GOOD NEWS!

I went to my doctor yesterday. It was painful. He had to jerk my knee around to do tests. I just about cried, but between the tests ands looking at the MRI we was able to tell me that I do not need surgery!! Yippiee!! I am thrilled. I do have muscle damage. It is an injury that put professional athletes out for six months to a year. He doesn't think it will take that long to recover but it is going to take a while with a lot of physical therapy. I can handle that! Now I am just waiting for the referral to see the physical therapist. I am still limping around, but I don't have to be cut open!! What great news!

MRI

I don't know how many of you guys know but I have been in a knee brace for a couple of weeks now. It is the same knee I hurt last May when I fell down some stairs. I sent me to months of physical therapy. I was doing really great and not having any pain till a few weeks ago. We were going family prayer and Kimball somehow jumped on my bad knee and re-injured it. It is even worse than before. I have gone to the doctor and he ordered and MRI and a surgery consult. He thinks I am going to need surgery but then said that he was not a knee expert. I had the MRI done this week. It hurt like crazy to have my knee help in that position for so long! I have an appointment with the specialist on Monday. I am in such pain. I don't know if I really want surgery. But I do know that I do not want to be this much pain! Knee pain is horrible!! Sorry, don't mean to whine. I have had lots of help. My friends help take Phoebe to and from school. Jake is doing so much around the house. My mom comes up every weekend she can and helps with laundry and the kids. By the end of the night I am sore and tired I can't do much. It is pretty frustrating. I have so much to do and now I is hard just to walk down the hall. Such is life. I just need to try harder to have a good attitude. I know that it will help over all.

The weekend

My mom came up this past weekend. We always have fun little adventures when she comes up. The kids adore her. It is so great . The boys and I hit DI this past week. We found a pack of Geo Tracks for $2.00! And a for person tea set for $10.00. We got the tea set because Phoebe is still very much engrossed with American girl Doll's Felicity. She is from the Colonial time and Phoebe wants to do everything like her. So we had a Hot Cocoa tea part. We even had little chessmen cookies. The kids had so much fun. Mom was a great sport. The kids didn't want it to end.

Sure hope my mom doesn't mind that I posted this photo. She is such a wonderful grandma!

I love this face he is making. This sums up Warren. I ask him to do something and he does it in his own little sassy way. I sure love him.


With how much sewing I have been doing lately Phoebe has been asking a lot of questions about sewing. She wants me to explain about patterns, and when she can get her own machine. She wants to learn how to do basic stuff. The other day I set up my machine in her room, at her little table, and we sewed some straight lines. She was a little nervous about the machine. She clearly remembers the story of mom as a younger girl (I was in collage) sewing a needle through her finger and having to go to the hospital. I sure wish I had never told her that story. She was brave and put her hands on top of mine. It was very darling. I wish I had Jake get a photo. Maybe next time. She is already telling me what kind of machine she wants. What a hoot. Anyways I have a book that tells you how to start teaching kids to sew. Pre-sewing activities to basic sewing and so on. It really is a neat treasure. It is an old book my mom had when she was a young adult. It suggested having kids string beads. It is at Kimball and Warrens level. It was fun. They made necklaces for all different stuffed animals. Phoebe even made some for her teacher. It was great to watch the kids pick the beads and patterns. Warren was even able to do it on his own. I love these kiddos!

Notice the necklace for Bob the Builder? Warren made that for him. I also like that you can tell Warren is sticking his tongue on the inside his cheek. He is concentrating very hard to get that bead on the needle.
Phoebe had it down to an art form. She could make two in the time that the boys could.
Kimball would just get into his own world and add beads. It was fascinating to watch him. You really could see the wheels turning in his head.

Pets

We had a dog once. It didn't work out too well. We still have the torn up couches to prove it. So we are going to try it again, but this time with FISH. Jake has gotten into. We started this month with a 10 gallon tank and a red tailed shark. We quickly learned that red tailed sharks can jump. The morning after we go the fish we found him, dead. He had jumped out of the two inch opening in the back. TWO INCHES! We had to have a talk with the kids about death. The whole plan of salvation with fish. We also went back to the fish store and got a bala shark. Jake and I really got attached to him. He was just cool. They can make a cracking noise. They grow up to 16 inches long. We had him for four days. We taped up all the holes we had in the top of the tank. No one told us Bala sharks can jump up to six feet and knock open the little door on the top of the tank. Again we had to have the plan of salvation talk. So we got a beta. They cannot jump. As soon as we had the beta for a while and knew he was going to make it Jake started doing more research. He cruised the Internet, he read books and he talk to fish tank owners. I was excited to see Jake have a hobby. It is something he can do with the kids. They love working with him. We started checking around for cheep big fish tanks. Jake wanted BIG. So we found one we could agree on. It is a 90 gallon tank. It came with stand and everything. IT really was a fantastic deal. Oh was he like a kid in a candy store. The kids and he cleaned it all up and his friend, who has a big tank, came over and helped him set it all up.This is Warren and Jake cleaning the new tank in the yard. It was so cold that the hose and ice frozen all around it. It reminded me of a clogged artery in your heart. The children were little ice cubes when they came in.

I think this shows just how big the tank is. You can compare it to the TV and Jake. IT really is a nice addition to our house. It is relaxing to watch. I find I don't turn on the TV as much when I am by myself at night. I feel like I have the fish. Our friend who helped set it up is moving across the country in a few weeks so he is giving us all his fish. Jake is even more thrilled. So far we have three zebra striped Donny-ohs, two Mollies and our little beta. The kids have fallen in love with them. So far, they cannot jump out of this tank. IT is 100% closed off on the top. A bala shark my being coming home soon.

One of the things Jake really likes about the tank is it came with five Lazar lights that always stay on. You really can only see the green and blue. We also have red. Jake has the green so it shines around the sunken building. It looks every covered with moss-ish. Then the blue is around the underground waterfall. It is so neat looking. He has the red so it looks like a volcano light. Jake is having so much fun learning about this new hobby. I really enjoy it too.

The new buggy buggy!

As many of you know Kimball loves his baby blanket. Also know as, Buggy Buggy. He loves this blanket with is whole heart. It is also his safety blanket. With his SID he uses his buggy buggy to cope and adjust to new situations. He carries all over the place. To him buggy buggy is a member of the family. Well, with all baby blankets, they start to wear out after a while. I started searching for some identical fabric to make him a new one. It was a lot harder than I thought. I found ONE store on the entire Internet that sold it. Jake and I finally paid the ridiculous price for it. Kimball needs this blanket. So I ordered four yard of fabric. That should get us through a few more years! Here are some pictures of the old and new buggy buggy!

This is a picture of Kimball wrapped up in four yards of buggy buggy fabric. I know he doesn't look happy but he was thrilled!

This is Jake holding the shreds of what is left of the original buggy buggy. It is beyond sewing.
This is the old and new. I laid the old one on the new one to show how much is missing from the original. Look at the color difference! Wow! So well loved.

Here is the new buggy buggy. He loves it. He calls it his warm buggy buggy. His old buggy buggy is called his called his cold buggy buggy. He now carries BOTH around!! I will take that. I think I might take some of the scraps of fabric and make a little draw string buggy buggy bag for him to carry his shreds around in. We'll have to see about that.

That is one more thing checked off my to do list. What is next!

Warrens Tube Surgery

Warren has tubes put back in his ear and his adenoid removed this past Monday. It went really smooth. I am so thrilled. Even though I have been through this seven times (No joke, this was our seventh set of tubes for my three kids) it is still hard for me to see them wheel my babies away. He wore his duck pajamas. He was the star or the surgery floor. All the nurses wanted to be around him. Of course he entertained them all. What an angel

Post op is always a little tricky. Usually kids wake up screaming. Not my kids. I have never had that. Warren woke up and immediately wanted a Popsicle. He even said "please" and "thank you." Talk about melt my heart! Warren did vomit after surgery. I have never had a kid do that. It is pretty common after going under. I thought we were going to get lucky and not have to deal with vomiting, but as soon as we pulled in the driveway and unbuckled is seat belt he let it fly. Oh boy. Jake had the day off so he was really able to help.
It didn't take him long to bounce back. By the end of the end of the day he was running and screaming with his brother and sister. We had some friends come over that evening and they couldn't believe that he had, had surgery that morning. It took some convincing. Today he is doing so well! He is eating better than he has done in weeks. He is no longer on pain meds and is back to his old self. What blessing we have the knowledge of tubes!! They are a miracle.

More Doll Clothes!

I have been busy making more doll clothes for Phoebes doll. It really is so addicting and fun! You can get so much done in one night. The first picture is of a pair of pantaloons and a "Bum Roll". Really, that is what the pattern calls it. It is stuffed like a pillow and it ties around the waist. It puffs out the dress at the hips and bum. It really does make a difference. Phoebe thinks it is more for padding the butt when her doll falls!

This is her nightgown. It was a booger to make. Just because of the yoke around the neck. I am glad I am doing all these doll clothes because when I do regular size clothes I have a clue as to what I am doing. This night gown is made out of an old white sheet. I felt pretty cool recycling like that! Good me!

This dress is probably my favorite. I love the colors, patterns and just how it looks together. Phoebe calls this a tea lesson dress. I think it will work. She has the bum roll on underneath. It does give it that colonial look. I think the hat is cute too!

Okay, this one. I just finished it last night. I am not a fan of sewing silky material! Not fun at all. It moves and doesn't cut how I want. I had to do a lot of corrections. It took me forever and I was about ready to throw it away, but I finally got it to the point I like it. The more I look at it the more I am getting attached. A little side note on recycled fabric. This dress is actually cute from an old nightly that does not fit my anymore! It was the first one I ever wore, so it has a little sentiment behind, this is a great way to reuse it. Don't worry I have not told Phoebe were I got the fabric, I just don't think that would be to great. In fact it is sorta' weird. I will probably tell her when she is much older. MUCH OLDER. Jake and I laugh to ourselves whenever we see it.

I have to put doll clothes aside for a few days. There are other projects that have deadlines. I need to sew 15 personal progress books and embroider the young women's names on the front. Kimball's blanket fabric arrived today and I need to make that a priority. I also need to cut out a lot of stuff for Phoebe's class. So I need to get down to business and stop the playing... for now!