Calcaneal Apophysitis

Poor Beeb has been limping around the house for a while complaining of heal pain.  Thinking she had bruised her foot somehow I have been reluctant to take her to the doctor since there was no "incident" to pinpoint what might have cause her foot pain in the first place (i.e. it's not broken).  However, recently the level of discomfort has increased to the point that at times she is in tears, so off to the doctor we went. 

Can I just say how much we love our pediatrician!  He is really the most kind, thorough doctor; perfect for our family.  He spent a few minutes talking to her and examining her foot and came to the diagnosis of Calcaneal Apophysitis, otherwise known as Sever's Disease.  It's a common enough injury for young athletes as it is centered around a growth plate in the foot.  Our excessively active Beeb can hardly ever sit still.  She crawls, jumps, runs and leaps about the house non-stop and combined with her sport activities it was simply a matter of time before she befell an injury.

Dr. E told her that he'd have to cut her foot off and that she'd be fine.  Thankfully she knew he was joking and was a bit disappointed that she wasn't getting a cast or walking boot.  The treatment is ice, rest, stretching and less activity for a while - we may have to strap her down.  I've already had to tell her at least a dozen times to quit running, jumping, and leaping and we've only been home for an hour and a half!

Mommy Love

Today was one of those especially phenomenal days.  This morning the kids performed at their first piano recital.  Both of them played so beautifully; I sat in awe over growth of the last 10 months since starting lessons. 

This evening AH and I attended a family dinner in honor of his parents 45th wedding anniversary.  We all met at a waterfront seafood restaurant and enjoyed a delicious dinner and wonderful conversation.  AH's oldest brother surprised his parents by driving all the way from Montana, at the spur of the moment, to ensure that all of the children were there to pay tribute to their parents on this most special occasion.  AH's mom literally glows when surrounded by her family and tonight was no exception!  Congratulations to them!

The family dinner was for adults only so the kids attended our church Halloween party with the babysitter.  They had a really great time. As I put Beeb to bed she just kept talking and talking about the adventures she had and fun activities.  Mr. B offered me some of the candy he collected tonight.  Such a generous kid - too bad I am beyond full from my own dinner or else I would have taken him up on his offer.

After getting Beeb settled down I showed her a note pad and stapler that I got for her new desk.  A few minutes later she popped out of her room and deposited this on my desk:

Beeb quickly composed a book of "pomes" for me.  Here is what is literally written page by page:

Page 1

This is my mommy
Yes I love her
I do I do I do
I love you mommy

Page 2

My mommy is sweet
My mommy is nice
My mommy is loveable
My mommy rocks
I do love you mommy

Page 3

Mommy I love you
Mommy you are nice
Mommy you are hugeable
Mommy is awesom
I love you!

Page 4

I love you
Gill loves you
Mr. B loves you
Daddy loves you
I truely love (the most)

(Clarifiication:  Gill is her fish)

Page 5

WE ALL LOVE YOU!

This seems like a pretty perfect day to me! 
Ciao.

Stories

It is a very strange turn of events when, at bedtime, the kids stop asking to have bedtime stories read to them and instead want to read their bedtime stories to you. 

Zombie Apocalypse

On our drive home from Mr. B's piano lesson tonight he shared with me his strategy for handling a specific disaster when it strikes our area.

Mr. B:  Mom, do you know about the zombie apoco. . . apoco....

Me:  The zombie apocalypse?  Yes I've heard of it.

Mr. B:  When that happens you know you need to shoot them in the head to kill them?

Me:  Really? 

Mr. B:  Yah.  If you want to stop them you have to shoot them in the head.

Me:  You do realize there are no such thing as zombies?

Mr. B:  (pausing before slowly answering) I know, but if there were that's how you'd have to kill them. 

Me:  What happens to our bodies after we die?

Mr. B:  They turn to bone.

Me:  Yes, after a period of time only the bones remain and so zombies are not possible, right?

Mr. B (ignoring me):  The only monsters that we have are. . .

Me (interjecting):  We don't have any monsters.

Mr. B:  Yes there are.  There are mummies. . .

Me (interjecting again):  Which are ancient dead people who's bodies have been preserved. . .

Mr. B (ignoring me again):  There are mummies and there are skeletons.

Me:  You realize that both of those things are just dead bodies?

Mr. B simply ignores me and doesn't answer. 

Me:  By the way, where did you learn about the Zombie Apocalypse?

Mr. B:  Sons of Guns.

Me (thinking to myself):  I am really starting to hate the Discovery Channel.

It's fun having a son to constantly keep me on my toes. 

Miracle of Miracles!

Here is a game AH and I like to play.  It involves me spending hours trying to find him contemporary clothing that he might actually like (which he never does), and then I spend hours returning said clothing.  Doesn't that sound fun?  (Not!)  His closet is getting quite bare and I am getting desperate seeing him wear the same shirts over and over each week.  

Today I was near our local outlet mall and I decided to ventured into a trendy store that had a pretty good sale going on.  I found a bunch of shirts that *I* like but hemmed and hawed knowing most of them would be returned tomorrow.  When I showed AH the shirts tonight he actually liked them all.  Not a single one is going back! I can hardly believe it - I think it must be Christmas. 

The Deal

AH is a master deal finder when it comes to cars and motorcycles.  We have owned 13 cars in our 13 year marriage and each one was an incredible deal.  As an example, the first car AH bought for me after we were married was wrecked a year later (absolutely not my fault).  The insurance company paid us a few thousand more than what we ourselves paid for the vehicle just the year before. How often does that happened?  Not much, unless you're married to AH.

AH's skills extend to two wheeled vehicles as well.  I *think* we've owned 6 motorcycles but can't recall for sure because some only stayed around for a few days and I've forgotten that we even owned them in the first place.  Anywho, that brings me to AH's latest deal.  For years AH has been wanting a newer 250cc motorcycle.  He brings up this desire 4 or 5 times a year and I always give him the go ahead but he is reluctant to part with the funds... until a few weeks ago. 

One very recent Saturday morning AH saw an ad on our local Craig's List for not one, but two motorcycles; a 250cc and a 400cc.  AH is not interested in owning a 400cc but the price was just right for buying them both and the owner wanted to sell them as a pair.  This is where I should mention that AH called owner bright and early that Saturday morning. . . four times in a row because the guy didn't answer the first three times (since he was still sleeping) and so AH was the first person to see the bikes - though the guy had many calls and emails after AH scheduled the appointment.  This resulted in a 2 hour drive south (this drive was actually the hardest part for AH - he hates to drive any distance) and the purchase of two new-to-us bikes. 

Part two of this story concluded today as AH sold the 400cc bike.  When AH combines the money received at the sale today with the reward program check that we will get through our credit card company (we get reward dollars when we buy a vehicle) he will actually have made a few hundred dollars more than what we paid for both bikes originally.  This means his newer 250cc bike gained us a few extra hundred dollars when it is all said and done.   

This man is truly amazing at finding these deals!

 

 

On a side note (for our children when they are old enough to have credit cards), we use our credit card for most of our purchases and we pay it off every month and never pay the credit card company any interest for our purchases as a result.  This was a principal of money management that AH learned from his parents and grandparents.  As a result of our timely payments the money/rewards we earn from the credit card company is absolutely free. . . essentially they pay us to use their credit card.  Like many things in life if you use it properly it can bless you and if you use in irresponsibly it can cost you - the choice is yours.

Summer Evening Pastime

Summer = Termites

 

Termites = Spider Food

 

AH = Teaching Kids to Catch Termites and

Throwing Them Into Spider Webs Each Summer Evening

 

Summer + Termites + Kids Feeding Termites to Spiders = Grossed Out Mom

 

 

Our pediatrician assures me that it is essential for my childrens development that their dad teaches these kinds of thing.  Really????

Organic Beeb

There have been two incidents of Beeb making her mother beyond proud recently that must be documented.  The first happened last weekend while we were enjoying a delicious dinner at AH's brother's home.  During the meal Beeb came over to me at the adult table to quietly speak with me about her own dinner.

"Mom, I can't eat the salad." 

"Why not?" I replied thinking she was just trying to get out of eating her salad. "What's wrong with your salad?"

"The dressing on the salad tastes like CHEMICALS," she proclaimed dramatically. 

This got everyone's attention as they all stopped talking and looked at Beeb.  I barked out laughter and hugged her to me. 

"Beeb you are the best daughter ever," I said laughingly to her. 

*My children have ever only eaten organic dairy free ranch dressing so the taste of Hidden Valley Ranch is not what she was expecting.  Admittedly I hate the taste of organic dairy free ranch so I only use balsamic vinaigrette on my salads. 

The second incident happened today during church.  A speaker was describing our role in the after-life and it came across as hard work.  AH jokingly said that he had been looking forward to the next life but maybe now he'll want to wait.  Beeb, sitting next to him, quietly said, "Then you'd better stop eating Jiff."  He looked at her and asked, "What did you say?"  She looked at me and then back to him and said, "If you don't want to die soon you'd better stop eating Jiff."  I laughed again and hugged her to me.  I whispered in her ear, "Beeb I sure do love you."  Then I laughed for several minutes while AH gave me the stink-eye.

That is one cute girl and I'm super glad she's mine!

Movie Night

Tonight we had some neighbor kids over for a junk food dinner (hot dogs, tortilla chips, salsa, frozen grapes, rice krispy treats, and popcorn) and movie.  After gobbling down our food we settled into the family room with blankets, pillows, jammies and the remaining popcorn while we watched "Mirror, Mirror".  AFTER the movie is when the real adventure happened as the kids ended up in a full fledged pillow fight. 

The fighters:

Everyone survived and they even set their own rules for safe play.  What a great group of kids!

Gluten & Dairy Free

These past 9 months have been a series of experiments for us as we tried to figure out what is best for Mr. B.  Over the last few years he has developed a bit of a “belly” which I couldn’t fully understand due to our organic whole food diet that makes up the majority of our meals.  For a long time I just chalked it up to “that’s his body type” but in the back of my mind it always sort of confounded me.  Then this past summer Mr. B expressed embarrassment over his belly because kids were asking him why he was fat.  I knew then that it was time for me to really dig in and see what was going on.  I had suspected that the problem may have been created by his ADHD medication, Guanfacine, but after taking him off the medication for 6 months there was no change in his body shape or weight.  That ruled out Guanfacine as the culprit, which I am very happy about since he really needs his medicine and it is the only one that works for helping him control his ADHD without making him manic. 

Next AH gathered a list of nutritionist that are part of our insurance network.  Let me just say right now that I really truly believe that God does answer prayers and I have personally had many specific prayers answered, especially when they are about the welfare of my children.  As I sat down with the list from AH I reluctantly called the first number on the list.  Thankfully the person was not at that number because it just didn’t feel right to me.  Then I took a good long look at the list and felt guided to call Susan Gins.  Susan actually answered her phone and proceeded to spend about 30 minutes talking with me about Mr. B, my concerns and how best to help him.  She was warm, listened really well, had great ideas and made me feel really comfortable.  A few days later we went to see her and she was even better in person.  We talked about Mr. B’s ADHD, his diet, body shape and how all these things tie together.  She recommended a temporary gluten and dairy free diet for Mr. B to see if he had sensitivities that would not show up on an allergy test (though we did blood-work as well).  She recommended great foods that he could eat, had actual packaging of brands (so helpful) and recipes for us to try.  I met with her again three weeks later and she walked me through how to start adding foods back in, what to look for that would indicate sensitivity and so forth.  She has been wonderful, not overwhelming, held my hand, called to check in, emailed to check in again and just a pleasure to have help guide me through this process. 

This past week I took AH back in to talk with Susan about the elimination results.  We didn’t notice any sensitivities (behaviorally or physically) as we tested the wheat (gluten) and dairy food items with Mr. B.  I was feeling a bit discouraged because I didn’t know what the next step would be (it seems like we’ve tried everything under the sun) but then we decided to see where Mr. B was at on the scale because Susan said she thought he looked very different to her.  Well to my amazement Mr. B was 13 pounds lighter than he was just two months (nearly to the day) prior.  I never ever expected this because Mr. B has been eating gluten/dairy free macaroni & cheese, pizza, chips, vanilla soy milk, chocolate soy milk, cupcakes, bagels, cream cheese, sour cream . . . stuff we did not eat before!  She and I talked about why this works for his body and she recommended keeping him on a mostly gluten/dairy free diet (he can have a little of one or the other every 3^rd day).  Now that I know this is going to be his “normal” diet I can start getting the gluten free “wheats, etc.” and cooking more from scratch instead of buying premade meals for him.

Through it all Mr. B has been quite the trouper.  He LOVES the soy milk and said that even if he can have regular milk again he wanted to continue with the soy instead.  He understands that in order for his body to be healthy he has to make healthy choices and that for him that means limiting wheat and dairy.  Thankfully we live in an age and an area where I can go into many stores or restaurants and easily find items that fit that bill and taste delicious!

Blake Island

This weekend we did a quick overnight camping trip with most of AH's family to Blake Island.  AH's brother ferried everyone over to the island (about 3 trips) with all our gear and then we let the kids run wild for a solid 24 hours.  It's the ideal camping destination - no one can get lost.

I didn't take too many photos but I did capture an evening football game between the dad's and the cousins.  Mr. B and Beeb were in the thick of it and loving every moment. 

Did I mention that this was tackle football?

 

After our fun time on the island we headed over to Tips house where we enjoyed steak and fresh caught crab for dinner - yum!  The kids played some more, swam in the pool and were completely worn out by the time we left.  As a matter of fact they are both still so exhausted today (and cranky!) that I sent them to bed at 6:45pm - Mr. B is already asleep and Beeb is soon to follow.

Let's Go Run 200 Miles in 24 Hours. . .

In July I joined a team of women in running a 200 mile relay race called RAGNAR.  The 12 team members are divided into two vans with 6 runners in each van.  The runners in the van would each run one leg (varying in lengths from 2.9 miles to 10.9 miles) of the race and then hand the baton off to the second team van of runners.  The runners in the first van would then take a 4-5 hour break/rest while the other half of the team was running their legs.  Once they were done they would hand the baton back to us and it would start all over again.  We repeated this routine three times over a 29 hour period.  Some people call this fun. . .  I would be one of them.

I was in van #1 (note to self . . . always be in van #1 in the future. 

The running schedule is much easier than van #2)

Our first runner is off in typical Washington rain.  She got to follow a guy running in his underwear for the first few miles . . . until she passed him!

Our second runner had a little reprieve from the rain (note how everyone is always smiling).  Our van would follow each runner and provide rockin music and water as needed along each route/leg.

This lady had the longest run of our first leg (over 8 miles), it was uphill the entire time, and there was no van support available.  (no dance music, no water breaks from her crew = not so much fun)

The last part of my first run was down hill and glorious.  I ran right past my mom (an awesome volunteer at the event) who didn't even recognize me despite my saying, "Hi Mom!" as I went by.  

There's nothing more peaceful than finding your stride along the route.  She rocked each of her runs by knocking several minutes off her estimated pace! 

This lady gets the cheer award - she always had a smile and she always had the water ready . . . even in the dead of night.

A nice exchange in the evening.  I learned to point my headlamp up a bit to keep the bugs out of my face and, after tripping and falling over a non-existent crack in the sidewalk, I learned to pick my feat up a bit more too. Luckily nobody saw me biff it - but I had the bloody knee to prove it later.

Our team captain and one crazy lady (she was the first runner for van #2).  This is her at the exchange when she takes off to run her very last leg (9 miles . . . uphill).  Words cannot express how organized she made us and what an awesome job she did in leading our team.

Our entire team at the finish line.  Overall we took 6th place for the women's division (out of 34 teams . . . not too shabby) and we beat our friendly men's team by 6 minutes.

What impressed me about the whole experience was viewing all the different ages and levels of runners out on the course.  You had the elite teams (I fantasize about being one of them but let's face it, I'm not willing to put in the time to train for it), the middle of the road runners (that's more my style), the lite joggers (this is me when I have to run by myself) and many teams with people who you knew were fairly new to exercise.  I was so happy and proud of them all (especially the "new to exercise" group) because it was hard physically and emotionally (I was so scared of my last leg that I cried right before it started) but it was also very fun and you ain't living life by sitting on the couch.

I can't wait until next year!