Yup, It's Broken.

I wasn't expecting for it to happen so soon.

You know kids usually have a broken bone here or there while growing up. I had mine when I was in sixth grade.

Ian decided to jump from his bookshelf/platform to his bed and have his first broken bone at the ripe young age of 4.

When I heard the screams, I knew it was not your usual kiss-it-and-make-it-better-injury. We watched him for a little while to see if he would start using his arm again, but nope. He cradled his left wrist in his right hand and didn't want to use his left hand at all - even to scoop ice cream into his little mouth. (Ian's left handed and if anything would have gotten him to use his left hand, ice cream would have persuaded him.)

So, Ian and I went to Acute Kids in McKinney which was the best Urgent care clinic I've been to (actually I haven't been to many others, but they were really nice!) We didn't have a long wait. We got the X-rays done there. Ian got to watch a Diego and a fishy kid's show on NickJr. while we waited. It was relatively painless.

Ian thought it was cool that he got to see pictures of his bones. And I swear he was thought it was pretty cool that he broke a bone.

The diagnosis is this: a distal radius buckle fracture. He has a temporary splint on now, and we have to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow.

I'm just shaking my head because this is prime swimming time and I have a feeling we won't be able to be around water for 4-6 weeks! Ugh!

It's Pandamania!

God is wild about us!

We had our last day of Vacation Bible School this week. It had a Panda them. The church was covered in bamboo backdrops and pandas.

The kids had such a great time. They  are wild about the new songs they learned, about the crafts they made, and about the games they played.

I volunteered to help out at VBS and somehow got appointed to be in charge of the elementary school crafts which included kids going into 1st thru 5th grade - about 70 kids overall. I didn't have to come up with the crafts, just organize them, execute them in the time allotted, and direct the other assistants. Thank God I had an assistant that was much more like a team leader. She was awesome. Then I had four teen assistants that helped. Without them, it would have been truly chaotic. But, we survived and I think most of the kids really liked the crafts they took home. Here are some of them.

Prayer Journal

Lantern

Jonah

Whale with Jonah inside (Jonah looks like his fin in this pic)

    

Rain Stick

Ian (God made us.)

Giggle goggles (God watches over us.)

 The pandas were cute, I have to admit....

I made this lantern panda to decorate the craft room....

It even lights up :)

So, maybe next time the kids a panda they will think fondly back to VBS and some of the bible points learned there  - maybe :)

Rules for Summer

Last Tuesday was the first day the kids were home with me for the Summer.

At breakfast I decided to lay down the some ground rules.

Just two simple ones.

Rule #1 - No whining.

This rule seems pretty simple, but for my 6 and 4 year old, this is very difficult to put into practice.

Rule #2 - Be Nice!

I like this rule because it encompasses many things. For example, it includes 1. talking out little problems between the kids instead of yelling for Mommy to solve everything; and 2. asking nicely for things, especially if it's a toy. This rule mainly deals with using words nicely and using manners.

I liked my rules. I made the kids repeat the rules to me several times, until I was sure they knew them.

So far, they are working pretty well.

But, sneaky little Ian...at the dinner table a couple of nights after I introduced the Rules said, 'Mommy, we forgot rule #3.' I asked, 'You think we need another rule?' He said, 'uh, huh.' So I asked what he thought Rule #3 should be. And he said, 'Love each other.'

Sigh. You're right Ian. Maybe we should move that to Rule #1.

First week of Summer Vacation

 Whew. No school to distract the kids. And no school to give mommy time to clean or shop without distractions. And no school to give Mommy a break.

While it's nice to have the kids around, they can be a little, ahem, demanding. I have found that if you fill their time with activities, they are a whole lot easier to get along with. Thus I have come up with a plan to help us through the summer.

We have a new theme each week, so that Mommy can have a focus for activities and field trips.

This week our theme was building and measurement. We took a field trip this week to.....

Where else would the van Poppel's go?

The Legoland Discovery Center.

The LDC just opened in Grapevine Mills Mall this past spring. The place is pretty fun, but for a family that just visited Legoland, we were hoping for a little bit more. But all in all, it was a fun place to visit. I especially liked the 4D movie. I didn't quite understand what that meant when I went into the theater. And I didn't quite understand why some signs said that I WILL get wet. Well, it was a 3D movie, with wind and water effects. It was pretty cool.

Miniland

Ian launching his car.

At the end of the week, each child made a scrapbook page with pictures and (for a Payton - a sentence) describing the week.

Flamingo Insurance...

Have you bought yours?

I thought I didn't need it.

Evidently, we did.

The doorbell rang. I answered the door, but no one was there, except for.....

The Flamingos.

At least I know WHO did it to us....

The youth at our church were selling flamingo insurance. I thought we wouldn't need it since we just joined the church.

I was wrong :(

But, the kids thought they were pretty cool :) They were sad when I paid the church youth to take them back.

Maybe I'll buy Flamingo Insurance next year, or maybe I won't.

Payton's Field Day

Last Friday, Payton had her first Field Day at school. They had about 20 different stations that either had a race, game or activity. I volunteered to work the scooter races, so I got to see the action. The kids had such a great time.

But it wasn't like when I had Field Day. When I was in school (ahem, not so long ago...) we went out to the football stadium and had races - races in the infield and races around the track. There were winners that received ribbons and losers that didn't receive anything. It was fun, even if you didn't win because you didn't have to do work ALL day!

Payton's Field Day was all about hanging out with a partner and doing all activities together - some which emphasized team building.

I'm not saying one type of Field Day is better than the other....

The most important thing is that everyone had fun.

Ballet Recital

The ballet academy that Payton attends only has one recital a year for the little kids. Payton's class has been working on this routine for nearly 3 months.

The recital is held in a very nice auditorium - The Eisemann Center. We weren't allowed to take any video or pictures in the at the actual performance, so I took video of her very last practice in her studio. It's broken into 2 parts...

On the day of the event, we had dress rehearsal at 2 in the afternoon. While the actual recital didn't start till 6:30 pm. Sunday was practically getting ready for recital or going to or from recital auditorium. This was the first time Payton got to wear make-up and it was also the first time mommy has ever put a bun in someone's hair. Thankfully, Payton was very patient with me.

Payton didn't seem nervous about it. She was just very excited. Each class performs a number anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes long. There were 15 classes before intermission and 16 after! It was a long night. Payton's class was the second to perform after intermission and it was 8:15 pm by that time.

But, the littlest girls were so cute. They have 2 and 3 year olds out there in little tutus! So cute!

Anyway, when it was Payton's class' turn, there was a lost little girl that came out right in front of Payton. Payton's class wears light blue and this little girl was in lavender. Poor thing, the lavender girl did her best to follow what Payton's class was doing. Thankfully, pretty early in their routine she was able to skip off stage.

But other than that little mishap, the girls did great. I was so proud.

Since, it was so late, when Payton's performance finished, I went and got her and the family greeted her in the lobby with bunches of roses. She was surprised and thrilled speechless :)