Happy Birthday Luke

The cake...
The three year old...

And oh the excitement for dirt!
If you have seen Luke in the last week, then you have already heard about his dump truck birthday cake. With "dirt" in the back. He was pretty excited about it, so much so that he keeps talking about it. Can you just guess how that would make his mother feel? Never mind that the front axle slid out the wrong way or that it had a rear-ender with Wesley. Of course there is nothing professional about it. I can't help but smile to see him so happy.
One of the sweetest gifts that he got was a picture Allie drew for him. I love it! It is so cute!!! She put it in a gift bag for him to open up and color. It is a race at night (those are stars). I really really love all of Allie's artwork. She doesn't draw stick people (all though this picture might look a little like it) and she is really talented. The first car is only half there because it has already driven out of view. Maybe that is normal for a 5 year old but I was really impressed that she got that concept.
He was also so excited about his Thomas the Train stuff. Thanks again Maria (who got them for $1 at Savers).

The Great Dust Bowl

Before

I remember learning about the Great Dust Bowl of the 1930's in junior high. I remember several general facts but the one that stood out most, and maybe it's not even true, was that some of the farmer's wives- the women trying to care for house and home and laundry and cooking and and and... (an endless list)- many of them went mad. The constant blowing of the wind coupled with the dirt and sand. Aaaaaauugh!!! Well I have now a better understanding of the insanity. Welcome to my mini dust bowl.

The kitchen and family room before photos (as seen above). Nothing was all that dreadful. The kitchen was some what inefficient, we were not crazy about the paneling in the family room and I never really like the fireplace. I really have so much to be grateful for and I certainly LOVE my home but we were excited to really make it our own. The main thing we wanted was to take out the wall between the two rooms (if you have never been here, the family room shot is taken with your back to the wall. It is the same wall that is on the left in the kitchen shot).
You know how one thing leads to another. When Grandpa Jackson came to town to help tear down the wall and put up a beam (it is a load bearing wall), well we needed to get behind the paneling in the family room. But of course the paneling was nailed behind the slump block brick fireplace. We knew it would get dusty so out went the carpet and padding. Basically now everything has been torn apart. And oh that part was so fun. Absolutely every last thing in my house covered in dirt, dust, mortar and debris... not so fun.


AfterThe new view of what will some day be cabinets and counter top with no wall. Or dust and debris. And the ladder will probably go too.

If It Doesn't Have a Tail It's Not A Monkey

Even though it has a monkey kind of shape. Wesley's cast came off on Monday. HOORAY! And you know what that means- bath time with our favorite older brother. Wesley was absolutely thrilled! And so was Luke who has missed him quite a bit.
And now the shot you have all been waiting for... his "new born thumb" (as Allie calls it). This was Monday evening. It looks even better now as most of the stitches have dissolved. The appointment went very well. When the dr. got the pliers to pull the pin out we were concerned but it was just a quick zip and pull and out it came. I was so relieved that his thumb looked better than it had the week before. Much of the swelling has gone done. Basically, it just keeps looking better and better. We will post another one soon.


I realized these shots are all kind of a different color. It is because I developed them while sitting here at the computer under a sheet. Sounds strange? Well stay tuned!

Happy Easter

Off With the Old, On With the New

Wesley had a doctor's appointment on Monday. They took off his old cast and put on a new one. We got to see his thumb for the first time. When the nurses had stepped away I said to Jason "It's so UGLY!" and it is. But, as Jason reminded me, it is still swollen and red from surgery and the big ugly black zig-zag down the side stitches really will dissolve... eventually. All five (sniff- sniff... only 5) little nails badly needed trimming. They left the pin in. Wesley saw it and tried to pull it out himself. It looks like a little push sticking out of the end of his thumb. But of course it goes through the bones the entire length of his thumb. They took x-rays again (it is so nice to have Jason and I together for that alone since we both had to hold his arm down and in place. It took a couple of tries). They recast him but at least this time we can see his other little fingers poking out.

In this photo of his first cast (which we kept of course), I tried to get a picture of the bottom side to show you how worn down it was from sliding around. The fist area which he used to clobber us with was soft enough you could push in on it.

The new, improved, lighter weight and brighter colored cast!
It was so hard to get a video of Wesley's slide because as soon as he saw the camera, that is all he wanted. So he would stop sliding and start scrambling to try to get to me. All the same you can see how and why his cast was so worn down.


And lastly, I thought I would throw this one in. I know it will seem foreign to most of you but this is a shot of the Sunday afternoon session of Conference.

Allie is into verbrado...

We tried to get video of Wesley sliding along with his cast but after last weekend in AZ and cousin Mackay walking circles around him, well he decided maybe that was the better way to go. He gets his cast off tomorrow afternoon and the pin out of his thumb as well. We don't know yet if he'll have another cast put on or not.



I sat down with Allie and Luke today for a little chat. The Grandmas may be the only ones to watch all of the videos, they get a little repetitive...



Allie is starting to show her mother's genes in this next one. I can't do arithmetic to save my life...


This next one, I suppose, we should be a bit shy to show. Maybe Allie has watched Mulan one too many times. She hasn't seen it too much I guess, I'm just surprised how quickly she learns the silly little songs in cartoons. This is all her:

(watch how she sings so nice as she gouges out her brother's eye)