Happy Birthday Daddy!

Dad took a vacation day for his birthday this year and I think we should make that a tradition from now on! It was so fun to have him here all day :)

Gift #1 -This awesome t-shirt!

You would have to love Disney to love this shirt ... and we do! We tried to get this when we were there last year but they were all out. You can order anything you see in the stores over the phone and they will ship it to you ;)

Gift #2 - New running shoes!

(Exclamation point is helpful to make running sound fun! Because running is fun!)

Gift #3 - The iPod touch!

(Exclamation point is not really necessary)

Baby boy is a helper ...

After our party at home, Chris and I left for a dinner date ... just the two of us. I had to confirm this audacious lie no less than 12 times.

Chris - "Are you sure it's going to be just you and me?"

Me - "Sure honey."

See? Just the two of us.

With just a few dear friends ;)

We enjoyed a good dinner with great fellowship. We say it all the time, but we really do need to get out more.

Happy Birthday Christopher! I hope we made your day special. We love you so much!!!

In the meantime ...

Since I am doing more sitting than usual, I decided to use some of this time to catch up on blogging!

I can hear you cheering all the way from San Antonio, Gigi ;)

He loves her.

Oh have mercy, does he love her.

Sometimes ... he wants to eat her.

Do you blame him?

She's smart to keep her eyes peeled.

He is a boy after all ;)

The joy of being loved ...

911 - What is your emergency?

***Warning ... This post contains pictures of my gnarly foot***

I injured my foot a few days ago. Most folks on Facebook are aware, but I have family and friends who only read updates here and since it helps to tell this story at least once for the sake of recollection ... here goes:

• 5 am Saturday morning I headed downstairs to get Benjamin a drink of water (he was coughing a little)
• approximately 5:01 I missed the second step and proceeded down my stairs without the help of my two feet

• After a dozen or so thuds coupled with yelps and maybe one very loud cry I landed at the bottom in a heap and hobbled over to the chair in the living room ... Chris was not far behind me.
• I was kind of moaning/crying when Chris came around the corner and declared that there was blood.
• BLOOD! BLEEDING! A WHOLE BUNCH OF BLEEDING! KIM IS BLEEDING!
• I looked down and he was right. Pooling around at my feet. My foot was throbbing like mad. Later we figured out that I had split it open on that corner piece on my way down:

• I said, "I think I am gonna pass out".
• Then I passed out.
• When I came around (maybe 45 seconds later) Chris was on the phone with 911. The towel that I had been holding around my foot had come unfastened. The bleeding had started again. My face felt hot and my vision was narrow ... again.
• While Chris is explaining what is going on to the 911 dispatcher, I am trying to keep eyeballs in my head and I start yelling.
• I start yelling, "HELP ME! HELP ME!" because even though Chris' intention is helpful (the calling for emergency assistance) it isn't actually "helping" me at the moment.
• At this point, the 911 dispatcher gets suspicious with the whole "she fell down the stairs and she is unconscious" story.
• She asks to talk to me.
• Why not? I have nothing else going on ;)
• She asks if we have been drinking?
• I think to myself, "Not yet but strong liquor sounds like good medicine right now."
• She asks if we have weapons in the house and then tells me she is sending help.
• I beg her ... please no sirens and tell them we have 5 children sleeping.
• That part wasn't entirely true because Clara woke up and so did Hannah.
• Minutes later we have TWO Chesterfield County police cars in our cul-de-sac and the ambulance.
• Let's give'em somethin' to talk about.
• The police come in and establish that there is actually no domestic violence issue here.
• They then decide that my kitchen is an opportune place to discuss March Madness.
• One of the officers comes over and looks at my foot and determines that it is too gruesome too look at.
• His actual words?
• "I can't look at that."
• The EMTs come in and wrap me up ... put me on the stretcher ... and precariously take me out into the ambulance.
• Thank goodness they could "look at that" ;)
• My emergency room experience at St. Francis was very fast, excruciatingly painful, and a bit lonely.
• Except for the part where all the nurses and other doctors came to see the gaping hole in my foot. Apparently they live for this sort of thing.

***Warning***

Here is the pic. After the doctor injected the anesthetic into my gaping hole at least 40 kazillion times the nurse asked if I had seen it and if I wanted a picture. She took this with my phone so it isn't the greatest. Chris described it as a gunshot wound.

Good thing he didn't use those terms when talking with 911. Wowee, what a reaction we would have gotten then ;)

• I tried to be brave for a minute during the whole needle probing process and then I remembered that I was by myself. So began the wailing and gnashing of teeth.
• According the doctor, the bottom of the foot and the palm of your hand are the two worse places to try and deaden with anesthetic.
• That my friends ... is the gospel truth.
• By the time Chris made it there I was all stitched up and ready to come home.
• Of course the hardest part about this whole ordeal is walking.
• Can't do that.

• I have fought off discouragement and even depression several times because with five children and homeschooling, I already often feel like I am in over my head.
• But in showing up for the fight, the Lord stands in my place each time and I am instead met with encouragement and peace. Seriously, this could be so much worse and what in the world do I really have to be discouraged about? (besides the fact that I trained and PAID for the 10K two years in a row and didn't run it?)
• My husband ... glory to God ... my husband has put on every possible hat and kept our ship afloat. The laundry does have me twitching but he promises that it's under control. Part of that could be because Benjamin has stayed in pajamas for four days ;)
• My girls are working in shifts to keep the routines going and babies happy while Dad is working. I know this has been especially hard on them.
• The bright side?
• Dad goes to Wal-Mart which always works in favor of the children:

The Obvious Lesson?

Be careful.

The Not-So-Obvious Lesson?

When you are given the opportunity to serve someone, you should always do it with joy because it's not service at all when the person you serve feels like a burden.

Thank you Chris for serving me with joy. If I come away learning nothing else, this one lesson is worth it all.

2nd Period ... Story Time

Benjamin's morning routine always includes the window seat ... and some form of nourishment.

On this day, the nourishment came in the form of a sweet little story about Rachel's Birthday - More Days Go By ... and some apples.

Story Time is a pretty good gig, don't you think?

I think the Story Teller enjoys it too ...

Full Disclosure

Just so you know ...

This is how I look when I leave my house.

And this is how I look when I don't.

Yep.

That's spit-up folks. Or as my embellishing husband would say ... "throw-up".

It was a long day. I was a little punchy at this point.

Daddy's Helper ...

February ... The Novel

Read any good books lately? Well, if you have a good 45 minutes AND you find my family and their antics somewhat interesting then pull up a chair ...

Here is February ... The Novel

Chapter 1: Monster Jam

Chris took Sam to the Monster Jam show in Richmond last month. I threatened all sorts of beatings and various methods of torture if my husband did not take pictures of my boy with the giant trucks.

Because 22 years from now, Bad News Travels Fast will probably not elicit the fond memories that seeing my boy does. Remember his first trip?

But alas. My husband said that Samuel did not want his picture taken.

Fancy that.

I was quick to point out that we would only have about 13 pictures of the boy if we actually asked him if he wanted his picture taken.

So my boy took a picture of my husband with the giant trucks ... which turned out to be pretty endearing after all.

Then when they came home I took this picture that they will be forever grateful that I had the foresight to take.

Because men are always grateful for things like that.

Chapter 2: It Snowed ... Again

I have a whole separate post in mind for this but it deserved mentioning.

Chapter 3: The Great Wolf Lodge

We went to Williamsburg with La La and her crew and had a great time at the Great Wolf Lodge! I love that place!

Everything except the really strong, overwhelming, stinging/burning nature of the chlorine in the air.

Well that and the VERY immodest individual in the dressing room. Call me a prude, but I would be perfectly fine if I lived my entire life and never saw another stranger, completely nude, ever again.

Ever.

Again.

I'm weird like that.

But really ... we did have a great time :)

Here's the traditional picture of little hot sweaty babe sleeping in the stroller. I have this same pic of Benjamin from our trip in 2008.

More babes in the stroller. Have I told ya'll how much I LOVE this stroller? Oh, I will. I most definitely will. I am reserving that for my "Favorites" post.

I'm gonna get on that right after my "Baby Shower" post, "Snow" post, and "Homeschooling Revisited" post.

See? I have a ton of posts! (just none that you can actually read because they only exist in my mind)



Benjamin giving the water fountains the "what-for" (that's Texas-talk for a "beating")



There was one other not-so-great part about the Great Wolf Lodge. It was the part where Benjamin fell backwards on his SKULL twice in the span of about 30 minutes.

It was not great at all and left me feeling very anxious and out about $12.99 (the cost of some water shoes).



Did ya'll know about my boy's curls?

Um ... We think they are pretty frecious ... frecious being a made-up word that means insanely cute.


My big girl and baby girl. The big girl is still crazy-talking about how she just turned 15.

I climbed up on a chair and looked down at her and told her to quit lying and put on a hair bow, a smocked dress, and some Mary Janes ... OR ELSE!



Our little crew ... we've been growing up with these kiddos since 1999. Time is passing way too fast.

And Alvah is way too tall.



If you ever wonder about taking a baby to the GWL, let me tell you. With the killer white noise and the humidity level it is the perfect storm for continual napping. I have gone with two babies and they have both done wonderfully well :)



Chapter 4: Art Class

We started Art class again. It is fun for all (moms too!) and going really well! I will post some of the projects later ... right after the other 2 or 27 posts that I have in mind ;)





Clara Hope ... who Daddy calls Clara Bell ;)
She makes our hearts smile. All the live-long day.





Benjamin Lynn ... everyone needs a daily dose of a kid like this:

Samuel Christopher ... has a pen pal in Texas and all of a sudden looks 5-years older.




Woody.

Chapter 5: A Visit from Uncle Curt & Aunt Cinda

Curt and Cinda drove down from Pennsylvania last week and we had a great time together. Sweet Addison was a quick learner and caught on fast to the crazy fun & folly around here.

But you can tell by the look on her face, she is keeping her eye on this motley crew.

Especially the over-sized two-year-old ...