Injuries Abound

We just cannot seem to stay away from injuries around here.  Monday began as any other day until Josiah came running from the play room crying.  This was odd to begin with, because it is usually Henry crying and running from the play room.  For whatever reason, Henry felt it wise to volley a tupperware container (with a hard headed baby doll inside) at Josiah which left a hole in the bridge of his nose.  My first thought was, 'oh no, he's going to need it glued back together.'  My second thought was, 'I do NOT want to go back to another urgent care/emergency room.'  Currently, I am fighting Henry's ER charges of "dental surgery."  The hospital billed out $3000 to put Henry's teeth back in at the first ER and $5200 to take his teeth back out at the second.  This doesn't even include all the other charges totaling over $15,000 for what amounts to two stitches in his lip and one x-ray of his mouth.  But I digress.
So, Josiah had a hole on his nose, not huge, but still an open wound.  I basically held it shut for 30 minutes and then put on some gauze and tape to keep it together.  So he walked around with a pointed -up nose for 24 hours, but the wound closed nicely and we saved a couple hundred dollars.

After this, you can imagine my dismay when on Thursday Josiah walked into the kitchen with a bloody mouth and a tooth in his hand.  He said Henry punched him in the face and knocked out his (thankfully) already loose tooth.  Sympathy is not my best quality on a good day, but it's definitely not functioning well as of late.  "Josiah, why did Henry punch you in the face?"
"Well, (much hemming and hawing) I kicked him in the stomach."
Some days it seems easier to just throw up my hands in defeat.

It is now my goal to get our homeschool room put together and functioning next week so that we can start our school year lickety-split.  We need to get on a schedule and not have so much free time for injuries.  We spend three days next week at our Classical Conversations Practicum learning about the CC curriculum and how to teach it well.  So, that should get us all in the mindset to get the school year started right.  Plus, we got some Star Wars 1st Grade and Preschool Math/Reading/Writing books so the boys are ready to break those open.

Josiah did keep me laughing at the beginning of the week.  He had asked for a box of Whoppers from the grocery store and since they were on sale, I got them.  Plus, he doesn't understand that people eat a whole box at a time.  I give him 2-4 at a time and he thinks it's great.  :)  Well, he could never remember the name and kept calling them "whippers" and "waffles."  I laughed for several days until one day I didn't laugh and he said, "Why didn't you laugh at me?" at which point I realized he was saying it wrong on purpose.

Caroline is two going on thirty-seven.  Every time I tell the boys to do anything, she is right behind me repeating it to them.  Sometimes she even remembers the rules (imagine that) and regulates the boys before I've said anything.  Henry has a tendency to kick the cabinets when sitting at the bar in the kitchen.  If Caroline should hear him kicking, she shouts, "Enry, stop kicking! STOP KICKING!!!"  Of course, Henry finds this funny and in no way is going to listen to her so the matter only escalates.
Caroline also is fiercely independent.  This is what comes out of her mouth All. Day. Long:
"I do it.  I do it.  I DO IT! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.  I DO IT!"

Despite the quite hot temperatures here, we have been blessed with a shady backyard.  It seems to be shady most of the day, so we have played out in it several days this week.  It is a great backyard.  Josiah decided he was Tarzan one day and swung from the branches.  Caroline thought it looked fun and went up to the branch from which he was hanging.  "I do it.  I do it.  I DO IT! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.  I DO IT!"  Josiah, kindly, helped her swing.  He played like that for half an hour or so until one branch snapped.  Josiah is at best 34 lbs, so these branches are not super strong.  Clearly our Tarzan and Jane days are over.


The previous owners had planted two fruit trees in the backyard.  Last month, Todd and I tried to guess what they were, then this past week we talked about it some more.  We finally got the brilliant idea to take some fruit off and cut it open to see.  Figs and limes.  (Although, by this time the limes were a little obvious even though they were still quite small.  And one of us did guess figs.)  Figs.  Hmmmm.  We weren't sure about that one.  But we picked some and they're actually pretty good.  I don't know if we need an entire tree of them, but it is cheap fruit.

In all our unpacking we are finding all sorts of things.  We found a firefighter costume that hadn't been opened yet, so now both boys have one.  That prompted lots of fire fighter pictures drawn.  I thought they boys did really good pictures.

Josiah's

Henry's

The boys (and Caroline)  received a package from a favorite Sunday School teacher back in Virginia.  They are happy with all things new, so they have been enjoying everything.  This afternoon they flew their airplanes outside and Josiah really got into it.  :)

this guy got his airplane to fly really well

That's some intense launching face.

And finally, Todd had a major accomplishment today.  He took apart the elliptical in the garage and brought it upstairs to our bedroom AND reassembled it.  So, now I'm on the hook to get back on it.  I never thought we'd get the giant dresser or this upstairs, so he has proven me wrong twice now.  Twice in ten years.

Oh, as just in case you're wondering what our new house looks like, Henry took a few pictures today.  Enjoy.

stairwell

windowsill (side view)

view from said windowsill

Clearly we know where his career path lies.

VBS

I have to start out with an apology for the blurry pictures.  I think every picture I have this time is slightly blurry.  It is because my cell phone gets handled by too many little ones and the camera lens gets smudged and I forget to clean it before snapping the pictures...

We did VBS (Vacation Bible School) this week.  It was a first for all of us and after a little hesitation from the boys, they had a great time all week.  It helped that the theme was superheroes.  I volunteered in Josiah's class, so I got to go to all the events that the boys did.  The church that held the VBS does everything BIG, so they went to two shows each day - one that was similar to what they do on Sunday mornings and another "Big Show" (as it was dubbed) that had to do with the VBS theme and Jesus.  I would try to spot Henry in the big rooms when all the kids were together.  Whenever the kids would stand up to sing and do hand motions, (following the teenagers and adults on the stage), Henry would remain seated through it all.  Josiah would stand, but did not attempt any hand movements or even singing that I noticed (although he often mentioned that he couldn't see when they stood up because of his height).  So, it was to our shock when we went to the "Big Show" Thursday night as a family, to find out the conclusion of the story, that Henry and Josiah stood up at their seats and danced around to all the songs.  They yelled and cheered when appropriate and were very much into it.

The whole drive home from VBS that night, Josiah and Henry were telling each other jokes that they found hilarious.  For some reason they thought it was funny to guess what God eats and where He eats, etc.  Henry kept opening his jokes with, "I have a good one," which was the funniest part for Todd and I.  He definitely has a really good sense of humor.

Sir Chomps

"Digit"

We would also suggest that you don't challenge Henry to a staring contest any time soon.  He beat me almost every time this weekend.  We'd say, "1, 2, 3, go," look up and see Henry with this face.  Somehow by keeping his mouth wide open, it kept his eyelids from blinking.

Henry showed us just how mature he is getting at Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a.  If you dress like a cow from head to hoof, you get a free meal.  So, these were our kids.

Last year when we went, Henry was very scared of the big cow that walked around.  This year, he went right up to it, touched it, and posed for pictures.  I told him I was really proud of him for not being scared anymore.  He brushed it off and said it was because he's 4 now.  Caroline, on the other hand, took his spot in the "quite scared" section.

Todd took a 4-day weekend, so we were able to get the house a bit more put together.  We finally have all of our furniture in place, including a 250 lb dresser that Todd  and I got upstairs.  This piece has always been the worst piece in all our moves because of its size and weight.  Also, because I was convinced that the drawers did not come out.  But then Todd was talking to a coworker who mentioned the locks on the drawers.  So, Todd figured out how to take the drawers out for the very first time.  Then we got it up the stairs without too much trouble.  Now I can get all of Princess Caroline's many boxes of clothes put away.  I think she may have more clothes than anyone at this point.  (Although she does have many clothes still to grow into.)

We have another week of unpacking to do.  Josiah wants me to figure out how to join our neighborhood pool, so I may muster up the strength to figure that out as well.  It's too hot to do anything else outside.  We made it to a playground for about 20 minutes the other morning before heading in for the A/C.  I have no idea how people lived here before A/C was invented.

4000 Miles Later

Well a lot has happened in a month.  We now have a new house and an extra 4000 miles on our car.

We thought we had the move to our new house all planned out.  The truck was rented, the closing date was set, and Aunt Claire was coming into town to help take care of the kids for us.  Aunt Claire came and she was a godsend to us.  She is the only reason we were able to move our whole house in one weekend.  She took care of the kids by day and helped me clean the new house by night.  The kids were super excited to have her back again and they have been planning a trip to go see her ever since she left.  Although Henry has decided to postpone his travels a few years until his teeth grow back.  Apparently where she lives is so posh they require all teeth to be in place.  She was put to work even more than we had anticipated because we had to use a smaller moving van than expected.  I had rented a 24' truck weeks prior.  Upon going to pick up the keys, they said the 26' truck had a flat and to just come back in a few hours while they changed it.  Uh....no.  So I left with a 16' truck.  Todd and I filled it up (fully) three times and we could really have done a fourth trip, but I was sort of over the whole moving van thing.  So we took an additional 3 car loads (each).  But we are in and we love the house.  

A little over a week after moving, the kids and I took off for Virginia.  Instead of traveling the usual southern route, we headed north and visited family and friends along the way.  Our first stop was in Arkansas.  I hadn't realized it at the time, but google maps gave us two routes to take.  I chose the one that skipped Dallas thinking I could avoid big city traffic.  What I did not realize was I had chosen the scenic route.  It was very beautiful, no doubt, but definitely not the route I would have chosen with three small children and a tropical storm to contend with.  We left a day late thinking we could stay behind the tropical storm, but we only stayed behind it for the first 90 minutes of our drive, then we drove with it for two days.  So I was driving up and down mountains in Oklahoma with sheets of rain coming down.  Not the wisest move.  And who knew Oklahoma had mountains?  I always thought it was flat.  Not so.  The kids, however, did excellent.  Josiah was super helpful in the car.  He could open up food packets for Henry.  He drew pictures and Henry would color them in.  They worked very well together and it was a very pleasant drive from that stand point (and Caroline took two naps).  We spent the night at my aunt's house in Arkansas.  The kids were bonkers for her cats.  They cannot wait to go back and visit "Ticket" and "Mystery Cat" as Henry dubbed the second one that wisely hid during the entirety of our visit.  During the next stage of our trip both boys drew many pictures of the cats.  

The next leg was to Tennessee.  I had never been through Arkansas or Tennessee before, but they are both very beautiful states - lush, green, and mountainous.  We spent the next night with some friends I hadn't seen in nine years.  It was great to catch up and Josiah loved their two small dogs.  Henry and Caroline, not so much.  We are super grateful for all the family and friends who put us up this trip.  It made it so much nicer to travel knowing our destination was not some random hotel in a random city.

Day three had us traveling to Virginia.  The wee travelers were growing a little weary on this leg of the drive, but they still did well.  In the mountains of Virginia we hit a massive storm.  The lightning was so close I thought it would hit the road.  The rain was coming down so hard I could only see three of the dashed white lane lines on the road at a time.  Of course, this was the time that Henry told me he had to go pee.  Really?  I asked him to wait a little bit for the storm to let up because the last thing I wanted to do was take all three kids out in this downpour.  This was totally against my M.O., to ask any of them to wait for the bathroom.  But when the storm was not letting up, I finally decided that the next overpass we went under I would just stop the car on the side of the road and let him go from the car.  This was not usually something I would consider doing either, so that was how hard it was raining.  But then I saw a sign for Chick-fil-a and decided that we could try that.  They have the cleanest bathrooms by far.  While approaching the exit, I asked Henry if he still had to go.  "No," he said.  "Really?" I asked.  "Yes. I don't have to pee."  he said.  I did not totally believe him, but let it go and planned on stopping at an exit further down and hopefully with better weather.  So we passed the exit when Henry piped up, "But I really have to go poop."  Oh child.  A little while later, we exited the storm and found a rest stop.  We were all relieved.  

We finally made it to Grandad & Nana's house late that night.  The boys decided to tell them everything they missed for the past 6 months all in one night.  The next day we drove to the beach, but only after I decided to keep things interesting by locking my keys in the car.  AAA to the rescue.
This was Father's Day, so a shout out to a great dad right here.  We all missed him a lot on the trip (we won't leave without him again).  He was a beast in moving the house, too.

It was really great to see Grandma and Grandpa again at the beach.  They were brave and took the boys to the bookstore to pick out two books each (up from the one book each that was set at the beach house).  Of course Josiah's "book" was a 5-book boxed set.  He knows how to work the grandparents.
  

A snippet of a day at the beach: 

Josiah loved the water still.  He loved pretending to surf in/on it.  He is a beach lover.  

Henry loved to sit under the umbrella, in the shade, on a chair, eating goldfish, and sipping on a Gatorade.

Caroline loved to get a bucket of water from the ocean, bring it up to the beach, dump it out; hit repeat x50.  She also enjoyed flattening any sand castle the boys attempted to make.  

The boys loved the putt-putt golf place.  On our first visit, I spent the first four holes attempting to show them how to hold their golf club properly and how to hit the ball so that it went in the hole with the least amount of shots.  Then I realized it was fruitless and just let them play.  Henry got a par 2 on every hole.  He would hit his ball initially, then he would pick it up and move it to within an inch of the hole and push it in.  Josiah averaged 10 shots per hole.  He at least showed improvement from hole 1 to hole 18.   

Aye, Matey.

From there we traveled to see Great Grandma and got to catch up with her.  Josiah told her that when they woke up in the mornings that he would teach her to draw.  And so he did.  They drew the Cat in the Hat the first morning and then Pete the Cat the second.  What made this humorous is that Great Grandma is an artist and has been painting for many, many years.  But she was a very good sport.  

We even got to spend a day with their cousins who traveled all the way from Africa.  They played really well together, too, until Caroline used a golf club to clonk one cousin in the head.  It was an  uplifting day - we really enjoyed being around family.  

Finally we made it back to Nana and Grandad's and spent a week with them.  The weather was perfect for the first four days or so and the boys loved playing baseball & frisbee outside.  They climbed their "climbing tree" a lot, and even Caroline fought them to get up it.  They got to eat pancakes and bacon for breakfast every morning and their favorite pork chops for dinner.  Nana got a lot of praise for her cooking.  (I make some pretty skimpy meals in comparison down here.)     

We even got to spend time with friends playing at Blue Bird Gap Farm.  Josiah always calls it "Blueberry Gap Farm," so of course, Henry calls it that as well.  Upon arriving Josiah could read the sign with it's actual name and noted that they had printed the wrong name on it.  He was so excited to see friends again, he probably scared them a little jumping up and down while making giddy sounds.  He saw friends at church as well and later we got to spend time at a friend's house.  They were thrilled to spend time with everyone (as was I).  

Finally, we got some pictures made with the wonderful Ms. Ginny.  I don't know what got into Henry, but he all of a sudden decided that he wanted to streak across the grass.  He's never been a streaker at home and I don't know where he got the idea, but there he went trying to pull all his clothes off, laughing his head off.  It was funny in a confusing sort of way, at least for a moment.  

We drove back the southern route.  Not quite as pretty as Tennessee and Arkansas, but we could do it in two days instead of three.  All-in-all the kids did super well on the drive.  I used to complain about a three hour drive to the beach every summer when I was a kid.  It felt like forever.  Now when I tell the boys we have three hours of driving left, they get excited that it's almost done.  They have a totally different perspective.  We even did it without electronics in the car which was an achievement for me.  I'm holding off as long as possible for them.  We are very, very blessed that the boys like to draw because it keeps them entertained for a long time in the car.  Caroline will look out the window and suck her thumb for a lot of it, too.  We are blessed she has that thumb.  :)  That and a children's CD set on repeat.

We are glad to finally be home.  Let the unpacking begin!