Our First Broken Bone

Last Monday evening Jason fell while riding his bike and broke his leg. No bruises, scrapes, or bleeding – just a broken leg. Justin was outside with him, but didn’t see what had happened. He recently advanced to using a larger bike and we think he was riding down the hill in front of our house and turned too quickly to turn into the driveway. I was in the office when I heard him crying and went outside to make sure he was okay. He didn’t want to walk at all so I picked him up and carried him inside. As we were walking inside he said, “a show will make me better.” I set him on the couch and gave him his request and put on a show. But it didn’t make him better and he didn’t stop crying. At one point he was crying so hard I told him that I’d turn off the show if he didn’t stop. (Of course I feel terrible saying that now) Jason is typically a pretty tough kid. He doesn’t cry when he gets shots and if he does get hurt he gets over it pretty quickly. His leg looked fine, no swelling, nothing out of place, but he was clearly in pain and every time we even touched his right leg he would cry harder. We decided to be safe and have Justin take him to the closest Urgent Care 20 minutes away. After x-rays it was confirmed that Jason’s tibia bone was fractured and he would need a cast. Fortunately, the fracture was not his in growth plate and surgery wouldn’t be necessary. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the cast that night. They put a splint on his leg from his toes to his upper thigh and told us to call an orthopedic in the morning. Jason woke up several times during the night. He was so uncomfortable and completely helpless. We put the baby monitor in his room so we’d hear him if he woke up and needed anything. Needless to say he did a lot of this the next day.

Thankfully, we were able to get an appointment at Children’s in Bellevue Tuesday afternoon and they put on his huge cast – again, from his toes to his upper thigh.

Jason requested his cast be blue

AND green!

(He’s looking through the pictures on Justin’s phone to keep him distracted)

We were given a boot for Jason to use once he felt comfortable enough to put weight on his foot, but he preferred to be carried around. Jason is a big kid and his cast his heavy and awkward so we hoped he could figure out how to be more independent quickly. Thankfully, these last few days he’s gotten more comfortable and today he even managed to wobble upstairs to get a game he wanted to play. Justin made chocolate chip cookies this afternoon and Jason surprised us all by sneaking into the kitchen to snag himself a few chocolate chips.

He’s also in good spirits. He took it hard at first. At swim lessons last Monday we found out he had passed his level and so we enrolled him in the next session to start after spring break. He missed the last day of swim lessons on Wednesday and we obviously had to cancel taking more. He’ll hopefully get his cast off at the end of the month – after nearly 5 weeks. Jason is a very independent kid and plays really well on his own so to lose his mobility is tough (for both of us). I really limit the amount of TV, computer, and gaming my kids are exposed to so finding alternatives to “plugging him in” takes much more effort on my part. Grandma Fletcher visited on Wednesday afternoon and brought Jason a UNO Cars 2 game which we’ve all played countless times since. We’ve also read lots of books and assembled several puzzles.

Jason thought it was pretty special that his friends from preschool made him a card and sugar cookies in the shapes of dinosaurs and the letter x since he missed preschool on Thursday (that was theme and the letter of the week). He was also thrilled to receive some stickers and a card from his buddy Mitchell in Auburn.

This week is spring break and the girls will be home to help keep Jason entertained and comfortable. We’re hopeful that by Wednesday when two of his cousins arrive he’ll have figured out how to get around well enough to enjoy the short time we have with them.

Visitors and More!

Last week was busy! But 90% good, fun busy so I’ll take it. These next few weeks won’t let up so I figure I better do a little catching up while I have a free afternoon today.

We had company!! Can you believe it? We’re lucky if we get visitors even once a year so can you imagine how excited we are that we will have more visitors next week? My sister, Brenda spent two days with us last week before going to stay with a friend of hers in the area. (We’re hoping that having a friend nearby will entice her to visit Seattle more often.) Click {here} if you want to read about her last visit. I thought it was funny that I concluded that post with, we “hope it doesn’t take another six years to get them up here again.” It didn’t take six years, but it was close. Unfortunately, her kids had school so they weren’t able to join her, but we take what we can get.

Justin had a big presentation on Wednesday with his VP so he wasn’t able to help out with the kids during the day. (Turns out his meeting was even more important than we thought. Just days afterward T-Mobile announced they will be making job cuts in the next few months – thankfully, his meeting went really well and he made himself sound super important). Anyhow, Brenda said she was happy to just hang out in our normal, everyday world so that’s exactly what we did.

She read countless books…

Played many, many games…

and successfully put together a huge puzzle with the kids.

Carly was thrilled to have someone in the house who could do cool stuff with her hair.

Jason and Katie were obsessed with Aunt Brenda’s iPad and iPhone

(I promise Brenda is in there somewhere)

Brenda and I went into Seattle on Tuesday night to see Mamma Mia. The show was great for a girl’s night out and we discovered a yummy Chinese restaurant where I ate my entire meal with chopsticks – a first for me.

Our two days went by way to fast and we were sad to see her leave. As Brenda and I were backing out of the garage we saw Jason watching us from his bedroom window. Turns out the poor guy was crying he was so sad to see his awesome game-playing, book-reading, puzzle-making aunt leaving so soon.

Justin and I were able to squeeze in two dates last week. Thursday night we took our chances and headed to a Kelly Clarkson concert in hopes that we could score a great deal on some tickets. We found a gal that had won two tickets on the radio and was willing to sell them to us at half the cost!

Opening for Kelly was Matt Nathanson, if you’re like me and had no idea who that is, listen to this song and it should sound familiar:

Before the concert a friend was giving me a hard time about being a rocker because the only concerts I’ve been to in my entire adult life are {this} and {this}. I told her Kelly Clarkson is more pop than rock, but I’ve gotta take that back now. That girl has a powerful voice!

On Saturday night, Justin and I went out with some other couples in the ward to P.F. Changs followed by a movie (Hunger Games of course). The movie was great, though as usual, the books are better. It was a fun night out and we are both looking forward to seeing the second movie when it’s released next year.

We’re also {finally} seeing progress being made on making our home more homey. Maybe I’ll do a future post after we finish up some things around the house, but I can’t refrain from showing off our beautiful kitchen table that was delivered Friday.

I first saw this table in a picture a year ago, but it took me several months to realize that it was the best fit for what I had in mind (a round table that could easily fit more than 6 people, with a durable, forgiving top, and not formal looking). The company is based in Seattle but didn’t have any tables in stock in the size we needed – it’s SIX feet wide! So we waited SIX months for it to be made and shipped from Argentina. Keep in mind I had only seen it in pictures. Thankfully, it was worth the wait! I love it so much that I could be perfectly happy never getting chairs and just leaving it in the kitchen to look at.

A Love Story

I feel badly admitting this, but I have very little involvement in the girls’ homework. They know what they need to do and since I haven’t heard from their teachers otherwise, I trust that they get it done and do a good job. We don’t practice spelling words each week or help them solve math problems – up to this point homework is entirely their work. I’m grateful that they are responsible enough to get it done and that they are able to be successful independently.

Occasionally they will bring something home that requires parental involvement. Last month Carly’s teacher wanted to each of her students to find out what their parent’s “love story” was. I remember being in the family room, Carly sitting in the kitchen, while I quickly relayed how Justin and I became a couple. I gave it very little thought. A few days later, minutes before she needed to leave for school, Carly said she needed a picture of Justin and I dating. We quickly flipped through some old pictures found something suitable and she was on her way.

Last Tuesday evening Jason and I went to the school to get him registered to start Kindergarten next year (an entirely different post) and as we walked by the school office I caught sight of said picture along the main wall and my very own “love story” posted for the whole school, faculty, and parents to see.

It reads, “My mom and dad met after a church activity. They became good friends and had the same group of friends all summer long. Then when college started back up my mom and dad were in the same accounting class and they spent a lot of time studying together. After a few months my dad asked my mom out on a date and she said “Yes!” Shortly after, they started dating and 6 months later they got married in the Temple.”

Ah, isn’t that so romantic? Honestly, I don’t tell the story with any more sap than that either. In fact I’d usually add that when we were introduced I was so taken with his roommate that I don’t even remember meeting Justin that day. Then I usually point out that not only were we in the same accounting classes, but we were also assigned to the same study group, and in the same ward AND FHE group, simply put we couldn’t get away from each other even if we tried, so we got married.

Adventures with Dad

Holly has been trying to get me to post for quite some time (and I actually wrote this a while back) so this will cover a few months of adventures with dad.

Ray (Holly's brother) and his family came to visit us in June. The Saturday afternoon they were here, we went on a short hike in Issaquah at the base of Tiger Mountain. We figured the hike would be easy enough for all the cousins and a nice way to enjoy what the Northwest has to offer. The kids enjoyed running way up ahead and throwing rocks into the lake. For me, it is almost like finding treasure when you come across a tree as big as this one.
Abigail, Carly, and Jason really enjoy going to the park (and now Katie too). So when the weather is nice and Holly is out and about, we seem to end up driving around to find a playground. As a result, we explored a number of new playgrounds in Snoqualmie this summer. For some reason, the kids think I am the best lava monster so I get called into the games of tag.
Jason and I went on two camping trips in 2011. Shortly after we moved, DJ invited us to come camping with the 11 year old scouts in the Mill Pond Ward. We had a good time at Game Farm Wilderness Park, though our neighbors did not quite understand what a curfew was.

A few weeks later, Jason and I headed to Ensign Ranch for our ward father/son campout. I love that we live even closer to Ensign Ranch now. It is just far enough away and tucked into the woods that you feel like you are in the wilderness but you still get the comforts of car camping and fun activities. I was a total slacker and picked up McDonald's on the way. We enjoyed some football that evening and slept in the platform tents that were already set up. Jason was thrilled to ride the tubes the next morning after a canoe ride.


I remembered that Thomas the Train was in town so the kids and I jumped in the van and headed down to the train depot. We picked up a free pizza from Sahara Pizza. We snagged a picture but I was way too cheap to pay to ride. I think it was sold out anyways.
I love that our backyard feels so much bigger. We have more room to run around
The girls discovered the joy of biking the hills. Jason learned to ride a bike before we moved but had not mastered any type of slope so he would chase after us as we went up and down the slopes.

I took the kids (Abigail, Carly, and Jason) on a fun hike to Rattlesnake Ledge. It is about 4 miles roundtrip with great views from the top. The lake at the bottom sure looked refreshing after a warm hike so next time we will bring our swimsuits. Definitely will be a repeat for us.






Chris Hineman, a friend in the ward asked me and Carly to join them at a Washington Huskies game. We had a good time seeing the purple and gold roll to a victory.


Carly had a friend from the ward over for the afternoon. They were looking for something to do so we went hiking down towards where the new church is being built. You can see Mt. Si in the distance.

We’re Late, We’re Late!

Abigail and Carly woke Justin and me up on Tuesday morning by running into our room yelling, “We’re late! We’re late! We’re 2 hours late!” Anyone that knows me knows that I don’t like to be late. In fact I’m known for being quite punctual. So for me to hear I’m two hours late for anything immediately snapped me into consciousness. Turns out that overnight we received a few inches of snow and school was delayed a few hours.

Shortly afterward, while Justin was outside clearing off his car to head to work, the trash collector came up our little hill and got stuck in front of our house. Justin was able to head down the hill without any problems, but the truck driver had to put chains on his tires and even then he had to reverse all the way down our street and the street after that until he could find a place to turn around. It took him nearly an hour to get back on clear roads.

When school starts late that also means the bus is on limited routes and doesn’t come into our neighborhood. The alternate bus stop is close to a mile away and across the main city parkway. Not wanting to get myself stuck by driving the kids there I decided to bundle everyone up and make the trek by foot. I knew Katie would struggle to walk the whole way and a since a stroller wasn’t an option we brought along sled for her to ride in.

Since heading home is uphill, I turned Katie around in the sled so she wouldn’t be heading up feet first. She was so good to quietly lie there while I pulled her along.

Did you notice her bare little hands? She took off her gloves about half way home and wouldn’t let me put them back on. She may have been cold by the time we got back to our house, but I had worked up a good sweat.

Basketball Season

Saturday was Abigail and Carly’s final basketball games – wrapping up their two month long season. Abigail played basketball for the first time in Auburn when she was in second grade. We missed last year because we were in the process of moving so she hadn’t played since. I’ve gotta admit I love the Upwards program that is organized by a local church in Auburn. The major difference between that program and here is that even in fourth grade you can’t take the ball from the opposing team (something Abigail was allowed to do even in second grade). I can understand the idea of teaching kids the fundamentals of the game before allowing it to become more competitive and aggressive, but seriously – fourth grade! At some point these kids need to learn how to actually play basketball. It was hard for Abigail to take that aspect out of the game when that was how she learned how to play (and for us as spectators to watch). Hopefully next year they will be allowed to up her defense a bit.

Abigail is an aggressive player (in this league she is borderline too aggressive) – it seems to just be her nature. She doesn’t give the opposition even an inch to move.

She’s also great on offense, often scoring the majority of the points for her team.

Once again, we opted against purchasing team photos and since I was usually across town at Carly’s games while Justin was at Abigail’s – I missed an opportunity to get a team photo of our own. Abigail’s coaches were fantastic though – so well organized and they did great teaching the girls while still having fun.

This was Carly’s first year playing basketball and she too was one of the strongest on her team. She scored in every game and was a great dribbler and defender.

It’s hard to tell, but there is someone from the opposing team taking the shot

Her coach left much to be desired, but thankfully a Dad of one of the other girls was able to step in and help teach the girls how to play ball. It would have been a very sad season without his help and organization.

Both teams competed well in their games, the girls learned a lot and are excited to play again next year.

Carly Turns Eight!

Carly’s 8th birthday was this past Sunday. In our family, celebrating an even numbered birthday means you can choose to have a birthday party with friends. Doesn’t it seem like we just had Abigail’s birthday party? All three of my girls have even birthdays the same year and they are each about six weeks apart so the first few months of every even year will be birthday party mania. Carly invited a few friends over to celebrate on Friday afternoon.

Since Carly loves to do crafty, creative things we decided to have a few projects for the girls to work on. Thankfully, one of my good friends (and also the mother of one of Carly’s friends) was willing to stay and help me out during the party. Each of the girls made a necklace out of a washer (sorry, no picture, we were too busy trying to figure out how to pull the whole thing off successfully). The girls also made a few animal bookmarks.

After playing a game and opening gifts, the final activity was cake decorating. My kids LOVE decorating cakes, but I rarely give them the opportunity. What better excuse than at a birthday party? It seemed like an easy activity til I realized I only had one small cake pan, which meant I was baking little cakes all day long. One. By. One. The girls had lots of fun decorating their cakes and were very creative (and some a bit crazy).

On Sunday we invited the Fletcher family over for dinner and birthday festivities. We planned on having everything ready at 4:30 or 5pm, right after Justin’s sister got out of church. When we got home from our church at 2:30 we found out they have 9am church so it was a bit chaotic trying to pull everything together, but it worked out fine in the end and it gave the kids more time to play with their cousins.

Carly’s cousin Hannah turned 5 today so we celebrated both of their birthdays on Sunday.

I thought Carly’s cake turned out well considering it was one of the quickest birthday cakes I’ve every made.

I made Hannah a little pink flowerpot cake similar to Carly's. Hannah thought that was pretty neat that she had her own little cake, but she was puzzled how we would get the dirt off the cake to be able to eat it. (the “dirt” was crushed teddy grahams)

Carly’s cousins gave her a big ball to play with outside and a fun hula-hoop which both got plenty of use that evening. Grandma and Grandpa Fletcher gave her some fun crafty things and a fuzzy blanket just like Abigail’s.

That night Carly got to talk to Grandma Kesler in Hong Kong. It was fun to hear Carly tell my Mom about all of her birthday festivities. I’m so glad she felt special and had a great time. Happy Birthday Carly!