I was thinking we wouldn't make it to on the neighborhood hayride this year. Everly had her Christmas band concert on the same night. Clarinets beat horse farts any day.
But she didn't need to report to the band room until 6:45 and there were a few open slots at 6, so we grabbed them.
Sadly, Everly got a yucky cold and fever and wasn't able to go to the concert anyway. Here was my favorite sisterly conversation of the day (harsh, yet helpful):
Everly: "I'm so sad that I'm missing my first middle school band concert."
AJ: "You're not. You're missing it. The next one will be your first"
Everly: "That true" (she went back to bed)
She wasn't up for the hayride either, so I grabbed AJ and Bug and we went over to the pool parking lot. Bug met up with a friend and AJ an I hopped on the other trailer. We were all pretty glad we are older that 5. We get to hang our feet over the side and that's pretty much the funnest part.
In recent years, AJ has asserted her God-given teenage right to not appear in any family photographs. Especially the smiling ones.
She's coming around....and I'm so glad. She even cued up some Christmas music and handed me an earbud.
Torn labrum repair was supposed to be 3 itty bitty weeks of recovery.
I woke up from anesthesia and the doctor broke the news: not just a torn labrum, but a wonky femoral head leading to shredded cartilage. He sutured the labrum. trimmed the cartilage, shaved down the mutant ball joint and drilled little holes in the socket where the cartilage was missing. The idea is that those little holes need to bleed and form scar tissue to replace the cartilage in that spot. WHICH means recovery stretched to 8 weeks.
Crutches for EIGHT WEEKS.
No driving
No gym
No work
6 hours a day in a CPM machine
Sleeping in torture boots
Physical therapy twice a week
Solitary snacking habits completely exposed
This is my life for the next two months.
I've taken over a healthy chunk of the couch. All my snacks and meds and charging chords and tissues and paperwork and blankets and boxes of whoppers wedged between the cushions.
We have a running theory that someone in our family must have put out some pretty bad karma recently. Megan's got a trick shoulder, head cold and and a raging bacterial infection that has kicked her in the metaphorical butt. Laney is, at this very moment, at urgent care with a possible case of strep throat. Everly has a wart on the bottom of her foot that just won't quit. Mark is just emerging from Covid.
AJ, Mat and Ethan should look over their shoulders...it's just a matter of time before the next round of plagues hits this house.
I didn't know that I would be in Utah this weekend. Mom is very sick and the siblings there have been taking care of her around the clock. They are tired and we're all worried. She isn't eating or drinking and so I flew out to take a turn and give everyone a break. But mostly I don't wanna miss time with my mom if she isn't planning on sticking around for another 10-20 years. That's really not something I wanna think about, but when we lost Dad 16 years ago, reality came in uninvited.
So I loaded the fridge with Costco meals and hopped on a plane.
Mom stayed in bed for just one day, and then she rallied! She wanted to go outside and work in the garden. I know exactly how she feels. It's the best medicine. The siblings that had been watching over her these past weeks a monitoring how many ounces she drank or trying to convince her to eat a little something were flabbergasted.
I'm not sure why she started feeling better, but I won't argue! We're gonna make the most of any feel-good days she has. The garden soil worked its magic on our souls and Mr. Carrot popped out to say hello. He was definitely a Mister. (stoooop!)
Mom grabbed her binos and we went out to check the water levels and look for any winged creatures. We drove around Burraston Ponds and remember the time I forgot that I had a straw in my drink and went to take a sip and that straw stuck straight up my nose...in front of my whole Beehive class at Burraston Ponds. This is what Utah does to me.
We drove past our old Payson house on the way back to Spanish Fork. It looks mostly the same, but sadder. I wish they had kept it up. That house deserves more love.
Back in Kansas, Mark had a run in with a stray trailer hitch on his way to Arkansas. It was dark and raining and it completely totaled his Jeep. Which sucks. But I am grateful he come through that without any injury. That easily could have flipped the Jeep on impact, or he could have been hurt out there in the dark while he was checking out the damage.
The offending hitch:
But he didn't let it throw off his Dad game! I still got me Sunday Sacrament Selfie
And he forced the kids outside to go swing on the swings are get away from their screens. He's my favorite.
I got to sneak in some Ethan time and he introduced me to the wonderful world of Kolaches.
I continued the tradition of being totally startled by the scarecrow girl in her basement. Dear Heaven, that thing looks like a real kid from the corner of my eye. Never fails.
I set off with loaves of bread in my purse. A happier trip than I anticipated on the way out, but that's how life goes.
I convinced the girls to write actual letters to Santa. I heard of a senior living center that has a mailbox out front where the kids can drop their Santa letters...then the residents will write back to the kids! Isn't that the best idea ever?
In other news, I woke up this morning and realized that if I didn't obtain help from a medical professional STAT I wouldn't be able to open my puffy, crusty eyes. And it is entirely possible my lips will actually explode, assuming I don't scratch them clean off my face. So I cancelled homeschool, made an appointment and got a steroid shot right in the butt.
Now we wait.
Have I mentioned how awesome masks are?
So awesome.
And just one more thing....I bought this comfy sectional off of a nice couple in a fancy neighborhood just down the street. They just moved here from Colorado and they absolutely could not fit the dang thing down the stairs and into their basement. Bummer for them, bargain for me!
The advent begins and it's finally Everly's turn to pick out first. This secures her rights to pick out on Christmas day. I have kept meticulous records of which child has been bestowed this honor each year. I can say for certain that Everly hasn't had a turn in the last 4 years. I'm confident it would hold up in court...you know, in case one of the kids decides to sue.
She read the little slip of paper (she can read this year!!) and it said that she got to open her special gift. She's been really hoping to get some makeup to play with and so she unwrapped a little lipstick and mascara. She was looking pretty fabulous all day.
I cannot say the same for myself.
I was reminded in a big way that I'm allergic to pine sap. So I kicked off the year with a full blown rash on my face, neck and arms. I tell you what, I'm pretty sure a plague of boils was the only box left to fill in the psycho game of cosmic bingo that this nightmare year has been.
CHECK ✔
I never thought I'd say this, but I'm pretty thrilled that I get to wear a mask today.
Megan woke up with a sore throat on Monday morning. Then she said it was kinda hard to breathe. AND THEN! She mentioned that food was tasting kinda weird.
Obviously...she had the Covid.
It seemed a mere formality to get her tested.
And Anna too...she was feeling stuffy and they share a room....
We called the schools, picked up a "skip the line" covid test card from the school nurse and ventured over for the dreaded swabbing of the brain we've heard so many people complain about.
They were super excited.
Then we settled in for the wait.
In the meantime...we have some pumpkins to carve and we'll not be sharing any germs with our friends until we know PRECISELY what kind of germs they are.
We missed them all for many reasons...not the least of which was we really rocked it out this year! And we have no one to show our creations.
We had tons of elbow room!
Dad provided fresh baked cookies to keep up our carving energy. He's so supportive!
Anna's very worried pumpkin...
Everly's most adorable mini pumpkin cottage...
This is mine. I've wanted to do this creepy twine thing for awhile...and it was really hard! I mean...it took a LOT of jabbing a stick through tough pumpkin skin. This was a one and only...
Laney's was a two-sided masterpiece....
Megan tapped into her superpowers....Precision and Discipline to produce this awesome Papyrus. I offered my help, but we have moved into the stage where she doesn't trust me not to mess up her vision. She got that from me...lol.
All our Jack o' lanterns in a row!
We missed our friends and we hope next year we can all be back together again, but for now...we have our cute pumpkins to keep us company!
Mark has had it out for the kids playset for years. He casually mentions tearing the thing down once or twice a year. I resist. Everly is only seven! She still needs to swing and slide and wear else can I make the kids eat their otter pops?
Then I bought a spider swing. The minute we put it up, we got an up close view of how rickety the swing supports had become. It felt like we should probably hang a sign that said "Swing at Your Own Risk".
We talked about tearing it down and replacing it with a pergola lawn swing with another section attached for the spider swing. But then they wouldn't have a slide....what would they kick each other down?
Then we thought of adding just a simple little playhouse for them to use....or maybe even just keep the existing house section and build a platform for it to sit on...but then we realized that it looked like a big doghouse, for the kids.
In the end, we decided it would just be simpler to rebuild the swing set and hang the spider swing from the monkey bars. They'd still have a slide and a playhouse, a place to swing and we'd still be able to hang the hammock between the playset and the maple tree.
Wait....did I say simpler?
Not so much.
New tools, multiple trips to Home Depot each day for missing hardware, returns and additional lumber....
But the kids are getting involved and loving the opportunity to try power tools and feel tough.
The weather hasn't been too cooperative, the rain keeps popping up and we've had a random cold spell come through. But we are determined to get it done...even if we need to work by cell phone light.
Ethan taking a break to warm his feet by the flood light.
Megan discovered her new love for swinging an axe.
We are rebuilding piece by piece.
Mark is determined to finish this in the next couple days. He's a man on a mission.
I, unfortunately, got my index finger swept into the belt sander and it took off my fingernail and part of the nail bed underneath in just a fraction of a second. Can I just say, that whoever design fingernails to take a starring role in torture sessions. Because, OUCH. I am not loving the aggressive heartbeat I am feeling in my finger right now.
Anyway, my right hand is still working well and I am happy to hand Mark various tools and sand down our old monkey bars and spray paint them.
Aren't they pretty? So fresh and non-splintery.
And yes, we installed these at about 10 pm. Because the rain is supposed to be coming and we just want to be done with this, for crying out loud!
AAAANNNNDDD....We did it!
It looks so much better and we are so excited that it will not, in fact, collapse on our children as they swing and slide.
And the very best part...the kids love it and I love it!
Mark installed a spider swing under the monkey bars.
I'll give the girls another turn soon. Like, maybe next week.
And just because we're on a roll. We put out a cute outdoor rug and some citronella candles. I'm excited to spend some time out here before it gets hot as Hades!
Coming soon....the kids learn how super fun it is to restain the fence. Mwahahaha!
