Pumpkin Patch 2009

We debated about going to the pumpkin patch many times this season. We needed pumpkins, after all, and the experience of actually going to a patch is so much fun for the kids (okay, and the adults too). But when our craft at MOPS was painting pumpkins, which we got to take home with us, we decided it was not necessary to get anymore pumpkins. And when we ran out of money, we also decided it was not frugal or wise. And the boys were aware that we decided not to go to the pumpkin patch, as we already had pumpkins. They seemed accepting of that, especially since we said we'd for sure go next year.

But then during bedtime prayers on Thursday night before we went, George prayed that we wouldn't be too late to go to the pumpkin patch and get a pumpkin and carve it and eat the seeds. Talk about being stabbed in the heart! How could we refuse such an earnest, sweet prayer?! We decided we'd go, and do the most frugal option - ONE pumpkin for the whole family (put to a vote), plus the hayride for us all (kids were free, and we were $2 each). Total cost? $9.00

The enjoyment and quality time we had as a family? Priceless. See for yourself....

If you are on Facebook, you've seen these already. This is something new I'm trying - linking my Facebook pictures in the blog. That way I don't have to duplicate efforts. But I will be posting different stuff in each place, so if you want it all, then read the blog and be friends with me on Facebook! Let me know if you like the link to Facebook pics or not. Please leave comments! I'm feeling like nobody cares...

Ripley's Aquarium

Well, I'm not doing very well with keeping up on the blog!  It's been almost a month since I last posted.  I'll try to do better.  Really, I will.  But for those of you who are dying to see more of the kids more often, you can also befriend me on Facebook and see the pics/video clips I post there.  

So the boys and I tagged along on a work call with Chris a couple of weeks ago, and on the way back we drove through Smoky Mountain National Park (awesome scenery) and then stopped in Gatlinburg to visit Ripley's Aquarium.  The kids really enjoyed it, and it was a very nice family attraction.  Here's a bit of what we saw:

This giant catfish was bigger than Josh!

The boys and me, taken quickly so we could get out of the way.

Teeny, neon-colored Poison Dart Frogs.

In the shark tunnel.  The flash made its eyes glow - doesn't it look super fierce that way?

It's hard to tell by the poor quality of this photo, but there are no less than 5 sharks right there.

This was a lazy Sawfish, lying on top of the clear tunnel ceiling.

Shark TEETH.  Scary.

All of the boys in the shark tunnel.

A mean-looking Green Moray Eel.

George & Joshua enjoying the inner view of this tank of puffer fish.

Touching Horseshoe Crabs.

I love Sea Horses.

But have you ever seen Sea Dragons?

A crazy-looking Dragon Eel.

Blake making friends with a Giant Spider Crab (I wanted to dip those legs in some butter, y'all).

A Jellyfish.  And my camera flash.

Deep sea diver, George.

Deep sea diver, Josh.

Mesmerized by the big Sting Rays.

All in all, Ripley's Aquarium was definitely worth going to.  Kids (and adults) of all ages can enjoy it.  It is entertaining, educational, exciting, and beautifully displayed.  They did a great job making this a family-friendly place.  You can spend a few hours there (like we did) and feel like you got to see everything without missing out.  But you could also stay longer and watch the feedings, see shows, and hit every little learning station.  I recommend it!

Some of My Favorite Christmas Movies

As I've been contemplating Christmas, there are lists of favorites that come to my mind: favorite foods, movies, gifts, decorations, traditions, and the like. I recently came across this in a friend's blog, and thought I would attempt to compile a list of some of my favorite Christmas movies. There are SO MANY Christmas movies that I LOVE (ask my husband - I can do Christmas movie marathons for weeks, and sometimes in the summer), so I won't even try to list them all. The list is too long, and I like different movies for different reasons. Plus I'm not sure I could name my very favorite. So I'm going to focus on the Christmas movies I loved as a child.

I loved watching the Christmas specials on TV as a child. When I was a kid, when a show came on, you had to watch it THEN or else you didn't get to see it. I remember those special times we got to eat dinner on TV trays and watch special programming as a family - what a treat that was! We eventually got a VCR, and my dad would tape shows for repeat viewing. A few years back I came across a tape with Christmas shows on it, and was flooded with nostalgia. Here are a few that I remember watching with great fondness (and these are in no particular order):

The Year Without a Santa Claus:
This continues to be one of my all-time favorites. I love Jangle the Elf, Snow Miser, and Mickey Rooney as Santa Claus. There's not really a Rankin/Bass video that I haven't liked, but this one is at the top.


It Came Upon the Midnight Clear:
Another Mickey Rooney classic. Kind of has the feel of It's a Wonderful Life, but with (what was then, back in 1984) a modern twist.






Jim Henson's Muppets: The Christmas Toy:
If I didn't know better (and really, I don't), I would say that Disney's Toy Story idea came directly from this 1986 Muppet special. It's super cute and clever, and done in true Muppet style. Plus I like watching it now (from my dad's old tape) because the old commercials really crack me up.



Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!:
Good ol' Dr. Seuss. His whimsical, rhyming storytelling genius really shines in this animated classic. Heartwarming and clever, it is on my must-see list every year.



Mickey's Christmas Carol:
I love the story from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. And I love Mickey Mouse. So it stands to reason that I would love this version of the classic Christmas tale. And I do.


The Night They Saved Christmas:
I thought the storyline of this movie was different enough to make it interesting. It stars Scott Grimes, who was the cute boy from Who's the Boss (Sam's boyfriend), who was also in It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, and who incidentally ended up as an adult actor (he's now on E.R.). But that was enough to keep my attention, back then. I should watch it again and see if I still like it.


Frosty the Snowman:
When I watch this video with my kids now, I admit I get a little annoyed at obvious plot flaws and hoakie-ness. But I loved it as a child, and my boys love it now. So I will continue to watch it and just gloss over the fact that Frosty is smart enough to speak full sentences upon first wake but for some reason says "Happy Birthday."

A Christmas Story:
Ok, so I said I couldn't name my favorite, but this could be it. It's for sure in the top 3, at least. I love so much about this movie: the fact that they use Peter and the Wolf music, and that it's set in Indiana of all places (where I grew up! and live now!). And here's a little fact that some of you may not know: the main character (Ralphie) shows up in another great Christmas movie as an adult - the movie Elf starring Will Ferrell (he's a head elf).

Santa Claus is Coming to Town:
Another great Rankin/Bass production. This one is great because you get to see the story of how Santa Clause becomes Santa Clause (I'm a sucker for backstory). And again, Mickey Rooney is definitely the best Rankin/Bass Santa Claus in my book. Plus he can sing!


Santa Claus - The Movie:
I love Dudley Moore in this film. He is an endearing elf who just wants to share goodness with the world and find favor with Santa Claus. Plus John Lithgow is great as the villain. I like the backstory in this one too, and I really really wanted one of those puce lollipops.




I know there are several more that are worth mentioning, but I'll leave it at ten. I do have other Christmas-y things to do, you know. I hope you get to see some Christmas specials this year that bring back warm memories for you, as these do for me.

The Most Fun/Most Awful Day: Part 2 - Most Awful

Oh, the day at the zoo was a blast. And after we got home and had the boys fed, bathed, and ready for bed (at 7:30pm, no less - they had no nap and we knew they would go to sleep after all of the excitement of the day) - Joshua asked for something else to eat. I sometimes acquiese, but usually the answer is no because their teeth are brushed and it's bedtime (sometimes they ask just to try and stay up, which I think this was a ploy to do just that - the grandparents were here, after all!). But this time I decided to go ahead and give them a bowl of cereal since they hadn't really eaten a whole lot that day.

And about 5 minutes after I made that decision - a freak accident occured. Josh slipped on a bouncy ball and broke his leg. His left femur, to be exact. Here are the details (if you are my friend on Facebook you have most likely seen this story):

When it happened, Chris heard a "pop." He told me that, and I figured it was a joint popping out of place or something. But Josh continued to cry, and could not walk, and so Chris and his dad (it just so happens his parents are visiting from Colorado) took him to Urgent Care. They sent him to the hospital. My mother-in-law and I stayed home with the other two kiddos (and I really didn't think it was going to be anything too bad, honestly). We found out around 9:00pm that he did in fact break his leg. When Chris called to tell me that they were keeping him overnight, I decided to go. They finally got a room around 11:30pm, and I got there around midnight.

They were not able to set the leg right away due to the risk of swelling in the cast. Because of this, he was in extreme pain. They had him on morphine, but it didn't seem to be helping much. Every couple of minutes, his leg muscle would spasm, he would jerk awake and scream out in pain and then cry for a bit. I cannot explain the absolute toture it was to watch my child go through so much agony. Finally around 3:30am they decided to give him valium to help with the spasms. Even that didn't seem to help much. Chris and I took turns holding his hand and trying to calm him with each outburst. It was beyond horrible.

Finally our pediatrician came in around 7:00am, and we told her what he had gone through all night. She promptly upped his morphine dosage (God bless her), plus at 8:00am he had another dose of valium, so he finally was able to sleep for a couple of hours. We had also seen the orthropedic surgeon around 7:30am, and he informed us that he would be doing surgery at 12:30pm (are you kidding me?! 5 MORE HOURS?!). He also told us he was going to be putting Josh in a hip spica cast, which is a cast that starts at the waist, goes down his entire left leg (to the toes), and down his right leg to the knee. Completely immobile (do you realize the energy level of this child?).

We went to pre-op with him, and right before they were going to take him for surgery, he vomited several times in a row and emptied the entire contents of his stomach. We helplessly sent him off for surgery, which took about an hour, and they reported back to us that all was successful. We had to wait an extrodinarily long time to see Josh again, because he was having a tough time waking up in the recovery area (plus he got sick again one more time). It took forever to get discharged, but we finally left the hospital at 10:00pm on Thursday. We were really glad that we forced the nurse to give him one more dose of pain medication before we left, since we had to stop by an all-night pharmacy to get his prescriptions filled.

So what had started out to be a super fun special day ended up turning into a how-could-this-happen nightmare. And pretty much killed the fun for the remainding 2+ days of my in-laws' vacation (but what a memorable one it will always be!). And now for the pictures (again - these will be familiar to Facebook friends):


Daddy feeding him ice chips - his first nourishment for over 24 hours.

Right before we put him in the car to take him home - poor little guy.

But thankfully he fits in the car seat, and the morphine kicked in so he could sleep.

His set up on the loveseat.

He can still use the potty - thank you God!

Getting kisses from the baby - he missed his brother!

Josh returns the love.

He had been begging us to sleep on his belly - and this was his first belly nap - on Daddy's belly.

We hooked him up in the wagon so he could go outside.

And of course he had to be next to the baby.

Melanie came to visit, bearing Get Well gifts. We love Melanie!

So the zoo and a broken leg, all in one day. Can't say it's boring around here!

And, once again the formatting of text-to-picture is all weird, and I cannot seem to fix it. Hopefully you can figure out how they match up. If not, my apologies.

The Most Fun/Most Awful Day: Part 1 - Most Fun

We had a wonderful time with "Grandpa and Grandma from Colorado." We miss them so much already! One of the highlights of the visit was a trip to the Indianapolis Zoo (otherwise known as "the big zoo"). Both sets of grandparents went, making it very nice for us - every set of extra hands helps! The weather was beautiful - warm and sunny. We got to see almost everything - there were a few exhibits that were closed for maintenance (lions, tigers, AND bears - oh my!), and some rides that were not running, but it was still a fantastic time.

One of my favorite things of the day was having the boys feed the giraffes. They were SO excited. Here's George giving the giraffe a tasty snack:


And then it was Joshua's turn:

And now for some photos:

The last two pictures were of the boys signing "Rhino." Aren't they smart? There were a LOT more pictures - it was tough to choose which ones to post. We had such a blast that day, and then that night, tragedy struck. Stay tuned for part two. And for some reason I can't figure out why this formatting is so weird. I've spent over an hour trying to arrange things properly to no avail. So I'm leaving it as is and going to bed. At least I posted!