Fireplace

Well, we have lived here for over a year and have never used our fireplace.  Not because we didn't want to, but because we didn't have wood, or the wood that we did have was still green.  Anyway...

I call this pic, "Man, Woozie, Wild".  C & Daddy were practicing their fire building skills that they learned from their favorite TV show, "Man, Woman, Wild".

Last night we decided to have a fire.  Although it was neat to have one (I never had an open fireplace in any of the houses that I've ever lived in), it wasn't the greatest night to start having them.  When we started the fire at 8:00pm it was still in the 70s.  The fire warmed up our house nicely, but we really didn't need it any warmer!

We sat around the fire telling 'scary' campfire stories.  C was so cute, she was telling her story about a family staying at a campground and a ghost came to visit moaning.  In the middle of her story she exclaimed, "I'm freaking myself out!"  But she bravely continued her story and finished it.  The boys all told their renditions of scary stories.  K's had to do with a lot of bathrooms at a campground, Gv's had to do with Crash Bandicoot & Gt's had to do with who knows what, but he was cracking himself up and his 'twin a year apart'.

We had a great family night, but I think we'll wait till it cools down when we start the next one.  Besides having quality time with the family, another upside was that we didn't need to turn on the heat last night (but then again, I don't think anybody in our area did).

Tag: A Dangerous Game???

I wouldn't think that the game of tag could be dangerous, but this past weekend's events proved otherwise.

If you recall, we thought my daughter broke her arm playing tag.  Well we were right.  She broke her humerus right below the shoulder.  A cast wouldn't help with protecting the break itself, but it would warn people from bumping into her and be a reminder for C to be careful.

Well, two days later, K ran into his younger brother playing tag and gave himself a black eye.  We were at small groups when we got a call from his caregiver.

Hmmm....Straightjackets are sounding good right about now.  ;)

Our Yearly Broken Arm

I breathed a sigh of relief too soon.  Gv broke his arm last October (the 22nd to be exact) and when Oct 22 of this year passed, I felt relieved that we made it through a whole year with no broken bones.  Well, that streak has been broken (no pun intended!).  Yesterday (Friday Nov 4), our daughter was playing tag with friends and tripped and fell and landed on her arm.  And of course, this was done at 4:45pm, fifteen minutes after our PCPs office closed for the weekend.  We're fairly certain she broke it, but are waiting...

Right after it happened, she said to me between tears, "I never wanted to have a broken arm!"  Poor thing.

Waiting for what?!? you ask: Calling every nurse I knew to get an opinion, spending all day today sifting through lengthy unclear insurance policies, talking with our health insurance carrier, waiting for our doctor's office to get a referral for us to go to an orthopedic surgeon, blah blah blah.  Luckily I have a sweet friend who lives close by.  She is a nurse.  And she was willing to come over to our house and look at C's arm.  She gave me some great advice & even put a splint on her!  Thank God for friends!!

So, we continue to wait (until Monday I'm assuming since the doctor's office never got back to me today).  Luckily Matt has the day off on Monday, because that is my first day of my new job babysitting.

The Daily Bread title for today was "Peace in Crisis".  I wouldn't exactly call this a crisis, but it has been stressful.  And I'm very thankful for the encouraging words that little devotional gave me this morning.
odb.org

You know how some companies have those accident free signs?  Well on Thursday, ours read "377 Days Accident Free" and today it reads "1 Day Accident Free". Perhaps we'll make it longer this time around, but I wouldn't count on it.  =)
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11/12/11 As it turned out Matt did end up working on Monday, and things didn't go according to plan, but C is doing very well, and that's the most important thing!!

Halloween

My kids were really looking forward to Halloween, so I tried to make it as fun for them as possible...


The day started off with school and then a Homeschool Halloween Party.

 The kiddos and their neighborhood friend

We read a couple Halloween books.  This one was aptly
named, "The Bumpy Little Pumpkin".

We played Halloween Musical Chairs and other games.

And what's Halloween without 'The Great Pumpkin, 

Charlie Brown'??

 After a school parade around the neighborhood, 

we began to carve our pumpkins.

 Daddy using power tools to carve the pumpkins.

 Pulling seeds out of the bumpy little pumpkin

 Mario working on the tedious task of pulling

out seeds.

 The end product

Mario, Tony Hawk, Robin & The Penguin posing beside

their pumpkins

 The one-line slinging Unknown Comic joined us

And then it was off trick or treating with friends and having a great time!

The most common question I have heard in the last 12 hours is: "Can I have a piece of candy?" and the most common answer: "Not right now." :)