Daredevil Blade

Can You Spot It?

There are 3 fractures in this picture.

answer: top of 2nd,3rd and 4th metatarsal (long bones)

Blade was on his razor scooter last night trying to "jump/hop" with the scooter and it didn't quite go as Blade had planned and it slipped from under him and the handle came down on the top of his foot. I was upstairs and heard a loud cry...it was a "I really hurt myself" type of cry. Dave was downstairs by Blade and since Dave wasn't calling for me, I didn't rush down to see what was going on. But being a Mom, I had to go down to see what had happened (Okay, if I was a "good" Mom I would have "rushed" right down when I heard the first cry but...).
I assessed the foot the best I knew how and palpated it to located the area of pain, put ice on it, elevated it, gave some tylenol, and then wrapped the foot. Blade's couldn't and wouldn't bare weight on his foot. Dave and I went to bed and then it was so sad to see Blade upstairs crawling across the room to our bed and hear him say, I had to crawl all the way up the stairs like this.

In the morning, he crawled back up to our room and when I checked his foot, it was swollen, still tender to touch and painful when he tried to stand on it.

Yes, a trip to the doctor was in store.
We were able to get an AM appointment at the Ortho center on campus and things went smoothly and Blade did a great job answering questions and letting the doctor do her assessment. I could tell when he was in pain but he didn't cry or even grimace (he doesn't like anyone to see him cry).

Blade was fitted with a boot instead of the old school fiberglass cast, and when we got home just chilled.

Nicole and Chay were surprised when they heard the news. Nicole came home after classes so that she could check on her brother.

Blade is suppose to stay off of it as much as possible until after the week end so that he won't have to worry about crutches. Unfortunately, the boot is working so well that Blade is moving around way too much for my liking. He's a tough cookie.

Dave isn't surprised by any of this. From the time Blade could walk, Dave has said that there are casts and stitches in Blade's future because he is such a daredevil and won't stop until he accomplishes what he set out to do. For example, he would jump off the stairs and would increase each jump a step at a time to see how high he could go and land on his feet (I would stop him before it got too dangerous...for "me"); He would run and do some kind of kick on the wall and when he didn't succeed, would try again and say "this time I'll get it!" (even if he hit the wall and/or fell to the ground). He isn't afraid to try anything and he knows that he can do anything!
What a great quality to have...I hope he never loses that!



Nicole and Blade are tied with 3 fracture...I don't want any records to be broken (no pun intended) . Chay has had one fracture but when he does something he really does it well, he required surgery to repair his. Nicole doesn't mess around either, in 3rd grade she had two compound fractures in her forearm and her arm looked like a step ladder. In the ER she received some "Michael Jackson special" (propofol) and it was reset right there. An amusing story is that when Nicole initially saw her arm, she was afraid because she seriously thought that she was going to be "retarded" (not politically correct but that was the term she used at the time) because her arm looked like that of some severely mentally disabled people.

Chay is trying out for the school musical "The Sound of Music". He has "call backs" tomorrow, wish him luck and say a little prayer for him.

STAR OF THE WEEK

This is Blade's assigned week to be

"Star of the Week"



Along with that title is the opportunity to put something in the star of the week bag on multiple days and each day give a clue and ask on classmates to guess what it is. Today it was "the red bird from Avatar.

On Saturday, Chay helped Blade and fulfilled a wish for him.
For weeks Blade has been telling me that his tooth is loose enough for me to pull it out. I would check it, and it was far from me even attempting to pull it out. However, last week it was very loose and I told Blade that it would probably come out when he bit into something... much o his disappointment, it didn't. Since I wouldn't pull it out on Saturday, he turned to Chay to have Chay check it...then I heard some talk about "it came out". It had only been seconds and Blade hadn't made a sound and so I thought Chay was joking...as usual....until he held the tooth out in his hand for me to see.

Blade said it didn't hurt at all. BUT he was SURPRISED that there was blood...and a lot of it (according to Blade).

(by the way, Blade likes to take his clothes off when he's home and luckily agrees when I have him put pants on...in case you were wondering why he's often shirtless)

Chay is checking out his "work" and is amazed by how tiny the tooth is.

Chay made chocolate chip cookies for the first time without any assistance. They turned out so well that when he went to get some to go with his ice cream on Sunday, they were gone. He cried out in agony and then heard Nicole's laughter...Nicole and Blade had each enjoyed the last two.

See the Izzy bottles on the window sill? Chay is saving those to practise some of the "Minute to Win it" challenges.

Octoberfest

Why is it that boys like to be Super Heroes?

I had a fun costumes for Blade (won't say what it is in case he wears it next year) and a friend from work gave Blade a superman costume that her son had outgrown. I was thinking that it would be fun for Blade next year or just to play around the house...but he saw the Superman costume and fell in love with it. So that's what he wore to the school's evening Halloween carnival and treat or treating. Dave helped at the school for the Halloween parade during the day and Blade wore the "other" costume but, Dave thought the parade started later in the morning and didn't take the camera.


"...Superman stands this way sometimes...."

It was cool and raining Halloween night and I was mistaken when I thought that would mean a slow night for trick or treating. It was busier than usual and I sadly ran out of candy just after 8:00...pathetic I know.

Chay went out with his friend and friend's brother. I'm glad I got a quick picture when they came to the door. Why is it that kids don't want to take the time for mom's to take "posed" pictures?

For years Chay has wanted to be Abu from Aladdin and I never made a costume for him and just thought it would pass. Well, it didn't, and this year I made him a costume. Actually, I made two costumes because I made it in the wrong color the first time due to the fact that the color on my monitor is off....and I had forgotten that.

The boys and their payment after a hard night's work. They had a competition to see who had more treats and Chay won...almost twice as much.

Blade's into this cross-eyed look for pictures lately.
....that can be fixed where I work....

...this however, cannot...

What happens when hair coloring and eye surgery go wrong...

One little girl said when I opened the door "I love your house!".
That made me smile, thinking, it's so nice to know that MY house actually looks great one day of the year! (until we get it painted sometime)

The little black things in the window are rats if you can't tell.
Just cut outs from black paper but look so realistic at night.

This guy had a red blinking head.

This guy only had a head.

It greeted people as they came up the stairs and was activated by motion and the head started moving and talking.
One petite toddler was amazed by this and didn't want to leave, she kept reaching out to it and touching it so that it would move and talk. Brave 2 year old, wasn't scared at all!

This knocker met trick or treaters at the door, was activated by sound and started knocking and talking before their eyes.



Chay trying a new look.



I hope that everyone out there had a fun Halloween (whether it was on Saturday or Sunday)!

Earlier in the month, Chay had performance with his Show Choir. THIS year we went early despite what Chay told us because LAST year at a performance, we went about 15-20 minutes early and there were NO seats.
We found things to entertain ourselves. Dave on his phone, Nicole doodling, Blade on Chay's IPOD, and me transferring info to my new calendar notebook (I'm old school, I like to see an entire month at a time and write things down).

The male part of the show choir.
...we talked with Chay, next time his head will be straight...

Interesting tidbit.
The boy beside Chay is Levi Anderson whose Dad is from Barnwell and the brother of the guy I took to my High School graduation. It really is a small world.

After the show.

Happy Birthday to Dave

BIRTHDAY BOY



It's UEA time (teacher convention time) so the boys are out of school and Nicole is on Fall break so we were (are) all together this week end to celebrate.

Dave didn't put in a request for a certain type of birthday cake so I took it upon myself to decide. And since Dave often tried carrot cake when it is on the dessert table, I decided to make carrot cake. I called Mom to get her recipe because I couldn't find my copy. Mom found a copy and read it to me but mine didn't taste as good as Mom's. Chay said it was because Grandma made it with "love", I told him "I MADE IT WITH LOVE".

I threw it together the night before and the stars are tracings of Dave's actual badge from work, we like to call it the "star of David" (okay, we only called it that once).

Chay wanted to use the same type of candles that we used on his cake a couple of years ago and it was a hit with Blade!
The candles kept relighting.

Earlier in the day, we went to This is the Place Heritage Park and met a friend and her kids (her husband is in charge of the grounds there). It was the parks Halloween celebration for kids. In the evening there is a Haunted Park and from the sounds of it, it's too scary for me. I'll stick with the "little spooks".

Superman at the petting zoo.

Superman trying out different modes of transportation....

This is the view Blade saw from the saddle....

My friend Julia and her kids (Sarah, Oliver, Victoria, Julia and Joseph)

We rode the train to the other side of the park and panned for gold.



Blade and Chay could have stayed there all day but, there was a limit of two pieces per person.



Then we took the train back and went to the bank to trade in the gold for something more valuable....candy. The banker could give us 8 pieces.





Because Julia's husband Doug works there, the kids got a special ride that other park visitors missed out on... a ride on the golf cart. The driver had to speed up a bit because although the train was going the other way, when it started up, it went back alittle.
And notice how Blade has a protective arm out in front of Joseph to keep him safe.





Earlier in the month.

Blade is still going to Lowe's and making his free projects with help from Chay.

This day, there was a bonus and there was a firetruck in the parking lot and then we watched the lifeflight helicopter land in the parking lot. Don't worry, it was all for educational purposes, not because they were actually needed.

It's hard to read but Chay has a blue CANADA shirt on.

Conference week end.
What's missing? (besides Blade's shirt).
...cousins to join in with BINGO and prophet coloring.... (that almost sounds wrong)

Did you know that there are Mexican jumping beans that really jump around without heat but because there is a living moth inside? I didn't until a Kindergartener told me.

We didn't touch the bean and within seconds the bean had moved from the spot in the first picture to the spot in the second picture. I picked the number 4 and was getting excited that I might win but the bean never landed on 4. When the moth inside gets warm, it moves around inside to cool off and that causes the bean to move.

Last week end Blade's Lowe's project was a fun house mirror.

It was a hit...

Except for pictures from Nicole's birthday, you are all pretty much caught up with us. Nothing profound or enlightening but a simple picture documentation of our life.
I thought I had pictures from Nicole's birthday on my camera but I can't find them. Weird things have been happening with my card. Actually they may be on the broken card....

First Day of School and More...

Chay started 8th grade
(grade 8 for my fellow Canadians... and it still flows off my tongue more smoothly)
at the end of August.

He's the big man in Middle School (grades 7 and 8) now.

Last year to wear a school uniform. Solid white, blue or red shirts without logos are difficult for me to find...and Chay finds it quite boring.

Blade started Kindergarten after Labor Day.
He left Challenger and is now going to Uintah across the street.

He likes to come up with his own poses.

...in front of Uintah waiting for the bell to ring.

I had to post this picture of Chay, not because it was the best but because it was so Chay.

At the end of summer, my place of employment had a party and the whole family attended. Nicole's friend Kajsa works at Moran also and she was there with her new roommate.

Nicole's roommate Sarah and her Mom and brother came too so that we could mingle with them. (sorry, no picture of Sarah's Mom)

While we ate they played Bingo, which was difficult to do because I like to focus on both my food AND the bingo. Kajsa had the "lucky" bingo card and after she won with it, she passed it on. Chay won blackout bingo with it and won $5.

Blade had no interest in the regular food nor bingo but he did love and help himself to the cottoncandy and snowcones.

He also LOVED the slide and bungee run (where he is attached to a bungee cord and has to try to run as far to the end as he can without the cord pulling him back. Missed him when he was on that one)

I tried to get a picture of Blade sliding down the slide but he never did that while I was there. He would jump, land halfway down the slide and then...you can see...

After we dropped Chay off on his first day of school, Blade and I stopped at a little neighborhood playarea that we always pass and Blade asks "can we stop there sometime?" Well, on that day, we did.

This little cone shaped seat is built so that your shifted weight causes it to turn. I helped Blade spin faster and he loved it. I remember when the playground first opened I sat in the seat and as it turned I feared for my life because I truly felt like it was going to turn and I was going to fall out (apparently that sensation must only happen after a certain size is met)

Last week end we had a Nicole spotting when she stopped by with Sarah to pick up the LuvSac. Chay was nice enough to have squeezed it upstairs so that it was ready for Nicole. Next was squeezing it into the Envoy for the journey to its' new home only blocks away. I wonder if Nicole has pictures at the other end, trying to get it in her dormroom.

DE JE VU and I LOVE YOU

Boys II Men at the State Fair.

Last year Dave and I waited in line to get free tickets to the Boys II Men concert at the Utah State Fair. I love the sound of Boys II Men and last year the concert was wonderful. The music takes me back to Dave and my earlier years. Dave knew how much I wanted to go and his actions showed how much he really loves me. After he dropped Blade off at school, he took a folding chair and a book and headed over to the fair grounds and set up camp waiting for the ticket booth to open at noon.

He got tickets!

Unlike last year when Nicole and Chay had "previous" engagements, this year, we were there together.

I couldn't get the pictures to stay side by side but here they are in 2009....

...and 2010

I liked the casual look better, it had a different effect. I think more animated.

2009

2010

Another case of being unable to keep pictures side by side so here's
2010

and 2009

Nicole's roommate Sarah joined the family.

At the beginning of the concert and then when the party really got started.

It was another wonderful concert. The temperature was cooler this year and I was concerned at the beginning of the evening but after awhile, I didn't even notice it. Nicole and Chay actually knew the words to the songs and could sing along to alot more than I could. Nicole basically grew up to the sound of Boys II Men.

Boy II Men made their first record in SLC 20 years ago on Sept.19 so this trip was a milestone of sorts for them. I don't know if we can expect a repeat of this" family concert going" next year but...

Bye until next time.