Preston's splinter woes

I think one of Murphy's laws is that kids will only get really, really sick or need emergent doctor care outside of normal doctor's business hours.  You know, like how they never get a high fever in the middle of the day, or break their leg on a weekday?

A few weeks ago, we had a similar situation with Preston.  On Saturday, Preston got a splinter in his foot.  Which isn't really a big deal around here since we have a wood deck and a wood sandbox.  Usually I'll notice it a day or two later and wrangle a screaming child to pull it out.  On Sunday, however, Preston wasn't walking on the ball of his foot at all and when I looked at it, it was so swollen and was as hard as a rock.  I had him soak it and then tried to dig around in it a little to see if I could see the splinter and get it out.  The minute I broke the skin, some pus came out, but after that Preston would scream anytime I put any pressure on it at all and he wouldn't let me thouch it.  Since he was obviously in pain and his foot was obviously infected, we decided to take him to the after hours care.  Preston chose to have Chris take him, which was a good decision in hindsight.  I don't think I could have stood to watch what they did to him.

They took some x-rays of Preston's foot, but didn't see a splinter (duh - wood doesn't show up on x-ray), so they made the decision to just get all the pus out of his foot and make it bleed a little so that the splinter could eventually work it's way out.  So they strapped Preston down to the table, literally!  They put him in a straight jacket type thing so that he couldn't move around while they were digging in his foot.  They gave him 3 shots to numb him up, but I don't think any of them worked because Chris said Preston was screaming the whole time and said it really hurt afterwards.  I think Preston was also really freaked out that he couldn't move his arms or anything.  So the doctor got out a bunch of the pus and blood that was making his foot so hard and then sent him home with an ACE bandage and some antibiotics.

On the following Friday, Preston took off his sock and came over to me and said "mom, I think I have another splinter".  So I took a look at it and I got a little freaked out.  There was a piece of wood (not a splinter, like a piece of wood!) coming out of his foot.  He didn't want me to touch it, so he pulled his foot away right when I went to try and pull it out.  I instead touched the bottom of the ball of his foot and this huge thing just shot out of his foot.  Like that thing on the turkey that pops out when it's done!  It was over an inch long and not like at all like a normal splinter that looks like a sliver.  This kind of reminded me of a piece of mulch. 

I can't believe that thing was in his foot!  No wonder it was so sore and infected.  I just can't believe that it was so deep in there that the doctor didn't even see it when she was digging around!  Every day after that, Preston would come up and show me how his foot "squished" again when he pressed on it.  So glad he's doing better, how scary!

A day in the life.....

Glamorous? Hardly. Mundane? Sometimes. Hilarious? Always!

Life is never dull around here.  It may get boring, but it is never monotonous.  The kids keep us laughing and busy every day! 

My day begins at 5:15 when my alarm goes off and I roll out of bed.  I am really tired, but if I don't get up and do my devotions in the morning before the kids are up, I won't get them done.  Throughout the day, my to-do list piles up and the kids always need something, so this is a necessity for me to be grounded in God and His word every morning!  (Coffee is a huge blessing in my life these days!!)  My day ends at about 10 pm or a little after, when I usually fall asleep on the couch in front of the TV.  This is the part I really need to be better about.  I feel like by the time 8 pm hits and the kids are in bed, I'm exhausted (understandably).  But, as a result, I feel like Chris gets my leftovers.  I need to figure out a way to recharge throughout the day so that when Chris and I finally have some time alone, I have some energy left to give him.

I don't really have a schedule I follow every day when Chris is at work and the older boys are at school, other than absolutely being home for nap/rest time every afternoon.  Most mornings I try and get out and do something fun with Preston and Logan, either with friends or just us.  Some mornings I have errands to run, although I try and limit that to only once or twice a week.  I know once winter hits it is going to be harder to get out and do stuff, so I'm hoping that 1) we may set a habit now so we find it easier to still get out when it's cold and dreary or 2) we get it out of our system now so that when it's all cold and yucky outside, we are plenty content to just sit at home and play inside.

Our fall schedule is especially crazy this year.  Every single night of the week we have something.  Monday and Friday Logan has soccer practice.  Tuesday and Thursday Brayden and Preston have soccer practice.  And Wednesday is piano lessons and church.  Saturdays there are 3 soccer games and Sundays are church and then, hopefully, relaxing time as a family.  We are glad our kids are involved, but sometimes it feels like too much.  It really is such a hard thing to balance.

So, now you know.  Like you were really wondering, huh?  This post may fall under the category of "This will be fun for me to go back and read 10 years from now".

Preston's pillow pet

After Brayden received a pillow pet for his birthday, then both Logan and Brayden had one and Preston was feeling left out.  We told him to ask for one for Christmas, but understandably, that felt like an eternity to him. 

Brayden decided, all on his own accord with no prompting from Chris or I, to spend some of the money that he got for his birthday to buy Preston a pillow pet.  What a sweet brother!!!

The day it arrived in the mail Brayden was so excited to give it to Preston and Preston loved it!  It has barely left Preston's sight since. 

A few days later, Brayden received the exact same amount of money that he had spent on Preston's gift for a belated birthday gift from one of his great grandparents.  What a cool God thing for Brayden to be a part of!

Eating with a spoon

Ashten is starting to get the hang of eating with utensils.  Good for her, bad for the mess factor!

My favorite Bible study

Today, Kelly over at Kelly's Korner is hosting a "Favorite Bible Studies" link up.

I am here to tell you guys, you have to do the Bible study, Beholding Him, Becoming Missional by Laura Krokos.  You just have to.  Whether you do it individually (which is what I did) or as a group study, you will be blessed either way.  Your walk with God will never be the same.  You will see Him in a new light through the study of 1st Samuel.  Whether you have been a Christian your whole life or are a brand new Christian, you will learn something from this study.

This is a 12-week study where each week focuses on a different name or attribute of God and challenges women in their view of God and how that view affects the way they live. I did this Bible study over the summer and it was monumental in my relationship with God. God has used this Bible study to stretch me and challenge my view of Him.  Getting up at 5:30 every day in the summer is not something I would say I do for fun, but this summer it actually was.  I looked forward to my time with God every morning and this study kept me coming back, despite being tired!

I am blessed to know Laura personally, and she is a wonderful woman of God who loves her Jesus with all her heart.  But that is not why I give this Bible study glowing reviews, I would not write this is I didn't believe this was a great Bible study. Laura has such a gift for writing Bible studies, I would liken her to Beth Moore, if I had to compare. She is that good!! If you do this Bible study, you won't be disappointed.

Celebrating Brayden

 This year Brayden's birthday felt kind of low-key, but we still had a lot of fun celebrating Brayden's 8 years of life.  Chris and I got him a new Bible, but we had to get that early, because Brayden was bound and determined to do enough work around the house to earn the money to buy it himself.  So once he earned enough money, we had to just give it to him so he didn't buy one for himself first.  He loves that Bible, I hope it will last him many, many years!

The other thing Brayden had been begging for was a pillow pet.  He went back and forth on what kind of wanted, but finally decided on a T-rex!  He loved it!! 

That night we had soccer practice and then went to Cici's Pizza (Brayden's choice) for dinner.  Can't wait to see what Brayden's 9th year of life brings, it's a joy to watch him grow up!

Brayden's friend party

Brayden had 7 of his friends over for his birthday party this year.  He chose a Cars 2 theme and I was lazy and ordered a cake from Sams.  But it was yummy and Brayden liked it, so that's all that counts!  We realized as we watched Brayden and all of his friends that he really has an eclectic group of friends, but it just works.  Brayden is the type of guy who will be friends with anyone, he doesn't care about what "group" they are in!  All the boys got along really well and had fun, so it worked out great!

Eating pizza

Earlier that day, Chris and I filled up 200 water balloons and in about 5 minutes, they were all gone.  But the kids had a blast with their water balloon fight, so it was worth it! 

 



birthday boy!



opening presents

 I seriously don't know what I would've done if Chris wasn't here.  He was so great with coming up with fun things for the boys to do.  They played sharks and minnows, 500, football, relay races, cars.  They had so much fun.  I know the party wouldn't have been half as fun if Chris weren't there.  And you want to know the best part?  Chris gave up going to a Rockies game with some guys from church to be at the party.  He thinks it's not a big deal, but there aren't a lot of dads out there like that and I think it's awesome.  Our kids are blessed to have him!

 



All the boys!

What a fun party!

Back to school

A couple of weeks ago it was back to school time.  The boys were really ready, they were getting "bored" with summer.  I suppose if you are used to playing with your friends every day and having most of your day scheduled with activities and learning, summer can be boring.  But it can also be really cool to just get to do what you want and not have to follow a schedule or do what you have to do.  But, they didn't see it that way most of the time.  So, when they knew school was getting close, they couldn't wait! 

I can't believe I have a 3rd grader and a 1st grader!  It doesn't seem possible.  But it is and I do, so off they went.

3rd grade!!!

1st grade!!!

Not one to be left out.....we'll call this his 1st day of (home) preschool picture!

My precious treasures

May I never squander the gifts I have been given by a generous and loving God!

Somtimes I get so busy with my to-do list and so caught up in what I have to do, that I neglect one of my most important jobs - being a mommy.  I know I need to slow down and be more intentional about every day doing something with my children that shows them that I love them and am not too busy to be bothered by them.  I have been doing better, but I still have so far to go it seems.  I love my children so much and I don't want to look back and wish that I had spent more time with them.  I really want to be involved in their lives and not be distracted when I spend time with them.  I just don't know what/where to cut something out?

Pigtails!