Gr8 Birthday for a Gr8 Kid

Happy 8th Birthday, Brody!  We love you so much!

 Eight and Ninety-Eight!

 Mimi and Star Wars!

 Gran and Carrie, just chillin'.

 Micah couldn't come to the party, so he joined us for a birthday lunch at Moe's.

 The Lees came, too.

Brody had a "Kick the Can" party the night before.

The cake was a random Minecraft cake, per Brody's request.

Thirty-Great

Yesterday I turned 38. I truly believe people are the best gifts. Especially now that I'm older. :)

My mom's gift of time, particular gifts, surcees from precious friends, homemade things from my kiddos, my man searching the whole world over for the best peacoat.

The best gifts are the thoughtful ones, especially when they are small.

So here's to year thirty-great, to our GREAT God and His great gift of people.

Sweet Memory

Thankful for homeschooling in this moment.

My Lunch Surprise

Skytop

We checked the weather, and they were calling for rain at 10 am.

We got there at 9:02 AM and were the only ones in the parking lot.

We quickly headed out to pick our apples.

Lots of climbing was required in the Fuji section.

Stephen was getting the really high ones.

Brody loved climbing the trees.

Tree after tree after tree.

Sydney enjoyed the trees just as much.

After picking our very last apple, it started to sprinkle.

We agreed to divide and conquer. 

I went in to pay for our apples while the kids played with Stephen in the rainy bamboo forest.

We enjoyed a dozen apple cider donuts under a shelter.  Sampling some cider, we walked around the store, then took our annual "How Tall" pictures.

A little rain didn't stop us Fowlers.  We just made new fun memories.

Including a new pizzeria in Greenville, since the Pizza Inn near Skytop was closed.

No Orbital Fractures Here

Well, we survived another visit to the MD360 emergency clinic.  Guess who suffered a nasty facial contusion/hematoma because he raced to get to the soccer ball first?

 

I heard his cry.  By the time he made it to the door, the side of his eye was protruding over 2-inches.  It looked awful.  And the knot had so quickly popped out.  My stomach dropped.  I'd never seen anything like it.

I turned off the stove under my half-prepared large pot of homemade spaghetti sauce, grabbed a bin of goldfish and directed everyone to the car. Stephen was on a business trip, but the girls were amazing - grabbing stuffed animals and books without being asked, bandaging up his elbow scrape in the car, and reassuring him on the way that he had nothing to fear (like the time he got staples in his head).

Can you tell it's not our first time at the rodeo?

At our first MD360 stop, they told us to go straight to the ER to get a CT scan for a possible orbital fracture before we were even taken back. It didn't seem right.  He was complaining about the small scrape on his elbow as much as he was his face.  So I drove to the next MD360 to get an X-ray.

That was seriously not fun, but I'm so very thankful nothing was fractured.  And thankful we were taken right back.  Thankful the nurses were so nice and made me feel calm.  Thankful the swelling has gone way down. Thankful to see this smile again.

Lord, thank you for your hand on this child.  Thank you for guiding us and directing us.  Thank you for my in-laws, and for their patience with me as I was a mess, trying to figure out how to help him. Thank you for your people, who have reached out and offered to help if we needed it.  Thank you for loving us.  May we always be grateful for the outcome of this day.

Mystery Reader

Clues:

She has white hair and brown eyes.

She was a school teacher for 30 years.

She loves to make good desserts.

She has horses on her farm and loves living in the country.

She's 97 years old.

And as far as I'm concerned she's the next grandmother a girl could ask for. What a joy to have her love my son and his 1st grade class this way today!