Boys. . .

So I found this picture from a few weeks ago.

We were sitting in the family room when

BAM!

Two seconds later I see Kris peek his head through the now broken screen door and say,

"It was invisible!"

Is it any wonder that this happened?

So here's the story behind Kristopher's injury:

The boys were out playing in the front yard and Kris comes running in the house holding his shoulder. I can tell he's hurt but he's not screaming out in pain in fact he's not even crying.

I asked him what happened and he told me that everyone had been playing the game where two people hold you by one arm and one leg and swing you up and down.

Kris got dropped. And he said his shoulder hurt.

He wouldn't let me touch it or even get near it.

He sat on the couch for awhile and I honestly figured he was fine.

We ate dinner and he grimaced every time he moved his shoulder.

Kyle got home and I asked him about it.

I think my exact words were

"If it were broken or dislocated he'd be screaming right?"

So we figured it was just sore and he was fine.

I headed out to a baby shower, and Kyle put him to bed.

When I got home I heard moaning from upstairs.

It was Kris. He was asleep but he was moaning in his sleep.

At this point I knew something wasn't right.

I actually woke him up that night and took him to the ER.

The ER doctor after examining him told me he was positive it was just bruised. That if it was broken he wouldn't be able to move it at all.

(That's what I thought. I thought to myself thinking I had just wasted $50 bucks!)

But they did an x-ray just to make sure.

So when the doctor came back in, looked at Kristopher and said,

"you are one tough little boy"

I knew it was not just bruised.

In fact it was broken. And pretty bad too. And the x-ray proved it.

Now luckily for Kris (and for mom) If you are going to break a bone. The collar bone (or clavicle) as Kris will tell you is the bone to break. They heal really fast on their own and you don't have to wear a cast!

So we were sent on our way with some heavy pain killers for the little dude and an appointment to see the Orthopedic doctor the next day.

Turns out the Orthopedic doctor is the same doctor we saw three years ago when Kris broke his arm and he even remembered Kris!

We were sent home with strict orders to wear a splint with an ace bandage wrapped tightly around his arm and body for 4 weeks and to "take it easy".

YEAH RIGHT!

It hasn't slowed Kris down one bit, and the worst part for Kris through this whole thing is that he was wearing his class T-shirt the day it happened and the only way to get the t-shirt off was to cut it off.

So now to make a long story even longer. . .

As we are driving home from the Orthopedic doctor's appointment I get a phone call from Kale telling me his thumb had been stepped on at school, he can't move it and he thinks he needs to go to the hospital!

First of all, how does a thumb get stepped on and second of all it's a thumb you are not going to the hospital.

That's what I was thinking. I didn't say it out loud, but rather told him I was on my way home and I would look at it when I got there.

Now I will admit that thumb was nasty looking. It was already bruising and it was so swollen he couldn't move it, but I wasn't worried. It's just a thumb.

We wrapped it with ice and sent him to bed that night. . .

After getting a picture with my two unhappy injured children.

Well, the next day it didn't feel any better.

Or the next day so the next day I decided I better take him to the doctor just to make sure everything was OK.

Well, it wasn't OK and we had yet another x-ray to prove it.

BROKEN!

So we were on our way again with a splint on the thumb at this point with another appointment to see the same Orthopedic doctor for the second time in one week.

Turns out we have a really cool Orthopedic doctor who didn't call CPS on us, but did give Kale the bad news that a cast was needed and that his Fall Ball season was over!

Kale tried to talk the nurse into letting him have Black and Orange stripes in honor of the Giants playing in the World Series, but he wouldn't do it. He had to choose one color.

And he chose BLACK!

So there it is.

The whole story.

Well I left out some of the drama. . . but maybe we'll get to that later.

I guess if I have to deal with two broken bones on two different children in one week. . .

A collar bone and a thumb are the way to go.

By December we'll be as good as new!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Here is the newest addition to our Halloween Decorations this year!

He looks a lot scarier in this picture than he really is!

It only took Karalyn a good week before she would even go past the living room, now they are best friends and she will walk right up to him and say these exact words,

"I'm not scared. You're not real. You're just a toy."

Since Halloween was on a Sunday this year I decided to get a few photos in before church today.

These would be my favorite!

No my kids are not in costume.

They both have injuries to their left arms.

Kris has a broken collar bone.

Kale has a broken thumb.

(more to come on the injuries later)

No Trick or Treating for us this year. . .

but it was kinda fun watching Kris so excited for all the Trick or Treaters to come to our house!

We celebrated by having Grandma and Grandpa and Nana and Papa over for Halloween soup and the GIANTS GAME!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

So Inappropriate. . .

I have so much catching up to do . . .

like the entire month of OCTOBER!

But today I was sitting in the car waiting for a red light to turn green after enjoying an amazing little outing with my daughter to the Antique Trove.

She was so good and it was so fun to walk around with her and hear her talking about everything she sees. And there is a lot to see in that store. . .

Anyway, back to the car and the red light about to turn green. . .

I was thinking about how much I love being a mom.

And if you knew the week I had last week

(I will update you later)

That's saying a lot!

I was thinking about each one of my kids and how completely different they are and how that makes it hard for a mom. . . I have to react so different to each child in each situation. And that can be exhausting. And this week I am exhausted.

But then I thought. I CAN DO IT!

And I looked back at the week and everything that happened and I handled it. And I took care of each child like they needed to be taken care of.

And I was still thinking because the light was still red.

And I remembered a little incident that happened with Kale a few weeks ago.

I'm so glad I remembered it and I'm so glad I'm writing it down.

Kale came home from school and informed me that he had been teased again.

He walks home with a girl that lives down the street and for two years now, he has caught flak from some kids about it.

He handles it well, like the time he told the kids who were teasing him,

"Tiffany are I are more than just friends, but we are not in a relationship"

Glad he "handled" that one.

But this time he was upset.

I know I can't prod him even though I know he wants to tell me, but if I act like I'm not really that interested he'll tell me.

And that's what I did.

He proceeded to tell me through tears at this point that what was said was

"SO INAPPROPRIATE!"

"It was so inappropriate mom, I can't even tell you it's so inappropriate."

So I told him if he didn't want to say it out loud, maybe he could write it down for me.

I don't even need to tell you where my mind was going.

I was getting ready to have "the talk" all over again.

He tells me he will tell me and then says,

"Mooooom, they said maybe I should MARRY her! Moooom it is so inappropriate!"

I really tried not to laugh, but you can see my face right, trying hard to look sympathetic on the outside but laughing my guts out on the inside.

I love being a MOM!

And I smiled because I love my kids and because the light turned green!

There are no words or explanations to explain our behavior. . .

Here is our FAMILY. . .

And just in case you didn't get enough. . .

HERE WE ARE AGAIN!

MY KIDS!

I'm so proud!

And if you think they are cute. . .

Check out my IN LAWS!

And their KIDS (and their spouses). . .

And their DAUGHTER IN LAWS (and daughter)!

And all 13 of their GRANDCHILDREN. . .

Cavemen like to run in the ocean like barbarians!

Cavewomen like to run daintily down the beach holding hands!

And then. . .

THE DINOSAURS CAME OUT TO PLAY!

(daddy's with dinosaur hats)

And the caveman had to get ferocious with the dinosaurs!

And then the "cavemommies" had to calm them down and turn them back into cute little caveman!

THE END!

of the story and the vacation!

You know it was a great vacation when it takes this many blog posts to tell you about it. . .

HERE'S A FEW OF MY FAVORITES

I couldn't get enough of the sunsets this year!

They were amazing!

It also wouldn't be the beachouse with out some good old fashioned Rummikub!

And while the girls kept busy here's what the boys did to keep themselves occupied. . .

And maybe there's more pictures of Kyle on the couch!

And if he wasn't on the couch,

maybe you could find him here. . .

Really, though it wasn't all relaxing.

We played some major frisbee games!

And had a really intense TUG O WAR!

And the kids played with Grandpa's old Parachute!

And when it was too cold to go outside,

you could find the kids downstairs playing POOL!

The dolphins were super close to the shoreline this year on more than one occasion.

One morning I was doing homework with Kale and I looked out the window and there were 2 dolphins so close to us.

We yelled to everyone, and before you knew it everyone was out on the wall watching the dolphins.

It really was one of my favorite memories this whole trip.

I loved watching these two together!

And I couldn't get enough of her!

But maybe the best highlight for me was letting these two stay up super late on our last night!

They even got to go in the "adult" hot tub!

(this hot tub is upstairs and kids are not allowed to go in it to keep it free from buckets of sand)

They felt so GROWN UP!

Life doesn't get much better for these 10 year olds!

Watching the ocean and saying Good Bye until Next Year!

The Sand

We played in the sand a lot this year!

And loved every second of it!

Every time I turned around there was another giant hole dug in the beach.

This one was in the "secret tunnel"

You would think after 9 years of coming to the same beach we would have discovered everything there is to discover. . .

but the kids realized if they dug big holes here in the sand

under the drainage holes. . .

you could then go up on the wall and pour water into the drains,

which would then come out the holes in the wall and fill up the holes they dug!

Hours of Fun!

I had a great time watching Kara play in the sandbox at the beach house.

She was so patient about filling up each bucket.

But then when Grandma joined her and made a sand castle

she was in heaven!

PERFECT!