Superboy

Nathaniel is a super boy. Yes, we all knew that, but now he's a super hero boy. He always wears his belt and cape (made from his special blue blankie), and carries the Spiderman back scratcher as his sword and the red lid to the food box as his shield. And there must always be a hat. It is so cute to watch him run around. He's always "flying" everywhere.

Update

Dustan's knee status:
broken, detatched, fractured

remedy:
surgery

when:
next Thursday

recovery time:
minimum of one month

employer status:
agreeable/ flexible

our status:
relieved to have a plan, grateful there are options to fix it and it's not a problem at work, frustrated that it happened in the first place

I think that covers everything.

Happy Birthday Kimmy!

This comes a few days late, but I did get her the real card and gift on time, I swear! Hope you had a great day Kim!

Happy Birthday, Mom

Hope your day was wonderful. May all your wishes come true! Happy Birthday to you!!!

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

Isn't she lovely? She loves getting all dolled up. She is definately the queen of Narcissism. I found her fighting with her brother the other day in the bathroom, and she was kicking his butt for trying to look into the giant bathroom mirror at the same time she was looking at herself. She could only stand to gaze at her own beauty-not wanting it marred by others apparently because she was really beating him up over it. Of course, they both got into trouble for being in the bathroom without permission (they tend to get into too many things in there), and Ariel got punished for being mean. It was hilarious when I found out what they were fighting over. Good grief!

This pic above was taken just a little bit before she got herself stuck in the catdoor. The next pic was later that same day.

And then there is my beautiful baby boy who's not such a baby anymore. He was napping with his new favorite hat on. What a little sweetheart!

cat or kid?

My mother-in-law yelled at me to "Come, quick- and bring your camera!" the other day. I did so, and this is what I found~

I don't rightly know what she was doing, but she for sure was stuck and was quite irritated by being so even though she thought it was funny.

artsy fartsy

-- here are some edited photos, exaggerating the gloriousness of the sunset that I posted about in the last post. The last one is obviously my favorite.

Spring is here

Peeking out my window the other night, I saw the beautiful lime green buds pushing their way forth on one of the many maples in the yard. It was a very welcoming sight- one that I'd been anticipating since we moved back here.

The sunset was what had actually caught my eye at first, as I had a direct view of it- diagonally from my window where I sit in an armchair to peruse the internet or read leisurely.

The sun had become a bright orange spot behind the trees, and with it came the deepened blues and hues of pink, lavendar, and salmon. It was not a spectacular showcase as some nights are, but it was a peaceful setting, relaxing and enjoyable- a rhythmic sensation of calm watching the rays slip further away- much like listening to your most loved one's heart beat as you snuggle in close to them- expected and comforting.

I was hard pressed to capture the true colors of dusk, as cameras are sensitive to the light and shadows, compensating too much one way or the other, depending on angle and so forth. Add to that the fact that I have no filters to assist me in attempting to still God's palette selection, and this is the result.

Deal or no Deal

Nathaniel has started this thing where he'll come up to you and start telling you something- about anything - and then he'll say "it's a deal?" and then he'll grab your hand and shake on it. Whether you agree or not. Think we need to work on the concept a little bit.

It's fun being crippled...

when you're medicated anyway, right? Apparently Dustan and Pa had an outing tonight while Romona and I were shopping for plants and picking up the kids. The result? Don't know 'bout that, but at least they got a good laugh-- which is sayin' a lot for these fellas.

Darling Dustan

On Wednesday of this week, Dustan was walking in towards the house and he turned the corner. His body continued, but his leg did not. It put him on the ground with an injured knee. He hobbled around for an hour or so and then elevated it with ice. Later that afternoon he looked at it, and it was swollen to double its' size. By the night he was in a lot of pain and couldn't move his leg at all without cringing and lifting it with his hands. It was a long, painful night for the both of us.

The next afternoon he got in to see the doctor and the doc wasn't happy with what he saw. He sent him to get X-rays and to see a specialist, which is where we went today. After a horrible experience with finding the place, we finally met the specialist- an hour and a half late... but at least he slipped us in.

He looked at the X-rays and decided that there might be a hairline fracture in the tibia- or not. He thought there was a possibility that it might just be X-ray 'noise' instead. Wasn't sure. He said that the only sure way to know about a fracture and if there was torn cartilidge was to do an MRI.

So, he then drained off 133cc of blood from his knee, and then we could finally see his kneecap again. He got Dustan a hinged knee brace to keep the knee from swelling, but allowing bending motion. We got an MRI scheduled for the earliest appt available-- which isn't until Wednesday. And then we can't get in to see the doctor until next Friday morning to read the MRI and to get recommendations as to what to do next. It could be surgery and/ or a cast. Easily 6 weeks of reduced activities- at the bare minimum he is to put no weight on it at all until they know what's wrong with it.

Regardless, since it is his right knee, this poses a problem with driving. And you all know he has an hour and a half commute one way each day to Baltimore. He is also on a 6 month probation period in which he has not sick leave nor vacation time off. So, he is currently working from home, but we have no idea how this will work long-term. Please pray that this won't pose a huge problem for him at work.

On the upside, he is feeling a lot better since the knee was drained and he has vicadin in him for the pain. Now he just has to deal with the new blister on his hands from the crutches, and doing stairs everyday to go to bed. Ah, well, if it's not one thing it's ALWAYS another, isn't it. *sigh* There's still a lot to be thankful for!

sleepy, sneaky kiddo

Nathaniel is having his first night away from Ariel that he can remember. She is on her first sleepover to Aunt Monica's house. (She's been so excited and has been a chatterbox about for 3 days!)

Nathaniel insisted that he wasn't tired and wanted Ariel, but the complaints fell on Mommy's deaf ears. I put him back in his room and told him to go to sleep. Well, he did fall asleep, and pretty quickly at that, but he found that he'd rather sleep under the bed-- again. This is the second time we've found him there, and the kid barely fits. He manages somehow not to get stuck, but it's a chore to pull him out- especially without waking him up.

Scag Time

Today was the day the lawn got mowed. The first time of the season is always looked forward to by my father-in-law. He spends hours preparing the mower and waiting til every blade of grass has turned from winter brown to emerald green. He then masterfully drives that crazy machine in perfect lines for an hour until the whole estate is finished. Well, this time around Nathaniel was ever so lucky to have the privilege of helping PawPaw mow the lawn. And when they were finished with their work, Nathaniel even got to drive it himself! He was so happy!

Glorious Spring

We have just experienced the most beautiful 2 days of spring in Pennsylvania that I've had in a long time. Followed by today, a whopping 50 degrees, the past 2 days of 75 seems already like a long-gone vacation. We thoroughly enjoyed the warm weather with trips to the park and chores outside, playtime and lounging, and even our first grilling and outside dining of the year.

The mustang was whipped out too, and everyone got a ride- even the kids. PawPaw took them out for some fast driving to the song Don't Go Breakin' My Heart. lol Apparently that is Ariel's only driving song. hehehe

Thunderstorm

Oh, how I love thunderstorms! And we are finally getting our first American thunderstorm in about 2 years. The kids don't remember ever seeing one as it is quite rare to have one in Germany, and they always took place in the evening after they were asleep. Especially with the cement walls and roladens, they were clueless to the crazy activity outside.

Just as I was finishing up the last post, in rolled a thunderstorm. The wind picked up and the lightning flashed, followed by, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, thunder. Ariel came bursting out of her room, "Mom, I'm scared!" And just what are you scared of? I told her that it was just a lightning show that tried to make different shades of night and pictures with the shadows. Then she thought it was cool.

After returning for only a minute, she came running back out to me in excitement, but shut the door to her room behind her, leaving poor Nathaniel by himself in the dark room. He immediately screamed and starting balling and ran out of the room, so scared. Ah, my not-so-brave little boy. He wasn't convinced that it was cool to watch, and so, MawMaw came to the rescue and said they could sleep in her room for awhile and then she'd put them to bed later. You see, their room is on the back corner of the house, so it gets the wind and rain from both sides.

Now that I'm finishing up this post, the storm is almost passed, with the lightning far off in the distance and the thunder even further. The rain has stopped its' pouring on the earth, and the calm after the storm is here. But I can hear my babies chatting away in their sleepover. Good thing they had a nap today!?! Don't know about that one....

We have a problem....

Today I took the kids to the playground after they had a nap. This is usually a precarious decision on my part, because the kids can be even more grumpy than before they went to sleep, and it runs close to dinnertime, so there lies yet another possible problem with getting dinner on the table before all persons in the house freak out.

So, I parked the car and out we went to traipse across the field to play on the playground. Nathaniel raced across, as fast as he could go, whilst Ariel lagged behind. She started fussing at me, and, exasperated, I turned around and asked her what the problem was. She crossed her arms and started sweetly to say, "Mom, there's just one, teensy, weensy, itsy, bitsy little problem here." Then, with a glare, a stomp of a foot and a punch to the ground with her fist, she emphatically declared, "I DON'T WANT TO GO TO THE PLAYGROUND!" It was so funny, I couldn't help but laugh at her, and off we went to run and play and enjoy the warm, humid Pennsylvania spring day.

For all those whom we left behind in Germany, and those we have yet to see here at home, we miss you greatly!

Family Fun

A couple of weeks ago we had a Rowe Family get together at Grandma's house. It was formally to say goodbye to Alicia and Bernie as they moved on to yet another adventure- this time heading to Arkansas, but it was especially nice for us as we haven't seen everyone in a very long time. There was an extraordinary amount of food there, all of which was extremely delicious, and we all had a great time enjoying each other's company. We got a traditional family photo of the ladies on the swing, but of course, no men would come when beckoned, excepting perhaps Tom-- but a single shot is just not the same as a group photo op.

It was a wonderful day, accompanied with great springtime weather and we look forward to seeing everyone again this summer!