Emergency...Emergency!!

OK, so this morning I am trying to get ready to take Riley and Joel to Monkey Business so they can meet their friends there to play for a while. I was just about to fix Riley's hair when Joel called Nellie off the bed (because she was trying to eat Riley's hair bows). So he goes down stairs and calls her (Nellie that is). And when he did, she decided to pretty much jump from the top step down!

(see picture below of the stairs)

When she hit the floor, I think she hit Terry's recliner and started yelping. I could tell she was hurt. She moved into a corner and stayed there for about 5 minutes.

When I finally got her to move, I noticed that she would not put her paw down on the floor at all. So I called Terry but he was in the middle of taking a test so he could not talk. So I called Tammy to see if she could help me get Nellie down to her kennel. We got her in her kennel and I left to take Joel and Riley to Monkey Business. By the time I got home, Terry was there and we got her in the back of the van and drove to the vet. Luckily we didn't have to wait too long. They called us in and after taking x-ray's they did not find anything wrong with it. It is not broken! Thank goodness:) They did give her some pain killers and hopefully that will hep her with the pain. And hopefully by next week it should be fine.

She is still on antibiotics from her surgery 2 weeks ago and now she is on MORE pain killers.

This is the paw she hurt.

Since we have been home from the vet, she has been in her bed asleep. It must really hurt!

S is for Summer and Swimming!

We have these great friends at church that let us use there pool every summer while they are at work during the day. So since it gets so HOT in SC we try to go at least once a week if not more! And this year Mari has been coming with me a lot so that makes Joel very happy because he gets to play with Sal. Most of the time the people that come have younger kids so he doesn't really have anybody to play with. Joel and Sal have really grown closer this year. It is fun to see their friendship grow. Riley and Samantha too, they play very well and love each other very much. I think they will be good friends too. As for Jesse and Donovan, that is another story. They put up with each other but I would not call them "best friends". It is funny, because all of them are about the same age(s). And those two there is just something that doesn't click. Trust me, Mari and I have tried. I guess both of them are used to playing with their older brother(s) so having somebody your own age around is not too much fun. I don't know... it would be funny if they end up being best friends. Josiah already talks about Samual. It is very funny. The Two Musketeers Jesse practising his stroke. Nina teaching Riley how to do a flip under water.

Walter keeping an eye on his mom.

Josiah found a water gun.

Summer Cleaning...

Let me tell you, our house was looking pretty rough last week. Especially the kids room. I guess this is what happens when you have 4 kids at home for 3 months. So last week Monday they wanted to have a pj day and I told them that would be fine but they had to clean their room. And I don't mean, move your stuff to the other side of the room (which is what Joel did at first). He was not too happy with me when he came and told me he was done and I told him to CLEAN his room. But he did a wonderful job when he understood what I was saying.

I have to say, Riley is a very good cleaner! She is going to be a good wife/mommy one day. I gave her a trash bag and told her whatever she wanted to get rid of to put it in there. And she did great. I wish I had taken pictures of the "AFTER" but she got her book shelf spick and span. It was great. She even made her bed.

Another "Tooth Dollar Bill" For Riley!

I guess when Riley does something, she does it BIG! Within two days of her losing her first tooth, her second one came out. And now the third one is pretty lose too. Terry has had to pull both of them and she was scared but once they came out she was fine. And of course the "tooth dollar" always helps:)

Summer Time Fun

We were invited by our friends John and Beth to go on their boat with them yesterday. The kids were so excited they have been talking about it for days now. So yesterday was the big day. We all had a lot of fun. We all got to go tubing- even Josiah and he loved it. Riley was not so sure about going in the lake. She kept saying there were snakes in it. I was surprised that Jesse went right in since he said he was not going swimming. But then once he was daddy and Joel go in he followed them right away. It took some convincing for Riley. After a few minutes of watching the other kids have fun in the lake she came up to me and said (very quietly) "ok, I'll try it". Once she got in, she did not want to get out. She was enjoying every minute of it.

Like I said, we also got to go tubing. Can I say, that was SO much fun. I had never done it before and I have to be honest I was a bit nervous but it was fun:) All the kids went and they had a blast! After everybody went tubing we went to a little beach to the kids could go swimming where their feet could touch the ground. I have to say, I can't believe how Riley is swimming. She has learned a lot from her swimming lessons this past week. She was going under water looking for rocks and shells. (I posted a picture of it). After that we went to a cove that John and Beth named "Turtle Cove". We anchored there and let the kids swim while John grilled the hot dogs and shrimp. Dinner was very good! After we all dried off and ate our dinner we went to this one place in the lake where the Purple Martins come ever night around 7:30pm or so and they just fly around until dark. It is amazing, there must have been thousands of them. It was amazing. And I guess this is a knows fact with people who have boats because there were a lot of people there too watching them. There was even a "Ice Cream Boat" that was selling ice cream. I thought that was pretty funny!
We really enjoyed ourselves on the lake. This morning Riley asked me if we can get a boat now too. Oh I wish, but I don't think that is going to happen any time soon! But we can dream, can't we???

BIG news...

Last night was a big night at our house. After Riley got her pj's on and brushed her teeth, she wanted to show me her lose tooth again. As I looked at it, I found it pretty much laying flat in her mouth but she still did not want us to pull it. So I told her to go ahead and show daddy. He of course told her the same thing I told her "Pull it, girl!" But she was too scared. So I went ahead and got a paper towel and Terry just pulled it out. After about 5 minutes of crying and saying it hurt, she calmed down and was very excited about the tooth. In stead of doing the tooth fairy at our house we just give them a "tooth doller bill". So she was very excited about it. Here are the pictures:

Summer Time Blues

"Mom, I am bored"! "What can I do"? "Can I play the WII"? "Can I play on the computer"? "Can I watch a movie"? How come they never ask "Mom, can I read a book"? It seems like I hear this 3, 4 times a day! Summers here in SC get so hot that I hate to send the kids outside so most of the time I say yes to all 3 of those "less active activities". But no worries. I have found the perfect solution for the next 14 days!!!

14 Frugal, Fun Summer Activities!

Again, I did not come up with this idea myself. I found it on http://www.frugaldad.com/

So here it goes. They have no reason(s) to be bored any more. Lets have some fun!!!

1. See dollar movies at the theater.
2. Sprinkler day
3. Story time at the library
4. Set up a lemonade stand
5. Teach your child to fly a kite
6. Make home made play doh.
7. Bake a cake
8. Build a "fort" in the living room
9. Go bowling
10. Declare a "Bored" game day
11. Have a water balloon Fight
12. Create a mini-me
13. Pajama Day
14. Spend a day volunteering your time

I think these are some great ideas. To be honest we have already done some of these things. Joel has really gotten interested in cooking with me. A couple of days ago he picked out a recipe from a cookbook he made when he was in 2ND grade. He picked out "Chicken Roll-ups". I have to say, he did great. OK, I did help him a little bit but the majority of it he did all by himself. He also LOVES making waffles lately. So one day last week we had waffles for dinner and he made them all while dad was frying the sausage and I had to run to the library. I like this! So the next time the kids are bored I am going to get this list out and let them pick something out. They will have lots of fun! And so will I!

4 am and blogging

OK, so it is 4:14 am and I am awake and blogging. I don't know why I am awake but I am and can't seem to fall back asleep. So I decided to work on a post that I have been wanting to do for a while now. I came across this website the other day with all kinds of fun summer ideas to do with your kids. The first one was http://www.makeandtakes.com/keeping-the-kids-busy-this-summer They had this wonderful idea of making a Summer Tub O' Fun. You know you need one. Your in the middle of summer and I am sure you have already been there. "Mom, I bored, I don't know what to do". So now when your kids say they are bored, just pull out the "Summer Tub O'Fun" and let them go!

Now you ask, what is in the Tub O'Fun? Easy....LOTS of things!

• Pipe cleaners


• Tissue paper


• Beads


• Thread


• Yarn


• Cotton Balls


• Popsicle sticks


• Straws


• Recycle items like: egg cartons, paper towel rolls, plastic containers,etc.


• Tape


• Kid scissors


• Glue sticks


• Plastic zip lock bags

You get the idea! Just let their imagination go wild!

4th of July Celebration

Saturday was the 4th of July and my friend Mari and her family invited all of us to come to their church picnic and fireworks. They also had a big water slip & slide for the kids. We had a lot of fun and so did the kids. We all had to bring something to "share" (food wise). So I decided to make some more cup cakes and made some "toppers" with my cricut. I think they came out so cute:) Josiah was still not feeling too great Saturday night but he had fun running around the big field and watching the big kids on the slip & slide. Joel and Riley had a lot of fun on the slip & slide. Jesse on the other hand wanted to go on it so bad but was just too scared so he pretty much watched everybody. I was actually very surpised that Riley did it. She was awsome! Then at 9pm it was time to get dryed off and go watch the fire works. My kids were looking forward to it. In the past we have done fire works at our house but Terry decided that he does not want to do that any more. So this was the perfect place to go. I have to say, it was AMAZING! It was so great although Jesse and Josiah were scared because it was SO LOUD! We were right on the front row so yes, it was LOUD! But a lot of fun.