Big Red, meet Little Red…

In case you have forgotten the fateful day that was January 17, 2009, feel free to go here to read up on it and you can go here to meet Big Red.  Apparently my kids break easily and Carter has broken his leg again.  Different leg this time, his left Tibia – last time was his right femur.  On Sunday, Mike was lifting him over the baby gate (which we have since replaced with one that swings open) and kind of dropped him down on the other side, the same way we have done a hundred times.  Apparently he landed wrong and broke his leg. He knew right away it was broken, he was screaming that he needed an x-ray and we had to go to the hospital right away.  I gave him some ibuprofen and we headed out to Children’s Hospital (lesson learned from last time).  By the time we got there, he had calmed down to the point that no one really thought it was broken.  Other than not wanting anyone to touch right where is was broken he seemed ok.  He could turn his foot and even was ok  when the doctor put pressure on his heel.  But once the x-ray came back it was pretty clear that Carter was right and it was broken.  It’s hard to see here, but it’s the little white line running down the bone towards the bottom. 

Luckily, we know a great pediatric orthopedist.  We were able to go on Tuesday and get his cast put on.  In general, this hasn’t been nearly as bad as the last break, but I did cry a little bit when the ER doc said he would be in a wheelchair again (note to self, take anything said by any doc outside his specialty with a  grain of salt).  It’s just so hard when it’s snowy and so cold outside, and really being in a wheelchair just kind of sucks.  Luckily, when we went to get the cast Dr. Van Valin decided to let Carter get a walking cast.  The look on Carter’s face was priceless when he found out. 

After that, he just laid on the table with a pleased look while they put his cast on.  In honor of Christmas he got a red and white striped one – “Santa will be so surprised!”.  He’s obviously pretty pleased with it.  And the best part?  The white part glows. 

He only has to have it on for four weeks, at which point he will get a boot. For some people, this could be a pretty big deal.  Unfortunately, it’s turning into an all too common occurrence around here.  A friend came over to check on us and told us about how he had broken 6 bones.  We are putting the kids on extra calcium supplements and hoping they don’t follow suit. 

Winter is here!

Ok, so it has been for a while now.  It actually didn’t snow here until December 4 this year, which is fine by me.  There wasn’t much snow then and there still isn’t.  We’ve only had to shovel 3 times so far, and haven’t even started the snow blower.  After the last few years, I will definitely take the break.  The kids were excited about it though and couldn’t wait to get out and play in it.  I wish I could still get so excited about snow.  I guess it all changes when you have to get rid of said snow.  Is it just me or is he just the cutest thing ever when he’s being sweet?Even Ben got all marshmallowed out and went out for a minute.  But he preferred to watch from inside.  Afterwards, we finally got our tree put up.  I really try to love that tree, but every time we get the ornaments out and the kids start grabbing at everything and breaking things I just get frustrated and want to put it all away.  That’s the Grinch in me.  I try to keep it hidden.  It came out pretty strong the next day when Carter and Samantha stripped the tree of all the ornaments and left them in a pile under the tree.  Not my finest moment. 

I thought with a fake tree we wouldn’t have to worry about strange creatures coming into the house in it, but apparently one little monster got in:

And a little stinkbug too. 

Sometimes…

Being youngest has its disadvantages. 

Only in Milwaukee

I was at Pick N Save the other night and saw this:

What is this you ask? It may not look like much, but each of those bricks are at least 40 lb. Just sitting out in the bakery like people buy 40 lb bricks of cheese every day. That's almost $500 worth of cheese! These people and their cheese.

Pumpkin Time

Carter has been bugging us since the beginning of October to  carve pumpkins.  For how excited he was to carve them, he sure was offended when I told him he had to scrape the guts out of his own pumpkin.  He did end up sifting through all of the mess to pick out the seeds though, so I guess he warmed up to the slime. I typically love the finished project, but I’m not a huge fan of the process (or the mess).  Carter’s is the one with “the bandages for eyes, raindrop nose and toothy grin”.  Samantha’s is the surprised one.  She has known what her pumpkin was going to look like since we picked them out.  Mine is supposed to be a take on Frankenstein, but Carter informed me that it looks more like a monkey.  Rude.  Last year Grandma and Grandpa Forster were here for Halloween.  I kind of miss that.  Maybe next year (hint, hint). 

Star Wars

All I can say is it’s a good thing that we embrace nerdiness around here.  Yesterday there was a Star Wars thing going on at Discovery World down town.  I thought “it won’t be that big of  a deal, right?  How many people would really want to go see a bunch of grown-ups in costumes?”  Well, apparently Star Wars is a big deal and a lot of people would go to see people in costume.  A. Lot.  It was insanely busy.  But my little Star War loving Jedi loved it.  Never mind that he was too scared to pose with anyone but purple R2-D2.  And yes, he was wearing his Jedi robe and carrying a light saber.  One day, we will use these pictures as blackmail. I was laughing at with him all day.  Sammy had no problem getting up close and personal with Chewy.  And of all the characters Carter was scared of, he was most scared of these guys. And this one is his favorite.  Boba Fett or Jengo Fett, I don’t remember which one he was. All in all, a fun experience, but not one that I will be repeating any time soon.  The crowds were too much for me.  And Ben. 

A Change of Plans

This past week has been a big one.  Mike got a pretty big (and unexpected) promotion at work.  He is now the toy buyer at Kohl’s.  That means that he is in charge of the toy department for all of Kohl’s.  If a toy wants to come into Kohl’s, it has to get by him first.  We are super excited for it and I’m so proud of him.  At the same time, one of Mike’s best friends has taken a job at Pet Smart in Phoenix and is leaving Milwaukee.  All of this change has led to some serious introspection on my part.  See, Milwaukee has always been somewhat temporary for us.  We thought we would come out here, get a good start on Mike’s career and then move on.  Retail itself is a fairly transient field – people are switching companies frequently.  A lot of our friends have  moved on - it just seemed natural that we would eventually too.  At first we thought we would be here 5 years, and then we thought we could do another 2 or so, and then maybe a few more after that.  But after 6 years, Kohl’s has been really good to us and this latest promotion changes things.  This could be it.  We could very well be here long term.  As I watch our friends go through the transition of going to another company I am struck with a realization.  I don’t think I want to leave.  I have dear friends here that I consider family, this is the only place my kids have known, Mike really enjoys his job and we have some serious roots here.   We will probably never be moving much closer to family, so moving would just mean starting all over in a new place where we know no one.  I never thought I would say it, but Milwaukee really has become my home, and in spite of it’s flaws and shortcomings, I think it will be home for a long, long time.   It’s quite the change in our plans, but change is good, right?

Crazy Kids

My kids have always been really expressive with the faces they make.  I caught a few of them on camera the other day.  It started out innocently enough – whenever Ben sees Samantha in this little chair, he has to climb in with her. We’re all having a good time:   Then Carter decides to get in on the action, And the craziness begins.  Ben got some solo time in though:    This face is by far my favorite.  Carter used to do one like this when he was this age, without the huge open mouth.  He also likes to crinkle up his nose and breath really fast and hard through it.   The innocent look (notice the fresh haircut – no more shag!).  I could kiss those chubby cheeks all day.  But the open mouth seems to be his favorite.  Always has been. 

My new favorite

Song, that is.  I’ve had this in my head since I saw it on Facebook the other day.  Maybe it’s because I can’t tell what color Ben’s eyes are.  Maybe it’s just because it’s super-catchy.  Enjoy.

Fall Leaves

Every morning this week Carter has made a comment about how many leaves we have on our lawn and how we need to make them into a pile for jumping.  But by the time he gets home from school we just don’t have time.  Today he had a half day and it was unseasonably warm so we finally got around to getting them raked into a pile.  It’s becoming a yearly tradition and other than the leaves that end up in the house, I think it’s a fun one! 

The first jump:

  Carter’s friend Gregory goes to the school down the street.  When the kids knew he would be coming they hid under the leaves and waited to surprise him.  They waited for a good 5 minutes, but it was worth it because he was very surprised.  He and his little brother Martin joined in the fun for a while.  

The kids have 3 weeks off school now for their fall break.  Hopefully it stays warm so we can stay outside!

Apple Picking, Take 2

Samantha had her first field trip today and I got to go with her as a chaperone.  There was a mix-up with the buses, so the rest of her class was late (we drove up separately).  I thought it would be a great opportunity to take some pictures.  There was a cute little pile of mini-hay bales by some crates of pumpkins I thought would be perfect.  As I was sitting Ben down a lady commented to her friend “oh look, she’s going to get some really cute pictures!”.  Well yes, in theory.  In reality, I got this:And this:And, well you get the picture.  Family pictures next week should be a blast. 

She did have a great time picking more apples (we only got 6 each, which was a relief after just canning a bushel and a half) and just hanging out.  It was a nice day off for her.  And I did end up getting one good shot (out of the 15 that I took).

I am the apple master

After no less than 20 hours in the kitchen, 14 quarts of apple pie filling, 30 pints of applesauce and 12 cups apple butter, I feel that I can now refer to myself as the apple master.  Add onto that the traditional conference cinnamon rolls, homemade bread for the apple butter and a double batch of pesto and it’s been a busy 2 days.  Maybe it’s the survivalist instinct in me, but something about fall makes me want to cook.  Luckily we are a family who knows how to eat :).