Card Cakes for some very special people!

I found a template for a 'cake slice' and improvised on the entire cake. WOW! I felt like I had a little Emilee creativity flowing there. Each 'cake slice' is filled with candy, gum, etc. Each cake has 12 slices. Lauren actually picked out the papers, I cut, I stamped, I folded. But I couldn't believe how great they came out. And after I got into a rhythm, it didn't take too long.

I can't wait to make more! Maybe for other special people! Or other special times! They are absolutely beautiful!

Hope everyone likes them!

Despite the arm...homework still comes...and so does packages...

I had stopped by the school Monday to let them know Lauren wouldn't be back this week and to get her homework for the week. They track out in 2 weeks and Im sure grades have to be in the by beginning of next week, but I did want Lauren to complete everything she could. Just in case surgery was coming. They didn't have it ready on Tuesday so I had emailed the teachers individually early Wed. morning and stopped by Wed. afternoon to pick up her math book. Lauren was excited to come back into the school, even though she didn't see alot of her friends!

Lauren got tons of flowers from Chris, Allison & me. She loved all of them. They are all so pretty. Allison picked out the ones above and Lauren said they looked like "Spring" which is exactly what Allison said when she picked them out. I, of course, got the lilies, which are my favorite.

Chris got her a yellow daisy (I think) and its bright and cheery too! I don't think it really matters. She just loves them all.

Chris & I had also gotten her a mini-rose bush. Chris got some that were a peach/orange color, and I got one that was red. I sure hope she doesn't get used to it! ha ha

And Allison got her some orange full-size roses. They were much orang-er in person than what the picture shows.

Cards have been flowing in, between us and the mail, she has quite a few! She loves mail!

Mimi & Grumpa sent a package and a card. Iggie, below, is what was in the package. Lauren was so excited that Iggie was the same color as her cast! And since green is her favorite color (for now, at least), it was PERFECT!

Then came the delivery. I had to work on Thursday and this was going to be the 1st day that Lauren was home by herself since the accident. She knew Grandma Greta was sending something and was hoping it was coming today! She got up and literally waited by the door. I called from work at one point and she was sitting on the barstool I had put by the door, watching for the delivery guy. By the time I got home, it had been delivered. She was excited she got to sign for the package and when he saw the cast on the arm, he offered to put in on the stool for her (which is why I put the stool there). When I got home, Lauren hadn't opened it yet. I couldn't believe it.

It was totally amazing. Apples covered in chocolate, pineapple, strawberries, oranges, WOW! It was beautiful and we had a time just getting it into the fridge! She was so excited.

Tracking down Dr. Barrie.....

When I called Dr. Barries Duraleigh office yesterday to make an appointment, found out she was in surgery all day and wasn't seeing anyone in the office. So, next phone call, the Durham office. I didn't want her to be seen by anyone else, so I didn't care which office she was going to be in, we would track her down.

Got there today and Lauren was a bit nervous. She doesn't want to go through surgery and is also scared of the unknown. After we were brought back to the exam room, they immediately cut the temporary splint off. Immediately it hurt, Lauren was crying and I knew she wasn't faking. I felt so bad. I was also scared that by removing it, that it may cause the wrist to move and would result in surgery.

They came to get her and took her for more films. She made it through that and it took about 10 minutes to get her calmed down and not focused on the pain. I did medicate her prior to leaving Raleigh, so that it would be working before we got to the office.
You can't really tell in the above picture how swollen and yellowing of her skin around the wrist area. It still looks deformed and I know thats mainly from the swelling. She still has some numbness to her 1/2 fingers, which is going to take a while to heal.
Here you can see a little bit of difference in her fingers. It is much more pronounced that this picture portrays. I felt so sorry for her and hate to see her hurt so much! Dr. Flint came in and talked to us. I did question about the potential movement and chances of in the next 2 weeks, shifting enough to require surgery. I guess its either going to shift or not. Dr. Flint did tell us that it had shifted a little the wrong way, so he was going to have to push a little when casting to get it set back in correct position. I knew where this was going.

I finally got her laughing, while waiting on Dr. Flint to get everything together to place the cast. She was hurting, and again, was a trooper! I am so proud of her!

Her favorite color. I don't think that they asked her 'what color?', before she had 'green' out of her mouth. Casting was ok, she did cry alot when he was re-setting the wrist and pushing to get it aligned correctly. Did get a script for more pain medicine and after getting her fingers out of the finger-traps, we were on our way.

Plan is to follow up with Dr. Barrie next Monday in the Duraleigh office, re-xray then if it hasn't shifted, follow up 1 week later, which will be the day after Labor Day, and hopefully if it hasn't shifted then follow up the week after the cruise and then potentially get to go every other week. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

House Arrest....or so it seems...

Lauren has been under house arrest since waking up Saturday morning. She did sleep in her bed when we got home from the ER but then ever since, she has just been sleeping on the couch. Luckily, after the 1st two nights she is now sleeping through the night.

Keeping her arm elevated is the most important, so she knows no matter what she does, how she lays, what she texts, surfing on the computer, she better have that arm elevated.

She did manage to motivate from the couch to the chair. Note...laptop, cell phone, home phone, remote control and gum, I think she has it covered! Could I get you anything else Princess Lauren?

Chris, Allison and I have gotten flowers, Patsy showed up with a chocolate cake and balloons and Kim came by yesterday with a bag of her favorite candy and balloons. Lauren was amazed 'how did she know I liked all these?' I wonder!

She seems to be getting by much better. We are waiting on the ortho appt in Durham Tuesday afternoon. Hopefully nothing has shifted, we can get a new cast and play the waiting game. Still need to stop by NGMS and pick up her homework for the week. With only 2 weeks of school left, hopefully we can get everything completed so she doesn't fall behind!

As Sean Kingston says....Somebody call 911...

Picture this....Skate Night for North Garner Middle School... Lauren had said for weeks she wanted to go, but Allison wasn't so sure and the closer it got, the more Allison did not want to go. Lauren was kind of not sure come Friday night and I was tired of going back and forth so I suggested Evelyn come over. When Allison found out we weren't going, then she decided her and Brooke wanted to go, this of course was at 6pm. The skate night was from 6p-9p. So we headed out. I still had to pick up Evelyn, then Brooke, then stop and get $$, then make it up to Capital Blvd. We didn't get up there until around 7pm.

Chris & I headed back to the house. Around 740p I got a call from a number I didn't recognize so, obviously I didn't answer it. But they did leave a message and I actually listened to it for a change. It was Mr. Wall (the Principal) letting me know that Lauren had fallen and may have broken her arm. We headed out immediately. Before I got too far up the road, another number had called. This time I answered it, and it was Mr. Harrell (Lauren's PE teacher). He advised me that it was broken, at the wrist and wanted to know when I would be there. I told him I had brought Evelyn and Brooke and that Allison was there too. I asked him to find out if Brooke's mom could pick them up and if not, all 3 of them were going to have to come with me.

I hurried the best I could to get up there within 20 minutes. We pulled up and it was hectic trying to get into the parking lot d/t a rap concert that was slated for 9p that no one knew about when NGMS booked the Skate Ranch. I met Mr. Harrell in the parking lot and I eased my way to the front where Mr. Wall was standing with Lauren. They had her hold her left arm and covered it with her shirt and ice and some napkins. Mr. Wall and I got her in the back and Chris drove. I had already called Teresa at Rex to give her the heads up, but after I saw Lauren's wrist I called her back and told her we would be there in 10 minutes.

Teresa was great and we came in through the ambulance entrance. Abe met us in Room 2 and immediately ordered and IV and Morphine. Lauren was scared and her arm hurt and she was nervous about the IV, but she hung in there.

Shortly after we were moved to MT8 and Abe got the x-rays back and it was too bad for him to 'fix' so Ortho had to be called. Ortho came and advised me that he would attempt to re-set it, however, this type of break is not stable and if he could not get it reset then he would admit her and do surgery in the morning. Dr. Brownstein came in to supervise the conscious sedation while Ortho tried to reset it. After 16mg of Etomidate, much pulling, and much screaming, finally it was set.

He splinted her arm before the Etomidate wore off but then she complained of upper arm pain, so much that she was tearful. Abe sent her over for a upper arm film. After that report came back, sure enough...she had broken her humerus as well. What? Abe, please don't x-ray anything else! ha ha. Abe paged ortho again. Ortho had Tony apply another splint around her elbow to cover her upper arm.
Morphine, Lortab, we kept giving meds but nothing seemed to work as far as settling her down. I felt so sorry for her. Something that I could not control for her. Its horrible to hear your child scream in pain and there is absolutely nothing you can do.

I do think alot of Lauren's uneasiness was the fact that she had been up since 6am, it was now after midnight, and everything up to this point was horrible. Finally after awhile she settled down enough and I felt like we could head home. I felt like if we got out in the car and got home that she would be ok.

We finally got out around 230am. Wow! Not how I had planned spending my Friday night! ha ha. However, we headed home and I got Lauren in bed. She woke up at 6am screaming in pain. More pain meds on the way. Monday...please get here.....

Mom....how's work?

Everyone was planning on heading to the Lake, Saturday, August 16th. I had to work at Rex and couldn't get out of the shift, so it looked like everyone was going to have fun without me. Chris had posted some pictures throughout the day, so I could see all the fun I was missing. They even called me as Lauren was out on the inner-tube saying "Listen to Lauren.....oh and by the way... how's work?" As she giggled underneather her breath!

Chase is so cute...the picture would probably be perfect if Kim didn't have that nasty red shirt on. But she is a pretty cool mom, so I guess I'll let it slide.

The girls had their life jackets and of course, Lauren was all decked out on the boat. Looks kind of like a natural, huh?

Lauren & Allison both had a blast and they had great weather to be able to enjoy a full day on the boat. Some of the pics turned out a little over-exposed so I tried to clean them up the best I could.

The fact that someone got a picture of Allison without her tongue sticking out, actually blew my mind. ha ha. But even Allison had a blast.

Chase & Jordan...getting too big! And obviously having too much fun along with everyone but ME!

Even some goofing off. These kids? Never! W-R-O-N-G! And Chase is always the one that seems to right in the mood for some goofing off!

Ok, so Allison left the tongue in, but here you see Lauren living up to her big sisters traits.

Oh, no, there it is! I knew she couldn't go an entire day without her tongue sticking out. At least I know, for sure, that it is, in fact, my daughter! I love that girl!

So, the story of Kim & beer & lake & tube.... So they were going around taking the kids on the inner-tube and Kim was floating around in the middle, so on one pass they had thrown her an innter-tube (to be more visible), well, at least, thats what they told her. Kim decided that she wanted a beer, so Allison took it upon her self to throw it at Kim upon the next pass. She should have yelled "INCOMING" when she threw it! Luckily it didn't hit her. But I think for a second Kim was worried!

Aren't they soooo cute? I sure wish I was there, but they all had a blast! And there's always time for tanning!

So Kim and her knee-boarding stunts. Did get picture and video confirmation of her actually confirming a 360 degree turn!

And, of course, when there are kids, there must be snack stuff! Couldn't make it an entire day without food! Especially around this group!

I told Kim not to leave towels out on the deck...but she never listens... we may have to ban her from the lake house, if she can't follow instructions!

Ok, so heres a clip of Kim and her 360 degree turn. Note the last second facial expression, upon completion of this difficult stunt!

What was I thinking????

Chris headed out to Tennessee this weekend, so I thought I would take down the popcorn ceiling in the dining room. I had been thinking about getting it done but was hesitant because I like for everything to be complete in a room before I move on to another room. We need a different saw to cut the base moulding I bought for the living room, so thats what I have been waiting on. But I couldn't sit around all weekend and not accomplish something, so yesterday I started. I first got everything out of the room and all the pictures down. Moved the base of the dining room table out to the garage and then moved the china cabinet and the buffet into the middle of the room.

I had forgotten that I had painted this ceiling shortly after buying the house when I painted the dining room. So I knew it wasnt going to be as easy as it was with the other ceilings. The popcorn wasn't 'open' to absorb the water so I wasn't sure how this was going to go.

Lauren & Allison helped me sweep the floor and get everything out. Off to spraying and scraping I went. After the first few attempts I realized I had gotten myself into something and wasn't sure how sore I was going to be after finishing. I didn't need any water and had to use the edge of the scraper to almost 'cut' through the paint and then it seemed to come off in sheets.

The problem was, is that it left a ton of chalk on the ceiling. Even though the 'popcorn' was coming down in sheets, the chalk that its mixed with still remained. It took me 2 1/2 hours to just scrap and get the popcorn off. I then spent an hour sanding with a hand sander trying to get down to the drywall. I called it a night after that hour. At this point I was up to 3 showers.

It does make quite a mess, and I did try to sweep up after each round in order to make an attempt at keeping this mess from getting throughout the house. I had covered both entryways with sheets of plastic on the inside and outside, but it didn't seem to matter. I think I mopped the floors 5 times before bedtime, and got up this morning and it still was 'chalky'.

We got up this morning and I lightly misted the ceiling with water and scraped the remaining chalk off. Then it was back to where I had hoped to be yesterday earlier in the day! ha ha. But it took alot of time. So if you ever even remotely think you may take down a popcorn ceiling DO NOT EVER paint it! I could have had most everything done yesterday and concentrated on painting solely today, but was delayed due to the amount of time it took just to get it to this point. We are going to try to get the primer coat on the ceiling and the spackling done and sanded, so hopefully I can get the 1st paint coat on before bedtime tonight. Wish us luck!

Lauren is getting suspended....

If she doesn't get her Tdap by today! I get a message from Lauren that she will be suspended if she doesn't have this immunization. She was already scheduled for her annual checkup in October but that obviously wasn't soon enough. I called Sunrise Pediatrics and got her in to see the RN this am. She wasn't excited and psych's herself out every time.

The RN was pretty good, in the room, shot given and out within 10 minutes! I love Dr. Fennell's office! They are awesome! Lauren did cry but only for a minute and then we were off to school, with a copy of her immunization record, of course!

On the way to school, Lauren had looked at her bandaid and realized it was 'shiny'. She said 'its bleeding, but it's cool!' I guess thats better than having her cry! ha ha. And of course we had to get a picture for the scrapbook!

I want to be a ROCKSTAR...Nickelback Style...

Saturday, off to the Nickelback concert we went. Hinder, Papa Roach, Saving Abel and Nickelback. Wow! What a line-up! A bunch of us from Wake ordered tickets on $10 ticket day. Ended up getting tickets for Gwen Stefani-No Doubt, Nickelback, Def Leppard and Aerosmith!

Kearney called me from the parking lot, but she had parked at the softball complex and was walking over, so Im sure for some it was an enjoyable conversation with me telling her where in the world I am and attempting to try to get her where we were. But finally she made it.

As you can tell, this is my child! The only way you could possibly tell is because of her TONGUE! She is so beautiful but cant seem to take a picture without sticking her tongue out. I have already had the talk about going on the cruise. I do not expect her to take every picture with her tongue out! We will see how that turns out.

This was the girls 1st concert! Of course they wanted shirts, what else would they wear to school on Monday? Im mean, really! Surprisingly, they didn't pick out the same shirt, so there was no 'attitude' and no arguments! Wow, maybe more concerts are in our future!

Lauren picked out a black shirt with fire and the cities listed on the back, where Allison picked out a navy one with different graphics and the cities on the back. The girls did have fun looking at all the places they are going on this tour!

After we got the shirts and Kim & Lauren made it through the mist-ers without Kim pee-ing on herself, we headed to the AWESOME section.......
The VIP Club of course, where else would Team Awesome hang out? Lauren was loving it! This is right up her alley. Thanks to Patsy for getting us on the list!

Im not quite sure the girls will take off their blue bands. ha ha. I will only have to tell them that they may need a different color the next time! ha ha.
Kearney, (shes Canadian, ya know, eh?) has never had a funnel cake! What? You are in NC and have never had a funnel cake? Needless to say, she can now, officially, take that off the Bucket List. And let me just say, SHE LOVED IT! Can't you tell?

We left the VIP Club and headed up...This is what we came out to. I thought we were at another version of Woodstock! There were wall-to-wall people. People everywhere! 20,000 of them! Do you people not have jobs? Homes? Families? Hello, this is Team Awesome...get the heck out of my way!

I think the girls were a bit overwhelmed at first! All the people! I don't think they have ever been anywhere where there were so many people! And don't even get me started on HOW they were dressed! As you can see by the above photo! Some people really put alot of time and effort into how they leave the house....and then again, some people don't!

I think I am going to have to worry about Lauren and concerts as she gets older. Seems as if her and Kim had been groupies for years! Lauren, have you been to concerts that I don't know about? Is there something you're not telling me? Lauren & Allison love Kim to death! And Lauren is about as crazy!

Yes, as you can see by the tongue, that of course, is my daughter! She had to get a picture with the screen behind her, another way to prove she was at the concert!

Again, another groupie shot! Lauren knows way too much about having a great time at a concert!

I wish this pic would have been in focus. I love it! They were all having so much fun! Josh is crazy too! I guess he has to be, to be able to hang out with us! But I guess we could have called our monthly RALF meeting to order!

Allison took this picture! It was great, and almost perfectly focused! She loves this picture.


I was about to say, Im not sure where Josh was, but now I remember I think he was the one taking the picture! ha ha. Can't you tell how excited my 13 year old is? I will tell you people that once your child turns 13, if you think you have experienced 'attitudes' before, you ain't seen nothing yet! Hormones and attitudes!

The concert was awesome! They played right up until 11p. They sounded totally cool LIVE and would definately see them again! What a night! We really had a great time and didn't get anything spilled on us. Lauren did have some guy hit on her, but between Kearney and Kim, we had that taken care of within seconds. Stay away from the 10 year old, please!

Allison had a get a picture too, just so she could have the proof factor too! Trying to live up to 13 year old peer pressure is hard!

Below is a clip that Lauren took from the concert! She is singing for about 15 seconds then she stops for a minute then starts again. Listen to it. I love hearing her voice and how innocent it seems and how 'cute' it is! Not only because she is my daughter, but any mother would say that! She hates when I play it, but I love hearing it!