MAY

Hi everyone! This has been a busy month of course, but everyone is busy! The biggest problem is that TJ and I have wanted to add pictures to the blog, but because the kids use this computer it has viruses on it and somehow, this prevents us from getting the pictures on. I have no idea how or why, but I believe TJ. He is MUCH more technical than I am. Travis says we just have to reformat this computer and since I don't know how long it will take for Travis to get that done, I will just write. Hopefully, we can add pictures soon! So anyway, this month has been crazy! I think teachers try to see just how much they can cram into the last month of school! (I know they don't do this, but it sure seems like it!) We have had field days, field trips, parties, plays, many school projects, bringing home fish and frogs, helping in the classroom and then of course Alyssa's broken arm. I am excited for school to get out on the 30th of May so that we can have a breather.

First, I think I will talk about Alyssa's broken arm. On April 27th, the morning of Stake conference, we were trying to get everyone ready. I was getting Alyssa out of the tub, and she was not happy about it. She was wiggling and trying to get free, and well, she did. She squirmed right out of my arms and I couldn't get a grasp on her because she was so slippery. Luckily, our bathroom has carpet, and so she didn't fall as hard as she could have, but hard enough to break her arm. Actually, I thought that she hurt her head or neck. It happened so fast that I didn't notice she broke her fall with her arm. I actually didn't know it was her arm for sure until she was trying to climb up on something and she started screaming! We took her in the next day and she had actually broken her radius and ulna. I felt, and still do feel, horrible about it! The doctor was really nice and said that it is a common injury with kids, but I still feel bad. We've had 3 of our 5 kids break bones early on. Anyway, the story gets better. After she got her cast, she figured out how to take it off within about 5 days. I don't know how she did it. I went to get her in the morning, and it was off. So, I took her back and asked the doctor if he could cast it higher on her arm, and he said that they don't really do that. Well, I'm sure you can imagine the rest. Within hours she had that second cast off too! This time I watched her. She just pulled it right off with her other hand. She kept saying, "Off, Off!" and then she would just take it off! I didn't want to have to go back again, and since they wouldn't cast it higher anyway, I had an idea come to me. I just taped it on with some medical tape, and then wrapped around an ace bandage on top of the cast. It worked! She now only has one more week to go! Yeah! Although, I should say she has really been a trooper, and hasn't acted like it has bothered her much. When she first got her cast, Trav would ask, "Lyssa, do you want me to kiss it better?" And of course she would give her arm over for Trav to kiss. But then, she started kissing it herself. She would look at you with these sad eyes, and say, "Ouch!" and then have you kiss it or she would. Well one more week and she'll be free!