Excitment on the farm

In the previous post I mentioned that we arrived on the farm to some excitement. The story begins that Bruce and I were at the local grocery store when he gets a call from my sister (who was already at the farm) saying that my brother has broken his leg. We hurry out to the farm and were told that they believe that it is a compound fracture. (A compound fracture is when the bone breaks and pokes thru the skin) I refuse to go out and see Bill where he happens to be laying waiting on the ambulance. Only once the ambulance arrives and is there for a few minutes do I go see Bill. Luckily they have his leg covered so that I don't have to see any gore.

The ambulance leaves with him and Mom follows in her vehicle. They go to Sidney hospital where they take x-rays and confirm that it is a compound fracture. They page the orthopedic doctor of Mom's choice and they devise a game plan. Since this doctor has his base out of Grandview hospital, Mom makes the decision to head there. Luckily they did. When the interns and/or residents took him to surgery to flush the wound they decided to go ahead and insert the rod. Apparently the first rod they had was to short so the surgeon sent them back to the basement to get the longest rod they have...and the only long rod.

When I seen him on Sunday and Monday he was pretty grumpy because of the pain, but when I seen him last night, he was in a much better mood. That could be because he was trying to sucker his nieces & nephews out of some candy though! There is no cast on his leg and they told him to start putting weight on it right away. Then Bill decided to show me the surgery incision and it was pretty ugly. The doctor was not worried about scarring as there was no "finesse" involved with closing his wound up. Because Bill was up and about more yesterday, there was also a lot of swelling. Yuck! I am glad that isn't me.

Sharing germs

Last Friday we went out to my parents house to butcher a steer. We got out to the farm about 4:30 to some initial excitement (read about that in a future post) and began to process the steer. My boys were running around and playing with their cousins like the wild children they are. About 8:00 that evening Darren comes up in the garage to me and tells me that his belly hurts. He no longer finishes saying that when he begins to vomit. I quickly usher him outside so he can finish. I tell him that he needs to lay down on the couch and relax. Nathan says that his belly hurts. I lay them both down with "puke pans" and tell them that if they have to throw-up again, to make sure they do it in the pans. Some time later Darren gets up to find me and proceeds to throw-up in the kitchen. I clean that up and then I go back outside to help. Then I am told to come back in the house because Nathan is now throwing up. By this time I asked Bruce if he can just take me home because I would rather deal with sick kids on my turf.

I apologized to everyone before we left for spreading the germs, but the boys seemed fine. Otherwise I never would have taken them out to the farm and exposed everyone. I have been told that my aunt got it, my cousin, my sister Carla and two of her kids, her husband. Luckily Bruce, Justin and I never got it.

Rat Tail

Darren's hair seems to grow to a point on the base of his head/neck making him look like we purposely cut his hair so that he would have a rat tail. Yesterday morning while I was getting ready for work he came into the bathroom so he could use the toilet. When he was finished I told him to stand there for one minute. I got the scissors out of the cabinet and cut the rat tail off. He now looks like a boy again.

Meatloaf mania!

I have been in the mood for meatloaf, so I decided to make some meatloaf for dinner last night. The older two boys spent the day at Grandma's, so when I went out to pick them up, I put a package of hamburger in the microwave to defrost. When I got home, I took the meat out of the microwave and dumped it in a tub. After looking at that amount of meat, I decided that this package must have been a small package and got another package of hamburger out.

You may be asking why didn't I know it was a small package; the label/sticker should tell me the weight. This is hamburger that we have processed at my parents house, and when we package it, we just approximate what a two pound package should be. That means that we have some smaller packs and some larger packs.

Since meatloaf is a leftover that I will actually eat, I decided to make a large meatloaf. I am guessing that I mixed up about 3 1/2 pounds of hamburger. When I placed it in the pan, it was easily twelve inches long, four inches wide and approximately three inches tall. My three boys ate like I have been starving them. Even Justin, who really only eats processed meats (hotdog, bologna, pepperoni) ate several helpings of meatloaf. All the boys asked for seconds and thirds of various items. Darren had two helpings of meatloaf and probably two-thirds of a can of green beans. Nathan had at least three helpings of meat loaf, a helping of green beans, and a rather large baked potato. Justin just kept shoveling in the meatloaf. By the time all the boys (Bruce included) had seconds, I bet there was only a four inch length of meatloaf left. Then Bruce packed his lunch, I packed a lunch for the youngest two and it was gone. So much for me packing a lunch to take to work!

Controlled chaos

On Saturday we had family pictures taken. As in my kids, my parents, my siblings and their kids. There were 10 adults and 8 children age six and under. To be exact, (1) six year old, (3) three year olds, (3) one year olds and (1) four-month old. Talk about a daunting task! We all knew going in that as long as the kids were looking at the camera, we were doing better than we could hope. Todd took several pictures and I believe he got at least one where all the kids were looking at the camera. Hopefully none of the adults were blinking, or scratching their nose or making funny faces.

Between us five kids, we take turn being in charge of getting our parents their Christmas gifts. This year was my sisters Carla's turn and she had decided to give our parents a family picture. We had talked about waiting on family pictures, but with the extended family growing like it has, we figured that now was about the best time.

Mom in handcuffs

As I was getting Darren out of his car seat this morning, he seen my watch and asked if I was arrested. I was momentarily confused until I realized that he was looking at my watch. My watch is not the normal "link" watch; instead it is more of a band style in silver. I said that I was arrested and I asked him if he wanted to be arrested also. He said that he wanted to be arrested with me. Is that sweet, or is it disturbing that the thought of being in handcuffs doesn't bother him?

Parent teacher conference

Last night we had our first parent teacher conference for Nathan, and Bruce came with me. His teacher said that he is doing very well academically but he needs to work on a few things. She said, "Nathan is very, very, very social" with emphasis on the last very. She also said that he likes to push everything to the limits and then she gave us an example. She said that that very day in class, she said, "Nathan, this is your third and final warning. The next time you will get your name on the board." She said that he was very well behaved after that. She also said that he doesn't like to be told what to do. She gave us another example. She said that the other day they had to work on their numbers. Nathan told his teacher that he did not want to work on it. She told him that it was not a choice, the he had to do the work or he could go sit out in the hallway by himself. Obviously he choose to do the work. To be honest, there was nothing surprising in what she told us.

She also showed us a paper that he did on the first day of school. A lot of his numbers were backwards. I asked if this was normal. She said it is, and not to worry about it until he is in second grade. I said that I questioned it because I know my brother had a learning disability, although it wasn't dyslexia. Bruce mentioned that he had reading problems as a child and she asked if he was dyslexic. He couldn't remember, but she told us to keep an eye on him.

Happy days

Yesterday after Nathan and Darren went outside, Justin sat on the floor and had a little temper tantrum when I wouldn't let him go out with his big brothers. I picked him up and put him on my bed while I changed out of my work clothes. He immediately cheered up and was running around on my bed and playing peek-a-boo with the covers. After I was done changing clothes, I tried to lift him off the bed so that I could go into the kitchen and start dinner. Justin wanted nothing to do with that, so I left him on the bed. (My bedroom is right off the kitchen so I can see my bed pretty easily) I would go into my bedroom every once in a while and tickle him or act like I was chasing him across the bed. I know that he played on that bed for a least a half hour. What cheap and easy entertainment!

Really?!?!

Most of you know that I have a very sarcastic nature. Last night I realized that I become extremely sarcastic when tired.

About 2:45 am I hear Justin crying. I let him cry for a while, but he doesn't give any indication of stopping so I get out of bed. I make a stop in the kitchen to get a sippy cup of milk for Justin. I get Justin out of his crib and go to my chair to sit down and calm him down. As soon as I sit down he gets more upset and tries to throw himself off my lap. Giving it another try, I gather him up and offer him his milk. This only upsets him more. Thinking that he may be hungry because he didn't each much for dinner, I take him in the kitchen and dim the bar light. As I am standing up and holding him, he starts calming down. The instant I put him in his high chair, the theatrics start again. I am pulling food out of the cabinets for his approval, and he does not approve of anything. Then Bruce chimes in from the bedroom, "Try sitting down and rocking him." Duh! Like I never thought of that. I reply back in my typical sarcastic style, "Really? Why didn't I think of that? This is the first time I ever got up in the middle of the night with a kid!"

Anyway, I just put Justin to bed and go to bed myself. He cries for a minute or two, and then settles down and apparently fell asleep. As I am dozing off myself, I think that I must become extremely sarcastic/irritable when tired. In my defense though, if the peanut gallery would have gotten up with Justin, I wouldn't have been as grumpy. NOTE: If the peanut gallery would have gotten up with Justin, the peanut gallery would have gotten me up also when he couldn't figure out how to make Justin stop crying. Sometimes I wonder how he functions everyday without me telling him to tie his shoes!

Who does he take after?

I claim that Nathan looks like me, acts like me and seems to have most of my traits. I have finally found a trait that can be traced back to his dad though.

Nathan approached me Friday after school and said that he had something to tell me. "Mom. I got my name on the board at school today...on accident though!" I had to chuckle because it was on accident versus on purpose? Anyway, I ask him what he did to get his name on the board. He said that he was talking while the teacher was talking so that is why he got his name on the board.

We also got his progress report and he is doing satisfactory in everything. The teacher comments are, and I quote verbatim:
"Nathan is off to a good start in kindergarten. He is kind, polite, and gets along with others. Nathan participates in class and is very social. He does need to continue working on his handwriting and listening/paying attention during class time. Keep up the good work, Nathan!"

Does most of that statement not sound like his father? Very social, needs to keep working on his handwriting, needs to work on listening and paying attention. I am sure that he gets being polite and gets along with others from me though!

Kid-free weekend....almost

My brother Bill is in Texas. Dad is taking beans off. Dad needs someone to haul the beans to the elevator once the wagon is full. Bruce only had to work a half day on Friday since they are slow. Dad asked if Bruce could haul the wagons since Bill is not home to help out. Bruce says yes because he enjoys working with Dad. Mom decided to pick up the kids from daycare on Friday to surprise them and she figures that Dad should be done taking off beans about the same time.

I get to my parents house about 5:40 from work and the boys are there and waiting on Grandpa to come back with the combine. When he finally shows up, the oldest two go running out of the house in hopes of getting a ride. Mom and I follow a little slower behind with Justin. When Bruce gets back to the farm pulling the bean header, they have to go back to the "Sidney Farm" to pick up the wagons. Of course the boys want to ride along to do that. Neither one is in a car seat, but they would be royally upset if I said that one of them had to stay home, so I let it slide. When they get back, Dad is driving the truck and pulling three empty wagons while Bruce follows behind in his vehicle. Then we all walk out so that Dad can feed and check on the cattle. The whole time Nathan and Darren are peppering Dad with questions. Dad asked the boys if they want to help take off beans tomorrow (Saturday) morning assuming it is not raining. Of course they say yes, and they ask if they can spend the night. The grandparents think this is a great idea, so while they are eating dinner I go home and get some clean clothes for the older two boys. They do not keep Justin overnight because he is a lot to handle (refer to the poo incident) and the other two know what they are allowed to do on the farm. Then they called Saturday afternoon and ask if they can spend another night. I talk to Mom and she said it was okay, but that they were going to church that night, so I had to run some more clothes out to them.

On Sunday they didn't want to leave again, so I left the boys at Mom's and ran to Sears to buy some jeans for Nathan and Darren. Finally after much whining and tears, I get the boys to leave about 48 hours after they first arrived.

I think Justin was lonely over the weekend because he was kind of grumpy. Either that or he is getting ready for a growth spurt as he ate like a pig and slept a lot. It was kind of nice to have a relatively quiet house though.