New Sling

Matt had a very productive morning watering the garden, putting 2 fence posts in at the edge of the garden, switching another 2 of the fence posts, mowing the lawn, putting a new headlight in his car, cleaning out his car, going to the dump and the pharmacy, and making this sling for Noah.

Very impressive sling and I'm impressed with everything Matt got accomplished before we drove to Abbott for the Booths' open house and potluck dessert. The sling even has a pocket for Noah's favorite car.

Very cool!

Noah doesn't like his new sling because he has lost the use of his arm again. He keeps saying that his arm is stuck!

Update on Noah

Noah had his doctor's appointment this morning. The doctor (who I'm pretty sure treated Zach when he broke his leg) removed Noah's temporary cast and did not put a new cast on. He said a cast wouldn't help Noah's arm heal because of where the break is. He also said that where the location of the break is is very unusual.I wondered about the effectiveness of the cast since it didn't cover where the break is. So, the cast technician made a sling for Noah since there are no slings already made for 2 year olds. Plus, the doctor said that the slings that are made by the companies would cause Noah's shoulder to be pushed up and it needs to be down and relaxed to heal. Noah's arm is supposed to be at a 90 degree angle and close to his body.

Matt and I both agree that this sling is not doing what it should, so Matt is going to make one of his own. Noah can move his arm around way too much with this sling. The doctor also recommended that the sling be worn at bedtime, but we are concerned about Noah strangling himself with it in the middle of the night, so Matt took it off before putting Noah in bed. Noah will be seen again by the doctor in 3 weeks. I don't think we're on the right road to recovery yet. The doctor said it would take about 10 days of keeping Noah's arm still in the sling for the bones to start sticking together to heal. Noah's arm has not been still today. It's great that Noah is not in pain and feels like he can use his arm more, but it's not going to be great if in 3 weeks, he still has a broken bone.

More training

I've been avoiding the cleaning of my bathroom for awhile now. It couldn't be put off any longer, but I still had no desire to clean it. Then I had a brilliant thought. My kids can clean it! I have had a hard time letting my kids help out with chores because I want everything clean to my standards. The older I get and the more kids I have, that standard is getting lower and lower. To have the thought of letting my kids clean the bathroom is a major change. A change I am welcoming and glad I am having. I divided the bathroom into 5 areas, put the names of the kids in a bag to randomly draw, and then assigned each child an area according to the drawing. Everyone was hoping to get to clean the mirror, but only Emily got lucky and was assigned that job. Zach wasn't thrilled about cleaning the sink until I told him he could spray the Lysol on the sink. He loved that! Kate was assigned the toilet, so she sprayed and I wiped. Eleanor enjoyed spraying the tub and scrubbing it. Zoe didn't get the job she wanted, but she did a great job cleaning the floor. Noah was off the hook. I was afraid that the bathroom wouldn't meet my standard, but it did...thanks to my hovering and helping. :-) I still did a lot of the cleaning, but it felt good to work with the kids and to know that their bathroom cleaning training has begun.

Dishwashers

Zoe thinks we should get a Dishwasher. I tell her I already have 3. Zach is in training, so I will soon have 4. :-)


Noah had a rough day today. He woke up cranky, which I'm sure was due to him being sore. He didn't want to wear the stretchy band that goes around his neck to hold his arm in place. He didn't like being the only one banned from the sprinkler and a bath. It was sad to see him discouraged.

Champion

Noah is a tough little guy. He had a good day today. He is learning to eat and to throw a ball with his left hand. His cast has slowed him down a bit, but he still insists on doing everything himself. He couldn't go swimming with us, though. My parents watched him this afternoon while the rest of us went to the pool for an hour. When the lifeguards found out he broke his arm, they made him a card. So sweet! They also sent home a winner's medal for him to wear around his neck. He really has dealt with this injury like a champ so far.

A trip to the ER

Zoe brought Noah into the house before FHE. He was crying and crying and wouldn't stop. The kids had been outside playing and they had come in for FHE, but Noah hadn't come in yet. Zoe went back out to get him and he was laying on his belly by the slide, crying. How he got hurt was a mystery, but we did notice that he wouldn't move his arm and he didn't want anyone touching it. We started FHE, but we ended it right after the lesson because Noah was still crying. We decided we needed to take him to the ER to have his arm looked at. My mom came over to watch the kids. Thanks mom!

When Matt put Noah into the car, Noah perked up. Noah likes being in the car. On the ride to the ER, we wondered if we had made the right decision to go to the ER since now Noah was happy and he was starting to move his arm a little. We continued on, though.

While we were waiting to be seen in the ER, Matt tried to get Noah to give him high fives with both hands and to raise his hands above his head. Noah started to use his arm a little more.

The nurse and first doctor that saw Noah thought he had nursemaid's elbow, but since we weren't sure how Noah got hurt, they did an x-ray on him to make sure it wasn't broken before they started twisting his arm and trying to cure the nursemaid's elbow. Zoe had nursemaid's elbow when she was around Noah's age, so we have had experience with that. Matt tried to fix the nursemaid's elbow assuming that was the problem, but he didn't have any success.

The second doctor that saw Noah tried curing his nursemaid elbow after the x-ray came back fine. It didn't work. At this point we were wondering if we would get an answer to why Noah was still hurting and not using his arm. Noah had another set of x-rays done. This time they looked at his Humerus bone. The doctor came back with an answer. Noah has broken his arm bone right above his armpit. They put a temporary cast on him and sent us on our way. The plan is to follow up with another doctor at the end of the week.


Noah was saying "home" a lot by the end of the ER visit, so he was pleased when we finally headed out the door to go home. We arrived at the ER around 7pm and left just after 10:30pm. We were all ready to go home.

Welcome home, Zoe!

This is the conversation I had with Zach this morning right after he woke up.
Zach: "What day is it?"
Me: "It's Sunday!"
Zach: "I love Sunday! Let's go to church right now!"

That is not a typical Sunday morning response from Zach or from any of the kids. Zach was so excited to see Zoe! He sat by her in Sacrament meeting. Noah sat on the other side of Zoe through most of the meeting. It is nice to have all the siblings back together again. We missed you, Zoe!

Swans Island & The Bucksport Festival

I spent the day on Swan's Island today with some of our Relief Society Sisters, a few Young Women, and a few children. All of my children stayed home with Matt. Cheri lives on the Island, so we went to her home to learn how to quilt. We were a group of sisters who do not know how to quilt, and many of us went along more for the socializing than the actual quilting. None of us had been to Swan's Island before, so we were excited to see it. It is bigger than we expected. It was a day of learning, laughing, eating yummy food, and bonding. A great day!

Mom & I stopped to eat more yummy food at Friendly's before coming home. :-)

Matt & the kids spent the morning at the parade in town. Emily was in the parade with the youth soccer club.

Can you see Emily near the back waving?

What day is it?

Emily, Eleanor, Zach, & Kate finished the first session of swim lessons today. Kate passed her class, so she will be in the same class as Zach next session. Emily, Eleanor, & Zach will stay at the same class level they were in this session. Way to go, Kate!

We went back to the pool to swim in the afternoon.

Zoe went to the beach today and she went kayaking.

She only has one more day to hang out with JoDee, Eden, & Millie. I think she has had a great time, but I also think she is ready to come home. Every day Zach has asked what day it is to see how close we are to Sunday. He really misses Zoe. He started counting the days until she returns the day after she left.

A day with friends

After swim lessons this morning, the kids and I went over to Jenn's house to play and eat lunch. We all had a great time. Thanks Jenn! Hayden and Connor came over to our house when we left Jenn's. Zach loved having other boys around to play with. Everyone got along really well today.

Emily and Eleanor left in the late afternoon to go play soccer with Daisy and Anna and their parents. Anyone 7 and older can participate in the free soccer on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. We have never been before, so I'm anxious to hear how they liked it. Emily and Eleanor are staying over with Daisy and Anna tonight.

Zoe had lobster this evening. I am so jealous!

The Red Boots

Noah loves them! He slipped them on and was out the door before I had a chance to notice. Red boots and a swim suit go together, don't ya think? We enjoyed a hot, sunny afternoon at the pool today. :-)

Tent Community

We have the grocery store tent.

We have the library tent.

We have the housing tents.


Tents are fun as long as your younger siblings don't knock them down!

At 2:30pm, I was ready to leave the tent community and enjoy some other adventures. We ran some errands and then we went to a playground in Brewer. We stopped at McDonalds for hot fudge sundaes.

The playground we went to is near a pool, which sparked interest to go swimming, so we went back home to change and then we went to the evening swim at "our" pool.

Noah has become attached to this Lightning McQueen car. It has gone everywhere with him today.


Zoe called me when we were at the pool. I talked with her last night as well. She sounded less homesick tonight than last night. She is having fun and Millie likes having her around, so all is well there. :-)

Matt and I are currently hooked on the show, Top Shot. We've watched 2 episodes so far on hulu. It's fun to sit and watch a show together after the kids are in bed. :-)

Shopping with kids...

I don't recommend it!

I went to the grocery store today two different times and had two totally different experiences. The first trip was during the day with all of the kids. I miss Zoe, and I really missed not being able to leave the kids with her while I ran some errands! The kids were loud and had little desire to do what I told them to do as we went through the store. I had a set budget, so I was keeping track of how much everything was. It was a stressful shopping trip and I was glad when it was over!

I went to the grocery store this evening by myself. I didn't have a budget, so I grabbed what we needed and wanted. It was a quiet stroll through the store and it was nice! What a difference!

Busy in Primary

I taught Eleanor's Primary class today and then Matt & I were in charge of the nursery. It was an exhausting day!

Zoe left with JoDee & Eden after church to be their nanny for the week. The little girl, Millie is so cute! She is almost 2, so Zoe will be busy. :-) I hope Millie warms up to Zoe quickly.

The rest of us went over to my parents' house for a yummy pot roast dinner. We came home long enough to get settled in and to have Family Council before I left with my mom to go visit teach Marilyn. Marilyn is 79 years old and she is awesome! She is new to our list and we are excited to be able to visit her. Her daughter, Tasha who lives in Deer Isle was on our list, but now she is not. We now get to travel to Brooklin, which is about 45 minutes away, but the drive is always pleasant when it is just me & my mom. :-) It was nice to have such a beautiful, peaceful drive and visit after the busy day at church I had!

Home Alone

Zoe, Kate, & Noah spent most of the day with my parents. Matt took Emily, Eleanor, & Zach fishing with Jason, Kai, & Koa. That left me HOME ALONE! So what did I do? CLEAN! Matt told me to clean for an hour and then sit down and read, but I couldn't do that. I had hours and hours of uninterrupted cleaning time that I needed to take advantage of. Most of the house looks and feels clean now and it feels great!


Look what Matt & the kids brought home. Matt cooked it up for dinner. :-)

Zoe is spending one more night with my parents. They took her out to dinner and I'm sure she loved the alone time with them.

Emily spent most of the evening reading. She is reading Anne of Green Gables. One of my favorites! I was going to read it out loud to the older girls, but Emily decided she wanted to read it herself. She had a hard time getting into it and I'm not sure she is totally into it yet, but she is sticking with it.

Noah somersaulted out of his crib this evening. For tonight, he is sleeping on the floor with the rest of his siblings...right where he wants to be. I find this funny because Zoe would much rather be in a bed than on the floor. If only she could fit in the crib.

Work before play today

After swim lessons and lunch, the kids and I went out to weed the garden. Weeding in the hot, afternoon sun is not ideal, but it was the only time it was going to happen.

You want me to do what?



We have tomatoes growing. :-)


The kids were rewarded for their hard work with another Craig Pond adventure. They did a great job weeding and the garden looks so much better!


Zoe is enjoying my kind of Craig Pond adventure! I was busy keeping track of her siblings, though.


Matt & I went to a Bucksport vs. Brewer girls 12 and under softball game this evening. Several of "my" girls are on the team as well as other girls from our softball league. They lost their game, but it was fun to watch them play. This summer league travels around and plays in tournaments on the weekends. Last weekend and this weekend are the two weekends that they are close to home, so I wanted to make it to one of their games.

Zoe, Kate, & Noah are staying with my parents tonight. Kate is so excited that it is finally her turn to sleep over!

Craig Pond

A great place to catch frogs!








We went to swim lessons before our Craig Pond adventure. Zoe has been watching Noah at home for me while I'm at the pool with Emily, Eleanor, Zach, & Kate on Thursday and Friday mornings. That has been so nice! Zoe would rather be at home than sitting around at the pool, so she thinks it is nice, too.

After our Craig Pond adventure we spent a few hours with my parents at their house. My parents & I played a game of Phase 10. I was the big loser, but I still had fun. :-)

There was a bit of monkeying around while eating when we got home. Noah decided to paint himself with yogurt...

and Kate was using her banana as a phone.

Silly monkeys!

The rain went away!

Thank goodness for a nice afternoon after a rainy morning! It was a perfect afternoon for the park. I had little energy, so I sat on the bench as much as I could and let Emily take pictures of the fun. She took 70 pictures! Here are several of my favorites.









Here is Noah stumbling backwards after spinning on the tire swing.

Emily took a lot of pictures of Noah. When I encouraged her to take more pictures of the other kids she replied, "But they're boring!" Noah IS at the super cute 2 year old stage and I must admit that I've been taking more pictures of him lately, too.

Yay, the museum!

Without planning it, we arrived at the Children's Museum in time for face painting this afternoon. The kids were able to go throughout the rest of the day with beautiful artwork on their faces. Watch out for the dragon!



A younger artist did Emily's snake and then she went to the very talented artist for her flower.
Noah stopped long enough to get some dots.
Eleanor had a hard time deciding what she wanted, so she went last. She finally decided on a beautiful flower.
These boats are great for practicing colors with Noah. He's usually more interested in throwing them into the water than learning their colors, but I try.


Zoe & Emily had Activity Days this evening. They picked out fabric to make pajama bottoms. It was hard for them to choose what they wanted with so many options, but they finally picked what they wanted. Zoe's fabric is on the left and Emily's is on the right. They are looking forward to new pajama bottoms!


I overheard this conversation yesterday that Zoe & Eleanor had.
Eleanor: "I have a boyfriend."
Zoe: "You don't have a boyfriend."
Eleanor: "Yes I do!"
Zoe: "Oh, you mean you have a friend and he is a boy."
Eleanor: "No, I mean I love him and he loves me"
Yes, we have our work cut out for us with Eleanor!