One foot, two foot

Two weeks ago, in a rather dramatic display of coordination (or lack thereof) I managed to take a fall.  I was on my way up to bed and thought, "Maybe you should take the puppy out to go to the bathroom first."  And so, I took the puppy out, stepped down off our ONE step, and onto the slippery wet grass (from our gardening effort earlier that day).  My right foot slipped and in an effort to catch myself, I brought my left foot down quickly...and slipped.  Both ankles cracked and rolled...making sounds that ankles have NO RIGHT to make.  So, there I was at 10pm rolling around in the muck of my front yard.  Brian wasn't home.  The kids were asleep in their beds.  The dog thought I was playing and was licking my face.   After several minutes I managed to army crawl my way into the house and to a phone where I called the dorm Brian was on duty at.  He arrived and followed the trail of destruction.  Because the kids were sleeping, we decided to wait it out.  I went to urgent care the next morning and left looking like this:

 Diagnosis?  One broken ankle (left) and one severe sprain (right).  I was sent home with a temporary cast and an ace bandage and instructions to report to the orthopedic surgeon ASAP.  So, on Monday, I was treated to something MORE permanent (Brogan chose the color):

 BUT, my ankle was too swollen and sore to be placed correctly.  So, a week later, I got to go back.  And progressed to this (Cassidy chose this one because it goes with everything):

I was relieved to be fitted for the brace on my right foot, but still walked out of there on crutches with the cast and the boot. Today, 2 weeks and 2 days after my spill, I was able to drive the car for the first time.  And, I'm not on crutches!  I have a walking cast and I alternate between the boot (for longer walking periods, like to the dining hall) and the brace (for those moments when I need to drive).  Perhaps the most humiliating moment of this whole experience came after checking in at Urgent Care.  The MA in training was going over the "how did this happen" part of my story.  He asked if alcohol was involved.  When I told him, "No" he looked at me rather pointedly and said, "Are you SURE you don't want to revise that statement to save face?".  Hmmmm, maybe a better story would've been nice.  But, this is what I got.  And if you ask my family, all they will tell you is that it's about time.  I have a long list of incidents involving falls and tumbles and casts...but this is my very first break.  Not bad for a coordinated (not) lady like myself.

Birthday....

So, I've been craving all things coconut for the past little while. And so, for my birthday, I made my own coconut cake. And enjoyed doing so with Cassidy's assistance. It was SOOOO yummy!

That's a lot of candles...and my kids were disappointed that we didn't get ENOUGH candles on the cake. But, when we blew them out, they were quick to exclaim, "Oh NO! We're going to set off the fire alarm!" Thanks kids. Thanks.

It was a wonderful day. And it doesn't take gifts or extravagant gestures to be a great day. I got toast for breakfast (made with the cooperative (!?) efforts of Cassidy and Kayla). I was showered with home drawn pictures and love notes and "coupon books". I went on a date with Brian. Always a treasured moment. Dinner and a movie. Classic, right? Right! It might not sound spectacular, but it was just what I wanted. Thanks, little family, for making me feel loved and special. Not JUST today, but ESPECIALLY today.

March Visit to Campus

We went up to the Lake House earlier in March. It was beautiful weather (despite the photo below). The lake was still frozen, but definitely thawing.

Cassidy spent some time soaking up the sun...you can see where the lake is melted and under this water, once the level goes down, is a wonderful beach area where the kids play all summer long.

The kids LOVE this swing.

And being in it with Lala is even better.

Even Libby loves the lake. She got to go down by the water for the first time during this visit.

And the girls (and Brian) were thrilled to help rake up a winters worth of pine cones and needles.

Hooray for warm sunny days on the Lake.

Looking forward to many more!

Valentine's Day

We HEART ATTACKED the girls' bedroom doors. The hearts all say something on 'em. Some have sayings that the girls seems to be repeating a lot these days like, "I know, right?!" Seems to be a favorite.

Fun hair! Cass had twists and hearts. KK had hearts as well but I'm not sure if you can see them very well in the following photos.

(nope...can't see her hearts very well. Too bad, 'cause they were SUPER cute. Maybe next year.)

We also decorated individual heart shaped cakes. Yummy!

And for dinner, we had heart shaped home made pizzas. Brian got a pepperoni pizza and we cut his pepperoni's into hearts. (not pictured)

We love Valentine's Day. And although there are efforts made to show each other that we LOVE them all year long, having one day a year when you go the EXTRA mile to do this, doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Alright, NOW it feels like spring!

Went on another walk yesterday and found that Turkey River, where daddy's crew team rows is only five minutes through the woods.

Libby met numerous other dogs on this warm March Sunday, and we took the time to construct a couple of "fairy houses."

Available now! Organic, one-room fairy house located in reclaimed old-growth stump! Lake-front property, access to St. Paul's School trails system, new pine-needle roof. Recently renovated with wall-to-wall moss floor and hand-laid stick walkway. Small pets welcome, must be willing to tolerate noisy squirrel neighbors and spectacular sunsets.

Spring (sort of) Walk

Another inch of snowfall last night, but it was gone by noon today. Now that we live on the edge of the central ground of the school, we're closer to the woods. Libby loves to run (and run and run) at the Astronomy fields. It is not quite spring yet, but we're going ahead with walks and fun stuff outside. Right Kayla? Kayla? You better be smiling!

Kayla's first sleep-over

The time has come for Kayla to take another step toward growing up...the SLEEP OVER.

Complete with BFF (sweet Paris, from church), make your own pizzas, ice cream sundaes, and we've transformed the play room into a Drive-In movie. Paris is in love with sweet little Libby (who is enjoying all the attention and love) and everyone is having a great time.

Hooray for slumber parties. Let's hope there is some actual "slumbering" tonight.

JUMPZ (with a "z")

We've found a new bounce house in Concord. It is Brogan's favorite place. And, quite conveniently, it is the other 1/2 of the gym where Kayla is now taking gymnastics.

Seriously, the boy is thrilled with our new find.

And, he gets to bounce every Wednesday for an hour while Kayla is tumbling about in the room next door. A total score for the whole family.

Ice Time

Every Sunday morning from 11-12 Brian takes the kids over to the SPS Hockey rink. (This works because we now have afternoon church that starts at 1pm.) The kids LOVE it....and they are really starting to improve. These shots are from the first day on ice. I'll need to post some more current ones because you can see how much more comfortable they are on ice now.

Brogan used a chair for the first few tries...but he doesn't anymore

Kayla is figuring out how to move her feet

Cassidy has made the most progress. She is gliding all over the rink now and has started working on going backwards (something mom NEVER could figure out).

And, best of all, mom gets a whole hour of quiet time before church to get ready uninterrupted. NICE!

Uncle Chris!

This is Uncle Chris. We don't get to see him very much because he use to live in Florida but then he moved to California. He is SO much fun and we enjoyed spending the holiday together. We miss you already!

Brian has many other pictures on his computer from our time at camp. Some members of the group spent time ice fishing...those pictures are EPIC...one was even submitted to a magazine called "Cabin Life", who wrote us back and told us they appreciated it and would keep it in their file for an appropriate time to publish! We'll see if we can't get Brian to do a post with some of his pictures as well. We had so much fun at the Lake this Holiday Season. Spending time with Glenn, Lori, Chris and Brad was exceptionally enjoyable. They showered us with love and even more gifts. There is now a sign that hangs in the hallway that reads, "Welcome to Papa and Lala's House. Grandkids loved and spoiled here." Which is true....except we all feel loved and spoiled when we are there.

Christmas 2011

The Stockings....full and awaiting discovery.

Turns out they were discovered at 5:30 am, by wide away children and groggy (but excited) parents.

The tree...post Santa...pre Christmas Morning Frenzy....which began at 6:05 and ended an hour later. Giving the kids 1 hour to play before getting ready for church.

The aftermath....and spoils (of one little boy, who was so cross with us for making him leave all the newly unwrapped toys and go to church that he threw quite the impressive fit....wearing himself out enough to sleep through the whole service. Perhaps the most pleasant Christmas Service we (as parents) have enjoyed in several years. A sleeping child made it possible to listen and enjoy the entire program. So, for that we are grateful.)

Sadly, the camera was forgotten and images of the unwrapping of gifts were missed. However, rest assured that EVERYONE was pleased as can be with the unwrapped packages. Each of the kids got exactly what they asked for from Santa. Which means, Cassidy got her CAT BUS (she was thrilled that is was not just a stuffed cat with 12 pipe cleaner legs, as we had warned her it might be such), Kayla got a fully stocked portable art easel, and Brogan got the red and green play mobile knights that he had fallen in love with. Thank you, Santa! AND, Pippin (our Elf on the Shelf) left the kids a charming little note (complete with tiny handprint) and 3 gold coins. We were sad to see him go, but are excited to know that he is back a the North Pole right now, resting before starting to prepare for next year. We can't wait to see him again in 2012!

After the tree, and church, we packed up the car (much easier to do when you aren't taking all of Christmas with you) and drove up to spend a wonderful week at our Lake House and enjoying the company of family there. We love Christmas for this reason most of all...Time with Family.

Christmas Eve

It is NEVER too late to start a new tradition. And that is what we did this Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve was always a big deal in my family growing up. It still is. But, this is the first year that we, as a small family of 5, stayed in our own home and celebrated. Joining us in this year's festivities was our Family away from Family: The Franklins. We kicked off the evening with a good Ol' Fashioned Taffy Pull.

It was sticky and gooey...and at first not everyone wanted to participate...

But then, they saw how much fun we were having and before too long....

Everyone was in on the taffy pulling fun!

Thank you, Fanklin family, for being part of our family and spending this evening with us.

Of course, the family tradition of Christmas Eve Jammies was not to be forgotten:

Grandma Harmon made these cute little jammies for the kids. How sweet!

And we are certain they contributed to the sweet dreams of the evening.

A visit from Grandpa

My father, Ken, came to visit this weekend. He arrived on Thursday and left on Monday. The visit wasn't nearly long enough, but we managed to pack as much as we could into his visit.

The main reason he came was to watch the girls dance in The Nutcracker (see previous post) on Friday and Saturday night. They were thrilled to have him in the audience. But, because fun and activity follows my dad wherever he goes, we also went candlepin bowling (A New England Classic), saw a movie, did a quick drive to our Lake House (which is 4 hours away), ate fries at "Al's Famous Fries" in Burlington, VT, and managed to stop for dessert at Ben and Jerry's as well. Yummy. We loved having him here and look forward to spending more time together soon. These visits may never be long enough but we are so grateful that they happen.

Oh, Christmas Tree...

This is the "Formal Christmas Tree"....or "Mom's Tree" as the kids refer to it. This is also the real tree we went and cut down this year (see previous posts). I have been wanting to do a "willow tree" ornament tree for a while now. I love the "natural" feel to them and I wanted to have a tree that celebrated the Savior a little more. The angels seemed to do that.

Here is a close up of several of our favorite ones. These are The Angel of Learning, The Angel of Friendship (with puppy), The Angel of Hope (lantern), and this years 2011 Angel. My Mom and Dad gave these lovelies (and more not seen in the close up) for Christmas.

Thank you! They will decorate our tree for years and years to come.

The Nutcracker 2011

This year Cassidy and Kayla danced in The St. Paul's School annual production of "The Nutcracker". They were angels. And THIS was a dream come true:

Dreams are now getting bigger though. Cassidy enjoyed herself SO much that she had elected to start taking ballet now (a very big deal as she has chosen this over horse back riding AND gymnastics). The goal: Clara. (or the sugar plumb fairy based on the costume alone.)

Cassidy was a BIG angel and danced with 3 other friends on stage until the Little angels (lead by Kayla) marched on stage and stole the hearts of many....

Both girls had a wonderful and memorable time. They were SO very cute! We are just so proud of them and the commitment they made to practice every Saturday since October.

The girls are already talking about what they will do NEXT year. If Cassidy has her way, she will dance with SPS again...and another ballet company too. We just don't know which one yet. (video will come soon...we hope. There have been some technical difficulties...)

Christmas Tree

We don't usually have a real tree for Christmas. Mostly because in all the years we've been married we have NEVER had Christmas Morning in our own home. We love visiting with family though, so we aren't complaining....just explaining that it is a first for us. This year we WILL be waking up on Christmas Morning in our own home and to honor this fact, we decided to get a real tree this year. We went to a tree lot just down the road. Most of the trees were already tagged, so pickings were slim. Even considering THAT though, we ended up with a tree the kids were proud of....

Kayla was off running through the trees and helping our friends, The Franklin's, move their tree. Last year we were able to have a real tree as well...and we were even able to go cut it down (Washington has LOTS of options in the tree department). We so enjoyed having a real tree last year that having one this year was a reminder of that experience.

We put the tree up yesterday. The kids have an artificial tree in the play room, and now we have the family tree in the living room. The kids got to cover the play room tree with all the fun ornaments and colorful lights we have accumulated over the years from school and as just random collections. The family tree is the "mom" tree. Not quite as colorful, but it did get the twinkle lights this year. It looks like little fireflies or fairies (as the girls like to think of them) are living in our tree. I don't have a picture of it yet, but I'm sure one will surface before the year is over (how crazy is it to think that 2011 is almost over? I still struggle to write it any time I fill out the date).

Children's Choir and a Santa visit

Our family was asked to help with the Ward Christmas party this year....We were SO excited.

The girls were part of a small children's choir....

Brian made the scenery (a cobbler shop) and Shannon helped provide props and play the piano.

The girls did a GREAT job! Listening to their sweet voices sing about Jesus was a very special moment. They sounded like little angels.

Of course, a visit from St. Nick was enjoyed by all. Brogan climbed right on up.

KK gave a great smile and asked for an art easel and musical instruments (Drums? Really?!?)

Cassidy struggled to explain to Santa what a "Cat Bus" was. She has had to explain this to MANY people, but fans of "Totoro" know what she is talking about. This Santa couldn't promise her the gift she described (it sounds disturbing) but did tell her she will be getting something wonderful. We are all looking forward to the surprises we will find on Christmas morning.

Stockings 2011

This post is for my mom. When she was out here visiting the week of Halloween we found material and a pattern to make stockings. But, we had so many other projects that we weren't able to get to the stockings. Which meant I was left on my own with my very questionable sewing skills. I called in the excellent help of a friend and together the two of us made these:

Hung by the fireplace with care.....

This is the "BOY" stocking

This is the "GIRL" stocking

The kids are a bit concerned because I didn't personalize them beyond BOY and GIRL. They are worried that Santa won't know who's stocking is who's. I told them that this actually simplifies things for Santa and all he will need to do is choose a stocking and fill it with gifts for each child instead of trying to sort them according to name. They don't see how this is easier. I may need to find some way to personalize them. But for now, I love their simplicity. Thanks Mom, and Jill (my special guest helper) for making these stockings happen. You're both wonderful.

Thanksgiving

We were in New York this year for Thanksgiving. We spent time at our lake house, AND enjoyed the hospitality of family at Five Pines. It was a wonderful day. We were grateful to be with Grandpa Schroyer, LaLa, Uncle Brad and Lala's mom. The turkey was delicious. The cranberry salad SOOO yummy. And, the rolls weren't too shabby either, if I do say so myself.

The kids played in the Lake room, probably their favorite space at Campus:

We were asked to bring over some of the toys we didn't play with so much anymore. Funny how old toys in a new space suddenly make the toys feel new again.
Of course, Brogan played for hours in the lego bin. He also discovered wii resorts and had an exceptional time sword fighting. He played for 2 hours at one point...jumping and swinging his arms. He was a tired and sweaty boy by the end. If he can walk away from playing a video game as sweaty as if he had been outside running around, we feel okay about that. Besides, the alternative is that he is running around the house and, in typical 4 year old fashion, causing a ruckus.

All in all Thanksgiving Day was wonderful. Thank you Glenn and Lori for hosting such a lovely gathering. Looking forward to getting together again very soon.