a little help from our friends

i somehow managed to leave on my auto-shutoff headlights after returning home from dropping the boys off at preschool. i had a meeting and when it wrapped up early i decided to run a few child-less errands. 

as soon as i opened the garage i knew my fate. my battery was too drained to start the van. since the van has a fob, i could not 'crank' the engine with a little gas. i couldn't even get it into neutral because of all the power controls. 

thankfully, i had an hour before i needed to pick up the boys. unfortunately, matt works almost 30 minutes away. so he started to drive while i prayed that a neighbor was home - with jumper cables. i know we have had some (i have used some more than once with other cars) but they must have gotten lost in one of the moves and forgotten as we have gotten more reliable transportation. the plan was that i would call him if i had any luck so he could turn around and head back to work. he was heading home so that we would have some way of picking up the boys.

i saw that one neighbor's garage was open and headed down the street. not only was lori home and had jumper cables, but she was willing to help me get the van out of the garage and give me a jump! not to say that it was easy (way too much on this van is "power"), but with kristen (another neighbor who was meeting up with lori to head to the gym) reading the manual, and lori and i in our respective vans, we got our van started! 

(i look deranged because i had ripped off my sweatshirt as my embarrassment was causing me to overheat and pulled my bun way off kilter.) 

i was even able to pick the boys up from preschool on time! i did leave the van running while i ran in to get them in fear of it not starting again. we were able to get home but i was not brave enough to attempt my errands for the day - including my free coffee for "coffee day." love.

the little distractor

manning clearly wanted me to stop working on the computer today. silly boy. love.

the cast is off

we were all pretty excited for mason to get his cast removed! well, except for madelyn who would be the only one missing out (she had to go to school). 

they removed the cast with four cuts and then used scissors to cut off the interior lining. mason was like a statue the whole time. i was surprised at how swollen his arm still was near his elbow. 

they gave us a washcloth to get his arm cleaned up, but he pulled away every time i touched his skin so i just let him have a go at it. 

then they took him for a few more x-rays and the other two boys for some snacks. matt and i were just left in the room with the empty cast.

the nifty saw/vacuum

the bone has healed perfectly. but what we didn't know is that his arm is still broken! he has to wait another three weeks before retuning to his activities. they take the cast off so early to keep him from losing mobility. he can't straighten his arm yet; i call it "barbie arm."

it was a little nerve wracking to drop him off at school with an unprotected arm. he still wasn't using it when he got off the bus in the afternoon. 

the doctor said that it could be a few weeks before he is back to normal and it might be painful for a little while. he isn't too sure about it yet, but we don't think that it will be long before he loses "barbie arm" posture. love.

peanutizeme.com

this is just a little silly fun. love.

maddux

manning

mommy

mason

madelyn

daddy

racing to soccer

daddy woke up very early to run the first leg of a marathon team relay, drive the 25 minutes home and get to the soccer fields just in time for their 9am game. very impressive! he was moving a little slow (mainly from how stiff he got having to drive right after running with no cool down), but the team was moving even slower! i don't think that the early game is their thing.

but at least they were happy to be there! love.

come walk with me

madelyn's school has a fundraiser where they basically just ask people for money and then have some fun outside. i am not too sure about it as a fundraiser, but it was a fun event. i have come in twice to help with the tie dying of the shirts for the whole school and the kids seemed to really love them.

apparently, the kids were instructed to walk/run around the school three times and then gather on the playground for some activities and a snack (chips and water). families were invited to come and walk with the students. since it was an opportunity to come see madelyn at school when the boys would be welcomed with me, we raced over after swimming lessons.

madelyn was thrilled to see us! and very happy to walk around the school with us - for the first lap.

and then, as she told another parent, she "left us in her dust." manning had started crying to leave pretty much the moment we arrived, so i was ready to go if madelyn didn't want to walk with us. but maddux was having an amazing time! he LOVED the limbo stick! (he burst into tears when it was already put away on our last lap around.)

and maddux discovered an incredible gift for hoola-hooping! he could do five at a time! and in either direction! who knew?

somehow i made a new friend - ben - after madelyn ditched us. he talked to me the entire time, he waited for us every time we stopped and enjoyed our company. i learned all about his swimming lessons and the skills he has gained (like "holding my breath for 30 minutes, 10 times"), was given demonstrations of his gymnastic abilities and told countless stories about his summer, his family and his class. really, he was totally sweet and needed someone to listen. at least he was willing to walk with us.

we said a quick good-bye to madelyn on our way to the parking lot with my two crying boys. i am still glad that we were able to go. love.

lunch buddies

today, i let maddux and manning make their own special lunch (fridays have become nutella and peanut butter sandwich days). they were all too happy to have the opportunity! (we were on our way to swimming lessons.) love.

coincidence

this just happened to fall into my newsfeed from the detroit zoo (i do not follow the detroit zoo). it just happens to be madelyn's favorite animal, named after one of her favorite foods and born on her birthday! she thought that this was just amazing! love.

brigade

mason is now old enough to be in the boys' program, brigade, at church on wednesday nights. he was so excited because tonight they let them check out the wood shop! they are going to work on an "airplane weathervane" this year, but it sounds like all of the boys only heard "airplane." i hope they aren't too disappointed. the church posted this picture and it just happened to be of mason's class (he is in the green shirt towards the top). love.

it starts with the letter "c"

maddux chose his favorite cereal to bring for show and tell today for the letter "c." love.

madelyn's picture day

my fingers are crossed that her school picture will look anything even close to this! i don't think i have ever really posted her actual school picture (but now i want to go back and look...) because it is always some sort of crazy smile that i can't believe any photographer would even consider to be in the realm of 'normal.'

she is so lovely that i am not sure how things go so awry every year... sigh. love.

chalk fest

we made it back this year! we loved the sidewalk chalk festival at the art museum two years ago and finally got to go again. to make it even more special, we met my cousin, melanie, and her roommate, carmen. i haven't seen melanie in person since she was around two - to the best of our memories - so this was pretty special.

we were originally going to meet yesterday, but it was a rainout. today ended up being perfect! things were pretty crowded and loud outside (there is live music) so we did a lap around to take in the sights and then went back inside to check out the museum and actually have some conversation.

melanie and me (a less flattering picture of me might not be possible)

madelyn is going to be joy for halloween

madelyn wanted to sit by this persian tent. the museum staff was kind enough to wait until we took our picture to point out that she couldn't sit there - as it said right where she sat down.

melanie had just as much fun as the kids in the hands-on kids area. and that is saying something because the kids love it! the boys were really taken with this touch screen wall where they could draw over the art works shown. manning stuck with melanie at the magnetic block table. he built square after square.

madelyn moved over to the balance set once it freed up.

it was a perfect way to spend the afternoon! i hope that we get to visit with melanie again soon. love.

fish fry

one of matt's co-workers hosts an annual "fish fry." they catch and prepare enough fish for 100+ people and then everyone brings a side or dessert. the kids had mixed opinions about the fish and hush puppies, but they could all agree on the cupcakes - yum!

it is such a nice thing to do and she did a wonderful job of making everyone feel welcome with introductions all around. we were also loaded down with extra fish and hush puppies to take home. or as manning called it, "chicken." love.

soccer ready

mr. personality. that is maddux. today he was cracking me up with tucking in his jersey because he felt it was longer than his shorts (although it wasn't). he couldn't tuck that thing in tight enough...

and he is always quick to pull a face showing his every emotion. we just love him! love.