And on it goes.....

Staying very busy as usual around here. I really need a long nap. lol

On Friday they wouldn't let Addison and Abigail enter the 'twins' contest at school. Go figure. Addison was put-out about it because, after all, they aren't twins. Hahaha!

Wyatt started physical therapy on Friday which left him a little sore for the weekend. He went back for his second appointment yesterday. Unfortunately, they found that one of the ligaments is still a little loose and is letting his kneecap still move around when there is pressure on it (like while he is lifting weights.) They put tape on his leg that is placed to hold the kneecap in place at all times and want it to stay there for at least 5 days to see if the ligament tightens up then. We're all keeping our fingers crossed that things get healed up on their own without any medical intervention.

Saturday was a soccer game. It was a really rough game on poor Addison. She's got a big bruise on her calf from getting kicked by a girl from the other team that was wearing a leg brace similar to Wyatt's. With all of that metal on it, I don't think there's any option other than leaving a mark if you accidentally kick someone. She also got kicked in the thigh, but I don't think that left a mark. Worst of all, though, she took a soccer ball to the face. It definitely left a mark.....

It hit her on the corner of her glasses and knocked them into her eye. It cut her right below her eyebrow and by Monday morning her whole eyelid was puffy and a light purple. I'll give her this, though, she got back up and kept playing. She's a tough little girl when she's out on the soccer field.

Sunday we drove to Houston to celebrate my brother and sister-in-law's 25th wedding anniversary. Congratulations to them.

Of course, since my Mom wanted to take pictures for her Christmas cards with the whole family being together, two of my kids have noticeable injuries. I asked her to include a note with the pictures letting people know that I had not taken up beating my children....

In addition to all of the usual happenings during the week, we've had to include welcoming one of our daughters to 'woman-hood' which I am totally not ready for. Why do they have to keep growing up faster than I'm ready for? Thankfully we run around like crazy people and it's always so busy, because if I had time to think about it, I know it would really bother me. At this point, I just have to accept it (what else can I do, really?), suck up my feelings about losing my baby, and continue on. But it does make me a little sad.....is that weird or normal? I don't know.

We also had a conference yesterday with one of the teachers, the principal, and the counselor. It wasn't very pretty, took over an hour, and was very stressful. I won't even go into the whole story because I could go on and on. Don't get me started!! But, on the bright side, we've already seen some changes today. I hope that it stays this way for the rest of the year. Even if it's small, I'll take what I can get.

I would like to say that I can't wait for he weekend because we'll get a chance to relax, but it's still soccer season. I think they only have two more games to go for the season, but they're currently in second place in their district. That means moving on to play-offs. Sometimes it's really hard to know whether to continue cheering for their success or not. Sometimes we're just ready for it to be over. You know?

Homecoming Week

One of the theme days this week was 'Crazy Hat Day'. Wyatt just wore one of his Dad's University of Michigan hats because he thought that was about as silly as he could get. Anything to give his Dad a hard time.

Here's what Abigail wore...

 Don't you just love it?

I also made mums for all three of the girls to wear. Here's Kirsten proudly sporting hers.

We were teasing her because hers has a peace sign hanging from it, some ribbon with hearts, and a silver football hanging. Does that mean that her mum has a theme of peace, love, and football?


She doesn't think we're funny.


Go figure!

Today was twin day. Addison and Abigail did dress alike today. I wish I had the time to get their picture this morning because it was pretty funny. I found a pair of Kirsten's old glasses and took the lenses out of them last night so that Abigail had glasses on today too. They even did their hair alike. Maybe they'll still be dressed up when I pick them up this afternoon and I can get a picture.

Wyatt starts physical therapy today and he's pretty nervous about it. I hope it all goes well and he can relax a little. He's really handled this whole thing like a champ. He said the other day that when he gets his brace off he's going to start living his life to the fullest again. Silly kid!

Time Flies

Wow! I can't believe has fast the days go by. All of a sudden a week has gone by and I haven't posted a thing.

We have something going on almost every day and yet none of it seems like the kinds of things that might be of interest to anyone. lol

I took Wyatt back to the doctor yesterday. His knee is still really swollen and still sore to the touch, but the doctor said that's because it has not completely healed yet. However, the knee cap is firmly back in place and not still sliding around. Woohoo! He unlocked the brace and he starts physical therapy three days a week for the next four weeks. We go back to the doctor in three weeks and he hopes to switch to a smaller, lighter brace.

I was glad for the outcome at the doctor's office because I was really worried that his knee was still so swollen. I'm glad that things are healing and on schedule.

Addison's soccer team is on fire one game and just there to watch (or so it seems) at the next. Consistency is certainly not their strong point. They've played some pretty aaggressive teams already and these are all girls 13 and under. I hope they calm down by the time they get more advanced since they'll also get bigger. At Saturday's game on of the girls from the other team managed to hurt at least 4 girls in the course of the game and 2 of them were on her own team. It's just crazy sometimes. I think the boys play with less aggression than that and they play a much more physical game than the girls. It's just crazy!

This week is homecoming week and all the silliness that goes a long with it. Yesterday was crazy sock day. Abigail wore fuzzy toe socks with monkeys. Today is camo day but we didn't have any. (Oops! But don't tell anyone or we may not be allowed to continue to live out in the country.) I don't know what all of the other days are but Friday is twin day. Abigail was complaining this morning that she didn't have anyone to be twins with and then Addison said she didn't either. I just said, 'Really? You're standing about 3 feet apart and you can't figure this one out?' lol I think they might be 'twins' for Friday. But luckily I won't have to go to any great lengths to pull that one off. lol

An honor for Kirsten

I don't think that I have posted on Kirsten.  A couple of weeks ago we got a letter in the mail from the school counselor. Of course panic that something is wrong is the first reaction, but, thankfully, this was a good letter.

Kirsten has been invited to participate in a Duke University program. They call it a talent search, but it's geared toward the 'gifted and talented' students. They look at scores for the standardized tests. We're very proud that she was chosen.

As part of the program, she'll be taking the ACT test in December. She will also receive help and guidance from Duke University on class selection in high school, there are opportunities for distance learning and summer programs, and when it's time for her to start applying to college they'll give her guidance on that process too.

It sounds like a really great thing to be involved in and she's pretty excited about being selected.....as she should be!!

In other news, not much else has changed. Still juggling activities and school work. Wyatt goes back to the doctor next week and we'll see what the next step is then. I'm a little concerned because his knee is still awfully swollen, but he's not in pain so I guess that's good. We're keeping our fingers crossed that everything is on track and healing up like it should be. He's been great about doing what the doctor told him too and not whining about it. Although, he did say over the weekend that when he gets the brace off he's going to 'live his life to the fullest', whatever that means. lol

Quick Update

Now that school is back in session (and all the activities that go along with it) we're busy, busy.

Addison played soccer this weekend. Saturday they lost 0-1. Sunday's game was much better with a 7-1 victory. On Sunday they finally played hard again, which the team really hadn't done since the tournament in San Antonio in August. It was good to see them back out there playing the way we know they can.

On Monday, Addison started taking math lessons at Kumon. She's struggling in math a little this year so I'm hoping that this will help give her a solid foundation to move forward with. I think somewhere along the line some of the basics didn't sink in like they should have. It looks like a really good program from the research we've done so I hope she likes it and makes it work for her.

Yesterday the girls were supposed to cheer at the 8th grade football games. Shortly after they started the 2nd quarter, the fields had to be cleared because of lightening in the area. We had to wait 30 minutes for them to make a final decision about the game. As the time passed the storm just blew closer in so they called the game. I don't know if we'll have to make it up or not since there was no score yet, and the second  game didn't even get started. Unfortunately the storm produced a lot of lightening and noise but only a little rain. We could certainly use the rain.

Wyatt is doing better. His knee has been pain free, for the most part. He's hobbling around the house a little without the crutches, but I'm not ready for him to go to school without them. The brace is still on and I'm afraid that it would be too easy for him to lose his balance if someone bumped into him and he didn't have the crutches with him. His knee is still swollen to about twice (or more) it's normal size. Abigail looked it up online and found that it might stay swollen as long as a week after the injury. Well, that's tomorrow so if it doesn't look any better in the morning I'm going to call the doctor and see if I need to be panicking about it.

There's a school dance on Friday so Kirsten's most pressing issue at the moment is deciding on the perfect thing to wear. :0)

P.E. is hazardous to your health.....

Well, it's hazardous for Wyatt anyway.

He got knocked down in PE yesterday and fell just right and dislocated his knee (read: his knee cap slid over to the side of his leg.)

The school called a little before 1:00 to tell me what had happened and that I needed to pick him up and take him to the doctor. I grabbed my purse and hit the road.

Side rant: Why is it that when you're worried sick and in a hurry that you get stuck behind the SLOWEST driver on the road that day? It drives me nuts!!

After the coach called me she was able to get a hold of the trainer at the high school and he went and put Wyatt's knee cap back in place. They had just finished when I got there and Wyatt was still looking a little green from the whole thing.

We were lucky in that the trainer called an orthopedist and was able to get us an appointment right away. If not, we would have surely had to wait an extra day to see someone.

After several x-rays they determined that it's not broken. He will have to be in this brace keeping his leg straight for three weeks and then we go back to the doctor. If things have healed by then, they will unlock the brace so that it can bend and he'll start physical therapy.

He's in a lot of pain still, but he's handled the whole thing like a real trooper. The coaches couldn't believe that he didn't cry at all and kept commenting on how tough he is. Although, he was very unhappy with the doctor for pushing on it and just making it hurt worse.

Two bits, four bits......

The girls got to cheer at their first football game on Thursday. Actually, they cheered at two games (8th grade A & B teams.)

They really had fun doing it.

Addison at the top of the pyramid.

Abigail

They did say that their legs and feet were sore after it was all over.

Unfortunately, the cheers didn't help the football teams at all. They both lost.


On Friday night Dax had to head out for his State Guard weekend.

As usual, something out of the ordinary happened while he was gone.

This time our outside cat (Ms. Kitty) wandered into the back yard and the dogs attacked her.

Luckily we heard all the commotion out there and got outside in time to stop it before she got hurt. I was worried about her because she's getting pretty old and she seamed to be really confused.

But, she's back to her same old grouchy self now so I guess she's feeling fine.

Dax may not be able to leave anymore if this kind of craziness keeps up.

Another tragic loss.....

Over the weekend we suffered another tragic loss in the kitchen.

--On the bright side, this one wasn't my fault!--


Abigail was making some lunch for herself and didn't realize that the plastic cover for things cooked in the microwave was actually touching the burner.

As you can see from the photo, it took quite a bit of time (and melting) before she noticed it.

That plastic on the burner stunk up the whole house!!

I had to wait for it to cook and re-harden so that I could chip it off of the stove.

We're really having a hard time in the kitchen lately.  I guess we're just going to have to start eating out all the time.

I know, I know. It's just wishful thinking.

What do cheerleaders have?

Pep!!


Or at least pep rallies.


Thursday was the first pep rally.

Abigail is on the far left. (Don't be fooled, Abigail is not that 'tiny'. The girl on the right is really tall for a 12 year old. I thinks she's taller than me and I haven't seen 12 in a long, long time.)

The girls were so excited about the pep rally. (I couldn't get any pictures of Addison because she's in the back row on the other side of the gym.)

Wyatt was pretty excited too because it was his first time to perform in the band at a pep rally. Poor Abigail had to run back and forth from cheer leading to play in the band. (I couldn't get any pictures of Wyatt because he was hidden behind a music stand.)

It was really kind of sad though, because they were supposed to play against Smithville. However, Smithville is one of the areas that is on fire here in central Texas so the games were cancelled. I heard this morning that the fires are about 60% contained and well over 1500 homes have been destroyed. It's just heart breaking! The High School had a scrimmage game. They collected items needed by both families and fire fighters and all proceeds went to help those affected.....especially in Smithville. It was very touching indeed.

But they thoroughly enjoyed the pep rally. I obviously attended since I took pictures, but they spent the whole week practicing it in the kitchen while I cooked dinner. I swear I fell asleep every night with those cheers going through my head. I felt like I already new the pep rally without having to actually be there.

It was a bust....

Addison's soccer tournament was a bust. The girls had to play three other teams (same as last weekend.) But, this time I guess they didn't have enough teams sign up so two of the teams they played against were Super 2  -- Addison's team is Division 2. Super 2 is the next level of play better. (It would be kind of like making high school football players play against college teams in order to get to the championship.)

Well, of course they didn't do too good.

The really terrible part of it is that if the tournament hosts had told us that they would be doing this, we wouldn't have signed up for it. I mean, even though the girls know that the teams were way above their level of play, they still feel awful for the beating they took out on the field.


As a parent it was painful to watch.  I didn't even take pictures!


There was also another bust.


Last night.

I had baked bread and after it had cooled I had stacked the pans and pushed them to the back of the stove.

I turned on a burner to dry my cast iron skillet. I noticed that it wasn't doing anything and realized I had turned on the back burner.

The one under the loaf pans.

I turned it off and pushed the pans to the side so they wouldn't be on the burner. When I did that the bottom pan shattered and glass went everywhere!! I was lucky and didn't get cut but it certainly scared me.

Dax seems to think that the common problem is me and the glass baking dishes. I know that's not true though.

We were having fish again last night. It's the fish y'all!!

Other than that we had a nice weekend.