Surprise Casting

Last night at the pool Abby had her Drycast bag covering her arm again. It has been great at keeping the water out. That is until last night.

About 3-4 tablespoons of pool water was floating in the tip of her bag and we realized the seal around her arm wasn't as tight as it once was. Last night I called the answering service for the orthopedist but decided it was not urgent and could wait until morning.

This morning I left a message and when I they called me back they asked us to be in the office within 15 minutes. So we rushed over, they cut off her hot-pink-full-arm cast, took several x-ray pictures and Dr. Posta decided to go ahead and give her a new short arm cast. She chose purple this time since Alexis already had purple.

It's amazing to me how puny her left bicep is compared to her right bicep after only 15 days! So now we have the short arm cast for 3 weeks, at least. September 1st we'll find out what comes next.

In the meantime I'm hoping she can figure out how to buckle and dress on her own again. Washing her hair will still be a challenge! :) Abby, Stephen, Sydney, Brody and I are all grateful for any added mobility she gains. This has made me even more grateful for the helper Abby is to our family. I am so proud to be her Mama!

Broken Arm

We had our first broken bone experience today. Abby fell at the playground. She really did a good job fracturing her arm! Thankfully she is 7 and will only be in a full arm cast for a week. (An adult would have needed surgery for this type of fracture.) And she was such a trooper. She barely cried and had to endure hours of sitting in doctor's offices with no lunch.

She reminded me you could purchase a cast from the American Girl catalog. She wondered if we "should" get one for Alexis so they could match. Since they are $26 we tried to come up with an alternative. She asked the orthopedist if he could make a little cast for her doll. :) We settled for some colored athletic wrap at Target. But the doctor did throw in some cotton wrap to make it official.

Purim Party

We studied the story of Esther for school and had a Purim party with the Fuller girls. We read the story to them then told the girls' to use their noisemakers every time we read the name, "Haman". The girls made Hamentashen cookies that are supposed to look like Haman's 3-cornered hat, or some say, his ears.

Christmas 2009

I got a new camera for Christmas (thank you, Stephen) so I'll let the photos tell the story of our day.

abby. ready to open gifts.

brody. his first train present of the day.

stephen. intently opening.

brody. actually opening.

abby. excited about her summer dress.

abby. posing by her stocking.

sydney. getting in on the action.

stephen. posing, too.

sydney and abby hugging after opening the stocking gifts they gave each other.

sydney's stocking gift from abby.

abby's new snowhat from nana.

stephen. posing at lunch.

brody. rolling around on the floor.

stephen and dody catching up.

sydney. with her chocolate covered pretzel.

pop. just a pic of pop.

brody. smiling first then wondering what in the world i was holding.

pop and sydney. singing. playing.

stephen. out. katherine. messing.

sydney. opening more.

brody. hammering.

brody. crying.

brody. still crying.

brody. still crying but getting Leslie's "tar" back and not realizing it.

brody. settled in with Leslie's guitar.

brody. happy as a clam with the guitar. leslie gave it to him.

(sorry I didn't take the time to rotate)

sydney and brody. trying to coax the cat out. unsuccessfully.

Enrich Showcase

Last night was a Showcase for the home school co-op, Enrich. The first graders were supposed to perform but cancelled at the last minute. Greta Fuller and I talked our daughters, Abby and Ella, into singing a duet. They practiced after Enrich and pulled off a wonderful rendition of Jingle Bells. Stephen emceed the event. It was a lot of fun.