The Boy Who Might Live

What a weekend!!! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday at my sister's house and from there on out the weekend just got crazier and crazier. Our Mark will be THE ONE...you know...the one to give me gray hair, the one to send me to an early grave, the one to have me hollering for the loony bin. Bless his little heart, I love him completely, but he gives me heartburn.

After dinner on Thursday we took all the kids to "Enchanted", which I highly recommend. We loved it. Anywho, halfway through the movie I looked to see Mark picking at the back of his head. I leaned way forward to see what the trouble was and he had a wad of gum stuck in his hair. I pondered about where he got the gum, for I certainly did not give it to him. He explained in a loud whisper he had gotten it off the bottom of the seat. I asked him if he had put it in his mouth...nope...just his hair. He was too polite to stick it back under the seat and opted for the next best place. We had to cut it out clear to the scalp. He looks like a dog with mange.

And yet he keeps continuing on-

On Sunday while I was unpacking from the weekend, James was at work, Nate was bathing, Tess was crying to be fed and Mark was doing a flying sukahara off the counter. From the nether regions of our little home Mark let out a blood curdling scream. He ran to me in the bedroom with his arm hanging at a freaky, weird angle. He had finally done what James and I knew would happen at some point in parenthood. The arm was no doubt broke. Amidst the crying we dressed a slick Nate, popped a pacifier in Tess's mouth and hurried out the door to the ER. I dropped Livvy and Nate off at a friends while Mark lamented in the back that, "I will never color again!" I reminded him that it was his left arm and not his right that was broke. He was still good to go in the coloring world. After x-rays we learned he had broke the arm just above the elbow and would need surgery. YIKES! I actually started crying when I heard this. What I thought was a simple break had turned into something much more. I started to panic because I had been unable to contact James at work. The hospital was kind enough to use their direct line to the Sheriff's office and dispatch got a hold of him, he had been on a pursuit...

By this time the drugs had worked their magic and Mark had drifted off to sleep. James arrived in time to give Mark a quick blessing and he was wheeled into surgery at 10:00 p.m. where 2 pins were placed to connect his upper arm to his lower arm. It sounded yucky to me. He was taken great care of and the nurses loved his little personality. We are home and doing surprisingly well. You can tell his arm hurts, but he is handling it like a trooper. The biggest worry is what to do with his busy little mind all day. I'm wore out! He gets his hard cast on Friday and is excited that all of the Disney characters will get to sign it. The rest of us will not be allowed we've been warned.

With 4 kids you have to expect things like gum in hair and broken bones. And just think...we are only 8 years into this parenting thing. We know it wasn't our last night spent at a hospital jumping up at every sound our child made.

Pretty Pierced Ears

James and I have always like the idea of our kids working towards something. Sort of like a 'time and season' for everything lifestyle...

Baptism at 8 years old
Make-up at 12 yrs old
Dating at 16
Priesthood at 12, 14, 16 and 19
Mission at 19

I never thought about the whole ear piercing timing until my sister mentioned their girls would wait until they were 8 to get it done. Being the copier that I am, I liked the sound of that. Olivia turns 8 on December 9th and the time has been quickly approaching to add a little sparkle to Livvy's ears. While we were at the mall the other day with my mother we were passing Claire's and I said spontaneously, "Hey Livvy! Let's get your ears pierced today!" She looked at me with shock and dismay and said, "Not today. I'm not ready." She was clearly scared. My mom and I talked to her a little bit and told her it was no big deal and she could think about it over lunch. During lunch we were bombarded with questions about the pain, the care and every other thing possible about getting your ears pierced. After a lengthy discussion she told me she would do it only if she could pick out a new pair of earrings to wear when the studs could come out. My little girl knows how to bargain! She was a brave soul and didn't even flinch as the lady got the job done. I think I ended up being more nervous than she was! Olivia is quite pleased with herself and her pretty pierced ears. One landmark down, many more to go!

The Wonderfulness of New

I've been on a blogging hiatus and not by choice. We have had a busy couple of weeks here at the Burley Homestead, which left little time for deep pondering by me in my little known part of the world.

The BESTEST thing to happen in the last week was the purchase of a brand spakin' new crib for Tess. With the arrival of every new family member, beds, dressers and rooms have to be shifted around, which James and I are finding is fairly expensive! Tess has been sleeping in the pack n' play while Nate inhabitated the old crib. The little weed had finally grown too big for her surroundings so we had to bite the bullet and buy a new one. The old crib is a sad, sad story. Our very 1st darling teethed on it and turned it ugly. This is the reason her daddy calls her Liv Dog...she chewed the crib just like a naughty little puppy. Do you remember the joy of buying and setting up a brand new crib for your 1st baby? The fun it was to think about what little package was going to go in it? I had so much fun putting together that 1st pink crib and dreaming about a little redheaded pixie. Who would have dreamed that she would yes, be cute, but also chew her lovely bed to pieces! The moment I saw the quarter sized holes ALL across the upper panels of the crib and side rails I knew I had to live with it. I also knew I would probably have to live with it through more babies, which would turn out to be somewhat difficult as I always wanted to put my brand new babies into something new. Alas, I dealt with it and moved on. It is easy to admit though that when Mark, Nate and Olivia all piled into the crib this last winter for a good jump and broke said crib I was secretly thrilled and my dream of a new crib has finally come to pass. It is a funny thing being a mom. I really enjoy how getting something for one of my kids is just as if it was purchased for me. I find great satisfaction in looking at our new crib...maybe I'll sleep in it tonight! It's also great to go and get Tess in the morning and find her opposite than the way I laid her and in the other corner. She has room to roam.

Sugar, Sugar and Yes, More Sugar

I caught myself saying one of those ironic statements yesterday that once it passed my lips I had to pause and think to myself, "Did I really just say that?" Olivia's day started off with breakfast, which consisted of a waffle smothered in syrup and a glass of milk. As she lolly gagged her way through breakfast I made the fortuitous statement, "You need to finish that breakfast. You are going to be eating a lot of sugary junk today and you need to have something good in your tummy." Never mind the syrup dripping off of her plate! And so the day of sugar overload began.

Our next encounter with the sugar bug presented itself as I was putting together the treat for Livvy's classroom party. My boys were enthralled with the frosting smothered brownies and peanut butter eyeballs. "Could I just have one taste?" Mark asked a bazillion times. "No," I thought "It's a day of sugar"...but then he gave me his hurt puppy dog eyes and I ended up letting the boys lick the beaters. Every kid has to say they have licked a beater right?

As I busied myself about the kitchen I noticed on the lunch menu for the school that day the cafeteria was serving mud pudding with lunch. Hmmmm....maybe the ladies thought some of the classes weren't going to be having parties that day. Oh well! I hurried off to school with Nate, Tess and James in tow and we found ourselves at the school surrounded by Spidermen, Supermen, Scooby Doo, Princesses, Darth Vaders, Witches, Goblins and a variety of other fun characters. I had to laugh to myself remembering the note that came home a few days previous, "The children are welcome to wear their costumes to school. Please keep in mind we don't want any scary or mean costumes. Remember this is a safe place." I did see a few kids whose parents bucked the system by letting their children's meaness show through by dressing as a bloody vampire and even a wicked surgeon. Olivia's classroom was abuzz with the excitement of seeing what all the kids were dressed as for Halloween. James and I exchanged a smile as one boy asked another boy what he was (I couldn't tell either) and the incensed boy replied, "I'm a Ninja Turtle! Duh!" It's good to know conversation hasn't changed much since I was in school. 'Duh' is still a universal put down. I took the treats over to the treat table and placed it alongside the Kool Aide and boxes of treat bags made by other mothers. Wait! I thought I was in charge of the treat...Livvy walked out of class that day with a brownie and an eyeball in her tummy and 3, yes 3, treat bags full of candy. I think I sensed a glazed look come over her eyes on the way to the car. We also checked in on Mark's class party. They were quietly coloring at their tables. I asked the teacher if we had missed their party and she said, "We are having our party." Yeah! They got to color! On regular days they just get to scribble with stubby pencils.

We pushed the kids through their already going strong candy rush to the ward party later that evening. On the menu, Chili and............cinnamon rolls and...........chocolate milk! "Yeah!" my kids yelled. "Can we please have some?" I was beginning to feel overwhelmed for the little buggers. They didn't even know they were heading themselves into a diabetic coma. Even through the shakes and twitches, I can only assume from the mass amounts of sugar already pulsing through their little systems, they managed to eat their rolls and drink their milk. Children are amazing creatures.

We moved onto the trunk-or-treat where they were able to attain even more sweets to get them through to their teen years. Their buckets over flowed with candy bars, tootsie rolls, suckers, skittles, smarties, yada, yada, yada. Mark was a little bummed though because, "I got more last year!" I reminded him that there is always next year.

After letting the kids study their loot and count their booty James and I decided it was past the witching hour and time to get them to bed. After several fits on Nate's part we were able to brush their teeth and gather them into bed. Whoo! The day was over. As I sat on the couch thinking of the days events and counting the number of times the kids had a jolt of sugar I hoped they could actually get to sleep that night. "I know I will" I thought as I popped just one more miniature Baby Ruth in my mouth.