a hard working dad!  I know that our kiddos are at difficult ages, but hang in there, it will get better!  (I have to tell myself that too!)  I love you and appreciate everything you do for our family!

Our Little Visitor

We had the fun opportunity to watch a friend's little girl, Katie, while her mom, dad and sister went to a concert.  (Yes, the OK Mozart week post is coming!  I'm trying to figure out how to get the pictures from my phone to the computer...)

Abby had so much fun with Katie!  It was like having the little sister that she never go to have!  Abby and Katie did it all!  They started off with a tea party, painted nails, did hair, made duct tape bows and snuggled while watch Cinderella.

Abby loved every minute of her time with Katie!  I'm pretty sure Miss Katie enjoyed it too!  Abby can't wait to have Katie over to play again!

Happy 12th Birthday, Abigail!!

 It has happened again.  Another one of my kiddos has turned another year older.  Sigh...  Abby has now entered the last of her pre-teen years.

Abby loves her birthday as much as I do and I think she had a pretty good day!  Jon was off, she participated in an OK Mozart music workshop (More on OK Mozart coming soon!) and we were able to go to the OK Mozart outdoor concert at Woolaroc (more on that too) which ended Abby's special day with fireworks!

Of course, when you are a kid, there's not much more exciting than presents!  A new pair of Converse + an Adele cd + duct tape + nail polish = One happy 12 year old girl!

Abby's favorite cake is chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  She has had it every year for the last several years.  This year, I think I convinced her to try something new.  My favorite birthday cake.  White cake with white fluffy frosting with coconut on top.  That is the cake that I always asked for when I was a kid!  (Mom even made it for me this year when we met in St. Louis!)  Abby really isn't a fan of white cake.  I told her we could make it purple!  She looked at me like I was crazy.  "Mom, that's still white cake."  I swore to her that it wasn't, but she wasn't convinced.  But she was willing to give it a try.  (I know, bad mom!)

She did like the cake, but I have a feeling we will be back to chocolate next year.  (:

Yes, the order here is correct.  We had cake before dinner!  There's a very good reason for that!  We ran out of time!  Abby participated in a music workshop that ended with a pizza party around 4:00p.m.  There just wasn't quite enough time for us to have her birthday dinner before heading out to Woolaroc.  So, we ended up extending Abby's birthday a day and had it on Saturday.  She was a little bit disappointed, but unfortunately, there wasn't anything I could do about it.  I still think the dinner was just as good on Saturday!

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY GIRL!

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND AM EXCITED AND PROUD AS I SEE THE BEAUTIFUL YOUNG LADY YOU ARE GROWING UP TO BE!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

A while back our small group was talking about some things we could do during the summer.  One of the things we came up with was to go to a Tulsa Drillers baseball game.  $2 Tuesdays was the perfect way to make it happen!  $2 tickets plus $2 food hot dogs, pretzels with cheese, pop and pizza...Yes!

It was a perfect night to be at the game!

My family!

That's Quarter Eye Jack up in the top right corner!  :)

The whole gang!  (minus a few of the kiddos)

The little kids couldn't resist the playground and the big kids had to check out the splash pad.

There's just something about being at the ball park.  The sounds of the fans cheering, the crack of the ball hitting the wooden bat, the guy walking through the stands yelling, "Peanuts!  Popcorn!  Cracker Jacks!"  What a great night for a baseball game with some pretty great people!

Garden Update

What does Jon love most about spring/summer?  Planting a garden!  Taking care of the garden!  Everything about having a garden!  He almost decided not to do it this year because of the busy-ness of juggling work, school and family.  I knew he would completely disappointed if he didn't do it, so I highly encouraged him to do it.  I enjoy the garden too, but it really is Jon's baby.  One of the first things he wants to do when he gets home from work is go check on the garden.  The kids and I tease him all the time that he is "going out to talk to his plants."  (:  In my current foot situation, it isn't the easiest to get out there to plant plants and pull weeds...

So, Jon set out on the garden adventure.  He got started a little bit late, but better late than never, right?

The garden is looking great!  Actually, there are two gardens.  Yep, two!  Jon wanted to do a little experiment.

This is the raised box garden that we made a few years ago.  It is in a great spot in our back yard.  Nice and out of the way.  It looks great, but never really produced much.  Jon had the soil tested, made the appropriate soil changes.  We watered and weeded.  And never even picked a tomato.  We weren't sure what the deal was.  Our next door neighbor had more veggies than she knew what to do with! 

Jon had an idea!

He wanted to move the garden to a different area of the yard.  An area with different soil and that received the morning sun and the afternoon shade.  He didn't do a raised bed or anything, he just planted straight into the raw ground.

Things are working much better!  The plants are all looking amazing and are producing lots of veggies!

The corn is looking great!

The zucchini and squash are multiplying like crazy!

The tomatoes are many!

This is actually a green pepper from the raised box garden.  The plants in the garden look good, not great, but still aren't really producing very much.  I think we might have one tomato on one of the plants there.

I think we have decided that the best garden is the new one that doesn't get so blasted hot!

These are zinnias that Abby gave me a seed packet for Mother's Day. I can't wait to see the flowers bloom!

The flowers that the kids gave me for Mother's Day are looking beautiful!  As long as we can keep from having the insane heat that we had last summer, I think the flowers will manage to look beautiful all summer long!