Jake vs Tree

In the sad, sad story of Jake verses tree, the tree wins.  There's no other way to say it, Jake ran into a tree last Thursday.  I think it's pretty obvious from the picture what part of his body he hit the tree with.  He got a concussion.  He had every symptom, the fixed eyes, blurry vision, slurred speech, headache, etc.  The next morning he said he was feeling better and wanted to go to school.  But it didn't take long before I got a phone call at work.  He said some of his symptoms were returning, so off to the doctor we went.  Doc said as long as he continues to get better, he'll be okay!  Plus, no broken cheek bone.  We made him go home and rest and by the end of the weekend, he was feeling better.  Thank goodness!

This pic was taken a couple days after it happened and doesn't due the swelling justice.  I'm sure he'll have a fantastic black eye soon!

Changes around our place

The new year has brought some changes our way.  Last Friday, X Factor was moved to another home.  His problems proved to be too great for our family to handle.  He was still throwing things at Ellie's face and hurting her.  We were also having great deal of other behavioral problems with him.  It got to the point where we couldn't do anything as a family.  Wayne wasn't coming home after work.  Jake was hiding in his room.  Ellie starting acting out and against him at times.  And I was going crazy.  Once I realized he was having such a negative effect on us as a family, I asked that he be moved.  It was time to put my family first.  It was sad to see him go, but it needed to happen.  I feel good about my decision and it has already proved to be what our family needed.  At this point, we don't plan on taking another placement even though our license doesn't expire until the end of March.  I have mixed emotions about this.  Some days I'm okay with it and others I'm not.

Just after the new year, I accepted a position as an office assistant for a company that does developmental therapies.  It's going okay.  It's very part time, just one full day a week, but right now I am working 2-3 full days a week while the main gal is recovering from having a baby.  The one day a week would have been a nice supplement to foster care, but now that we don't intend to continue that, I need to find more work.  I applied with FedEx this week.  So we'll see what happens there.  I think my current job has great potential and the staff is amazing, but I'm doubtful that the potential will come soon enough.

And as you can see from my previous post, evenings have been busy with hunter's ed.  I'm sooooo happy this was only a two week course.  It was fun to take it with Jake.  It was nice to have that one on one with him.  He is such a great boy.  I can't believe he is 14 now!  That's right.  His birthday was last weekend.

For his birthday, we took him out to eat to the restaurant of his choice.  He chose Primos, the all you can eat pizza buffet.  Afterwards, we went to the RV show and did some dreaming.  We had a good time.

I'm not sure what changes will come next.....hopefully our house selling!

Hunter's Education

Jake and I have been taking hunter's ed the last couple of weeks.  Tonight was our last class and test.  We both passed!!  And they gave us these wonderful orange hats.  I can't say that I'll every use my license for hunting, but thought the class would be good since we like to target shoot.

Jake 98%......Christine 97%
I don't think I'll ever hear the end of this one!

Jake's Cast is Off!

Jake got his cast off yesterday after school.  He is pretty excited.  He still has to be very careful for the next couple of weeks.  The doctor told him not to do anything stupid!  I love our doctors.

Yep, it's broken.

I took Jake to the doctor yesterday and he's got a fracture.  It's a clean break (not in his wrist but at the bottom of his forearm near his wrist) and was still aligned fairly well.  Which is surprising since I found out he rode all day Saturday with it broken.  It was too swollen to cast now.  The doctor put a splint on it and we will go back on Friday to have it casted.

Now I know I've mentioned he wrecked his motorcycle, but your probably wondering more details.  So here's the story.

Once upon a time there was a young boy who went camping with his father.  Both the boy and the father enjoyed riding motorcycles very much.  So on this camp trip they took their motorcycles.  They woke up Saturday and said "It looks like a beautiful day to ride."

So after breakfast, they got their motorcycles out of the truck and went for a ride with friends.  The young boy thought it was fun to jump the water run-off breaks in the trail.  He had done this on several other trails before, and thought there was no harm in this.  Now being less experienced in riding than his father, the boy rode behind his father on the trails so he could see what he father did and follow his example.  On this particular day, the father was out of sight of the boy.  The boy did not see his father roll over this particular water break.  When the boy came upon it himself, he jumped it like all the others.  The poor young boy did not know what was on the other side.  For on the other side of this water break was a gully.  The father looked back just in time to see the boy's front tire nose-dive into the trail and the young boy fly over the handlebars.

The father, kind hearted and full of love for his son, rushed back to help.  The young boy instantly grasped his wrist to his chest in pain.  The father asked the young boy if he was okay.  The young boy being very brave replied yes and refused to turn back.  It had be quite some time since the family had rode their motorcycles and the young boy's desire to ride was strong.

Now this crash took place just 1.5 miles in on the trail.  The brave young boy pushed forward and rode the rest of the day with his father, completely another 36 miles!

That evening, the young boy's wrist was still swollen.  The father decided it would be best for the two of them to head back home.  So after dinner, they loaded camp and drove home.

The next day, the mother returned home to find a bandage wrapped around her young boy's wrist.  She inquired what happened.  The information provided was vague.  She had the young boy take off the bandage so she could see.  The mother, being wise, told the young boy that they would call the doctor first thing in the morning because she thought it was broken.

Monday morning arrived and the mother took her young boy to the doctor.  The doctor confirmed the mother's suspicions.  The young boy had indeed broken a bone.

Weekend Fun

Well it's been a little longer between posts than I've wanted.  K-dub keeps me pretty busy.  Since he has been with us, he has gotten 6 new teeth.  That right 6 in the last month.  And I think he's getting more.  He also started crawling last weekend.  Now he can track me down pretty quick.  I will have to get a gate for the stairs soon.  I'm starting to get a good routine with him now and he has definitely gotten comfortable with us.  He loves Jake and Ellie.  They can always get him to laugh.  He also loves Wayne.  When he hears the door open from Wayne getting home from work, he always stops what he is doing and looks for him.  It looks like we will have him for his 1st birthday next month.  I'm excited to have a little party for him.  He is such a great boy and it is a privilege to have him in our home.  Even with teething, he is a happy boy.  I can't wait to see how happy his is when those teeth stop causing problems.

This weekend Ellie, K-dub and I went to Mountain Home to craft with mom for her birthday.  We made some great projects and had fun visiting.  Donna and her friend, Lisa, joined us too.  The four of us always have a great time when we are together.  If you want to see what we made, you'll have to check out my Bokeh Creations blog.  I'll be posting those projects soon.

Wayne and Jake decided they would go camping since the rest of us were going to be gone.  They went to Idaho City to camp and ride.  But their weekend was cut short.  Jake got hurt Saturday morning.  He wrecked on his motorcycle and injured his wrist.  It's pretty swollen still.  He got behind on pain relievers today and was in quite a bit of pain come dinner time.  I will be taking him to the doctor tomorrow to see if he broke it.  Keep your fingers crossed that it's not!  I'll blog an update when we have one.

 

Hemingway Butte & Babies

After a week of doing nothing, I couldn't take it anymore.  We took the kids and Weldon out to Hemingway Butte to go ride for the afternoon.  Wayne, Jake, and Weldon rode a short 18 miles, then came back to the parking lot where Ellie and I were playing.







Ellie





Wayne couldn't resist!





Jake



Weldon

Then Ellie and I headed to my mom's house to do some crafting with mom, Ann, and Donna.  I didn't get much done because I got sidetracked by CUTE BABIES! Thanks Donna.



Spring Break!

Spring break was pretty boring this year.  I cleaned the house like a mad woman (I'll discuss this more in a later post).  Ellie did tennis camp for 3 days. And Jake and Wayne...well they did nothing!

I just have 2 words... Angry Birds!