Trusting the Mommy Instincts

Last Wednesday as I pulled in the driveway after helping with youth group, I could hear Emma crying. When I got in the house, Josh said she had fallen out of bed in her sleep. Emma was crying a lot and holding her arm. Now, this little girl is one tough cookie. She is the one who can be stung thirteen times by a wasp and never say a thing when older boys who she is with are bawling over one sting. Needless to say I thought it must be broke! After Josh did a little assessment, he agreed, so I took Emma across the street to the Emergency Room.

We were there for relatively a short time (three hours) compared to what it usually is like there. The triage nurse thought it was broke as well, and ordered some x-rays.

After we finally saw the doctor, he said she looked perfectly fine, that nothing was wrong, and we need to go home. That was it. I felt a little foolish. I thought for sure she broke it. Even Emma was slightly embarrassed. "Mommy, I am trying to be tough, but it really does hurt more than I ever have hurt." she says to me. I let her know it is okay to hurt. My poor baby.

Since they told us she was fine, we just planned to do things as normal. I let her go to VBS (she fell on her arm there, and had a good cry they told me), then we had a picnic with some friends for lunch. When she fell off the swing set b/c she couldn't hold on (and landed ON her arm my poor girl!!!), I knew they must have been wrong. I tried getting an appointment with our doctor, but she was on vacation. I could go to a clinic, but not until Friday at 3:30.

Josh took Emma to that appointment. The doctor walked into the room with Emma's x-ray in hand and wanted to know why she didn't have a splint or cast or anything because her wrist was "obviously broken". Josh looked at the x-ray and saw the break immediately too. The doctor then sent them back to the emergency room to get a splint put on. We also now have an appointment with a pediatric orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to possibly get another x-ray (b/c she fell on it twice) and get a cast put on.

It is very good that I was not the one who took Emma back to the E.R. I know it was a mistake, but in that moment I probably wouldn't have been very nice. My poor girl was in so much pain, and we were led to believe nothing was wrong at all.

I am a little sad that this happened at the beginning of summer. Hopefully she will not have to wear a cast for very long so she can enjoy some splashing in our kiddy pool this summer.

Resting after a long day at the doctor's office and ER.

This is the temporary splint they made for her fractured radius.

Give A Little Bit Of Your Love To Me!

A couple months ago, Emma came up to me all teary eyed and said, "Momma. I want to grow my hair out for love."

She had seen a post on my friend's blog where her little girl was donating hair. Emma told me she liked this girls pretty long hair and asked, "Why in the world would she cut it?" I told her that she wanted to cut it so she can give it to someone to make a wig for a child who doesn't have hair. She thought on that a while and didn't ever mention it again, so when she told me she wanted to grow out her hair "for love", I asked if she meant locks of love, and she said yes.

I thought it was a great idea. I liked that it was her own, no one asked her to do it, and also her hair grows fast, so she could grow her hair out really long quite quickly. They need at least 10" to use it for a wig.

So, last Saturday I gave her "the" cut! She was really excited and said she wants to do it one more time. :)

Cutting the long pony tail off! She looks a little nervous.

We have ten and a half inches to donate!

A shot of the cut in the back (minus the wispy part that migrated to the left side of her head). I think she looks SO old with this haircut, but it's nice to have it off her neck for the summer.

Pepper Anyone?

I had a little incident with the pepper shaker this morning.

My poor poached egg.

The culprit.

Oh, and I totally stuck my egg under the faucet. No way was I wasting a perfectly poached egg!

Playgroup at Beckey's House!

Last Tuesday my friend Beckey had a little play group summer party at her house. We had a great time! Here are some fun pictures from that day.

Oops! The construction guys came to rip up their old patio the same day. Don't worry, we didn't let the kids get TOO close. :)

Just some of the kids that were there. Gotta love a PB and J picnic!

Josh gave Emma a ride around his yard. Yeah, they had fun! :)

We can't forget the sprinkler! We all had a great day there. Thanks Beckey!

So Many Reasons to Celebrate!

This has been a GREAT week! I had an amazing birthday on Tuesday. Seriously, it was one of the best I've had in years and years. I have some of the best friends and family a girl could ask for! The only thing that could have made it better was if my twin sister, Tomesia, could have been here to celebrate with me. Maybe next year!

Even though my birthday was awesome, I had an even better weekend. I found out on Friday that our dear friends Brad and Rachel have been matched with a baby in South Korea! They are parents to a beautiful baby boy! Our whole family rejoices with them. As Emma put it "It's just in time! Now Mr. Brad can have the best Father's day ever!". I am pretty sure she nailed it on the head.

Saturday we received some more super great news. Our friends (former students here at NTBI) got engaged! Congratulations David and Kristi!!! They have not posted on their blog yet, but I am hoping to see the infamous engagement photo soon! When Addie heard the news, she said "Holy Smokes!". Now THAT was funny!

Today was a nice day celebrating Josh. He is a great father! I feel so blessed that my daughters have such a great daddy. :)

Here are some pics from my awesome birthday!

Yummy chocolate birthday cake that my good friend Beckey made me. She is so wonderful!

Check out this delicious birthday dinner! Josh grilled the most amazing venison steaks from the deer he got last fall. They were SO YUMMY!

Another awesome surprise! Josh got me an ice cream cake at Cold Stone creamery. It was so good. Two cakes in one day! What an awesome birthday. :)

Welcome Summer Break!

Hopes for sleeping in on Friday morning were dashed. Emma was sure she had school. She didn't want to be late!

After some reminders of the day before ("Remember how we picked you up at school with the van painted and the sign...") she finally believed us, but was now way too awake to go back to sleep.

She wanted to be back in school. I didn't think she remembered how fun summer can be, so we had a day of summer fun!

We went to the park in the morning with one of my friends and her two boys. After lunch and naps we had a great time splashing in the back yard. It was successful. She did not mention school the next day...although it was Saturday...

Josie was still a little sleepy from her nap. This lasted, oh, until bedtime, when she got a burst of energy. Perfect timing as usual.

Addie's face cracks me up! The bucket was a little heavy for her. :)

Look out Emma!

Girl needs to grow some teeth back!

School's Out! School's Out! Teacher Let the Monkeys Out!

This past week was Emma's last week of school. It seemed to never come! Doesn't it seem late to be getting out? When does your school district let out?

We had a very fun week celebrating Emma's first year of school. It seems that is wasn't that long ago when we were excited about her first day, and now it's her last!

Sunday was the "step up" Sunday at our church, and Emma moved up into 1-2-3 worship! Her class sang a song and she was given a little certificate and a Bible. Even though they misspelled her name, Emma thought it was very special to receive a new Bible. "This is great, because I can read now!" she said.

On Wednesday night, Emma's school had a kindergarten awards ceremony. Along with the completion certificate that Emma received (they no longer call it "graduation" anymore, even with the ceremony and everything) she also received a special honor for exceeding the NWEA MAP test in reading, language arts, and math! Way to go, Emma!

The next day was Emma's last day of kindergarten. My friend and carpool mom Missy came up with a great idea. We decorated our vans and welcomed them as they came out of school. I don't know who was more excited, our new first graders, or their younger siblings!

The students eagerly await for their name to be called.

Emma receives her certificates and a hug from her teacher, Mrs. MacMillan.

Judah, Emma and Jocelyn pose for a pic.

The greeting committee! They were all excited to have their older siblings home to play with again.

Here is Missy's van. It was raining when I went to write on mine, so it all washed off. Hers looks great though!

A Hair-raising Experience

This is such a funny picture of Jo. I love back light. I think the best time to take a picture is right before the sun is setting. There is just something so warm about the sun then. The early morning light seems fresh, and the evening is cozy. Is that crazy?

Anyhow, this picture was taken at the baseball game last month. I think it is hilarious!

Got Mousse?

Park Party

As I was going through my photographs I found these from Memorial day. It was a nice day. Josh was off of work, Emma had the day off school, so we just spent some fun time as a family. After a little parade in a neighboring town, and a relaxing afternoon at home, we met up with the Troyers and the Gilleys at a local park for a picnic.

After our P.B. and J's, the girls spend a long time playing with their friends while we all got a change to talk. It was a good day.

Brooke and Addie working hard at the see saw.

Our thirsty girl!

Emma pushing Josie in a big swing.

I love this pic of Addie because she looks chubby. :)

The Best Thing About Big Rain Storms...

...is all the big puddles you can jump in! We had so much fun puddle jumping last summer, that the girls were looking forward to a warm day after the rain to do it again.

I've decided that I am going to be the kind of mother who lets her kids enjoy life, and then cleans up later. I don't want to worry about dirt so much that they can't have a little fun. So, they splashed to their hearts content in their galoshes and sundresses...and then I promptly put the clothes in the washing machine. :)

This is the best picture I could get of Emma. She had so much fun, but her dress was up around her ears most of the time. What can I say? She is a good jumper.

Addie gives the puddle a little tiny touch.

This is my FAVORITE! Check out how high Jozo can jump!

"When you jump that high, you get the best splashes, Momma!"

"I do it too, Momma"

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...

Last Wednesday was a pretty humid day for May. Humid enough to make the hair stick to the back of your neck. It just felt heavy.

I was coming home from youth group and the temperature dropped 22 degrees. It got really dark, and started to pour...for twenty minutes straight! After it let up, I was wondering if we might get a tornado with the temperature changing so fast. After the rain, the sky turned green, and then pink. It was really cool. I love big rain storms.

It's kinda freaky when it gets this dark.

There were so many layers of clouds!

Look how pink everything looks!

Foto Flora A Go Go

I am in love with all the flowers this time of year brings, God's glorious creation all around us. All the variations of colors and textures are so much fun to look at. WOW!

Here are just a few that caught my eye.

This is the center of a dark purple Bearded Iris. There are a bunch of these guys lining the fence in my backyard.

I cut this Tulip from the big flower bed (well, big for our yard) along the garage. Notice the detail in the petal.

One of the few Dandelions that make it to this stage in our yard. This one was not lucky enough to be in one of my love bouquets.

The only rose left from Emma's dance recital. This was a gift from Brandon and Gavin for Emma.

I thought this was interesting. There are a bunch of light purple and yellow Bearded Iris all along the back of the garage. This year (for the first time) this little guy came up. I hesitate to say little, as the bloom is the size of my palm. I thought it was a neat surprise. I like it much better than the others than can look very washed out at times.

Baseball and Apple Pie

Okay, so technically there was no apple pie. We did get peanuts though!

A couple of weeks ago we were able to go see the Lansing Lugnuts minor league baseball team play. It was so much fun! We even made it on their web site.

Emma's school was selling tickets as a fund raiser, and we thought this was one fund raiser we could get behind. :)

We purchased five tickets, and decided to leave Addie home and take Brandon (Clint and Keisa's oldest boy). We are so glad we did. Not only would it have been WAY too late for Addie (we got home after 11pm), but Emma and Brandon had a blast. It was a fun change having a little boy around. So, Keisa watched Addie, and we took Brandon. Kinda like that show "Wife Swap" but without all the family drama. Okay, so it's not like that show. Not really at all.

The kids were great, and even though the Lugnuts lost, it was an enjoyable night out.

Emma cheered a lot. Finally a place where she can rock her mad whistle skills.

They were a fun team to watch.

Josh took this, and I love it. It kinda captures the whole feel. The cool of the night air, the crack of the bat... Good shot, babe.

Although he is a very happy kid, it is hard to get a picture of him smiling. I promise, he had a good time.

Josie on the other hand...she seems to always have a smile for me. Well, maybe "smile" isn't the right word. More like "face".

Gotta Dance!

I just love sharing about Emma's dance. Maybe it's because I am her mom, and proud of everything she does. Maybe she really IS that good. Maybe it is because I lack all of those skills and it is amazing seeing any of my offspring have ANY coordination.

Whatever the reason, I sure do love to talk about it! Her end of the year recital was May 17th. This year she participated in tap and ballet. It was so fun to see her doing the different styles of dance. I didn't get very many good shots, but here are a few of the night.

A little shout out to this guy, who one minute before the show started decided to sit right in front of us. Thanks. Most of my pictures have this guy's head in it.

Check Emma out! She knew the routine the best. They put her front and center for both tap and ballet! One of the other mom's said to me after the show "You didn't tell me that Emma was the star!"

Although she had the whole dance memorized, she often looked so serious. :)

Our little prima ballerina!