Lucy's Back!

Lucy spent 10 days with the dog trainer, learning good manners.  She came back on Saturday to show us her new skills.  Everyone is able to enjoy Lucy, now that she is working on her social skills.  Conversely, Lucy is able to enjoy the company of us, as well.  We have to practice with her a lot for the next several months, to make sure her new lessons stick.  We'll also have a couple of follow up visits by her trainer, to learn a few new commands and cement some of the old ones.  Welcome back, Lucy!

Frog! (and a chip)

New Casts

Happy Frrrrsaturday everyone!  Yep.  It's not Friday anymore.  But at least I'm posting.  I made an honest effort to get a good picture of these casts yesterday.  I was going for a video (which I still plan to accomplish), but it didn't work out.  We may have to put the out takes on here, though. :)

Anna's legs are healing well enough that she graduated to short casts with shoes.  She is allowed to do some weight bearing, but it is really hard for her, and her knees are sore from not being able to move them for so long.  She should be wearing these casts for at least another month.  We go check in with Dr. Frick again in early June.

So, the story behind the stripes...  Poor Grant, the kid-friendly, happy guy that helps Dr. Frick with casting, has been shunned by Anna.  She holds a grudge against him for wrapping her in fiberglass, wielding a very loud saw, and...well...being a boy.  Grant is always trying to cheer her up, so he offered to give her candy cane striped casts.  He said she would be the only person in North Carolina with casts like these.  I suspect you're not really supposed to do striped casts, because for every color, you have to open a new pack of material.  I'm sure that doesn't make whomever does the budget very happy.  Grant said he striped a cast before, but they were large and he just wound a flat layer over what was already on there.  To do Anna's, he had to cut off a piece and fold it in half.  That makes them a little 3-D as well, because the stripes are thick.  It reminds me of fondant on a cake.  Thank you Grant.  We love you!  Even if Anna refuses to speak to you, and she glares, and gives you "5" with her fist.  :)

New Stuff

I don't think last week had a Friday.  I'm pretty convinced it didn't...

We've been cleaning house recently. Out with the old, in with the new.  I am re-organizing all our home school supplies, toys, and clothes.  Besides cleaning, I've been lesson planning for next year as well.  We'll start our new school year in July, so it's right around the corner.  I have to make copies, buy books, etc.  Last weekend I went to a Charlotte Mason seminar, which was very informative.  I love the CM method of homeschooling, and I look forward to a fun year.  Here are some pictures of new purchases we've made recently.  The two furniture pieces came from The Salvation Army, and the golf cart is a refurbished one that we got as a trade in for our old cart.  If you can't tell, those are dress up clothes hanging in the closet, not real clothes.

Caterpillars

So, we took some beautiful Easter pictures last Sunday, which you can see here.

But the big word around our house lately is, "CATERPILLAR!!!!"  The trees have been raining Eastern Tent Caterpillars for the past several days.  These critters turn into rather unexciting-looking moths, but for the time being, they have provided hours of entertainment for the children.  Literally.  Hours.  They have caterpillar races, compare and contrast their different "pets," etc.  So, as a homeschool project, we have collected several of these little guys and set them up in a terrarium to observe until they form a cocoon and complete their transformation.   This is on Charlotte Mason's list of things that all 6 year old children should do, so I guess we're on track. :)

Lots of Milestones

Over the past week, we've had lots of milestones.  Ben played his first t-ball game last Saturday.  His team name is The Green Hornets.  Ben is playing with our church league- Idlewild Baptist.  Monday night, while eating ice cream (ok, it was actually just chocolate sorbet), his tooth fell out.  Yes.  In ice cream.  Brad said he must have bitten the gluten free cone.

Anna had a visit from the Stufflebeams on Sunday afternoon.  Tuesday, she went into the hospital for orthopedic surgery.  Dr. Frick removed two bones from each foot, then cut through her tibias, rotated the feet out straight, and put them back together with plates.  In two weeks we'll x-ray to see if she is healing properly.  We were at Levine's until Wednesday evening.  Anna insisted she was well enough to come home, so we let her.  Are you surprised that the casts are bright pink? 

Hello. Do you like my hat?

My title is best explained to those who are familiar with the book, Go Dog, Go.  Periodically, two dogs appear in the story and have a dialogue about a hat.  It is kind of random and arbitrary.  That is how my posting has been recently.

So.  Now I am resolving to post something or other every Friday.  I will try to make it different than what you might find on facebook, to make sure I don't bore you.  And I will include pictures, because that's what grandparents want to see anyway.

Last weekend, we spent time in Washington, NC, with my family.  Emily had an early birthday party, since we will not be seeing Granny and Pa-pa in April.

While there, Ben acquired some banana trees for planting- which we are using as part of our home school experience.  He is charge of their care, and we will be measuring and recording their growth.  Ben also has his first loose tooth.

Anna is having orthopedic surgery at 8am on March 30th.  They will be removing the cuboid and tailus bones from her feet, to help flatten them out.  They are also cutting through her tibia, rotating her feet out, and putting them back together with plates.  We will be in the hospital for several days, and she will be in casts for quite a while.

Caleb is just doing his own thing.  Running to catch up with his siblings, cutting more teeth, learning new words, etc.  He is very. very. busy.