Hospital Stay

We are happy to say that after three days in the hospital - Bryant is home and doing well. It all started with a tiny scratch on the side of his knee. It became infected to the point that he was not walking on that leg. We took him to doctor and they drained some of it to do a culture and started him on an oral antibiotic. Followed up the next day with the doctor. It appeared to be worse than the previous day but the doc said it was probably due to being on the meds for a short amount of time. She outlined the area on his leg that was red and swelled and told us that if it was worse the next day to call. Well low and behold the next day it was worse. I called the pediatrician and was instructed to take him to the ER. (Our peds in this area don't admit their own patients - they have to be admitted by an ER physician.) After being in the ER for about 7 hours he was finally taken to his own room. They did 2 ultrasounds and 3 X-rays of his knee. Luckily the infection was not in the joint. They started him on IV antibiotics and decided to do another culture. He just absolutely loved having them press on it. The next day the doc decided she wanted to do an incision to have the area drain as much as possible. About 20 minutes before the incision was to occur 2 ladies came to the room to do "music therapy" with him. Suppose to take his mind away from it all. Bryant was having a great time with the music until the minute he saw the nurses and doc come in and begin putting on all the gloves and gowns. He knew what was about to happen. I have to say he did really good considering the situation and at times was distracted from the procedure by the music therapy that was still going on. The last day we were there they had a teacher come to the room to work with him on some reading and math. Unfortunately the teacher arrived about the same time as the discharge. Needless to say we were more anxious to get out of the hospital than stay around for some reading and math. (He had been doing some the previous days in the hospital anyway.) The final diagnosis of this all was a staph infection. Bryant had a followup with his pediatrician this past Friday and he said everything was looking good. We have to keep it bandaged and no physical activity (who are they kidding- he is a BOY) until the incicion is healed.

Fall Festivities

Last weekend we decided to join in on some of the fall activities. We (The Smiths, Ducars, and Barkmans) took a train ride to the pumpkin patch in Willow. It had rained earlier so everything was nice and muddy. The kids enjoyed picking their very own pumpkin to take home, making lollipop ghosts, playing with the oversized lincoln logs, and playing with the train set. When the train ride was over we caravaned to Hundsader Farms. We had a great time walking through the corn maze, watching the motorcycle stunt men, feeding the animals and as usual in Florida sweating to death at the end of October.

This week was full of activites as well. Baseball two nights, Family Fall Festival at Bryant's school, Storybook Parade at Bryant's school, party at Bryant's school, party at Caleb's school, and trick-or-treating with LJ. Way TOO MUCH candy to keep in this house. As a reminder to all parents: Check your child's candy before they dive in. NOTE: Caleb and Bryant both received a snack size bag of Christmas candy and cookies - not sure if someone was confused about the holiday, giving leftovers from last year or just early for Christmas this year. Needless to say those baggies are in the garbage.

Hurricane Day at Fort Smith

Well today is supposed to be the second day of school and we are having a Hurricane Day. Our house is covered with shutters so we are calling it Fort Smith. So far this morning we have had gusty winds and rain. From the last look at the radar and satellite images on the news we should be getting hammered any minute now. Fortunately, it is only a tropical storm and ended up hitting land south of us and headed east. Much better situation that coming at us off the gulf. We will keep everyone posted on our situation.

First Day Of School

Bryant was very excited about his first day of school. We picked out his outfit (and tried it on) the night before. His backpack was full of all his supplies and his lunch box was ready for the food. Caleb was excited as well. His school has a new "Imagination Room". Lots of new stuff in there to explore!

Daddy picked them up from school and came home to prepare for Tropical Storm/Hurricane Fay. Bryant was so eager to do his homework but we had to have him hold off while we finished putting up our shutters. Caleb is participating in the "Links to Literacy" program so he got to bring home a book from the school library as well. He felt like such a big kid! We are keeping our fingers crossed that this enthusiasm keeps up!

Summer Vacation

The day was finally here. We were on our way to the airport bound for Boston. Everything went well with the flight. After getting all six checked bags we make our way outside to catch a bus to the rental car office. That was an adventure. We loaded up in the minivan to begin the real adventure of finding our way to the cabin on the lake, a.k.a. "The White House". We determined that the northeastern states do not believe in signs to notify you of upcoming intersections, exits, etc. Just a couple of crazy maneuvers and we arrived safely in Harrison. The first night we were therewe had stayed at Wyndham Way Motel. The boys (yes I mean all three) were eager to get going the next morning to go to the lake. We attended Shelly's 50th birthday bash that afternoon into the evening. Some of our day trip during the week included Popham Beach (with 63 degree water and not much warmer on the land), StoryLand, Freeport and Museum of Science (in Boston). Linda, Paula, Christine, Tucker and Jessie went with us except for the Boston trip. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins that they only get to see once or twice a year. Mom and Dad enjoyed seeing some of the northeast. We decided there was too much to see in one week, especially in Boston.

Semi-annual update!

I know everyone is tired of seeing the practice run. Believe it or not-we did actually go camping. I think I better stick to monthly updates versus weekly. So here is what we have been up to lately. Bryant is really enjoying his summer camp. He thinks he is so cool riding the bus to go on the field trips. Since when did riding the bus become cool? Oh well! His field trips have been to the park, skating rink, community pool, bowling and movies. He is worn out by the time I pick him up in the afternoon.

Caleb has been enjoying water days at his school. It is a nice break from the hot days out on the playground. He is looking forward to going to Maine next month to pick blueberries. He is also exciting about going on an airplane again.

Don't hold your breath for the next update!

Practice Run

Friday night I had dinner and a show with the girls from work. This was our present from our boss for Christmas. We went to Bonefish Grill and saw "Ring of Fire". Wow, that's as country as it gets! Mom and Dad came down for the weekend to do a "practice run" on setting up the tent before next weekend. Seems pretty easy and of course dad suggested we label the tent poles with my handy dandy label maker. He is so organized! Sunday afternoon Bryant rode his bike up and down the street and did not want to stop. Now that he has the hang of no training wheels he thinks he is a trick-rider. He loves to off road it in the empty lots and do a little swerve action when on the pavement. He has had a couple of crashes but thankfully got right up, brushed off and continued on his way. Caleb spent the afternoon on the Playhouse Disney website since we didn't have the TV on. He's not much for exerting too much energy!

Weekend recap

Since Bryant did not have school on Friday, the boys and I went to Lakeland on Thursday night. Friday we enjoyed the day at Cypress Gardens with Nana, Donnie, Tracy and L.J. We had a lot of fun and got a little wet from the rain. I even road some of the roller coasters without getting sick! The rest of the weekend consisted of me getting a new hair color, Bryant riding his bike to perfect the no training wheels deal, sushi with Tracy and some other moms, shopping and Caleb watching "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl" a million times.

Brian was in Maine visiting Barry. The good news - Barry is out of the hospital after 26 days. He will be having some additional test in the next couple of weeks but at least he will be in the comfort of his own home rather than the hospital.

Miniature Golf

Last weekend Grammy and Grandpa John came down to have a belated Christmas. The boys got alot of cool stuff - like they need more! Grammy and Grandpa John took the boys to see "Waterhorse" while Brian and I went to his company dinner. We had a great time and the weather and sunset were perfect. On Sunday, we took the boys to play putt putt golf. Bryant tried really hard and did a great job. We had to keep reminding Caleb to leave his ball on the ground. His rules were to hit the ball. Pick it up and set it closer to the cup. Once we had established that you have to hit the ball from where it is he decided to just push the ball to the cup with the putter. How could we have ever guessed Caleb would be the one to try and find a shortcut. We will see what this weekend brings us!

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve was pretty quiet around here. We had dinner at The Joint with the Murphys and then came back to our place. Brian and Travis decided to do some fireworks. The kids were in bed by 9:00 and I was asleep on the couch by 9:15. Brian was the only one who made it to ring in the new year. We are such party animals these days!

I have realized these last couple of days that I need to dig out my "tomboy" ways. We have played football, soccer, baseball and golf. Those are not so bad. However, thanks to Nana, Bryant received a frog habitat for Christmas. We completed our mission of purchasing a frog from the pet store today. Not wanting to actually touch the frog, I figured I could open the pet store box and let him (in his own time) hop into the habitat. Did you know frogs are very quick to jump at the first chance they get? I now have to figure out how to get the frog off the kitchen window and into the habitat while the boys are supervising me and telling me to just catch it in my hands. Are they kidding? Where is your father? Needless to say I got the frog in the habitat with the help of a small bowl and papertowel. Tomorrow we will make a trip to a different pet store to purchase crickets to feed our new pet. I can hardly wait to try and get those in the habitat! Thank you Nana!