A First . . .

We can no longer say that none of our children have ever broken a bone. This morning I noticed that Beth wasn't using her left arm. She could move her fingers, but cried when I touched her wrist. I mentioned it to Susie (who has been staying with us for the last two days as Rob was in Dallas for a business convention) and she said that last night Beth told her not to change her shirt before Susie put her to bed because her arm hurt. Beth didn't seem in pain and certainly wasn't complaining or crying though. Knowing Beth (who had her eardrums rupture 4 times because she never told us she had an ear infection - even as a tiny infant), we decided we needed to get it checked out. At least if they said it was just a pulled muscle or something we wouldn't have to worry about it over the weekend.

Rob still hadn't made it back from his business convention, so Susie offered to stay with the kids. As we were getting ready to go, I realized that if Beth had to get x-rays I couldn't go in the room with her because of the baby, so we made a last minute call to Travis, who flew over to watch the kids so Susie could go with me. I had called the pediatrician to see if they did x-rays and they said they didn't, but to bring her in and they would refer us to somewhere if she needed them. The doctor gently checked her arm and wrist and announced that it was definately a bone, not a tendon or pulled muscle, and that she needed x-rays. Recognizing that it would be difficult to get everything done at this point as it was about 3pm on a Friday, he told us to wait for a minute and went and called a specialist nearby and asked them to stay open for us.

It was only a few minutes away, so we got there pretty quickly. They got us right in (we were the only patients in the office), got the x-rays done right away and discovered that Beth's wrist was in fact broken. At least two bones fractured, including her growth plate (I don't remember the name of the other one), and one other might be fractured, but Beth is too young for it to show up on x-rays. The one they couldn't see often has difficulty healing as it has limited blood flow, so they are concerned about it. They put Beth in a cast from above her elbow down to her hand and including her thumb. As Travis put it, our family never does things halfway! Beth got to pick the color and of course picked purple. She'll be in this cast for 4 weeks, at which point they'll remove it and recheck the wrist. If it's still tender, they'll recast it for another two weeks and if it still hasn't healed (which probably means at that point that the third bone broke and is having issues healing), they'll have to get a CAT scan done to check that bone. At Beth's age, they have to put the child under general anesthesia, so we are attempting to avoid that route if possible.

We're back to no showers for Beth. *sigh* At least we're used to it! :)

She adamantly refused pictures all afternoon. Before bed tonight, I finally told her Molly wanted to see her cast and she finally relented, but "just for Molly, ok?"

With her sling, which she has to wear except while sleeping ~


Without the sling ~


It was a long day . . .

Flying High!

This morning Megan received a High Flier award from her school! She's been trying for this award for almost three years and we are thrilled that she got it! Each grading period each teacher picks two students they feel have done exceptionally well (not just on grades) and acknowledge them for it at a school assembly. Megan's teacher said Megan earned the award because she has worked hard all year for it. Megan is always kind to her classmates and helps them whenever she can. She cares for others and is very creative as well. She made a dog out of balloons for her teacher's son and brought it to school for him. Her teacher can always count on her to do what she is asked without complaining and to the best of her ability.

Congratulations Megan!!! We are so proud of you!!!

Date Night!

Last night Rob and I took the night off and went on a fabulous double date with our friends Bret and Kora :) Christy very sweetly offered to watch the kids as we knew we would be out late (thank you!). A couple months ago, we discovered that Yann Tiersen, who composed the soundtrack to the movie "Amelie", was coming to Dallas. As we love the movie and the soundtrack is beautiful, we bought tickets.

We started off the evening with dinner at a local restaurant that serves sushi, thai and seafood. The food was fantastic, although it took them quite a while to get it out to us. That was fine as we had a lot of fun talking :) We then headed off to Dallas. I had printed out directions, but they were quite confusing. We got to the general area we knew the theater was at, then spent the next hour leisurely touring the area in an attempt to find at least one street listed on the directions. We finally got back on the highway and discovered that we had gotten off two exits too early.

We got there as the second group, Sleep Whale (I think?) was playing, which we were actually glad about. Their music wasn't bad - Kora and I agreed that we would have probably liked it if it hadn't been so loud you couldn't hear it. It was like getting a massage though as the whole room was vibrating. The flame of the candle on the table in front of us jumped every time they hit a bass note. It wasn't as bad as the two bands that played before El Ten Eleven (the performance we went to last month) though. I didn't even have to plug my ears, although they were numb by the time we left :) It was interesting though as there were only two members of the group. One played an electric guitar (and occasionally a recorder - which I don't think I've seen played since 4th grade) and the other played a cello. I have never thought of the cello as an instrument that might be included in that type of music.

Sleep Whale finished up and Yann Tiersen came out with his group, consisting of a drummer, two guys who mostly played electric guitars (one was bass), and one who alternated between a sort of keyboard, singing/howling, a ukulele (which was hooked up to an amp thingy like an electric guitar) and several other instruments. The bassist also played an instrument that looked like a mini keyboard, but you blow in it and it sounds like an accordion. Tiersen alternated between several instruments including an electric guitar, a violin and the keyboard/recorder thingy. The music wasn't quite what we were expecting. Most of their songs were much harder than anything of his that we were familiar with. They played incredibly well and you could tell they were a million steps above other bands we'd seen. They were all amazingly talented. I have never seen anyone play the violin as well as Tiersen played it. I didn't love every song, or even the majority of songs, and it wasn't at all what we expected, but it was interesting!

We got home earlier than we thought we would as we drove in the driveway before 12:30am. It was so much fun! Even with the very slow service at dinner, the impromptu tour of Dallas, and the "different" performance, we had a blast!

The side effects of my vitamin d pill have gotten much better, which is wonderful :) I'm feeling much better than I have in years, except for this little thing called morning sickness, which for me translates to all day sickness. It's not bad yet though and I'm grateful for it as it's a good sign that the pregnancy is going well :) We know we've told people early (I'm only about 6.5 weeks), but we decided that even if something goes wrong, we'd rather have the support of our friends to make it through it.

And the word of the day is . . .

Irony :)

Use it in a sentence? Isn't it ironic that when we finally decide that it's just not meant to be and make plans to move on with our lives, we discover that the extra seat in the minivan will be used after all! Baby #5 will arrive somewhere around December 15th :) We are all thrilled, although Megan is disappointed she can't feel the baby kick yet. I am convinced it's a girl, but Rob is kind of leaning towards a boy. My sister Molly is over the moon and has already bought me a designer diaper bag, which I love, especially the 11 pocket aspect of it :) It would be helpful to have a girl as I gave away all our baby clothes and my friend Beca just had a baby girl and offered to give us her clothes as she grows out of them. I was worried about having given all our stuff away, but another friend, Allison, already offered us a changing table and it even matches the crib (one of the few things we kept).

Yes, we have names picked out :) One bonus part of trying for 18 months is that you have a lot of time to consider names, although we reserve the right to change them at a moment's notice :) If it's a girl, we plan to name her Eva-Grace Helen and if it's a boy, he will be Daniel Evans.

It may put a bit of a kink in my schooling, but I'll figure it out. I still plan to finish my degree in about the same time frame. I'll more than likely postpone working towards becoming licensed after graduation, but it will work out :)

Hiiiiiiiiya!!!

A few pictures (from my new cell phone, which takes slightly better pictures than my old one, but still isn't quite as good as a camera - sorry!)

The girls each got make-up kits (Jack - and Rob - got foam swords). Kylie decked herself out in light pink, blue and purple makeup and asked that I take a picture of her ~



Before walking to school today to pick up Megan and Kylie, Beth asked that I take a picture of her and her Dora doll. She's holding a broken piece of a window blind in her hand, which she insisted on bringing on our walk along with her Dora doll ~



Jack was a cowboy on the way to school today, albeit somewhat hampered by wearing Beth's crocs, which are too big for him, on the wrong feet. On the way home, he became a ninja instead and valiantly protected us from passing cars, trucks, school buses and especially the UPS truck, which apparently was especially dangerous.







It took us quite a while to get home since we stopped every time a vehicle passed us.

Each of the four kids stopped and picked handfuls of the small purple wildflowers that carpet the field next to the school. As usual, they gave them to me. I brought them home and put them in a cup on the window sill.

It's a beautiful day today - gorgeous blue skies and almost 80 degrees. The kids each got a popsicle when we got home and I sent them into the backyard to eat them. Of course, they ended up on the swings ~



Life has been a bit slower paced for the last week. While testing my thyroid (I've been on thyroid meds for 10 years, but get it retested every year to make sure the levels are right), they ran some other tests and discovered that I have a severe Vitamin D deficiency. Apparently, that's a pretty big deal and they have me taking a huge dose of vitamin D once a week for the next two months to try and get me back somewhere near normal levels. I will probably have to take a vitamin D supplement for the rest of my life as my skin is probably not absorbing the vitamin D from the sun, but it's not a big deal :) I took my first dose last Tuesday. Because of how low my levels are, there are quite a few side effects and most are not very enjoyable. I have developed a new empathy for a friend of mine with rheumatoid arthritis as from what I have read, what I'm feeling is somewhat similar to a flare up. Every bone in my body hurts from the inside out. My fingers don't work right, which makes typing interesting :) I'm physically exhausted, however mentally I'm much less exhausted than I have been in a while, so that's good! I'm nauseous most of the time and occasionally have low-grade fevers and/or headaches. My dr assured me that these are normal symptoms and are temporary. They should start getting better in about 3-4 weeks :)

Anyway, that's what's going on with me. We decided not to get another dog right now. With a new quarter starting today (and I'm doubling up on classes this quarter) and with everything else going on, we decided it's not the right time to add more to the equation.

More Easter

I apologize for the quality of the pictures. They were taken with my cell phone, which was one of the ones I could get for free over a year ago and therefore is not great at taking pictures.

The Easter baskets after the Easter bunny's visit ~


Jack sporting his gun belt (sorry it's so hard to see) ~


I forgot to include our breakfast. I don't know what it's usually called, but we took slices of rye bread, used a biscuit cutter to make holes in the middle of them, then fried eggs in the holes. We used it as an opportunity to talk about the resurrection - the toast was like the tomb - the hole was empty, just like the tomb was empty when Christ's body rose to be joined with his spirit in the resurrection. We then talked about why the Easter bunny brings presents - Christ gave the greatest present that could be given by giving his life and we get gifts in remembrance of that incredible gift. Tonight after dinner, we'll tell the story of Gethsemane, the crucifixion and the resurrection, using 12 numbered eggs with scriptures and small items in them. If anyone wants details on how to make them, let me know :)

Happy Easter Y'all!!!

We had our family Easter dinner on Wednesday as Christy and Ron are working at the drop zone this weekend. This year we had it at Christy's house. We started with an Easter egg hunt in the backyard (for which Christy graciously postponed mowing her lawn so as to make more hiding places for the eggs). There were nearly 100 eggs and only our 4 kiddos, so there were plenty for everyone. Keith graciously offered to guard Beth's corner of the yard until she had collected all the eggs, but she looked at him with that look she gives that clearly means "you are kind of crazy, so the safest thing to do is not to respond". We took pictures, but they are on Christy's camera, so I don't have them yet.

There were quite a few of us in Christy's small house; Rob and I and the 4 kids, Christy and Ron, Dana, Keith and Rachel (Keith's daughter - who is in her 20's and who Jack developed a huge crush on and even shared his candy with!) and Allison, one of my best friends. Christy made the ham, deviled eggs, candied carrots and a corn casserole, all of which were delicious! I brought Mom's jello salad (a must for all holidays), au gratin potatoes, green beans and rolls. I made everything from scratch and decided that my biscuits taste better and take much less time, so no more rolls (unless someone has a really good recipe they want to share!). I have also come to the conclusion that a food processor is necessary for au gratin potatoes. It sliced the potatoes so much faster than I could have done by hand! Dana brought a luscious strawberry covered cake and six miniature egg cakes for the kids, which they loved.

Rob had Friday off work, so he and Beth and Jack and I (Meg and Kylie had school - it was a make up day for a snow day) drove up to Denton to check out a dog. We have decided to get a second dog. Honestly once you have four kids, three cats and a dog, what's one more? We joked that if we get a few birds and maybe a hamster or two we could start selling tickets. We are looking for another dog who is already housetrained, neutered (definately want a male - we don't have good luck with female pets) and up to date on his shots. We would prefer a dog that is about Simon's size (he's full grown now and about 40 lbs) or slightly smaller and we want one with short, easily managed hair that doesn't shed all over. We have been checking out craigslist for a while and found one that we thought looked promising. He looked about Simon's size and was labeled a Catahoula mix, so we went up to meet him. First of all, he was not Simon's size. He was about twice as big as Simon. Secondly, there may have been some Catahoula in him, but I think he had more Rottweiler in him. We have nothing against Rottweilers, but with as many kids and cats as we have in the house, that breed is one we don't want. He was also long-haired (which didn't show up in the picture) and although he was really gentle with Jack, he was pretty dominant with Simon. We decided to keep looking.

On the way home, the four of us (and Simon, although he stayed in the car and we brought him some food) stopped at Braums for lunch. Rob and I split a burger and Jack and Beth had chicken fingers. We discovered that they will make any flavor of their homemade ice cream into a milk shake, so we got milk shakes. Rob picked ours, which was pb cup and Beth and Jack shared a blue birthday cake flavored milk shake, which is basically frosting flavored. The kids love it (it's Beth's favorite flavor of ice cream, despite the fact that it's blue and she prefers purple at the moment), but it's one of those foods where you taste it and it's so sweet that it falls into the category of "do you have diabetes? Well, you do now!"

We have three other dogs on our list of possibilities. We go to see another on Monday. He's only 20 lbs at the moment (although he's only 6 months old, so he might get up to 35 or 40 lbs) and looks like Simon, except without spots and with pointy ears. He's a mutt, but definately has some Pharaoh hound in him. You can see him online at http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/15877489?recno=0 His foster mom is calling him Tut, but I think we might change it. We are considering several possibilities. We'd like to pick something that goes with Simon. The ideas we've come up with so far include: Sez (spelling suggested by a friend, which looks better than Says), Garfunkel, Mokattam (Mo for short - the name of the mountain St. Simon moved in Egypt, so it would also tie into the Pharaoh hound aspect), Jude (St. Jude was St. Simon's missionary companion - Rob's voting for this one as it also refers to Jude the Obscure), Scheuster (Simon and Schuester are publishers), Kirby (Simon and Kirby created the Capt America comic books) and Peter (suggested by a friend, the girls like this one because they are Peter Pan and Peter and the Wolf fans). Any other suggestions??? And yes, several people have suggested Simon (as in Simon and Simon from the old tv show), but I don't think we're doing that one.

Friday night Brittney babysat while Rob and I went on a date to the temple. The kids had a lot of fun, although Megan is DEFINITELY a pre-teen. She wanted to log into an online game as we were leaving that required a parent account to be set up. I tried, but the password they emailed me didn't work and we finally just had to leave. Megan spent the next half hour crying in the library after telling Brittney "My parents just don't understand me!" Oh, dear . . . so it begins :)

This weekend is the semi-annual General Conference for our church when we get to hear from church leaders. When I was little, we had to all meet at buildings that had huge dish satellites so we could watch it. Now-a-days you can watch it online or on BYU tv if you have a package that includes it. We are lucky to live in an area where BYU tv is on basic cable so we watch it at home :) There are four two-hour sessions (with a two hour break in between), two on Saturday and two on Sunday. Yesterday's talks were awesome and we look forward to today's!

This morning the kids waited until almost 8am to wake up. They made a book for the Easter bunny last night. The first page says "Dear Easter Bunny, We LOVE candy! (And Easter.) *heart with candy and Easter written in it* Thank you *bunny head drawn in* for bringing candy to houses. Everybody loves candy. (P.S. Happy Easter Easter Bunny) Love, the K****** family *heart* The second page has a picture of the Easter Bunny drawn by Kylie, the third has a picture of something drawn by Beth, the fourth has a picture of the Easter Bunny drawn by Kylie and decorated by Jack.

The Easter Bunny brought some candy, stickers, foam bead necklace kits, bubbles, a chess and checker set for all four to share, a balloon kit for making balloon animals with 50 balloons and a thing to inflate them, toy mermaids for the girls and a car for Jack, magnetic dolls for each of the girls and a puzzle for Jack, virtual pets for the girls and a set of toy guns for Jack complete with holsters and a belt.

We are having a small just-us dinner tonight. I have a lamb roast marinating in the fridge and we'll have rice, veggies and biscuits with it :) Hope y'all have a great Easter!!!