And the winning color is...

Thursday, January 29

Kyla had her follow up at the fracture clinic today, nine days after the big fall. We got to talk to the pediatric orthopedic doc and he explained that her forearm had fractured at an angle and they would be molding the new cast to help it heal straight. Hope you enjoy the photos - something new for me. I've seen a hip replacement surgery, but not a cast - crazy.



First they cut off the old splint/bandage. Whew, fresh air!


Then they cleaned it with rubbing alcohol - pew stinky. The first layer is a cotton sleeve.


The second layer is a soft fluffy bandage. Even though I was a PT, I still don't know the names for this stuff - sorry. Then they did two layers of fiberglass (I think) bandage which they soak in warm water first. Kyla contemplated her color options for the last week. At first it was going to be blue, then a few days ago she switched to green, but when it came time to decide she couldn't resist the neon pink. I was voting for purple, but they didn't have it.


Then they wrapped it temporarily with a stretchy bandage to help everything hold together. It took hour hands to mold it while it was hardening. She's feeling the pressure - ouch!

A few finishing touches and . . . viola, she's ready for the world with her pink armor. We go back in two weeks for more x-rays and there's talk of the next cast stopping below the elbow. Boy would that be nice.

Sweet Love

January 26

Last Friday night I was getting Sydney ready for bed after a whole day on the couch of eating nothing except some applesauce and an English muffin. Standing up made her dizzy, so as I carried her to the bathroom she looked up at me with this dreamy, adoring look in her eyes and said, "Mom, you smell like vanilla. Mmmm, I wish you were ice-cream . . . but if you were I wouldn't eat you 'cause I love you too much."


Wow, how sweet! If you knew how much she loves vanilla flavor and ice-cream then you'd really know how high I rate. I don't even think I could resist someone made of ice-cream. It probably helped that she had no appetite. Even though she was sick her sense of smell was not impaired, I had just used some vanilla-mint chapstick.

Feelin' Funky on Friday

Friday, January 23

I tried to tell the girls at the beginning of the week, whatever you do don't get sick. The cousins that you haven't seen for at least seven months are coming and you get to have a sleepover at Gma & Gpa's house with them. Go ahead break your arm, but don't get sick! Did they listen? No. At 5am this morning Kyla woke up with some painful swelling in her hand, no problem - a little pain reliever, some ice and she went right back to sleep. However all the commotion woke up Sydney and she could not get back to sleep. Finally at 6am I started a movie for her, but a half hour later she's at my beside saying I think I'm going to throw up, immediately followed by her throwing up on my bed. Luckily it wasn't much and only on the edge, but still - yuck! She hasn't tried to eat or move off the couch all day, it's been 8 hours and we're waiting to see if the applesauce and saltines stay down. Speaking of yuck, have you ever seen these nifty little barf bags. I found these on the web this morning while surfing. They were designed right here in Portland. Here you can read all about Chuck the Yuck. I wouldn't have had time to grab one of these guys this morning, but it sure would have been nice for that bus ride in England last summer. It could have looked like I was packing home a souvenir instead of my already been digested lunch. Double yuck.

A Day to Remember

January 22, 2009

I think Kyla will always remember Inauguration Day 2009. Unfortunately not only for an important historical event, but because it was the day she broke her wrist. Don't worry she's doing fine, she even went right back to school the next day. Here's the scoop: She was riding her scooter on the playground after school and according to her, going really fast. Nobody saw her fall, but somehow she got off balance and down she went trying to catch herself with her right arm. I was chatting with the other moms on the playground when Sydney comes running up saying, "Mom, Kyla needs you!" Oh no. Well, she was already up and walking my way, but her wrist was hurting pretty bad. I was thinking it was just a sprain, but I ran most of the way home to get the car (I really need to exercise because I discovered I can only run really fast for about 4 blocks, then I had to jog - ugh - how embarrassing). Then I picked her up, got her some ice and Tylenol and decided that the best course of action was to drive strait to urgent care. We didn't have to wait long before they checked us in, checked her vitals, took x-rays and pronounced her wrist fractured. Wow, I was a little surprised, maybe because she was so brave. Yes, there were tears and complaining, but nothing really hysterical like I imagine would accompany a broken bone. Well it started feeling better as soon as they began the putting on the cast and soon we were heading home with her arm in a sling, deciding what to make for dinner.

Here she is skipping her shower & homework to watch a movie after dinner. Man, if her arm wasn't in the picture you would never guess she broke a bone just four hours ago. It's a good thing we just said no to going to the mall last Saturday (Kyla really needs some socks) so we could take the girls to the park in sunny, but chilly weather. At least Kyla got one quality session of scooter riding before her fall.





Here is Sydney threatening to run me over while I'm trying to take pictures. The girls really missed Columbia Park while we were gone, it's the best! Hey, how come nobody told me they filled in the wading pool and put in these funky water fountain thingies?

Mice and Dementors

Saturday, January 17

I can't believe another week has gone by. We are trying to get back into the old routine, but it's hard being on "vacation" for sooo long. I'm having troubles keeping track of all the things I'm supposed to be doing even though I'm keeping the extra activities to a minimum. Sydney started her big kids music class (without parents) which she was very hesitant about going to, but afterwards said she wanted to go everyday. We found Kyla's old piano books and discovered that she remembered how to play the piano. That's a relief and now she is trying to teach Sydney, with some success I might add.

I have been especially unmotivated to unpack the many boxes still in my garage. The house was so clean and empty when we got home, why start cluttering it with all that junk? First it was too rainy, then too cold, but really I want to blame it on the mice! Yes I have found evidence of their presence in my garage. While most boxes were sealed, some not so well. I wasn't going to say anything because it's just too disturbing. I was so happy to find the toaster - I brought it inside, cleaned it up and right before I was about to use it, I decided to check the crumb catcher. I found mouse droppings, there I said it. Gross! No toast that day. I spent several days debating with myself and others about weather it could be properly cleaned. I decided that no matter what I did, I could never feel right about eating something cooked in my 1 year old, wide 4-slice toaster. So sad. I don't even want to think about if mice just ran over the box or if they actually entered the toaster - ewwwwww! Now I have a new toaster, smaller and inexpensive, but so far it works great. And it's new and clean.

I also have to tell you about Kyla's homework assignment. Every week she is supposed to write a mini book report, basically just a few questions about something she read that week. Well she just finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban (#3). So one the of the questions this month is "What connections did you make to the story?" She tried to answer that she didn't make any, but we thought she could come up with something no matter how small. Well she thought of something - "I feel like a prisoner when I get sent to my room." Great, does that mean I'm a dementor? -those evil, scary things that make you cold, scared and depressed. I couldn't complain because she thought of something all on her own that related to the story - darn! Well, she was having a little breakdown and doing a lot of yelling at her sister. What started out as a normal timeout on the stairs eventually led to her getting sent to her room - mostly to give her space from Syd. I just hope her teacher doesn't think I'm an awful parent.

To end on a good note, we girls spent Friday afternoon enjoying a Harry Potter movie and eating toasted English muffins with lemon curd. Hmmmm.

Happy 2009

January 9, 2009

We're back, blog's over.

OK, just kidding. How could I stop posting pictures of my kids. Plus I have a ton of cruise pictures that still haven't been posted, but I'm getting closer. We made it safe and sound to the Carolinas where we visited Kevin's family for the holidays. Just as we were getting ready for bed our first night there, Kevin's watch alarm went off. Oh, that was the alarm that woke us up exactly 48 hours earlier to leave our Granada apartment to head home for the States. What a long trip. Before we were fully recovered from the jet lag, the girls and I started getting colds. I took full advantage of being on vacation for two more weeks and let my in-laws take care of us, playing with the girls and planning all the meals while I rested and recovered, which included reading four books in 10 days (Thanks again Gma Flo). The girls enjoyed some sunny days playing outside before coming to Oregon.

Here are some clouds I spotted from the plane after leaving North Carolina. I'm sure they have a scientific name, but I don't know it.

Thankfully we missed the almost 2 week snow storm here. What did they call it? The arctic blast? We made it home just in time to bring in the new year arriving to our house around 10pm. The house looked a little empty, luckily most of our furniture was moved in before we arrived though. (Thank you Gpa Bubba & Uncle Tom!) We unpacked our suitcases on a very rainy New Years Day and enjoyed dinner with my parents and brother.
The girls were so excited it snowed about two inches before they woke up the next morning and they could barely finish their breakfast.

I stayed inside and didn't get hit by this snow ball thrower.

The girls started school on Monday and both are very happy to be back home and reunited with their friends. Sydney says she's never leaving Oregon again. Kevin is preparing for classes to start next Monday and I'm in denial that we really do have a lot of moving back in to do. All our stuff is boxed up in the garage since we rented our house while we were gone. It would be so much easier if it was an actual move and I had just packed those boxes last week, but after 6 months and a very rushed packing job, I'm not sure where anything is. We're taking it slow, but some things you need right away.
Don't worry I finally found the can opener. Now, I'm looking for the toaster.

24 hours

Sunday, December 14

OK, we leave Granada in less than 24 hours and we are trying not to dread the two day trip to the States. First we catch a train to Madrid, then quick catch a taxi to the airport and fly to Paris, hoping that none of our bags are over the 20 kilo limit. Then we have to spend tomorrow night in Paris, but at least we'll have all morning to find an eclair. On the way to North Carolina we have a layover in Detroit, I forget how long, but at least I hear they have a really nice airport. Then Kevin's mom will pick us up at 11pm, so glad it will be time to sleep when we arrive. Three out of four suitcases are packed, but I don't think everything else is going to make it into the last one. I foresee some repacking in our futures and leaving more used, but maybe not so useful items to my friend Antonia. It's a good thing I'll be gone as she'll probably be cursing me while sorting through all the great things I've given her. I'm hoping it won't rain today so we can have one last farewell walk around the neighborhood and I won't get wet working on the recycling. Farewell to new friends and we'll see you soon old friends and family.