The final countdown... last week of school.

Kyle had a great last week of school, other than dealing with the arm through it all. On Monday the class went on a walking trip to the beach where they looked for treasures in the sand.Wednesday they had a movie day in their pajamas.Snack time!Popcorn during movie time.I got a couple play ground shots. I always let Erin go in and play, too, because their play ground time was at the end of the morning before pick-up.Thursday Erin had her last play group of the year. Luckily we will see many of those people throughout the summer.Erin puts one rock at a time in the little hole. We could have been there for days!The sail boats on Jello "water" I made.Thursday night Kyle graduated from preschool! In the old pre-children days I thought preschool graduations were silly. Until I watched Kyle... sheesh, I'll tell you now that you may as well invest in Kleenex before his high school graduation if this was any indication! LOL Kyle gets his diploma and hugs his teachers, the principal, and the pastor.His teachers Mrs. Mitchell and Miss Fritzler. Friday Kyle's school had an all-school picnic. Both kids had a lot of fun.Kyle was ingenious to figure out that he could use his two-handed water squirter with his good hand and his mouth!The dog was as much entertainment to Kyle as everything else!Erin was thrilled to meet a new friend.

Casting call

... an update on Kyle. He got his permanent cast on Tuesday. At the time I thought all our prayers were answered... healing sounded like it was going to go well based on the break (which is right through, not a crack!), cast is only for four weeks, it's got the waterproof liner, and it's green -- Kyle's favorite color.

Here are Kyle and Erin on Tuesday. I took them for ice cream since Kyle had to get his cast. They look smiling and happy!!
Now, however, Kyle is in significant pain much of the time. He can't sleep at night. He moans and whimpers a lot. It's been really rough. When my active boy wants to lay on the couch all afternoon and cries if he moves at all, I know he's in big pain. We are headed in tomorrow for another xray to see if there is a problem. (Although they did take one after placing the cast on Tuesday to ensure the location of the bones in the cast.)

Prayers for our little buddy, please!

If you're browsing through...

The South Haven 2010 Tour Guide...

Don't miss the smiling face on page 30!

Deja vous

In September 2008, just before turning three, Kyle went over the arm of the couch and put his hand out to catch himself. The result was a buckle fracture in his left wrist. (You can catch some cast pics from then here.)

Well, today we made another ER trip with a broken bone. This time Kyle fell off his bike and landed directly on his elbow. I got there seconds later and he was crying so hard saying that he couldn't move his arm. There is a fracture in his elbow, and it swelled like a golf ball. It was a traumatic, tearful ER trip. This break hurt a lot more, especially the bending needed for good xrays.

He is in a temporary cast and sling for now, and Monday we will go to the orthopedic doctor. Our number one concern is for healthy healing. Our wish is for a waterproof cast so that the first half of summer is not a bust. Our next wish (well, Kyle's) is that it be green.

Here is my little guy finally busting out a smile before bedtime. He was such a trooper today because I know without a doubt that he was in a lot of pain.

Wordless Wednesday (although watch for more on this!)

How to make your husband FLIP out!!

I left this children's thermometer out on the kitchen counter, without any thought at all that this: Looks VERY similar to this: Mike is resting easily now after that near heart attack. HA HA HA. Too bad I didn't think of that for April Fool's. ;-)

Happy birthday, Erin!!

Erin celebrated her second birthday today! Amazing! Our little angel is growing up so fast! She had a busy, busy day, but a great one. We started off at the church where Kyle goes to preschool so he could sing in their service with his classmates. Then we managed to hit our favorite breakfast place, before going to our church service.

The afternoon was when the birthday fun really began! Erin's party included her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. There were 21 people here and everyone had a blast. The weather couldn't have been more perfect!

Of course birthdays and perfect weather aren't the only makings of a great day with Erin. She is a wonderful, sweet girl no matter what the day. While I am always told that she never stops smiling, we know that she can also hold her own and be quite assertive. Even that is cute, though! (Mostly, ha ha!) Erin's favorite things right now are her baby dolls and coloring. Her birthday party theme was crayons. She is the sweetest mother to her babies, snuggling them tight, whispering them to sleep, feeding them gently. I can only imagine how lucky her children will be some day.

While we have always thought Kyle was our daredevil, we groan a bit to see that Erin may top him. She is afraid of nothing! She climbs the highest slides, up the ladders of play sets, and all around on the tunnels of jungle gyms. She is sure she can do anything she tries, although we do hear the occasional, "Stuck!!!"

Erin is smart as a whip, and beginning to talk. It so amazing to be able to communicate and know what she wants. She can also be quite animated, which makes us smile and giggle. Today my heart melted when she walked her baby over the cradle on her new baby center and I heard her say, "Night night baby." Aww!

Since Erin arrived shortly after I began this blog, you can check out the blog on her birth, and the blog with her first birthday photo/music montage, and the one on her first birthday party, if you are looking for more. :)

Here's Erin when she was born, and on both of her birthdays. We love her to the moon and back!

Wordless Wednesday

Saying goodbye

I went to the funeral of Doug Felland today. Dr. Felland was the father of my friend Stacy, who has been my best friend since junior high. Theirs was a house I walked into without knocking, spent the night at too many times to count, and enjoyed so many memories. Stacy's parents were like a second set of parents to me while I was growing up.

Dr. Felland was kind, smart, funny, optimistic... the list goes on. What a great man he was, and how he will be missed by so many.

Ironically, as I went to find a picture to post with this, my first thought was to pull up my wedding pictures. I knew I had reception pictures of all the guests. What I pulled up was a picture with the Fellands, and also the Kings. Sadly, we just said goodbye to Roger King this past month as well. Another great man lost to our world, but on to the next.

Godspeed to both of these men. We will miss them.

I'm one proud Mama!

Kyle was in his school musical last night, and he did GREAT! The musical was called The Big Bad Musical, and it was a trial of the big, bad wolf and had all the characters from different fairy tales. It was a lot of fun and all the kids did great. The preschoolers were the warm-up act for the audience, and they got everyone laughing with their fun songs. They also did two commercials halfway through the musical. I was, of course, beaming with pride at Kyle!

We also made a fun night of it. Kyle's Nana and Grandpa Jay came down and had dinner with us, went to the musical, then treated us all to Sherman's afterwards! Yum! (Thanks, Lyn and Jay!)

And here's some video of a really FUN song they did!! (Click the triangle.)