Halloween Riddle

Here's a riddle:

What do you call Tony Stark after Trunk or Treating?

Answer: Exhausted!

Tonight was Trunk or Treat at church (yes, I know they changed the name but I refuse to give in).  We're only halfway through our family Halloween festivities and we're already exhausted!  The kids had a wonderful time with great friends and we love watching their joy so we'll suit back up on Wednesday and Thursday and ride this holiday into the ground!

Balloon sword

Halloween Here We Come

 The residents of Barth Rd have quite differing views of pumpkin carving.  Two of us sort of dread it.  Three of us consider it the highlight of the season.  Care to wager who falls into each category?

Saturday we could put it off no longer.  Dad helped clean the pumpkins out while Mom printed the templates.  A *short* 80 minutes later we had three carved pumpkins and one sore carving shoulder.

The resident carver is very glad we only have 3 kids!

Boba Fett, scared cat, and Iron Man

Get Better Soon, Uncle Tom!

The boys made Uncle Tom a "get well" video today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzww1OwmCsY&feature=em-upload_owner#action=share

When I showed it to Frank this evening, he asked if I'd sent Henry to the bathroom and then re-recorded it.  Um, no!  This version is way funnier!

Tom, we truly hope you get better soon . . . It'll make us really Hap-PEE!

Conferences Day 5 & Surgeon report

Day 5 (yes, the kids got FIVE days off school for Parent-Teacher Conferences!) was pretty low-key.  Lexi made several more bracelets, the boys played action figures . . . but Mom went to the surgeon!

Here's the report:

1. The wound couldn't look better (although those who saw a picture disagree!  Let me know if you want to see it and I'll forward it!  It's a bit too Frankenstein for the blog!)  

2) While he won't guarantee 100% that he fixed the pain, he doesn't see how that couldn't have been causing me pain.  While we knew going in that the bone hole was 5mm in diameter, we couldn't tell its depth from an MRI.  He showed me a picture taken of the hole during the surgery and then handed me the instrument he was holding in the picture.  The actual instrument had a decent-sized hook but no hook was visible in the picture.  Why?  Because the entire hook was inside the bone hole!  Yikes!  In addition to the hole, the surrounding bone was "quite soft" and it's "in an area that is directly involved in each step" I take.

3) There had been a little concern about the accessibility of the site needed to drill but, because my ligaments were so stretched out and loose, he was able to manipulate my joint much farther than on the average ankle.  After drilling, he reconstructed the ligaments to tighten them, which should also stop the constant locking/popping (there goes my party trick!).

4) I'm in a hard cast (orange for Halloween!) for the next 15 days then we'll cut it off and I'll go to the boot (for those who are counting, that will be the third time I've had a cast cut off in five months!).  He doesn't know if I'll be able to start walking in the boot in two weeks or if it'll need another two weeks on crutches after that.

In the meantime, I'm happy to be moving forward in the process and thrilled he was so pleased with the surgery!

New cast with the perma-photo-bombers!

Conferences Day 3 and 4

The agenda for Saturday and Sunday looked like most of our weekends . . . soccer, soccer, and more soccer!  Both Frankie and Lexi had games on Saturday and Frankie had one on Sunday too.  With Dad camping, Mom was on her own to scale the definitely non-handicap accessible fields of Heartland Soccer Complex but, thanks to some wonderful neighbors-turned-friends, I made it!

Frankie is really figuring out this soccer thing!  He scored two goals in each game this weekend and had a hat-trick last weekend!

World Cup 2030?

Conferences Day 2

Friday was another day off school for Parent/Teacher conferences!  We had several important visitors in the form of grandparents.  Grandma took Lexi to Wal-Mart in the morning then Nana and Popo stopped by on their way to Uncle Mike's.

In the afternoon we did some painting and Lexi and I spent some serious time learning new bracelet patterns on her Rainbow Loom!

Lexi and CG painting

Conferences - Day 1

Praise God for Parent/Teacher Conferences!  I know I felt differently when I was teaching but as a mom a week post-surgery who really wanted to sleep in and not have to get kids ready for school . . . HALLELUJAH!

Around here, a day off school meant sleeping until 8AM (wahoo!), a bath for Mom, playing and lunching with neighbors, watching 101 Dalmations 2 (less creepy Cruella = better movie as far as the boys are concerned), and making new personalized forks*!  We have four more days off school to top this fun and so many more activities Mom can supervise from the recliner!  Three cheers for conferences!

Henry intently working on his fork!

Showing off the creations (and their tongues, for some reason)!

Look closely at the family photo . . . Notice anything exciting?  Yes, that's Mom wearing jeans!  It took a full 8 minutes to get them on over the cast and I'll probably have to sleep in them for the next 10 weeks or cut them off but at least I felt normal-ish for a day!



*I know you're dying for personalized forks like these (unless you're Grandpa and you already got one for your birthday!).  We wrapped oven bake Sculpey clay around the handles of super cheap forks from Wal-Mart and baked them on a cookie sheet at 350 for 10 mins.  They're DW safe and Lexi's been using the spoon she made in Kindergarten almost daily for the last three years and it still looks perfect!

Dance the Night Away . . . Or not

My parents took the kids to a family wedding reception Friday night while Frank stayed home to babysit me.  Lexi finally found an occasion worthy of the $7 prom dress Aunt Shanna had bought her this summer (to which Grandma added straps!) and we talked Frankie into a nice shirt paired with his sweats.  Frank taught them some sweet dance moves before they left (involving running and sliding across the floor, I hear!) but it's hard to dance when there are glow sticks!

Cousins looking lovely!

Glow sticks - making outfits even more beautiful

Pre-Dance picture

Race to the Finish!

Lexi joined the 3rd-5th grade running club and has been training to run a 5K in honor of an Olathe elementary student who passed away.  Despite a bitter cold start, she ran hard and was so proud of herself for finishing strong.  Next year, God willing, I'll be right alongside you, Sweet Girl!

Mr. Reves, an inspirational principal

2 blocks from the finish - still going strong!

Best friends - off and on the course

Happy (early) Birthday, Frankie!

 We celebrated Frankie's birthday early this year because Monkey Bizness is no fun on crutches!  After two weeks of trying to explain that his actual birthday isn't until Nov. 1, he just doesn't comprehend that he's not yet actually six.  So . . . I guess he'll just be six for 13 months this year!

We hosted 26 children (and a handful of parents, thank goodness!) at Monkey Bizness for a sweaty wonderful party!  Happy birthday, Frankie!

"Hanging Around"

Watching Frankie climb the rock wall

Sweaty party guests!

Wishing on his soccer-themed cake