Fun Birthday Activity

Lexi has been asking to make homemade playdoh. Today was the day!

It's pretty easy to make.

I had to make a trip to Jeff's in Blue Grass to get the cream of tartar but that was okay. Got me out of the house for a minute.

Cheese buckets!

Aren't these pretty colors? I wish you could smell them. Fruity Kool-aid flavors. Yum!

Here's the recipe I used:

1 package of Kool-aid

1 c. of boiling water -Pour water on top of Kool-aid to dissolve.

Add 1/2 c. of salt

2 tbsp. cream of tartar

1 tbsp. of oil

and 2 c. of flour

Stir and enjoy!

Happy Birthday Lexi!

Alexis turns 9!!!!!

Polly Pocket cake!

Baby Henry!

Opening gifts.

I ordered a sewing kit for her from my friend Ann Jordan's etsy site. It's super cute and fun. I'll have to post pictures when she makes her pillow.

Attack that cake!

The Hard Life of a Three Year Old

I happened to overhear Leah saying to herself, "Issues, issues, issues." I asked her, "Leah do you have issues?" (Shaking her head sadly back and forth) "Yes, I have issues".

Another Update on Zach's Knees

We had our big appt. in Iowa City. Basically, this doctor is not convinced that Zach has OCD. However, whether or not it has a name is not the point because he still has a defect on the back of both patellas. We have some options to consider but basically it came down to-without surgery he won't recover enough to be able to run during high school. We have scheduled his surgery for his right knee (the worst one) on April 12th. They will do a laproscopic surgery which means they will make two slits and insert a camera to look at the lesion. Depending on what he sees, he has two options. Number 1 is microfracture which involves poking holes in his kneecap to cause bleeding and therefore scar tissue will build up and heal over the lesion so it doesn't swell anymore. This will be fibrocartilage and not the hyaline cartilage he was born with. You can't regrow that cartilage. If the doctor thinks the lesion is worse than that surgery could help, then number 2 will happen. They will cut him open further, pull back the kneecap and place a cartilage "plug" that they take from a different part of his knee. That is obviously more invasive but it is a good option to be able to do it right then and not have a separate surgery. He will have to miss about a week of school but then can go back with crutches. It was a whole lot for me to process and I'm still working on it.

The Wheels on the Tractor Go Round and Round

Me: Hey Gracie! Show me how you can fit in here.

Tracy: Yes, yes do it, Grace! It will be so cute!

Tracy: Hey, maybe Bethany could fit in there. Try it Bethany!
Me: Okay Tracy, your turn!

Tracy: Okay, I'll try anything!

Me: (Tracy was occupied elsewhere) Caleb, do you think you fit in this wheel?

Caleb: I don't think so.

Me: Just try it!

Tracy: Ok Leisha, you try.

Me: Oh I don't think I'm that flexible.

Tracy: Oh you can fit, just try.

Me: This is really hard!!

Me: Hey, Thomas, do you want to sit in here?

Thomas: Yep.

Trey Buddy!
Me: Zach!

Tracy: No way, he won't fit, he's too tall.

Me: Caleb did it.

Tracy: Oh, ok then.

Me: Come on Laura...

Tracy: Oh yes! Yes, do it Laura!

Laura: Ummm, what?

Me: Hannah, sit in here

Hannah: Okay, sure.Go Lexi!

Leah Babe

Me: Caroline, can you sit in here?

Caroline: (nods)

Fun Weekend

This last weekend, the men in my family descended upon Walcott to have their annual Knutsen Skat Tournament. My dad, Dave, my brothers-in-law Brian and Mark, and Mark's sons Caleb and Micah, came to my house to play cards on Friday night and Saturday. The wives and children gathered at my mom's house to play with cousins and enjoy time together.

I would love to show you pictures of the guys at my house but I can't! Who wants to take pictures of a bunch of boys anyway?

Here are the girls playing dress up.

On Saturday, we went out to the interstate to look at the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum. Then we went for an ice cream treat!
Next we went to Moline to see the John Deere tractors

Leah asked me to turn the radio to Baby Stuck Like Glue:)

Oh yeah, by the way, congrats to the winner of the card tournament. My dad!:)

Zach's Knees

If you read this post and this post, you know we were going back to the doctor to get the results of his second MRI and to see what else the doctor could tell us. We saw the MRI and it is almost a mirror image of the first one. The doctor gave us alot of information on OCD and was honest and forthcoming about the procedures that he performs and what they entail and how long the recovery time would be. He thinks that Zach should make a good enough recovery to still be able to run in the future. And then he said, "This is what I do but there are other procedures out there and it would be prudent for you to get a second or even third opinion before making your decision."
"Where do we go for that?" I asked.
He said, "There are few places here in the Quad Cities that do these kinds of procedures but the only one I would recommend for his case is Dr. Amendola at the Uof I Sports Medicine Center."
Dave said, "That's where we want to go."
Since you can't just run off to Iowa City and get an appt. to see this doctor, Dr. Hussain is sending a referal to his office and they will call us to set up a time when we can go and meet him. It's funny, my coworker said that we should go to him because she just had knee surgery, so when Dr H. said his name I was able to say I had heard of him.
In the meantime, while we wait, I am praising God for sending us to the right place and through the right channels. And to this doctor who is very knowledgable and gracious enough to recommend a second opinion. We were prepared to ask for one but it's good to know he did the right thing and we didn't have to.