3 2 1 CAST OFF!

We've been counting down the days to cast off for ten days. Sean woke up and said ZERO days until I get my cast off! I had looked at a few videos on YouTube of kids getting their pins removed and they seemed OK. I decided to give him some Lortab an hour before the appointment because I just can't imagine having pins pulled out of your bone doesn't hurt.

This video makes me sad. It's a lie that it doesn't hurt to have the pins removed because as Sean said "it hurt really really bad." It made me sad. I'm glad he had the Lortab. The only positive was it didn't hurt after they were done and he recovered pretty quickly. We went for ice cream afterwards. He can do protected range of motion. It will take a couple of weeks before he can really straighten it out.

Overall I haven't had any complaints about the care Sean has received from this ordeal. The ER, OR, doctors and nurses have all been great. At the cast off appointment he had to have an x-ray before they removed the pins. The kid who came to get him for the cray as Don pointed out after the fact looked like an idiot.  Sean and I were in x-ray and he took the first one no problem then the second one he tells Sean he has to turn his hand over facing up and lay it flat on the table. Sean starts to cry and I tell him not to do it. I say to the kid "you know he has pins in, I don't think he can do that." The kid grabs Sean's hand and says "I think it's OK." I said "you think, or you know." He just looked at me. I said "go get someone who knows!" He left and came back with a competent woman who had Sean put his arm on a cushion and held the hand sideways. It wasn't too bad because the kid backed down and let go of Sean's hand when I told him no so it was pretty low drama.

Vanessa, a little girl at Sean's school asked me "Sean's mom, what are you going to do about all the shirts you cut?" I thought it funny that she thought about that.

Not related to his cast but Sean and his cousin Tyson have been playing lots. They wanted propellers on top of their hats so they could be Mario. I made some propellers that spun when they jumped on the trampoline and they were so cute.

Happy Thanksgiving

We put up our tree on Thanksgiving. It's the best way of getting the adult children to hang up their ornaments. I always thought when the kids grew up and got married they would take their ornaments with them. Alas, they all have "designer trees" and their play dough chains, pine cones and first loss tooth ornaments have no place on their trees. Last years picture of Sean he is wearing oxygen and this year the broken arm. He really is a healthy kid.

This isn't a great picture of mom but it was cute. Sean wanted his little tree in his room and mom brought up a little tree she had downstairs that had tiny little ornaments.

The thing to observe in this picture is that the kitchen door is open. That is how nice the weather was.

Sean, Hailey and Larissa. (John Warehime's girls)

She is sleeping for two.



David came over for Thanksgiving. After finishing dinner at our house David and Alika went to their mom's for round two.



Hailey, Sean and Larissa. They kept busy and really enjoyed playing together.

Julie and John, their baby boy is due January 30.

Loreal had to work until three. She amused us with the funny 911 calls. A domestic violence call that involved. When she asked if he had a weapon the caller said "he has a spoon and now he has a fork." Ha, that required her to ask for a description. Was it plastic or metal, a spork perhaps?

Loreal and Alex. Loral and Alex went to Loreal's parents house for their round two.

Steph and AJ. Costa Rica was to far for a round two and they don't celebrate Thanksgiving so they stayed at our house and had a round two of desert.

Thanksgiving Feast

Today was Sean's Thanksgiving celebration at school and it got me thinking about what I am thankful for this year.

I am thankful for my family, my husband, children, parents, brothers sister, daughter in laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Don's family.
This year I am especially grateful that Sean's adoption was finalized!!!!! So thankful.
I am thankful for my business. This year has been our least successful year in business in many years. I am thankful we still have a business.
I am thankful for my college education including the Master's in Nursing that I didn't really want to earn but has come in handy.
I am thankful for the "odd jobs" I've had this year especially writing for the Tribune. It's given me the opportunity to learn things and talk to people I never would have otherwise met.
I am thankful for all my kids jobs.
I am thankful for our home and that we were able to get it paid off.
I am thankful to live in the United States.
I am thankful the elections are over.
I am thankful for our health.
I am thankful for health insurance, orthopedic surgeons and all the other doctors we've seen this year.
I am thankful for all the fun traveling we have been able to do this year. All the family we've seen and the people we've met.
I am thankful for my friends.

Sean pulled two names out of two boxes and his Indian name was "Happy Eagle". Much better than Vanessa who became "Sly Snake."  Each year they have a Thanksgiving feast at the school. Last year we missed it because Sean had pneumonia. There were a lot more parents volunteering this year than in the past which made it run much smoother.

Happy Eagle and the not so happy pilgrim Taya. It's tough when you only like Spaghetti O's.

The funniest part of the feast was the kids crossing the ocean in the Mayflower. The ocean consisted of blue fabric stretched between the two classrooms. The kids were pulled across the ocean in their ship. The part that made me laugh is that some of the Indians insisted on being pulled across the ocean in the Mayflower as well. I tried to explain to the Indians that they were supposed to be waiting in the new world for the white people to arrive and give them small pox and steal their land. They didn't care they still wanted to ride in the boat. Sean was much to mature to be pulled around in a plastic storage bin. Sad, last year he would have been all over that.

A happy little pilgrim.



 Sean's funny for the day:
Last night I asked Sean what he wanted for his night time snack. He thought a minute and then asked  "do we have any celery?" Seriously, celery! We did have celery and that is what he had, celery with peanut butter and a glass of milk.

My Biscuit is FIVE!

I cannot believe Sean is five. For that matter I can't believe Ryder is three and Kylie and Brie are six and seven.

We had a family dinner for Sean. He wanted Chinese food so that is what we had. Then we had cake number three. He had Star Wars cupcakes at school earlier in the day and the cookie cake with his sisters. I made a poster for him at school and they walked around a big sun five times talking about all the things he's done each year of his life. I didn't get to take any pictures because I had to work.

He got a "Mote" control car and some Lego's.

Alika helped him put his Lego fire truck together.

Alika has a really silly ap on her phone that lets you add cats to your pictures. Sean thought it was funny.

Cats shooting lasers out of their eyes.

We've been having discussions with Sean about sleeping alone. I always lay down with him until he goes to sleep and then go back to my bed. If Sean wakes up in the night he comes in our room and is mad because I left him alone. He asked why I like to sleep in my bed instead of his and I told him daddy misses me and gets scared if I'm not there. He didn't respond to that. Last night I was laying down with him and he asked "how old is daddy?" I said "53." He said "well, then he's old enough to sleep alone!"

He also wants to go to Illinois to see Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Dave this weekend because he wants to tell them he is five. Don said 'that's too far." Sean said "no it's not we will just get on an airplane!"

Fun with sisters

The girls spent the night. Kylie taught Sean how to get through a Mario level he was having trouble with.

Brie told Lanette "they are rich because they have lots of treats." Hm, is that the definition. I told the girls they have lots of treats at their house they just have more mouths to eat them very fast.

Looking very cute in her glasses.

Gotta love that toothless grin.

Sean wanted Jungle Jim's so Jungle Jim's it was. They rode that little roller coaster at least a dozen times.

I think this is Sean's third birthday party at Jungle Jim's. I like Jim's almost as much as I like Chucky Cheese. It was snowing really hard so it wasn't too crowded which made it easier to tolerate.

Kylie drew all these pictures, cut them out and taped them on the wall. Very cute.

I'm getting really bugged by Jenny and Ryan. They saw Sean on the 1st. Then Ryan texted and wanted to know if Sean could spend the night with him. Seriously, is he insane? I guess the answer to that is yes he is. I told him NO then just ignored him. Now they are both asking what the plans are for his birthday. How about the plans don't include you. Jenny says she is moving to Texas on Friday. I hope that is true. We may have to get a no contact order if they don't back off and leave us alone. Jen has bench warrants out for her arrest for parole violation and she has a trial scheduled the week after Thanksgiving so I think she really does plan to leave the state. Ryan on the other hand thinks he is all sorts of awesome with his little girlfriend who is supporting him

Snow!

Kylie and Brie came to spend the night and it snowed over a foot. Fun times.

Brie was really confused about Sean's broken arm. "Did it break off and they had to put it back on?" What a freaky thought for a little kid, an arm falling completely off. She was happy to learn Sean still had two arms attached to his body.

Kylie is missing both her top teeth. When we were putting the kids to bed Don asked if he should make a bed at the foot of our bed like he did the first night they came to our house. In two weeks it will be five years since these kids came into our lives. It is amazing how great the girls are. Their favorite saying is "holy moly!" I can't help but look at them and think where they would be if DCFS hadn't finally intervened.

Yep, eventually I had to break down and cut open the arm of one of his coats. I thought we could get away with sweatshirts until he gets his cast off but they don't really work for playing in the snow. Sean said "Oh good it's snowing we can go skiing." A kid after his dad's heart.

Don digging out the cars for the second day in a row.

Classic childhood picture. The snow was very dry and didn't make good snowmen. It wouldn't make a ball so our snowman is more like a triangle with a hat on it.

Hook him up:)

About three days after his cast Sean started to complain of itching. I found this gadget on the Internet called Cast Cooler. It had really great reviews. There were a bunch of videos of kids using them and they were all squealing and laughing. You wrap this thing around his cast, hook it up to the vacuum cleaner and it sucks air through the cast. It stops itching, cools the arm and apparently tickles really hard. Don of course had to modify. He got an extra long hose for the vacuum so it can sit out in the hall and Sean doesn't have to be bothered by the noise. I'm trying to get a video of Sean when I turn it on and he laughs but I haven't had success yet. Usually by the time it's turned on and I have my camera all the giggling is over. It also dries the cast out if it gets wet from bathing (or playing in the snow.)

Sean really doesn't complain about his arm. Last night he said my arm hurts and it itches. I asked him if he wanted pain medicine of the vacuum and he said "no, really it just bugs me." I would have to imagine it does it would bug the heck out of me.

Election Results

So I'm not really going to talk about election results other then to say I am glad they are over. I was so sick of hearing about it, reading about it, watching it. Last election I had post election let down. Kind of like when you are a kid and Christmas is over. This time I just wanted it to end. I did watch FOX news coverage last night just to see their disbelief. If I had to hear another Mia Love or Jim Matheson commercial I was going to scream.

Sean went for an ortho appointment yesterday. They took the spacers out of his cast. We go back in three weeks to have the pins removed.

Things that are hard to do with a full arm cast:

Open a Capri Sun straw and put it in the container

Dress and undress
Bathe

Things that are not hard to do:
Play games on a cell phone

Play Mario Brothers on WII

Sean didn't want to go to school after his appointment so I picked up Ethan and they played hookie. We sure miss having him as our neighbor.

My granddaughter hanging out inside of her mother on my couch. Steph said the baby was craving the "bug juice" drink I make for family dinners so I had to make a batch up. (She's sticking her stomach out because I told her to look pregnant.)

AJ studying for a test, or something like that.

Fall Day

It was a beautiful weekend. Empress and Sabrina spent the night Friday and Saturday. Sabrina left the YWCA Domestic Violence shelter and moved to an apartment. They paid the deposit and first month rent. She stayed there four months then decided she couldn't afford it. Last week she moved in with someone she met at the shelter. Now she's miserable because this woman and her boyfriend fight all the time. (Really, that's a surprise) She wanted to get away and asked if she could spend the night so I let her. It was nice for Sean to have Empress to play with. I know Sabrina wants me to let her come live with us but I don't want her to. I don't want to be that involved with her and I don't want to raise her daughter. And I don't want Jenny's sister in my house. Empress is a cute kid but it would make me crazy to have her in my house all the time. She has to top everything. "I can do a back flip on the trampoline." Sean said "cool come show me." Empress said "my mom won't let me." She says my house is bigger house, I have more money, more friends, I'm smarter..... Come on kiddo your four you don't need to compete. I imagine it comes from insecurities of moving so much but it gets old to listen to. I remember kids like that when I was growing up. I've known adults like that. She also is a very picky eater. What can I say, Sean is the perfect kid and no one else can compete. Well, I imagine my granddaughter will be perfect as well.

We went to Farmington Pond to feed the ducks. Sean kept posing and asking me to take his picture. The geese and ducks were coming up and taking food out of our hands. It freaked Sabrina and Empress out. Silly city girls. I guess that's what happens when you live in New York City for too long. When we crossed the stream to get back to the side of the pond we parked on Empress and Sabrina both totally freaked. Seriously it was a stream with water trickling down rocks. Sabrina kept saying they were rapids. They were really scared. I was laughing so hard I could barely help them across. I asked her what she was worried about. If they fell they'd fall in three inches of water and get wet.

Sean trying to break his other arm. Slow down son!! Empress looking amused. Sean is doing so amazing with this broken arm. I am in awe. I would be complaining and miserable but he just goes with the flow. He can play WI with his broken arm.

Warm day, lots of leaves.

Some more of Sean stopping to pose for pictures. I've got that kid trained.

Sean and Empress looking cute. She is going to be one gorgeous teenager.

Trying to climb a tree with one arm. Sean wanted to swing from the rope over the pond and climb up the rock bank with one arm but I wouldn't let him. He was put out.

We brought home some rocks from the stream by the pond and the kids painted them. Sean was very serious about making rainbows in the correct color order on his rocks. Empress just wanted hers to be pink, ALL PINK!