Camp Occoneechee

To finish off this year of Brownies, Katelyn and I had our first adventure together at Girl Scout Camp -- yes, broken leg and all. This was her first overnight camping trip and she definitely didn't want to miss it. Since it was just for one night we figured we'd give it a try. So diligently following the packing list, we bought ponchos and garbage bags for the cast in case it rained (which thankfully it didn't), managed to find a pair of long pants that would fit Katelyn(someone tell me why we needed long pants when it's 90 out and there's no air conditioning?), bought an extra outdoor camping-grade sleeping bag (again 90 degrees - so why the need for more than a sheet?) and we were off.

Upon arriving, we were lucky to be able to switch campsites with another larger troop. So, instead of having a 40 yard uphill hike to the shared bathrooms, our cabin had a bathroom inside and was level with the dining hall. Two key benefits that I would quickly come to appreciate. Only 5 of the 10 girls in our troop were able to make it. Here they are in front of our cabin:

The main activity Friday night was a campfire - complete with lots of singing and Smore's. While not one of Katelyn's favorite treats, she managed to be a good sport and force one down.

The hike down to the campfire was quite an adventure. Lucky for me our troop had 3 other moms very willing to help. We all took turns giving Katelyn piggyback rides. But as you can imagine the hike back - uphill, in the dark, around 9:30 at night was even more interesting. I was very glad lights out was at 10pm....but as you can see below the girls weren't quite as ready to call it a night.

It was a good thing I was exhausted though, because it made it much easier to sleep in a very hot cabin on top of a very warm sleeping bag in a bunk bed.

Saturday the girls woke early and we had a full day of activities. We hiked to Terabithia to build homes for the fairies, caught bugs, created lots of butterfly craft projects and made soap.

In the end, it was a hot, sweaty, exhausting trip, but it was well worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

on wheels

Well, we've made it through a full week of school with Katelyn on wheels. She got her new ride last Friday, was very hesitant to go out in it on Friday, did great on Saturday (well ... until we realized we were out in the sun too long without sunscreen), then the nerves kicked back in when it was time to go back to school on Monday. She was VERY worried about everyone staring at her ... and yes there was a fair amount of staring, but all in a positive way. Everyone at school has been so helpful and concerned about her. Her friends fight over who gets to unpack her bookbag and who gets to bring her things.


She's now enjoying all of the attention and in some cases getting a little too comfortable with it. While overall she has been very good with her manners when asking for help and thanking people for visiting or helping her, she definitely needed a reminder this morning. Her friend, Jackie, was helping her check back in last night's book and check out a new one when Katelyn looked at her and simply said "Jackie - card"....indicating that Jackie needed to get her the library card for her to check in her book.

Decorating this hot pink cast has also been quite the project. She has it nearly filled with signatures -- well the top half anyway, I keep threatening to roll her over so people can sign the back :) But simply signing someone's cast is no longer enough decoration. She has applied lots of glitter glue to add sparkles (thanks Becky) and even has a cool "gemstone" glued to it at the top. Very cool! Of course her toenails need to be painted pink to match and so far I think her outfits have mostly been some shade of pink....good thing she didn't get a green cast.

While she does still get bummed out about not being to do things, she's managing pretty well. Does this look like the face of "poor Katelyn stuck in a wheelchair"?

The only bad news that we received this week is that the initial timeframe was a bit off. The orthopedic doctor in the ER said 3-4 weeks with the cast on then she'd be ready to walk on it. At her appointment this week, her doctor informed us that the 3-4 weeks is just for this cast. Then she will likely get a shorter cast (below the knee) which hopefully can be a walking cast for 2 more weeks. Then she will get a removable boot cast for another few weeks. So a bit longer recovery time than we were told, but she should still be better by beach time!

My Tough Girl

Out of all the children I know I would've placed Katelyn near the very end of that list in order of the likelihood to break a bone. With as careful and cautious as she is I thought for sure we would not be making trips to the ER for her -- Lindsay, yes, but not Katelyn. But at the ripe old age of 7 she has proven me wrong.

I got the call around 11:15 yesterday from the school nurse. It's amazing how technology changes things. I saw the school number show up on my work phone's caller id, but I was mid-sentence on a conference call so didn't pick up right away. By the time I excused myself from the call, my cell phone was ringing. It was the school nurse. Katelyn fell in gym class and was upset and wanting her mom. Luckily I'm less than 5 minutes from school so was able to get there quickly. Now I'll admit that my first thought was that she was fine and just being a bit overdramatic. She did have a bump and complained that it hurt really bad, so the nurse and I agreed that I should take her to get an xray. As soon as I tried to pick her up to take her to the car, I knew what the xray would show. For it to hurt her too much for me to lift her was definitely unlike her and just broke my heart.

The medics were called and we rode to the children's hospital in downtown Charlotte in an ambulance with Mike following behind us. Everyone was great with her - explaining what they were going to do to alleviate her fears. They even gave her IV syringes so she could see what was in her arm, but more importantly to squirt any doctors or nurses....for some reason she thought it was ok to squirt Mike and I too.

The x-rays confirmed that she had broken her left tibia (the bigger of the two bones in the lower part of her leg) and she was outfitted with a very stylish hot pink full leg cast, which she gets to wear for the next 3-4 weeks. She's still in quite a bit of pain, but hopefully tomorrow will be better and she'll get to give her new crutches a try.

While we've had to encourage her to toughen up quite a few times in the past, she's been handling all of this very well and is really showing me she is my tough girl.

p.s. I know I've been away for awhile and I have lots I've wanted to write about, but to say things have been busy is an understatement. Thanks to everyone who is keeping Ruth in their prayers. She's making progress and is in the ICU-step down unit now, but she continues to have ups and downs. She's had a few really good days where she's been able to talk to us - she even talked to the kids via cell phone as they were peeking in her room window.

Prayer Request

As many of you already know, my mother-in-law, Ruth is in intensive care after complications from surgery a week ago Friday. She's still not awake yet, but is continuing to make small improvements each day. The doctors keep saying the recovery road will be long but we're hopeful for a full recovery. Please keep her in your prayers.

No More Paci!

Well, we did it. While we've been talking for awhile about the Paci Fairy coming to our house, we couldn't quite bring ourselves to do it. But it's been getting a bit out of hand lately. Hard for us to understand because at preschool she doesn't have one at all - not even naps, but as soon as I walk in her room it's the first thing she asks for. Some days it was tough to get it out of her mouth for dinner! Well, Mike was fed up with her having it all the time and snipped the tips of two of them (as suggested by the pediatrician). She was very careful with her last paci, not wanting it to get broken like the others. Then it happened. Last Sunday she lost it. We turned the house upside down looking for it and finally she gave up to exhaustion. Unfortunately for Mike I was leaving the next morning for 4 days away for work. But he said she did great and only asked for it a little bit. So Yeah!....after a full week there is no going back. I'm so looking forward to paci-free pictures - even though this last one is pretty cute :)

Parrots in Disguise

Once our kids were beginning to mimic sounds and especially words, we became very cautious about what we and others said in front of them - not wanting them to pick up any inappropriate words. Thankfully, in our house the "s-word" is still "stupid" and we haven't had to address the real bad words yet. But what we didn't count on was how hysterical it would be to hear our words and phrases repeated back by our children.

Some examples of our little parrots:

The other morning Lindsay was doing something to annoy Katelyn when all of a sudden I hear Katelyn say "Lindsay, stop it! I don't want to have to yell this morning!"

Then this evening while Mike was diligently untwisting every wire twist tie, peeling back half a roll of tape, and cutting several plastic fasteners to get out Lindsay's Dora doll out of its packaging, several pieces fell to the ground. When I asked Lindsay if she was going to pick them up, her reply was "No, Daddy has to do it. He made the mess!"

My baby is 3!

I can't believe that Lindsay is 3. She on the other hand won't miss an opportunity to remind me. She got up out of bed Wednesday morning, stood on her tippy toes, stretched her arms up as high as she could reach and said, "Look at me Mommy. I'm bigger now. It's my birthday!" Wish I had my camera to capture the glimmer in her eyes as she said it.

This really is the first year she understands and is all excited about her birthday. She wore a pin to school and just beamed everytime someone said "Happy Birthday!" She loved all the phone calls (especially singing :)) and of course was enthralled with presents. She was willing to share though - She told Katelyn she could watch her open her presents!

After sharing cupcakes with her classmates in the afternoon, we had dinner as a family with a special guest - a giant Dora balloon that is still tied to the kitchen chair, now referred to as the birthday chair.

And since it couldn't really be a birthday without a cake and candles we got a small chocolate cake. The girls I think had more fun decorating themselves with icing!

Ever since the Toys R Us ad came in the mail 2 months ago, Lindsay has been asking if she was going to get a "jumpy thing" for her birthday. Well, I guess she did a great job blowing out her candles, because her birthday wish came through. She LOVES to bounce and this way she's contained so maybe's there's hope left for my couch cushions!