A Night with The Fever!

 

 I lost my mind for a hot minute on Monday and purchased Justin Bieber Concert tickets for P and me.  I kept telling myself it was for her, but I think there might have been a big part of it that was for me.  I say that because I basked in the greatness of the concert for two days afterwards and I even spent my only 2 hours of alone time this week watching his movie because I wanted to remember the concert experience.  Guilty as charged!  I really like his music! 

We got great seats and it was a really fun experience.  P got to dance and sing and stay out late on a school night.  She paid for it on Tuesday but we sure did have fun on Monday night. 
The Biebs puts on a great concert and is a class act in my book.  There was absolutely nothing about this concert that I thought was inappropriate for the little girls.  If anything, it talked a lot about inspiring them to follow their dreams and do whatever they want in life.  He acknowledges that his fans got him where he is today and how much he appreciates it and thanks God for it as well.  I am really impressed with that kid. 
The only thing I have an issue with is his wardrobe. Somebody needs to fire their stylist and hire someone else.  He has the skinniest little arms and he wore these sleeveless vest that I guess are supposed to get all the little girls excited.  It looked pitiful to me.  That boy needs to drink a protein shake or something.  Anyway, other than that, exhibit A below, he is a cutie patootie. 

Parker will remember this night forever, as will her Mother, ahem!  There will come a day where she will loathe the thought of hanging out with me and so this was a real pleasure.

 

 

My Sweet Ball Boys!

 

As many of you know, Dustin grew up a ball player.  He played baseball all through high school and most of college and loved every minute of it.  When he quit playing, he literally had to rediscover who he was without the sport.  It was his passion.

 

Having said that, we have made a strong and conscious effort NOT to push our love for the sport on our boys.  We let them play whatever sports they decide they want to and we are very supportive of whatever they want to do, even if its not sports.......gasp!

 

So, having said that, my boys have a love for baseball that they grew into naturally and very unintentionally.  The first couple of years of T-ball were just like any other sport that they start in when they are very young. Adorable to watch, but highly hard to predict whether or not their is any real skill or passion involved. They consistently chose to play for about 4 years straight now and this year they have really come into their own.  I'm a very proud Mommy.

 

Bosten and Brooks love baseball more than pretty  much anything in their world besides any species of animal.  Their priorities for the past few years have been animals and baseball in close second.  This year, they asked if we would consider letting them play year round, meaning Spring and Fall Season's.  We are definitely supportive of whatever our kids are passionate about, so we of course said yes. 

 

It has been so fun to watch them because they are getting really good. Consistently good.  I'm loving watching them grow into little mini versions of their Daddy.  He is so very proud of them and just loves having baseball to bond over with his sweet boys.  They look up to him so much and I think their love of baseball has a lot to do with wanting to be just like their Daddy. 

 

The boys had a game tonight and both hit 3 for 3 and each had a home run in there somewhere.  I couldn't be more proud.   Dust was out of town and missed the game, something he rarely does, so I know he was disappointed not to be there and especially since the boys were such little rock stars tonight. 

 

 Brooks going in for the catch1

 

 

Looks like Bosten made a great catch!

 

Is it just me or do I have the most handsome little boys on the planet?  Admittedly, I'm partial, but seriously, how cute are they?



Baby Girl and The Broken Arm!

Man it has been a crazy few weeks around here.  We had our first major accident that ended in a broken bone here at Casa de Dwinell. 

 

Dustin was out of town on a Monday evening and I was at baseball practice with Parker, Brooks, and Bosten. Parker was playing with a few little girls that she had made friends with and Brooks was up to bat. I walked up to the fence to be able to watch a little more closely.  I left Parker sitting on the bleachers just fine.  I few minutes later, I heard a scream that I didn't recognize. I didn't even turn around because I didn't know who it was and it wasn't that loud.  The next thing I heard was Parker scream louder than I have ever heard her.  She then repeatedly yelled..."Mommy, I broke my arm, I broke my arm."  I then turned and ran and picked her up.  I hadn't seen her fall, so I figured she had gotten down and had just tripped while skipping or something. I started to tell her to just shake it off, obviously thinking that she fell a short distance, and then I sat her up on the top bleacher to take a look at her to be sure she was ok. When I did, I saw the arm. Yikes!

 

This is a picture of her arm that evening after they had already tried to adjust it int he hospital.  It was awful.

 So, obviously as soon as I saw it, I  knew it was definitely broken and so my reaction completely changed. I put it into strong Mommy gear immediately and tried my best not to panic to help her through the next few minutes until we could get to the hospital.  I yelled for the boys and we were in the car on the way to the hospital within 5 minutes.  The deformity in her arm was so bad that I second guessed my instinct to go to Cook Children's from the beginning. I was afraid that she might be in shock or bleeding internally or something, so I went to the very closest hospital to our home. I have made this mistake before and I really do know better, but I was on the phone with Dustin, in Lubbock, and between the two of us, he said to just get somewhere quick, and I agreed.

 

We didn't wait even a minute once we got there.  They saw her arm and rushed her right back, again because of the obvious deformity.  I had the boys with me and they were so worried about their Sissy.  They did an awesome job of being good and staying calm and helping us all smile a little throughout the process.  Dustin wasn't there, so I was glad to have them there to support their Sister.

 

 

Once the Doctor came in and assessed the situation, they felt like she definitely was in shock, hence the white face in the pic below, and that she definitely had two broken bones in that arm.  Both of the  bones broke all the way through. It was ugly. So they hooked her up to an IV and put her under and did some pulling and shifting to try to straighten the bone as much as possible.  This was a hard thing to watch for Mommy. Luckily, a dear friend had come to pick up the boys by then and brought them home to go to bed. I was so grateful that she did because seeing Parker under was one of the scariest moments of my life.

 

She did great and Mommy tried hard to put her brave face on and be strong for baby girl.  They got her as straight as possible and then splinted her arm for the night. We left the ER about midnight that night knowing that we would be going to the Orthopedic Doc at Cook Children's the next morning to reassess the situation from there.  She did so good and was so incredibly brave. 

 

The next morning, after about 15 phone calls and some persistent Mommy insisting, we got an appointment with the Orthopedic Doc at Cook Children's and got in.  They did more X-rays and were sad to tell us that the bones weren't set correctly and needed to be re broken and reset again that day.  This would be a very painful procedure for Parker and so they let us know that she would be going under anaesthesia again this day and undergoing another yanking session. This broke my heart for her, but of course I just wanted it to be right.  They got her into surgery immediately and she was out and conscience by 3pm that day.  We were home by 4pm.  It was a great experience.  The treatment at Cook Children's for kids is not even comparable to that of an adult hospital for kids.  It was as pleasant and pain free as it could have been and they did an amazing job answering her questions and making her comfortable through the whole procedure.  I truly cannot say enough good things about this hospital.

 We went home at 4pm that day with a split cast on so that the arm could continue to swell while being held in place. She was in a lot of pain having been though the trauma of having her arm broken and adjusted now 3 times. 

 Once home, she was happy to be home and comfortable, but this was the biggest (fake) smile I could get out of her sweet face.  She really was in pain for the first three days after the procedure. Luckily, we had lots of pain medicine to keep her feeling ok. 

 During those three days after the procedure, Parker was shown so much love.  We had so many people drop by to visit her and bring her goodies and gifts and cards and hugs.  It truly was humbling to see how many people loved my Parker Rae enough to support her in that way.  Here is a pic of sweet Harper who brought her some JRae cookies (The Best Ever).  Mommy may have stolen a few bites of those.  I was so grateful for her friends because she truly lit up when they started to show up and it was the first time I'd seen her smile in days.

 This is how Parker spent the next several days.  Sitting with her arm above her heart and her puppy, Maci, by her side while playing on the iPad.

 I was so grateful when I took the picture because she had been hurting so bad and she finally found some comfort and peace enough to sleep. This was a good moment for Mommy.

 A few days later Parker was ready to try to go back to school to figure out how life without the use of her right hand would be for a bit.  I went with her for two days and just watched to try and assess how it would be for her and what I could do to make it easier on her.  She made it half a day the first two days back before the throbbing began and she was ready for a break. 

 Parker has done an incredible job adjusting and learning to function in a classroom with only her left hand.  We did purchase a clip board and some pencils with grippers on them, but other than that she was really just fine.  She keeps up really well and just writes a little sloppier with her left hand than she normally does with her right. Her teacher has been amazing in helping her adjust and being patient with her regarding her arm.  I feel very blessed by that.

 Colder weather had been a little challenging because the cast is so big that jacket can't fit over it very well.  Nana gave her this great over sized jacket from a recent vacation that she went on and it has come in handy. It fits really well and will continue to be her jacket of choice throughout the Fall.

 Playing has been fun too. Brooks and Bosten have been awesome about watching out for her and making sure that they are gentle with her.  The Saturday after it happened the kids spent several hours building these towers with all the Solo cups in the house.  It was safe and indoors and not active, so it met the criteria for her playtime.  They had a blast.

 Parker does have to wear a cast of some sort for the next 5 or 6 months.  So, knowing this, I started searching Etsy for a way to make this cast fabulous.  I bought her this cute sling and she has really enjoyed wearing it.  It is super comfy and washable and definitely cuter than what they gave her at the hospital.

 When we went back after a week for her new cast and a follow up Xray.  Daddy got to come along.  She got a cool new cast that has a little loop built into the cast for this sling to fit through to go around her neck. It is a little uncomfortable, but keeps her from using those fingers on that hand which could cause those bones to shift.  Daddy bought her a Build a Bear that day with a broken arm.  When you purchase these at the Cook Children's hospital the proceeds go directly to kids. So, of course we wanted to support that cause.

 After two week of being on pins and needles, we all needed a little down time.  So, we headed to the lake shack to see Grandma and Papaw.  The weekend was filled with lots of rain, football, baseball and relaxing. 

 Parker is finishing her 3rd week with a cast now and she is getting used to it.  She went back for a follow up yesterday and had more Xrays. The bones looked great and everything is healing nicely.  She has three more weeks with this big cast and then will go back and get one that goes up to her elbow and allows her to use the top of her arm.  That cast will last for a month or so and then she will transition into a brace. 

 She has really been such a trooper through this whole process. I think kids are so amazingly resilient in these situations. Mommy and Daddy and Grandparents have been a little stressed and worried, but Parker seems happy as a lark.  She definitely has moments where her friends are doing their gymnastics, or sports and it makes her a little sad that she can't participate, but overall she is so incredibly positive about the whole thing. I am so very proud of her.

 She is still her silly, weird self and makes us all laugh around here.  We sure do love her and are so grateful to have her sweet spirit around the house to make us smile.

 

Brit

Free Tables can be Pretty Tables Too!

I Love Decorating!  I'm not really sure if I'm good at it or not because my taste is somewhat eccentric, but man do I love it anyway.  I could change my house monthly and be totally entertained with the process of looking and coordinating new fun stuff to create a new space. For me, my home is my safe place and HAS to reflect my family and I and what we love.

I also have a love for finding things that are slightly unloved and turning them into something somewhat fabulous and special and different. I love shopping at Goodwill, Antique stores, Craiglist, friends trash (shhhh) and strangers curbs.  I'd say that probably half the furniture in my house cost me less than $15 to purchase and has been completely redone by yours truly and is now being used and complimented on.  I love the whole process of the transformation.  It is so gratifying to me to find good old furniture that has incredible bones and turn it in to something wonderful. 

My latest piece was a dining room table that a friend of mine was ready to get rid of.  She was going to take it to Goodwill, but because she knows my love for reinventing stuff, she asked me if I wanted to give it some love first.  Of course, I took her up on the offer.  It had incredible detail and was a great quality piece that I knew could be completely transformed with some love. 

I didn't take a before picture, but it was a rosey pink wood color. It was pretty bad. I knew it had good bones though, and I could visualize it in a bright white with a lot of glazed detailing that would make the details pop. So, that is exactly what I did. Here are some pics of the process, taken by Bosten.......

Painted a bright white all over! 

The glazing process.... using Martha Stewart black coffee glaze

 

Glazing is really fun.  You get to paint, and then wipe off the excess with a wet washcloth.  You can wipe as much or as little as you want depending on look that you are going for. In this case, I wiped off most of it because I wanted the look to be subtle.



Here is the table in its finished state.

 

 

The top and detailing

 

Finished product in the dining room.  In need of a few more chairs.  These two I found at Goodwill a few years ago and they have been moving all over the house until now. I wanted something that would add a pop of color to this boring room so I went with some very budget friendly blue chairs from Target.com

 



And here they are!  I love them.  I also love the dozen roses in the middle of the table that my Hubby brought home one day for no reason whatsoever. He is always sweet like that. : )

The entire dining room set including chairs cost me a total of $250.  The 4 chairs were new and cost $200. I had some that I got for free that I could have redone, but frankly after I got this table done, I dropped it and almost ruined it trying to get it into the house.  I was so burnt out after this process that I decided I didn't have it in me to put the work into the chairs that I had. So, I found these online and called it a day.  The other two chairs on  the ends cost me $10 from Goodwill, and the table was free. I probably spent about $40 on paint and glaze.

So, there you have it.   Overall I'm thrilled with it.  My kids are hard on our stuff and when I do things like this, it doesn't break my heart quite as much when they sweep across the table with a permanent marker.  I know that I can easily fix stuff or that I didn't invest a lot in the piece, besides time and TLC, so it isn't so bad if something happens to it. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing this latest redo.  There are plenty more where that one came from.

Brit

School Starts!

Our babies started school in August and man was I ready to drop kick them all into their class on that first day of school.   Their face in this picture says it all.

 

 

I definitley have 3 kids with tons of energy and a lot of spirit.  I wouldn't have them any other way, however, after a Summer at home with these three, I felt a little kooky to say the least.  I was thrilled when school started.  I am very involved in the kids school so I never  get too sad about school starting.  I do my best to volunteer my time to stay right in the middle of their daily lives even when they are away from me.

Brooks and Bosten went into the 2nd grade this year and remain together in class.  I had let the school know ahead of time that I didn't mind whether they were together or separated this year, but they decided to keep them together anyways.  I'm pretty sure they were thrilled with that arrangement. 

 Parker went into the 1st grade and absolutely loves her Teacher and her class.  She has several of her very best friends in class with her and her Teacher is a good friend of mine, who happens to be the best Teacher I've ever met.  She works wonders with kids when it comes to learning to read, rhyme, and all things 1st grade.  The boys grew leaps and bounds in her class, so I knew it was the right place for my P Pod who could care less about learning and could care lots about her friends. : )
She has already learned so much this year and I couldn't be happier with her progress.

 

The school year is off to a great start and we have settled into our daily routine now.  Everyone is working hard and excelling at their academics and so we are happy and proud parents of these three little munchkins.

Brit

Summer Vaca-Florida

Man oh man life has been so crazy busy that I haven't blogged in forever.  I love blogging and documenting our life here at Casa de Dwinell from the day to day.  I also however get distracted very easily and therefore I don't do it as consistently as I would like.  However, I am really really trying to concentrate my efforts on the stuff that really matters to me and blogging is one of them.  So, I'm gonna do a quick recap of Summer and the beginning of school and I'll follow that up with hopefully more consistent blogging about our daily life.

This Summer we went on an amazing vacation with our family on my Dad's side.  It was such a fun time and we made memories that we will enjoy forever.  Here is the highlight reel below.

We had a wonderful vacation!  I am so grateful to have such an amazing family! 
Brit