Our visit to Grandma and Grandpa's

Here are some more pics from a park on the bay in Corpus. Scott was having fun trying out our new camera.

 

 

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Christmas Eve

We celebrated our family's Christmas on Christmas Eve. We opened presents in the morning. Payton received an American Girl Doll and was thrilled.

Daddy got the Sunspel shirt he wanted and was very excited.

I was excited that the shirt fit so well (those shirts aren't cheap!) Ian really liked his Skylanders, Lego sets, and his new Halo figure.

And I was overwhelmed by my present! - a weekend trip to Vegas to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill with two of my best friends! It was sweet the way Scott presented me with it. He got the kids to make three tickets that looked like this:

Each ticket had the owner's picture on it.

It took me a little while to realize what it was because Scott and I are going to Vegas for a conference in March and I thought it was tickets for us to go see the show when we we going to be there. But the the dates didn't make sense and then I saw the pictures of my friends on them. Anyway, I pieced it all together and I'm really looking forward to the trip.

I made Nasi for lunch and them we hung out the rest of the afternoon until church.

Us all dressed for church. The kids are thrilled!

Michele, Jesse and his kids arrived mid-afternoon. The kids all played and had a great time. We went to the 5 o' clock service because Payton and Ian were singing with the choir. Instead of a candlelight service, the kids all held glow sticks while we sang Silent Night.
Then about 7:30pm Kate and Leo arrived (they had to work). The children set out cookies, milk, and carrots for Santa and his reindeer and went to bed. It took them a little while to settle down, but after I told them, Santa called and said that he couldn't come until they were asleep (and he would hate to have to skip over our house) they went right to sleep :)

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Band of Pirates

Payton and Ian were pirates for Halloween this year. Several of their friends happened to be pirates, too.

Thus, our band of pirates:

Our little band of pirates, joined up with a princess. As they were trick or treating, one of the neighboring pirates said, 'We'll trade the princess for some candy!'

Candy! Candy! Candy!

A local orthodontist is collecting candy to give to the troops overseas. I let the kids pick out about 20 pieces each, and we sent the rest to the troops.

It's Pumpkin Time!

Last night we carved our pumpkins for Halloween.

Every year, it's the same thing. The kids end up watching us do all the work. They have plenty of things to say about what Daddy and I are doing.....

'Mommy, I think you just took out a tooth!'

'Daddy, what's that triangle?'

But, they don't get their hands dirty. I will give Ian credit....he stuck his hand inside the pumpkin ONCE, to try to clean it out. Payton simply refused. So if the kids don't help clean out the pumpkins, what is there for them to do?

Watch Mommy and Daddy wield knives and electric rotary tools.....while said parents try to carve up what the kids envision.

Payton wanted me to carve a skull and crossbones in her pumpkin. I think it sort of looks like a skull.....but I didn't have room for any crossbones.

I think Ian wanted Daddy to carve a pirate.... Any guesses on what the (barely visible) triangle is suppose to be?

A goatee! Of course the pirate pumpkin has facial hair! :)

My Knee....week 5 post-op

I can't believe how well my knee is doing!

Here's a quick run down:

Scott was off the week of my surgery, and God bless him, he took care of me and the kids. It was very frustrating being on crutches. The problem is, you can't carry ANYTHING! Even if it's light. It's too awkward, when you have to concentrate on not falling and using the crutches properly!

Aside: LOVE MY ICE MACHINE!

But, by day 4, I was only using one crutch and went crutchless around the kitchen. By day 5, I got rid of them, deciding they were more of a liability than an asset.

My parents came up for the second week after my surgery. I still couldn't drive. My knee got tired easily, and let's face it, so did the rest of me! I'm no spring chicken ;) so it was so nice to have my parents there to help take care of the house and kids. Mom walked the kids to school everyday. Dad drove us around to all the places we needed to go. It was great!

My sutures came out post-op day 10, and I drove home from the doctor's office :) I was thrilled.

My leg was feeling pretty good. The bruising in my calf was the worst part. Well, that and the brace. I loathed that brace.

When I started PT, I was able to take it off :) - 2 weeks post-op.

My poor leg shrunk! I knew it would happen, but the atrophy of my quad was just so sad. I've lost 3 lbs and I swear it's all from my quad.

Oh, well. It'll come back.....eventually.

Post-op day 14, we went to the arboretum because my parents had never been, and I really wanted to take them. Surprisingly, I walked all over that place and wasn't in pain. I could feel the swelling getting worse, but after we sat and had a nice lunch, it felt good enough to finish the whole tour of the place.

During weeks 3 and 4, I've built up my strength and balance. I can get in and out of the car normally.

Now, I'm 5 weeks post-op, and my range of motion is almost back to normal. I'm up to 145 degrees! :) I can run my errands and go all day without my knee feeling tired.

I still have lots of strength to gain back and going down stairs doesn't feel the best. But it'll come :)

Getting Into Halloween

This last week, I realized that I hadn't done any baking for Halloween!

I have 3 different type of Halloween cupcake pans and about 20 Halloween cookie cutters. And I was running out of time to use them, considering you only should probably use them once a year.

 Ian mainly decorated the pumpkins, Payton the ghosts. Ian took two to his teacher. Payton said her teacher doesn't eat sweets :(

 The kids don't enjoy spreading icing very much. I think they get frustrated with it. So Mommy, ends up helping with the icing a lot....

Ian was very hung-ho about both the cupcakes and the cookies this year. Payton less so, but eventually decided to join in the decorating.

My knee

 

My knee....

Picture of my torn ACL

On September 5, Scott and I were playing a little one on one basketball game at the gym. I went up for a rebound and was going to put it right back up, but my knee didn't like the way came down and twisted. I ended up on the floor writhing in pain for a minute or two:( After the initial pain subsided, I could walk, but knew I had seriously done something to my right knee. We showered and came home so I could ice it. When I stepped out of the car and my knee slid out and back in, I was pretty certain I had torn my ACL....again. You see, 15 years ago, I was skiing (with Scott) caught my ski in a mogul and severed my left ACL. So, the injury occurred on a Wednesday. Friday, I saw the orthopedic doctor. Saturday, I had an MRI. On Monday, I had my follow appointment which confirmed what I had thought - complete ACL tear with a meniscus tear as well! My doctor said I had to gain my range of. Motion back and the swelling had to go down before he could operate. And he suggested that I have an allograft because for the 30 and 40 year old crowd ;) recovery is easier with an allograft.

 

So I went to pre-hab - physical therapy before surgery - so my knee would be ready for the new ligament.i only went once to get a regiment of exercises and then practiced them over the next two weeks.

 

Day of surgery was Tuesday, Sept. 25. The surgeon was pleased with how it went. I took quite a while to recover from the general anesthesia....it always makes me nauseous. And I don't remember much else from that day because I couldn't keep my eyes open! I slept we'll even though I was in a Continuous Passive Motion Machine all night.

 

I am now sitting in my CPM machine, icing my knee. Scott has been a trooper taking care of me and the kids :) And Payton and Ian have been trying to fetch things for me. I am very appreciative of all my friends who have offered much help and have been very supportive.

Hopefully I will be rid of my crutches in a couple of weeks and on the long road to recovery.....it'll be 9 months before I'm cleared to run or jump again.

 

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Plano Balloon Festival 2012

We went to the Plano Balloon Festival on tonight. This was Scott's first time, but the kids and I have seen a morning launch before. It was pretty warm when we went, but we wanted to get there early, set up our spots, and eat supper. The parachute team was great....I was impressed that they all landed in the same spot (at different times).

Then the balloons started inflating....

And launching....

The kids weren't crazy about taking pictures, but we made them take them anyway :)

We had a little break between the launch and the balloon glow, so we got some icees to help cool off. in the middle of consuming our dessert, Ian calls my attention to his ice that he's been chomping into. 'What's this, Mommy?' It was blood! So I check his mouth to see where it's coming from....and he lost his tooth! Scott found it on the blanket he was sitting on. Talk about crazy!

The balloons then started inflating for the balloon glow. At first we thought this one was tweety bird with a cat in a barrel, but no. It was a pirate, but it was funny to hear Ian saying Tweetie bird without his tooth :)

I think I was most impressed with the balloon glow. It was quite spectacular.

 

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