The Puddles

I thought that it was adorable enough when Ben told me about the squirrel chasing him out of the tree that I made it a quote of the day, but being the good mom that I am, I told him to brush it off and that his ankle would be fine.  It was a stellar mom move.  Sometimes I feel that we visit the doctor way too often.  As of Sunday, we already had four doctor’s appointments in the next two weeks.  Three were for Ben.  I honestly didn’t have time to schedule one more.

But his ankle kept hurting.  This was not just an attention seeking behavior on Ben’s part. He was hurting enough to come in our room half asleep in the earlier morning on more than one occasion and complain that his ankle hurt. A week after the event he was still complaining, so I wrapped it up in an ace bandage and called the school nurse to get him out of p.e. for that one day.  I thought, “Let’s give that ankle another day of healing without him running laps on it.” But the nurse told me that I needed to have it looked at by the doctor.  I called the nurse at the doctor’s office to see if they would just help me out and tell me to give Ben another week to healing before they needed to see him. But no . . . they also needed to see it. Seriously?

So off we trudged to the doctor’s office. Even the doctor wasn’t entirely sure what was wrong with his foot, so she sent us off for xrays. Of course, she comes back to tell us that there is an anomaly on one of his bones. Seriously. Ughh. No breaks. No fractures. Just an anomaly. That is truly the story of Ben’s life.

I assured the doctor that I’m sure that the anomaly was nothing.  So what is wrong if not the anomaly? A bone bruise. Wrap his ankle.  Keep off the foot when possible and no p.e. for a week.  If it still hurts in a week, call. I’m not worried about calling.  We will see the doctor on Monday for his 8 year old check up and on Friday for his A.D.D. followup (I seriously wish doctors would just let me do it all in one visit.).  I’m sure that we can address it then if it still hurts. If.  But it had better not still hurt.

The doctor called the next day to say that it was just a bone bruise.   Too much drama. I’m locking everyone up in a padded cell for a month.  I don’t have time for anymore visits to the doctor. I told the doctor’s staff that I wanted my own room with soothing music and candles (of course, this was after the nurse asked me . . . “You are always so calm when I see you. Why are you so stressed today?”  Oh. Could it be from the fact that I just spent all day Monday at the hospital with Ben for his nephrologist appointment and now I was in yet another doctor’s office today!  I am so tired of doctors’ offices!!!!  I can hardly keep everything that every doctor tells me that I am suppose to do for him.  I find myself walking out of the office repeating the important lines over and over again. Like on Monday, “Ben can’t take anti-inflammatories anymore. He must drink more water.”

I don’t mean to sound so heartless towards Ben’s poor ankle plight.  He did really hurt.  There wasn’t any swelling or discoloration so I just assumed it was ok. My ankle of hugely swollen and ugly colors and I still waited four days before I went in.  It is Thursday night and Ben has finally had two days of school without interruptions.  That is good. Hopefully, we will make it to the weekend without any more incidents.  The good news is that it is just a bone bruise and we won’t have any more visits to the doctor about the ankle.

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I heard on the news that there was a chance of rain yesterday.  So I promptly went and had the car washed (for the first time).  And then . . . it finally rained.

Now that I know it works, I’ll try that trick again.

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“What is the devil?” asks Ainsley.

Where is your Dad?  “Ummmm. The devil can be anyone or anything that tries to convince you to not follow God’s rules,” states Mom.  “Do you remember any of God’s Rules? Like ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

“And ‘Love your Enemies.”

“Yes. And Obey your mother and father.”

“Oh man, that’s a hard one to follow!” declares Ainsley with a snap of her fingers.

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I think from the smile on his face you can tell that he had a good day.  He picked out dinner.  So we had hamburgers, baked beans, and corn on the cob. Dad even grilled them.

Madie was so sweet.  She created this box for him and got everyone including some friends in the neighborhood to sign it and to put a gift inside (homemade cards, shared toys, etc.)  Ben loved it.  It was so thoughtful of her to think of a present like that.  She even gave Ben a dollar from her secret bank.  He opened cards from family including the card from Grandma and Grandpa Grace with the hot girl on it (a.k.a. Wonder Woman). It also had five other Super heroes on there, but he only noticed the “hot girl”.  Silly boy.  It was a good day.  The final present was an ipod touch.  He wanted one and we caved and got it for him.  I think he can be responsible enough to have it.

And the day ended with skyping with Marsha and Lonnie. He absolutely LOVED that.  He got so worked up that I swear his blood pressure shot through the roof. It was a good day.

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It has been an interesting year so far with Ben and second grade.  Ben’s birthday morning started with Ben’s teacher getting upset with Ben because he lost a packet that he was working on.  Of course, she informs me of this while I’m volunteering at school in front of Ben. And it is not subtly stated because she is really upset.  We will make Ben redo the packet at home. We will talk to Ben about keeping track of items. We will back the teacher 100%.  I just wish she realized that we are on her side.  Anyways . . . Ben’s birthday cupcakes went off without a hitch.  He loved the cupcakes.  He loved sharing with his friends.  It was a good day.

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I actually found a Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie ice cream cake.  I think it was made just for Chris.  All of his favorite things in one cake.

He switched his day off to his birthday so he could “get some work done around the house.” Whatever.  I told him that he was silly to even think about chores.  So he hung out while I worked.  I’m not sure of what he did, but I did hear a lot of laughter coming from the living room.  He decided to mow the yard after lunch and then come back inside and hang out some more.  He has decided that he wants a desk in my office for some personal space (I don’t think he has ever forgiven me for taking over the office for my JOB!).  But didn’t find exactly what he wanted.  He is still looking.  We had some wonderful visitors come over to wish him a happy birthday.  He enjoyed the visit.  So I think his day went well. He did have to end it by making an emergency visit to the hospital for a church member, but I don’t he minded too much.  Of course, Ben jumping out of a tree didn’t help the day.  But Daddy didn’t mind playing EMT either.  The kids loved spending time with Daddy and giving him lots of hugs to remind him that today was a great day.

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I

First try.

Second try.

Geez. Just get the kids to do it.

There are 38 of them.

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I love Ainsley in this outfit. I think she skips every time she wears this outfit.  I especially love the bows in her hair.  I know that this time will go so fast.  Soon enough she will be in college.

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So Gracie came last week for a visit.  She and I hung out together in my office.  She wasn’t very cooperative with me working.  So I tried to find stuff to do while I sat on the floor with her.  She does like to talk.  The Schwan’s man came and she helped me order lots of popsicles and ice cream.  I don’t think that there will be any left when she finally is old enough to eat them, but she still had a good time picking it out or at least eating the catalog.  She wasn’t into napping that day without me holding her, so I got caught up on some saved dvr shows.  It was fun.  Plus I got a great baby fix!!  And then I handed her back to mom!  It was great!!  

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