A boy and his whip

Isaac got into  whipping about the time Indian Jones and the Crystal Skull came out. Wait, let me rephrase that, Isaac got into whipping exactly when Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull came out. First he had just 4 ft prop whip. Then he got a more sturdy 6 foot whip. Over the years the whips have gotten more expensive and longer. He does not hit himself as much anymore. Just last week his new whip arrived. It is a eight plate 10 foot beast. Just the sound of it whirling through the air is enough to make me afraid of it. The "pop" it has is quite impressive. He loves his whip and hopes to be able to continue to upgrade. I don't know if he will ever get longer than a 10 foot. That is a lot of leather to control at such high speeds.

Anna's two week followup

Anna went to the orthopedic surgons office. She finally got to get that stinky bandage off. She was not happy with having anyone touch her leg or her arm. They did x rays of the elbow to see how it was healing. It is doing great! Since they do not cast elbows she just has to wear a sling and be careful not to put any weight on it at all.

 I had to read to Anna the whole time. She did not want to look at what was going on and needed a distraction so Ben took the pictures for us. Anna still refuses to even look at the pictures.

 Finally her foot is able to breath. I wish I could have washed it before it ended up in another wrap for two weeks.

 Where the stitches are is where one of her bones broke through the skin. She will get those out on her next appointment.

 She has four pins, as you can see, holding the bones in place while they heal. Those should come out in a month. Man, it is amazing how fast kids bones heal.

Yes, I did polish her toes. :)

Anna now has on a hot pink cast and it is almost completely full of signatures from well wishers. I will post pics of that later. Ben also made her a custom cushion for her leg to rest on in the wheel chair as well as a special board for her foot when she is in the car to hold it still and still be able to be in her booster seat buckled up.

Anna's Adventures

It all started out well and good. An afternoon family bike ride on Memorial Day.

 It ended with this.

 Anna wrecked her bike. She did a lovely compound fracture on her right leg, breaking her tibia and fibia as well as breaking her elbow on the left arm. They did surgery the following day and they put her leg back together with four pins and she is wheelchair bound for 8 weeks.

 The boys had some fun with the board for the nurses to write mesages to eachother.

 Somewhere in these blankets is a sleeping Anna. Can you find her?

 Anna got pass from schoolfor the rest of the year. She went back to school and said goodbye to her friends and got to let the last butterfly go that the class has raised.

Maria gave her hand.

She had a check up this week and got to get into a cast finally. We had to wait two weeks for swelling to go down. She chose hot pink, of course. She will go back in two weeks to have a new cast put on, the stitches removed from where the bone popped through the leg. Yes, of course we have pictures. :)

what can I accomplish in 5 minutes

Ya, this picture just about sums up how things are here. Hope it made you smile.

 Jakey's pose in this picture is classic Jake.

 Isaac made honor roll. He is super excited. He also get to get his picture put up on the cafeteria wall. He is registared to be in all honors classes next year. This ties in nicely with he plans of over throwing Castro and taking over Cuba when he is older.

Hi. So I guess this is what you can accomplish in 5 minutes. Now out the door.

And now for a story.......

Lunch Break

"Whoosh!", a persons binder full of papers has just opened, the sharp wind whirled it into a swirling cyclone of papers. Higher and higher it reached until it almost pierced the ever thick blanket of clouds that was above us. We all gazed at the amazing work of wonder that was before us. "I wonder who's that is?" my friend, Desmond asked. Ethan snatched a paper out of the air, for there were many consistently launching from the swirling vortex that still grew higher and higher. The paper read, Arthur Carter. "It's Zach's cousin.!" Ethan yelled, his fro flying back in the wind. "No way!" I answered in amazement. "Yep, Arthur Carter alright." confirmed Ethan. WE all burst out laughing. Arthur Carter was indeed an enemy to all of us. "Okay, lets face it, he had it coming." Desmond stated, as he began to gain control from his laughing fit. The cyclone began to die down and the paper shot sharply, even violently toward the far corner of the field. Some of Arthur's cronies began chasing the papers, farther and farther they ran until they realized that the papers would be irretrievable. "Well, that was fun." Alexia yawned. "We need something to do 'cuz now I am bored." Zach complained. "Then hop on Zach!" Desmond invited. Zach looked around and saw that I was already on Ethan's back and hopped onto Desmond's back. Soon we were riding all over the basketball court getting odd stares and messing up basketball games. It was common play that we do odd things to disrupt sports in play. The only sport we could not disrupt, the players have no sense of humor, was the track runners. They found it disrespectful that we ran next to them for a short period of time and then take off in a short, fast sprint. Anyway, the basketball players stopped their game, along with the football players, to watch our amazing feat as I, keeping a straight face, rode Ethan in immaculate curves and twists before he screamed, "I have an inspiration!" Desmond asked, "What is it?" "See that string over there?" asked Ethan. "Yes." replied Zach. Desmond ordered, "Bring it here." Ethan then turned around with his hands crossed behind his back, "Now I want you to tie me up." "Why?" asked Zach. "Because I am black." "WHAT??" I interjected. "Oh, sorry, and Asian." Ethan clarified. "I think what he means, Ethan, is what does that have to do with tying you up?" Ethan explained, "I am going to single handed overcome international black slavery." "How?" asked Zach. Ethan continued, "One step at a time my friend, one step at a time." This answer apparently satisfied Zach as he then tied Ethan's hands behind his back with the string. "FREEDOM!" screamed Ethan as he ran across the field. "WHEEEEET!" the Principal blew the whistle and Ethan changed course and began running toward the stairs. My friends and I stood dumbfounded as we saw him sprinting as fast as he could. We then began walking toward the entrance to the school as well. "Huh, huh, huh...hey guys." Ethan gasps as he caught up to us at the entrance to the grand stairs. Then he began to nimbly walk up the stairs with us. Once we reached the top of the stairs the Principal, holding open the door, rubs her temples. "What is it this time?" Ethan quickly responds, "Trying to stop international black slavery." "Mmmm." groaned the Principal. Zack walked up to me and whispers, "Lets trip him." "Okay." I whisper back. Being in the middle of the hall we could not table top him Zach grabbed Ethan's shoulder and I put out my foot in from him. Ethan whipped around and stated, "Zach, you forgot, I am not only black, but I am also ASIAN!!" Then he broke the string and tackled Zach. "ISAAC!" Zach yelped right before he hit the ground. Desmond, Alexia and I, simply walked away as if nothing even happened.

By, Isaac Brown.

The Wonder of it all....

Lately Ike has been wanting to try something new. Something we have never had in this house before. Not because of personal reasons or dislike. Basically because it costs too much for me to really justify. But I am seriously considering of finally buying it. Just once though.

What is this new thing?

Could it be a new video game?

Maybe the new wii 2?

Possibly the iPad that I too even covet?

Nope. None of the above. Sorry, we are just not that exciting.

What has caught his curiosity and taste buds is..........










Yes, we are a simple people. HA HA HA. Ike really wants to see what all the hoopla is over this bread. What makes it so wonderful. Now growing up I got to enjoy this fabulous bread. My mom would go to the day old bakery and buy them out. No, seriously. She would buy so many loaves of bread then take them home and freeze them. Even after being frozen the bread was soft and squishy goodness.

So I went to the market I usually shop at around my house and low and behold, they did not have Wonder Bread!!! I was stunned.

I am guessing I am gonna have to break down and go so Safeway to find it. Then my children can experience the pure bliss of eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Wonder Bread. Hope the memory stays with them for a while because if they think I am gonna pay $4 for a loaf of bread on a regular basis then they are out of their gourds. (Which is a condition I have suspected for a long time.)

New Years 2011

This New Years was a quiet one, by our standards. I am sure the neighbors would disagree.

We lit up a nice big bon fire and roasted hotdogs then just hung out. The eight of us. It was good. Took pics of everyone doing there thing. Nothing profound. Unless you are me. Then it is. I take nothing for granted. The fact we are all here, happy, together, in a loving safe home.

Happy New Years.