Friday, September 30, 2011

Fell Off a Sea Lion

It just isn't meant to be, I think. We are not meant to go to the aquarium. If you read this post,  you will understand. If, like me, you are too lazy to read it, I will sum it up--we tried to go to the aquarium at the beach, a few months ago, two hours away, it sucked, we came home.

My husband and Jayce left at 5:30 this morning to go hunting with my brother in Wyoming. They will be gone a week or so.  I decided that myself and my mother could handle taking the other 3 kids to the aquarium as our Groupon expires next week.

Away we go! 

We get there, no problem. No school buses, no rain, no crowds. We walk around outside, we visit the shark tunnel thing. All along the way, Jarrett is climbing on every. single. thing!  I tell him to stop and there is a designated place up the way that he can climb,climb, climb.

And, also, he can fall, fall, fall. Which he did. Hard. I see it, I can't stop it. But, down he goes. He falls off a sea lion statue. I think "Oh, he broke it, he broke his arm. " I rush over expecting to see a bone poking out but there wasn't!  He wasn't even crying. Much.
I think maybe it's just a bad sprain?  We put ice on it, we get out our lunch, which excites Jeven until he realizes he ate most of his own lunch on the ride there.  I notice there is a largish "lump" up Jarrett's forearm.  I start to question if it's a sprain or not. He won't move it, his fingers tingle.  Not good. I decide we should take him to Urgent Care. In a town where I have no idea where anything is, besides the ocean and the candy shop. I decide that we will ask at the front counter, on our way out, where the nearest Urgent Care is.

Josie cries as she didn't get to see everything OR spend the $2 she brought, in the gift shop.

We stop at the front counter, ask about the clinic and are told that we need to fill out an accident report and "Wait right there!".  We wait. And wait. And wait. Until finally, a man comes with a scrap piece of paper in his hand. He asks me for my name, address, phone number and what happened. I tell him. He writes "Fell off sea lion". That's it. My son's worst day EVER has been summed up in those 4 words.

We head out towards the parking lot to find our friends had arrived! Just a coincidence.  But, I explain that we are leaving to take Jarrett to hospital and Josie then cries because she can't stay. I get frustrated with Josie because she is quickly demanding all the attention that should be centered on Jarrett. 

Following the detailed directions of the aquarium staff, "You take , like, the 3rd or 4th right past the hotel with bricks. Yeah.", we find the Urgent Care clinic. Which is closed for lunch until 1:30. Seriously.
It is now 1:15. We decide to wait. When they do open, we find out there is ONE doctor on duty. One. We are told it will be a two hour wait.

I decide, in two hours, we could be home. Jarrett is not crying. He's babying his arm but otherwise, he's cool. Chillin'. 

I call my brother in law, who happens to be a sports therapist (perks!) and he explains that a break will hurt less than a sprain and it would be totally fine to just drive home, as there's no protrusion or anything.

So, approx  1 hour after arriving at the aquarium that we drove 2 hours to get to, we are headed back home.
Three quarters of the way home, I call our pediatrician and give them a heads up, to which I am told we will have to wait until the after hours clinic is open as there is no way we will make it back in time to see our regular doctor. Which, actually is a good thing as the after hours clinic has all the x-ray equipment. I take first available slot, which is at 8:30. At night. But, our regular doctor is the doctor that will be seeing him.

We come home, veg, eat.  Jarrett is still not crying or even complaining. I'm starting to wonder if he's even hurt.  I poke him. He yells at me. I decide he's really hurt.

Finally, we get to doctor's office, where Jarrett tells the doctor "Nope" every time the doctor says "Does it hurt here? Here?".  Seriously?

We go to x-ray. Doctor looks at it. Says "Yup. Broken"
Puts a temporary cast on it. 
I guess we will see an orthopedist next week. I say "guess" because I think I was more confused leaving the clinic than when I arrived. 
Seems the doctor and his staff were in a hurry to get rid of us, he didn't explain things very well to me ( in my opinion) and I was too tired/shocked to really think clearly.

I called my helpful brother in law, again, and now have a little better idea of what's going on and why. Swelling, proper setting, etc.

Anyways, day one of being a single parent while my husband hunts, not so good. Could have been worse. Could definitely have been better.

Those darn sea lions!! 

Monday, September 19, 2011

If You Give a Mom a Mop

Every day, I am amazed at how little I get done.  Seriously. It amazes me as it seems I am always trying to get stuff done.

There are times when I go to bed so stinkin' frustrated because not only did I not manage to cross everything off my "to-do" list, I can't even find the stinkin' list anymore.

I ask myself "Self?  Where did your day go? What did you do?  Sure, you have 4 kids, you homeschool, you try to have a life. But, seriously?  The floors are still dirty?" 

Today, I decided to seriously evaluate where my time goes.  And, if I am to be honest, a bigger portion than I thought goes to the internet. Blogging (cough, cough.Ok. Reading blogs), facebook, couponing websites, and a big chunk of the big portion of internet time goes to my kids' school program. 

But, in theory, I still have plenty of time to get my other chores done.
Did you catch that? In theory. 

For example, I did try to get all my floors mopped/ vacuumed today.  We only have a one bath, three bedroom home. Shouldn't be a problem, right.
First, I try to tackle the living room.  This is what happened: 
  • Picked up all toys, shoes, clothing, DVDs and other various random articles off of the floor. 
  • Got out the broom. 
  • Got called away to help Josie find page 1 in her text book. Yes. Page ONE. 
  • On way back to living room, notice cobwebs in hallway. 
  • Search closet for duster. 
  • Spill Easter baskets full of plastic eggs. 
  • Eggs scatter everywhere. 
  • Spend 5 minutes picking up eggs and questioning why I keep them in the first place. 
  • Get asked to help Jayce with his vocab test. 
  • On way back to living room, again, notice the time. I have approx. 30 minutes until Jeven will be home. 
  • Panic. 
  • Sweep living room floor. Take cushions off couch to vac the couch. 
  • Spend 5 minutes collecting hot wheels, markers, LPS and various other objects one might find in a toy box, not a couch. 
  • Vacuum couch and corners of living room floor. 
  • Get asked to help Josie with her math. 
  • Spend 20 minutes discussing why she must do all 10 problems and not skip them. 
  • Get Jeven off school bus. 
  • Immediately try to distract Jeven from jumping on the cushionless couch. 
  • Make lunch.
  • Clean up lunch. 
  • Find something entertaining for Jeven to do. Involves paint. 
  • Put cushions back on couch. 
  • Decide sweeping is almost the same as mopping. 
  • Clean up paint Jeven has dripped down the hallway. 
  • Notice Jeven has paint in his ears. 
  • Spend 7 minutes arguing with Jeven as to why he will be taking a shower and not a bath. 
  • Help Josie with her science chart. 
  • Help Jayce with his grammar assignment. 
  • Decide Jeven must take a nap. 
  • Finish up school with big kids. 
  • Jeven awake. (JOY)
  • Jarrett home. 
  • Grocery shopping. 
  • Dinner
  • Clean up after dinner. 
  • Receive phone call friend's dad died. 
  • Call friend. 
  • Cry. 
  • Put kids to bed. 
  • Veg in front of t.v. 
  • Realize the living room floor is the only floor in the house that got any attention. 
  • Realize that is not true. I wiped the hallway with a paper towel when Jeven dripped paint down it. 
  • Realize life is short. My floors will always be dirty. I will always have cobwebs.  I will forever be fixing some sort of meal for my family.  However, I will not always have a 5 yr. old to spread paint. I am doing my kids a huge favor by schooling them at home. It's just some days, some days seem pointless and never ending at the same time.  I guess it's all about perspective.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Don't Jinx It

I must whisper. Not speak too loud. I don't want the forces that be to hear me and ruin my good fortune.

So far (as of day 2) this school year is way better than last year.

Shhhhh!!! Don't jinx it.

With one little boy gone until 11:30 and the other until 3:00, we are getting the home school done by 1:30 and it's been awesome.
Josie has a lot of writing this year, which she gets tired of very quickly, but she's powering through.

Yes. I know. Day 2. But, let me have this dream, allright?  3 weeks from now, when I writing in yelling type, instead of whispering type, you can all rub it in my faces about how naive I was. But, until then, hush.

How bout some pictures?

Josie, 3rd grade 

Jayce, 7th grade    
Jeven, Kindergarten

Jeven and Jarrett, 1st grade

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The End of Something Great

The end of summer is upon us.  And, although this summer was almost non-existent, in the cooler weather and lack of fun pack days, I am sad to see it go.

I will miss the cool evenings where I got a little stress relief by blasting my heathens children with the garden hose.

I will miss the lazy mornings of sleeping in and feeding my kids a late breakfast/early lunch so as to minimize the amount of food preparation for the day.  Which is actually ironic as I am finding my 4 children are actually bottomless pits of food consumers. They are ALWAYS hungry. 

I am not ready for the non-stop rain that we always get here in the Northwest. Everyone enjoys ( I think) a rainy day of laying on the couch, watching some t.v. But, by day 34, I'm done. Hmmm...maybe I should get off the couch?

I do enjoy lighting candles and baking and scrapbooking and sewing, which are all things that seem better fit for the fall, don't ya think? I am looking forward to those things.

The end of having "little ones" at home is upon me as well. My youngest will be going to school tomorrow and riding the bus home 3 hours later. My second to youngest will be going to school and not coming home for 6 hours!  It's hard to imagine my "babies" being away from me, having a life that doesn't include me. They are beginning down a path that is no doubt going to lead them to growing up and becoming teenagers and eventually adults. I wish people would have warned me about this!

What are you looking forward to at this changing of the seasons?