I forgot to tell you about this....

Well, I might have told you but I don't think I shared the details. Not even sure if you want the details...but can't leave this "fun" events in our life out, you know!

While we were living with my parents, Conner would frequently go way out in the woods behind their house to a creek that runs back there, Mouse Creek...just the name makes me not want to go back there. But anyway, this particular day he and his friend were back there and they were "cutting down tree limbs", so they say. Well, Conner has a pretty big knife, but he has always been careful with it. And as active as he as always been, motorcycles and all, he has never had a broken bone or major injury really, until that day.

Around 6:00 that evening, while my mother was holding a sleeping Hayden, Conner burst into the back door and yanked his pants down mumbling words that were incoherent to my mother. He proceeds to run to the bathroom and call for me saying he has STABBED himself. So I run into the bathroom. You just have to know Conner to know that he kind of goes into panic mode when something like this does happen to him. He actually had not stabbed himself, rather SLICED himself down his thigh. It was not bleeding, which I thought might not be a good thing. Frank was not home at the time, but was on his way. When I looked at it, I immediately figured that he would need stitches and immediately Conner began insisting that he was NOT going to get stitches...like he thinks he has a real say so in this matter. HA!

So anyway, when Frank got there he agreed with me (although we didn't let Conner know at the time). He didn't even want to go to the doctor, but we convinced him otherwise. Of course it was Sunday, so there was not a doctor's office open, so it would have to be the Emergency Room, UGH!! Now, one of my good friends, Susanne, works in the Emergency Room, and I knew she would take good care of him, but I didn't know for sure if she was working and I for sure didn't know how long we would have to wait before we could get seen! Then I remember a place my friend Shawna told me about in Chattanooga, called PM Pediatrics. They are open in the evenings and weekends for urgent care for children. It is much like going into a doctors office but they can do the stitches and x-rays and stuff like that and you don't have to sit with all those people and WAIT and WAIT and WAIT in the Emergency Room and even better, it doesn't cost an Emergency Room visit on our insurance only a specialist vist fee!! So if you are in the Cleveland/Chattanooga area and don't know about PM Pediatrics, you really should check them out in advance, for your emergency needs!! If you live somewhere else, you might want to check to see if you area has anything similar. This is such a great concept....who wants to sit in a yucky Emergency room, especially with a baby or child????

So you know me and pictures....had to get some.....but at least I didn't take any in the middle of the crisis!! ; )

In the room waiting for the doctor to come stitch him up

Battle Scars ...And I will add that they have healed up VERY nicely!!

Random Cuteness for Monday Morning

Just some random cuteness for you to enjoy and start your week off with. : )

Max the Squirrel

This is Max. He is our friend. ; )

Hayden can say his name, so that is why he is Max.

Max eats all the bird food.

And leaves a mess.

Then runs away.

BYE MAX!

First and Last

(as always, click on picture for a bigger version)

This is the first day of school and the last year of Elementary School for Mari Cate and the last year of Middle School for Conner. My oh my, where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday that I was taking each of them to their first day of Kindergarten! Time flies my friend, so enjoy it and take the time to reflect on the blessing that God has given you through your children. There are days that I wonder if they are really blessing, but deep down I always know they are. There are days that they drive me crazy, but there are also many days that I look at them and see what a wonderful young man and young woman they are becoming. When Hayden starts Kindergarten, Conner will be starting his Senior Year in High School and Mari Cate will be starting her first year of High School....WOW! Now that will be interesting!

Edited to add: I wrote this post on Wednesday of last week and intended to get it posted by Thursday morning...little did I know that I was going to wake up Thursday morning with a NASTY stomach virus. So I spent most of Thursday AND Friday laying around (and going to the bathroom! Yuck!!) Saturday morning I was hosting a baby shower for my friends, Brittany and Nando and I knew I had to get better. I just want to say "Thank You Lord" for allowing me wake up Saturday feeling like a new person, as if I had never been sick at all. I was able to prepare for and host a pretty good shower, with the help of my good friends Brandi and Katie, if I do say so myself!

So no longer is he just a cookie monster...

he's a cake monster too!!

The Evidence

Look closely--see the cake on his chin?

And then flirting with me to make sure he doesn't get in trouble... ; )

And you know he didn't...

Proud Parents

You know I am proud of my kids ALL the time...but there are some times in their lives that are extra special. You parents out there know what I mean.

Today was one of those. All week Conner has been at Young Marine Junior Leadership Training School. This was a school to teach him to be one of the leaders at Young Marines...basically what its name says. To "rank up" you have to go to this school. We have not been able to talk to him all week.

This morning at the Smyrna, TN National Guard Training Base we watched him graduate from the school. He earned a special award for having a perfect score of 500 on his Physical Fitness Test. There were only 2 of these awards given to the ~40 young men and women there. Way to go Conner! We were so proud and so happy to see him!

Getting his graduation certificate and test scores

Getting his award for perfect PFT test

Hayden was glad to see his big brother!

Even Mari Cate and Conner were glad to see each other--a little bit!
And Mom and Dad were proud parents and glad to have their boy home!

Yeah, it was a little hard...

Sunday, we dropped Conner off at the National Guard Training Base, 2 hours away from us for the week for the Young Marine Junior Leadership School. We will not be able to talk to him for the whole week. It is very hard to drop your child off for a whole week and not have any communication with them...unless something is wrong. So I am praying that I don't get a call, as much as I would like to talk to him to make sure he is ok.


We are going up on Thursday and spending the night because they will be graduating at 8:00 on Friday morning (what were they thinking???) We didn't figure we wanted to leave here at least by 6:00 and possibly fight the morning rush hour traffice and possibly miss the graduation.


So here are the last pictures we got as we dropped him...and you know me...there will definitely be pictures from the graduation to share!


Conner is the one pulling the red duffle bag.


This was as we were driving off. They already had them outside starting some PT it looked like.