OUCH

Little man at hospital number 1 after the drugs kicked in.

6 years, 3 kids and no accidents..until that fateful day..
Our beloved trampoline has betrayed us! Well if we are getting technical it was kind of Auggies own doing that broke his arm..
He was actually walking on the trampoline backwards and didn't realize that he was at the edge. He tumbles off on to the not so soft poll that helps hold up the trampoline. This resulted in two broken bones in his arm and a 6 hour /two hospital visit. LONG night.
Every one in both places thought he was a girl. Its the hair I know. Even with the dino shirt on!

All the nurses loved August and gave him a wheelchair to play in the halls ( while high on morphine lol) He pretty much went in circles using only one hand to wheel.

Auggie was very brave, he got an iv and later had to be sedated so they could fix his arm before cast number 1 was put on. At one point he was asked how many band-aids he wanted. He told the nurse very sweetly he would hold up his fingers. At first he held up two then changed his mind to one..so he held up his middle finger to the lady who just gave him an IV lol. Of course all of us stifled our laughter because he has no idea what THAT means ha ha. He got his one band aid and a load of stickers.

Let me tell you, if you kid ever has to get his/her arm crackled back in to place... plug your ears and dont watch. It was gross and slightly heart breaking. Luckily August was heavily sedated. So much he started talking in his sleep.
So now he is stuck with a ugly cast ( he gets his colorful one on Friday) and a lame sling from the hospital. I thought about buying some cute fabric to make him one of those slings they teach you to make in first aid, but then stumbled across this great seller on Etsy SassySling . She makes customs slings! She already has some made and they are super cute. Enough to put a smile on a little ones face for sure! I ordered a awesome Spider-man sling of course! I cant wait to get it.

MayBelle

Well we did it! We got ourselves a new pup. She is a very sweet doggie. Her name is MayBelle. As far as we have been told her mom was part lab part shepherd. No idea what the dad is.
I must admit I forgot how time consuming the whole housebreaking would be. She is doing pretty good though. She is also getting a lot better on her leash.
The kids have a love/scared relations hip with her so far. They really do enjoy her company until she begins to nibble on their toes or ankles. They run and scream ( same run and scream they do when they are playing with her of course) Therefore we are trying to teach the kids what to do when they need her to stay down and stop biting... We are working on it :)

Saturday

We made it though the first week of school!!! The girls are loving it really. August is warming up. He has not cried but he usually completely falls apart within 2 minutes of pick up. That tell me he is trying hard to hold it together all day at school. That is my boy. He keeps asking me when he will learn to read " Will I learn to read tomorrow mom?" I keep telling him it takes time, but that excuse is not going to work too much longer. I think he thought it would be like a light bulb, once he walked in to kindergarten he would magically know how to read. Hopefully he wont have to hard of time. Veda learned really quickly, but Rosa took a while. She actually didn't really get it until the summer before 1st grade. Now she is a crazy champion reader.
Although not a reader yet, my boy did learn to ride a bike last week! Woohoo, that means all my kids learned at 5 and under..yeah I'm bragging. Now if he could just master wiping...but that is another story.

First Day Of School

Wow today was a big first!
August went off to kindergarten today which means ALL of my kids are in elementary. I can barely believe it. Makes me sentimental...and old ha ha.
The girls did great of course, they are so used to school now. Rosa and Veda ran ahead and found their new desks while August hung on of the pillar in front of the entrance door.

He said he was not going to go in. I stood there and tried to sell him on all the cool things they do at school. What worked was when Rosa's friend walked by and said hi to him. He smiled at her and pretty much walked right in.. I see a crush blooming!



So now I have a few hours to myself. Hmm bon-bons or mani and pedi. RIGHT. I have a house to clean, pictures to edit and other not so fancy errands to run. I think that this day will go by fast, at least for me.
Cant wait to see how the kids do when they return!

Auggie and Veda at their desks in their k1 split class.

DONE!!

Yeah I finished the quilt I have been working on for Rosa. It is about time! It turned out close to how I thought. I got the idea and directions from this awesome book. Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. I love it and I really want to try a few more of the ideas.


I cant believe the summer is coming to an end. It has been a great one. The kids have had some camps that they loved..( and some they didn't) The best part has been the family ti me. We went camping two times and have been to a bunch of big parks in the area. Soon another chapter will start in our lives. ALL my kids will be off to school and I will have an empty house for a few hours... My hope is to use that time fairly wisely. Sewing, gardening, cleaning my home, and learning something new too!
I have however decided to be the class liaison in Auggie and Veda's classroom. That will fill in many hours. Kind of like a parent/class helper. But since their school is big on volunteering it is kind of a big job..well if I do it right anyway. I'm a little intimidated, but I really love their teacher, she is so helpful so I think it wont be a impossible job.

Wednesday

August getting ready for yet another run

My big girl smiling..She is growing up so fast and can be such a preteen pain, I love it when she just gets silly and smiles like a carefree kid.

The sunset race!

The sun was setting and two wild children were amping to break in their new-ish shoes. They decided to race towards the setting sun!



Who will win?



The winner!!

..... although she does have 2 years and about 4 inches on him ;)

mini vacation

I just got back from a mini vacation with some girl friends. It was nice. A lot of cookies, relaxing and a few beers thrown in. I think everyone needs a non planned relaxing day or days. It makes going back to routine much easier for sure.
Of course I have no photos..mostly cause I dot feel like lugging my camera around. Also cause I have been feeling really non creative and my heart isn't in at much as it used to be. I'm going to be doing more photos just for my own enjoyment and less for other people. That may mean less money coming in but I really want to figure my way out of this photo funk.

Sebastian took this one of me holding my big (baby) boy.

My sweet hubby who watched all 3 kids for 3 days so I could get away with friends :)

YUM

So last night I was hungry and wanting something to eat. Unfortunately we had nothing really to snack on that I wanted. I decided to just torture myself with Tasetspotting.com. This site showcases different peoples recipes and food pictures. YUM! It only makes one hungrier though really.
So anyway, I got it in my head that I had to make apple pie from scratch last night. So today August and I set out to do just that. We had a lot of fun. Don't get me wrong, It was a bit labor intensive, but worth it for sure. Borrowing a apple peeler/corer was definitely a good move too, it cut our work in half and was also fun to do.







It is still cooling so I cant tell you if it was a success yet ;)

ETA- The pie was really good. It had more of a tart taste to it which I liked and went well with the ice cream I put on top. The crust was yummy but quite crumbly. I may try a different recipe next week just for fun and to compare.

Grandma Bell

In the last year or so I have lost both my paternal and maternal grandmother as well as my step-grandmother.

I feel lucky that I have the memories with them that I do. I think the hardest part for me is not knowing them more than I did. Especially Janice, my Grandma Bell. I knew her as a grandmother but I wish I knew more about her life growing up in the 30's and 40's. I guess those are questions I should have asked.

Janice Marie Zaragoza Bell

Janice Marie Zaragoza Bell Beloved Mother, Grandmother, and Great-Grandmother, Janice Marie Zaragoza Bell, age 80, passed away on Wed., Jan. 27, 2010 at Tacoma General Hospital from natural causes. Janice was born Aug. 19, 1929 in Pensacola FL, where she met her husband LeRoy Bell, Jr. While in the military they traveled the world raising 6 children until the settled in Tacoma in 1965. Janice is survived by sons LeRoy, Paul, John, and daughter Michelle; 9 grandchildren, Nicole, Danielle, Brandon, Trevor, Christopher, Mary, Monica, Elana and Miles; 9 great-grandchildren, Christina, Ruby, Simone, Rosa, Veda, Draken, August, Sam, and DeWayne. Janice was preceded in death by her 2 daughters Marie and Linnea. She is further survived by her sister Regina, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Janice was a wonderful mother who left behind a beautiful legacy. Her memory will always live on in the hearts of her loving family and friends. Services will be privately held.

Sunday

Goodbye weekend! It was a good one. Although I might have liked a bit more sleep. Oh well :)
This coming week will be busy, well what week isn't these days!
Both girls start new after school activities. Rosa has a dance class she is taking with an old classmate, and Veda will be starting karate.

My girls doing August's hair at their "salon" this weekend.

The Salon was so cute the girls put together. They would sit you in the chair, give you a magazine, and braid your hair. Veda would hold up a hand mirror the whole time so you could see your transformation. Auggie transformed in to a boy with pink barrettes and braids.. ha ha . He is such a good sport.

SWIM

Swimming lessons in this house is a bad word (Just ask my kids). I'm not sure why. Both me and my husband love to swim..we assumed our children would too. Despite having them in lessons since they were young.. they all have a slight fear of the water. Now after so many years, only Rosa will dunk her head and can swim a few feet. So technically she is still in the same starter class. Veda is now in that same class as well (3 times a charm right?). This might be a bad idea since they both can feed in to their fears. I'm determined though, to have them swimming by summer!

Look :)

Just a photo

Can you fix it?

Yes he can! August was carrying his tools around today asking me what needed fixing. He asked me to call him Bob (not the builder apparently JUST Bob)too. I would point out wobbly chair legs and what not for him to "fix" when we were done playing he said .."anything else ma'am" ha ha ha So cute.

It is a new year!

Of course there are new resolutions and what not. Does anyone really stick with them? I don't know, it is fun to start fresh though. I also love having goals, even if they may not all get seen through to the end. It is worth a try right?
One of my goals is to cook more at home. More fresh and from scratch dinners. That and branch out from the same 4 dinners we always eat. This is going to require more planning on my part, thinking of what is for dinner at 4pm is not going to fly anymore. I will try though.