Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real

I am linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter this Thursday.

Pretty

My children are crafters, well I don't know about Little Man, but since most of the free time in this house is spent doing arts and crafts, I think he has little choice but to join in.  For my birthday on Tuesday, I was greeted with the following prizes when I woke up.  Cowgirl made me a handmade card and a leather bookmark that she upcycled from her father's broken belt.  Buddy made me a "lunch box and thermos."  The lunchbox included a lip balm. I'm not sure what else I could really carry in it, but you have to admit it is creative, and I do need a new thermos.  We like to carry along water wherever we go in reusable bottles, mine recently broke. 

Happy

I had a very happy birthday that included a yummy pie from one of our local orchards.  I am not a cake person, although I am beginning to like it more as I get older which actually is not a benefit.  When I was a child, my great-grandmother always made me a lemon meringue pie for my birthday.  It as a perfect lemon meringue pie and I have yet to find any that come close.  I suppose that is part of the reason I always like pie for my birthday.

I also got great news that I won a copy of The Little Oratory!  I will be reading it this summer and hooking up with Auntie Leila in her series on building little oratories in the home.  Happy Birthday to me!

Well, I had to include a few pictures of Little Man under happy because he IS the happiest baby on the block!

                                                   Delicious teas from my husband

Funny

Did I mention that my children like to make things?  Buddy has been wanting a workbench for his tools and building projects.  There just isn't room in the house and we aren't in the position to build a workshop in the backyard right now, but we found this table on the side of the road and it has been just wonderful.   Before you look too closely at the picture, let me issue a disclaimer.  My husband is fond of quoting Father M's dad who once said in his Irish brogue, "I'm raising kids, not grass."  I keep asking why we can't try to do both, but so far no one agrees with me.  We live in a very shady valley on top of a hill (yes, you can live in a valley on top of a mountain!)  This also means tons of run off from the surrounding hills, add to that children that love to tear around the yard and you get mud.  Oh, and those toys strewn about, they aren't negelcted, that is one of Cowgirl's jumping courses where the kids pretend to be horses and race through obstacles.  A couple of years ago, I reseeded the whole yard and was excited that the bare patches (at that point it was only patches) would be gone.  Just as the seed was starting to sprout, Buddy came to me one day and told me he had done a great job cleaning up the yard.  I followed him to see what he had done, proud that I had raised such a responsible young child, much to my dismay, he had gathered up all the grass seed that was "littering" the yard and put it in a pile in the corner of the patio. So the state of the yard is funny but not, I'm hoping to get some green in there again this summer.   

The kids spent the afternoon of my birthday building me more projects and painting away.  They tested out Buddy's new coping saw, too.  This is the finished product.

A welcome sign, who needs that silent e anyway.

I inherited my grandfather's crucifix, when we moved into this house I was so happy to get to hang it over the front door.  When Cowgirl was about four, she made the colorful cross taped next to it in Sunday School and told me my crucifix wasn't very fancy so I should replace it with her paper cross.  I compromised and taped it next to the crucifix and it's still there.  Last Christmas, Buddy made the large paper cross on the door because he said we need to remember Jesus died on the cross and that is more important than Christmas decorations.  For my birthday, he made me the log decoration hanging in front of his cross.  It is a reminder to think about Christ's cross and is supposed to be something I can look at when I need to think about Jesus.  Does this count as a little oratory?

Real

I have warned my children since they began to toddle not to run on wet stones and grass, they have always thought I was being ridiculous. Well, last Thursday, Buddy learned the hard way why I don't want them running on wet ground.  He was completing one of Cowgirl's jumping courses when he slid on a slate paver and came down right his knee on the edge of said paver.  After  texting photos to my ER nurse sister, we were on our way to the pediatrician's.  I will spare you the gorey photos.

They washes out the wound with betadine four times, then put a ton of dermabond glue over it.  The doctor wrapped his leg in an ace bandage splint and ordered that he not bend his knee until Monday.  Seeing as Buddy does not know the term gently, he was relegated to the couch watching movie for four days, to save me from having to bring him to the hospital for stitches..  The wound finally stopped bleeding on Tuesday.   This is the fourth wound in 18 months that has required doctor intervention, I have handled the other 956 at home.
...and as I finished typing that paragraph, I heard Buddy scream and come running into the house with yet another injury.  Need to run and get the antiseptic and bandages....

He really wasn't sulking when I took the camera out, but he wanted to be sure to garner lots of sympathy from whomever saw the photo so he put on his saddest face.

Buddy is a born couch potato, if I let him have unlimited movie access he would never sleep nor leave this position.  So, four days watching movies on the couch was not much of a hardship.  I explained to him that there would be a mark on his knee called a scar that is permanent and would not go away.  He asked if it would go away if he became a saint, and I said yes.  So, he said, "Then I just have to work really hard at becoming a saint."  :)