Fun, Fun, Fun

It has been only been 10 days since our last post, but it has been a busy 10 days.

On December 5th Katelyn celebrated her 8th birthday. The following Sunday, December 9th she was baptized and confirmed. We are so proud of Katelyn for choosing to be baptized. Both sets of her grandparents were able to attend and Grandma Nelson and Grandpa Anderson gave great talks. After the baptism we had a big family dinner (something we don't get to do very often) and then had a late/early birthday party for Katelyn and Lauren since their grandparents weren't able to be there on their actual birthdays.
















On December 11th, Lauren celebrated her 4th birthday. She had her first friend birthday party. She chose a Hello Kitty theme and we had fun making kitty ears and face painting whiskers as well as playing pin the bow on Hello Kitty, Where's Hello Kitty, Pass the Hello Kitty and Hello Kitty Bean Bag Toss.















Katelyn and Lauren aren't the only ones who have been busy this past week. On December 6th Whitney sang in the Holiday choir concert at school and then on the 11th participated in the Holiday band concert also at school. It was a lot of fun to go watch.



We also had a lot of fun bowling, nascar racing (at the Mall of America), sledding, exploding diet coke bottles, going to the Children's Museum, making a Gingerbread House, watching soccer games and seeing the Bee Movie while our grandparents were here.

More pictures

Here are some other pictures from the past week. We had so many that it was hard to choose which ones to use.

SNOW DAY!!

Over the weekend we got 6-8 inches of snow. It was the first real snow of the winter. It just about killed the kids that they couldn't go sledding yesterday because it was Sunday. Luckily, Whitney and Katelyn are out of school today. They all got bundled up (except Dustin - he was napping) and off they went into the white wonderland of our backyard with sleds in hand. We had a few face plants and Whitney lost a boot with her sock in it, but they had a blast. I think that the best part of sledding is the hot chocolate afterwards.

Chops of Love (Locks of Love)

After a year of growing her hair out and almost daily pony tails, Whitney finally had enough hair to do Locks of Love. For those of you who don't know what Locks of Love is it is an organization that uses donated hair to make hair pieces for kids that have lost their hair because of illness. Whitney especially wanted to do this because red hair isn't as common as blonde or brown and she thought a little boy or girl with red hair would be excited about having a red wig. You have to have a minimum of 10 inches to donate. Whitney has never liked her hair really long so for the last couple of months she has been asking if her hair is long enough to cut. We finally decided that it was long enough, but she would have to get it cut kind of short. She was okay with that. It looks really cute. Here are some pictures.

Katelyn and Lauren got their hair cut at the same time. It was pretty funny to see all 3 of them lined up getting their hair done. I took a picture. It's kind of blurry, but still fun.

Boo To You!!

We had a great Halloween at our house! Whitney, Katelyn and Lauren were all witches. Todd and I had to laugh because we went from having 3 princesses a couple of years ago to having 3 witches this year. Lauren probably would have been a princess again, but she likes to do what her older sisters do. Dustin was a pirate. He had a cute hat that went with his costume, but we couldn't get him to keep it on for longer than 2 seconds. Todd stayed home and handed out candy this year and I took the kids out. Dustin tried to walk right into every house. He wasn't shy at all. If the house had a dog I had to drag him away because he wanted to play. Lauren on the other hand screamed and ran away as soon as she saw a dog.

Todd was the master pumpkin carver this year. One of our neighbors has a farm and grew this huge pumpkin and gave it to us. It is hard to tell from the picture, but the big pumpkin is about 2 feet tall and wide. His masterpiece was a big hit with the trick-or-treaters.

At our ward party on Tuesday they had a pie eating contest. Whitney made us proud. She dove right into the pie. None of this, "oh, my hair will get messed up" it was more like "bring it on!" She didn't win, but she was close. Unfortunately, she said that everything smelled like chocolate pudding for the rest of the night because she got so much up her nose.

Go Timberwolves!!

Last week Todd got 4 tickets to a Minnesota Timberwolves game at work. He ended up taking Whitney, her friend Eliza and Brad (a boy that he home teaches). I'm not sure how much of the game Whitney and Eliza watched, but they sure had fun. They each spent $8 for a "must have" foam finger and Whitney even got a high five from one of the players as he was going to the locker room. Go Timberwolves!! Todd took this picture with his camera phone so it is a little blurry, but still fun.

Also in exciting news, we have our very own Harry Potter. I spend all day pulling Dustin off of the counter, tables, chairs, beds and various other high places, and when he finally falls and cuts his head open he is standing on the floor. How does that happen? He had a little run in with the banister. Luckily he didn't have to have traditional stitches. They were able to use derma bond on it. It actually doesn't look too bad in this picture, but it was taken 5 days after the fact. Dustin is supposed to be a pirate for Halloween, but we have been contemplating a switch to Harry Potter!

Another quick funny about Dustin. On Saturday while I was running errands and Todd was doing yard work Whitney and Katelyn were supposed to be listening for Dustin to wake up from his nap. Katelyn heard him and went up to get him and he was standing at the door waiting for her. We thought maybe he fell out of his crib. Maybe I should say I was hoping he had fallen out of his crib and not climbed. No such luck! Last night I gave him a bath and put him in his crib while I went to go get him a sippy cup and while I'm in the kitchen here comes Dustin running down the hall. Todd thinks its time for a big boy bed, I think it is time for a taller crib.

Our Punkins at the Pumpkin Patch

After 18 consecutive days of rain we finally had a nice day to go to the pumpkin patch. A lot of the pumpkins were rotten because of all the rain we have had, so finding the perfect pumpkin proved a little more difficult this year. After walking up and down the patch and analyzing just about every pumpkin, everyone finally found the pumpkin for them.

Dustin was fascinated by all the pumpkins, animals and lady bugs. He tried to touch all the animals. He would have climbed right into their pens if we'd let him. Katelyn and Lauren like to look at the animals from a distance. Lauren actually touched a goat for a split second and she was so proud of herself that she has asked us numerous times if we remember "the time she touched the goat".

Going to the pumpkin patch is one of my favorite family traditions. We have been every year except one since we've lived here. There is just something about getting your pumpkin at the patch and not at the grocery store. I love watching the kids agonize over which pumpkin to pick. I love watching them feed the animals or run away from the animals depending on which kid it is. I love the hayride and sampling the apples. I love it all!!

Dustin (the destroyer)

I felt bad because we haven't posted any pictures of Dustin recently. He is a busy little boy. He loves to climb, throw, break or eat anything he can get his hands on. His sisters have lovingly given him the nickname Dustin The Destroyer. His new favorite past time is taking all the cushions off the couch. I took these pictures of him today.

"Hey mom, how does this thing work?"

The Milk Worked

Lauren went to the doctor today and came home without a cast. He said that her x-rays looked great! The human body is an amazing thing. I don't know how anyone could doubt the existence of a God when you contemplate how miraculous a creation the body is and how it can heal itself.

Lauren was quite the pro at getting around with her casts. The last couple of weeks she has been walking around without her walker. Her ankle is pretty stiff so she hasn't wanted to try and walk without her cast. She tried for a little while with her walker. The doctor said that it will take a little while for the soreness to go away. We are supposed to go back in 2 weeks for a follow up and he said hopefully by then she will be feeling pretty good.

While Lauren was in her casts we kept telling her to drink lots of milk because it would help her bones grow back together. She's not a big fan of milk so that was hard for her. As we were walking out of the hospital today she started chanting "I got my cast off. The milk worked. I got my cast off. The milk worked." It was hilarious.

Lauren Update

Good news! Lauren saw the orthopedic surgeon on the 18th and after looking at her x-rays he decided she was ready for a shorter cast. Having her cast taken off was a little traumatic. The saw they use is a little scarry sounding, but as usual Lauren was a trooper. Not a single tear was shed. The doctor even took out her stitches once the cast was off and she didn't even flinch. The magic cast color this time is pink. She even got a pediatric walker and a boot for her cast so that when she feels like she is ready to put some weight on her leg she can. It has been a nice change. Now she can bend her leg at the knee so it is easier to carry her, she can sit on regular chairs, and best of all she doesn't need someone to hold her leg out straight while she sits on the potty.

Lauren thought that her boot was pretty cool since her daddy has one that is very similar to it. Yes, you read correctly. A couple of weeks ago Todd noticed that his foot was aching, but didn't think much of it. A few days later he could hardly walk. To make a long story short, Todd has a stress fracture in his foot. Thus the matching boots. Needless to say, we have had an interesting month.

Soccer Superstars II

Here are the pictures of Whitney playing soccer that I promised. Also, as promised, they aren't as good as the pictures Todd took of Katelyn. In my own defense Whitney's field is twice as big as Katelyn's and I was trying to run around and take pictures while still entertaining Dustin and Lauren. Whitney and Katelyn both had great games this weekend. Whitney's team won 5-0 and Katelyn's team won 9-1.

Soccer Superstars

Well soccer is in full swing and pretty much takes up our Saturday mornings. This weekend Whitney and Katelyn are having a tournament and each of them will play 3 shortened games. We have games all day long (9:35, 10:05, 11:05, 12:35, 1:35 and 2:35). I think that we will have some seriously tired kids after that and probably not just the ones that are playing soccer, but the ones watching as well. Todd took these great action shots of Katelyn at one of her games. Since Todd is Whitney's coach he can't take pictures of her as easily so I have been assigned that job. My pictures won't be as good as Todd's, but I'll take some this weekend and post them later.

Bailey Pride! 1st Day of School

Whitney and Katelyn had their first day of school on Sept 4th, the day after labor day. After much shopping, fussing, changing and primping they finally decided what they would wear to school. On the second day of school there were enough technical difficulties with their wardrobes that they missed the bus.

Whitney's in 5th grade and is now in the 5th and 6th grade hallway where she gets a big locker! Her teacher is Mrs. Gwaizdon and her favorite things about the 5th grade are her locker, band and friends. This year Whitney has joined the band and will be playing the Tenor Sax! She can't get it to make any sound yet but band should start soon and I'm sure we will have plenty of lovely noises in the house during practice time!

Katelyn is in 2nd Grade and has Mrs. Sorensen for a teacher. She was so excited to get back into school and even once told me she wished they could have school all summer. Her favorite things at school are math, recess, and the library. Her favorite new shirt is the red and grey one in the picture.

Lauren will be starting Little People's Palace, a pre-school that is run in conjunction with the High School early childhood education class, on Sept 18th. Even with her broken leg and cast she can't wait to go back to school. Since it is at the high school she likes to call her class "Preschool Musical" like the Disney show.

Dustin is happy and active as ever. Of course he doesn't go to school but he sure is a smarty pants. Just the other day he found a dustpan and broom and was running around the house sweeping. After a while he went into the kitchen an opened the cupboard where the garbage is and emptied out his dustpan by banging it against the side of the garbage just like his mom does.

Man Down!! or Woman Down!!

We had a rough start to this week with Lauren playing spider man and breaking a leg...literally. All was well in the Nelson household on a Sunday afternoon about 6pm. Home teaching was done, we had just finished dinner and were about to go on a walk when we heard a terrible scream from the basement. When Kelly flew down the stairs Lauren was under a computer armoire that we figure she must have been climbing on. We scooped her up and cruised to the hospital a mile down the road.

Once we got there they looked at it gave her some pain killer and stopped the bleeding (it was a compound fracture). They took some x-rays and found that she had broken both her Tibia and Fibula about 2 inches above the ankle. They called in an orthopedic surgeon who looked at it and recommended that we transfer to the children's hospital downtown. However St. Paul Children's was full so they sent us to Minneapolis Children's hospital. The good part about that was that the doctor on call was an excellent doctor.

Lauren did a fantastic job of being very brave in the hospital. She cried some but deserved to cry about 10 times more based on the brake. She even fell asleep in the ambulance ride to the hospital. Finally at mid-night she went into surgery where they were able to clean the wound and reset the leg without using any pins. Just before the surgery the doctor asked Lauren what color of cast she wanted and before he could give the two options, pink or blue, she blurted out purple! He quickly ran back to his office to bring back some purple cast material and wrapped her up in purple.

Needless to say the next couple of days were rough as Kelly and I swapped off staying with Lauren in the hospital until Tuesday evening when she came home. To make matters worse Kelly spent most of the day on Tuesday with Dustin at the doctor and then the same hospital as Lauren trying to get a urine sample to see if he had a bladder infection (he didn't give at the hospital or doctors office even with catheter tubes but managed to really wet his diaper on the car ride between the two).

Overall I do have to say we did have some "tender mercies" from the whole experience. First it happen while we were all home and able to quickly react, including a friend that came over to watch the kids until I got home at 4am. Second, Grandma and Grandpa Anderson flew into town on Monday so they have been a huge help in watching the kids while we have been trying to get things resolved. Three, Lauren has been a super trooper! She did a great job during the night when it happened and did very well on recovering at the hospital. She even watched the doctor open up the window in her cast to take out the drain tube and stitch and didn't even flinch when there was quite a lot of blood on the dressing. She enjoyed telling her mom about it!

Lauren is now home and enjoying a wagon limo which in her mind is much better than a wheelchair. We also found a care package from some of my great co-workers at home. The Cheetos are long gone but the fun art projects will keep her busy for a long time! And true to Lauren's love for getting out of the house she wants to go on every errand that we run, cast and all.