Finger Fun

So, it's been a little stressful in the Potter house.  And we all know that when it rains, it pours.

Just 2 days after finding out about the move, the girls were dancing around in the living room & Cadence's finger got caught in Lorien's shirt sleeve when they both spun in opposite directions.  Cadence let out a scream & I told them to stop messing around.  I looked down at Cadence's hand & one of her fingers was pointing in the wrong direction.

Yup, let's add hospital visit to the crazy week, shall we?

Sure enough, it was broken. . . right at the tip.  "You can fix it right?" we asked the doctor.  "She's going to need surgery to pin it correctly!"

OF COURSE SHE IS!

Let me just add this to my endless list of to dos this week.  ha ha ha.

So finally after seeing 4 different specialists, we finally got a date for her surgery.  Poor girl.  They had to go in & re-break her finger so it would be a "clean break," set it properly, & then put 2 pins in it to hold the bones in place.

She was a real trooper.  She wasn't scared at all & didn't even flinch when they put in her IV.  I was amazed at how strong this kid is.  She makes me so proud.

The surgery was really fast & it was a total success.  Everything is good with her finger now & it can heal properly so there won't be any future side effects.

Now she has a huge cast on to hide the pins sticking out of her finger.  She goes back in in 10 days to get the pins removed & a real cast put on it.  Poor thing.  This is not the way you want to end your summer vacation, but she's been a real trooper.  I'm very grateful for her positive attitude.  It's really helped out during this stressful time.

Poor Cadence.  The first of 6 kids to break a bone . . . & I'm sure she won't be my last.  But she did really well & I'm really proud of her.

SAY WHAT ?!?!?

So here we go again!

I don't know why we can't stay put for the time Trek's job tells us we'll be places.  We were supposed to stay here in Virginia until Fall of 2016 or Winter 2017. . . that's why we bought a house here.  But of course, they have different plans.

Trek is being assigned to Cupertino, CA (the tech capital of the world) & he starts on HALLOWEEN!

Yup, two months notice to sell a house, pack up, get things squared away with 4 kids in school, drive across the entire country, find a house that we can afford to rent that will fit 8 people, & keep smiling.

I think they might be insane at this point.  Either they are & I am.  I'm starting to wonder if it's me!

Well, either way. . . . ALWAYS AN ADVENTURE!

BRING IT ON!

Night Games

Every summer I try to do night games for our neighborhood.  It's really one of my favorite summer things.  We invite our whole neighborhood into our backyard & we play for an hour & a half, then eat treats together at the very end.  The kids/teens seem to love it & I know my kids look forward to it every summer.

This year I tried one night a little different.  Instead of playing our usual "kick the can" or "ghosts in the graveyard" or "capture the flag," I dedicated the whole night to water games.  We made this super fun baseball diamond out of slippin slides & kiddie pools.  As kids kick the ball, they "slide" to each "base" (pools) on the slides & just get each other soaked.  We played this for 40 minutes alone & the kids didn't want to stop.  I think this may have been the most successful night game we've ever done. It was hilarious to watch & even the parents were sneaking turns in between the kids.  I was cracking up.

After water baseball, we played water volleyball with water balloons & towels & then had a big water balloon fight.  And then we played a bunch of water relays.  The first one we split them up into teams & gave each team a large cup with holes in it.  They had to fill their cup with water & empty it into the bucket on the other side of the yard.  With holes in the cups, they hardly had any water left when they reached the bucket.  It was hilarious to watch. 

Then we had them line up in teams & pass water with buckets over their heads & try to fill a larger bucket at the end.  They were giggling & having fun dumping buckets of water over their heads.  Who knew entertaining kids could be so easy?

It was a great night.  I really love night games.  I'm going to miss this neighborhood when we move from here.  It's been one of the best neighborhoods we've ever lived in.

Summer Lovin

After visiting my family in UT. . . we've literally just been chilling around the house enjoying our summer.  The kids & I take a lot of walks to the swimming pool or to Sonic for slushies during happy hour.  We just love enjoying our summer.

Our garden is really producing right now.  We've got tons of carrots, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, & hot peppers.  It's been fun picking them & eating them.  My boys make it hard though.  They like to just pick whatever they feel like picking & eat it right then & there.  This little guy is addicted to carrots straight from the garden.

I have to pry the carrots out of his hands so I can at least wash them before they go in his mouth.  I'm just grateful I have kiddos that like veggies.

One of our favorite places to visit in the summer is the Peninsula Towne Center outdoor mall splash pad.  It's just a tiny little splash pad that hardly anyone knows about, but we go every summer & the kids love having it all to themselves most of the time.  We spend hours here.  It's so fun.

And I love the extra hugs that come when they get hold & want to cuddle to stay warm.

It's been a wonderful summer so far.  I don't want it to end.

Happy Pictures with Mimi & Mamoo

I'm not very good at taking pictures as often as I should, so before we left UT, I promised myself to take pictures of each of my kids with Mimi & Mamoo.  I am still kicking myself for not getting any with my DAD.  You hear that Baba?!?  Next time, you're going to be in EVERY PICTURE I TAKE.  But I am glad I got some of these pics because they are beautiful.

I love my mom & grandma so much.  I hope they know that.  I miss them when we are apart & I am proud of who they are & how their lives have shaped my own.

I love you guys.