Our First Big Break

( Note: I know most of you already know all about this...I typed out the whole shebang for a little keepsake for this mama to look back on years to come.)

With two little boys, I am sure we have several years ahead of us filled with stitches, bruises and of course, broken bones.

Last week was supposed have been a meticulously planned, detailed schedule of events. None of which ended the way it was intended. I had volunteered on Thursday to help with the big consignment sale in Austin. This involved planning out a crazy day of car seat swapping, grandparent preschool pick-ups and having to leave the house at a specific time just to make sure it all went as planned.

About an hour and a half into my 8-hour volunteer shift, I received a call from the preschool....looked like B had broken his arm. He had been running in the gym and tripped and fell, putting out his right arm to stop his fall.

And then, of course, my "well-oiled machine" of a day, kind of had to come up with a plan B. I was well over an hour from the preschool...thankfully my parents were half an hour closer. They drove and picked up poor Bennagins, who everyone at BCP said was super brave in his wait. They did get the brother, too...didn't want him to miss out on all the action!

I jumped in the car and we all converged at our pediatrician's office in Killeen. The doc took one look at the arm and sent us to the hospital for x-rays. My parents took Jon Jon to our house....little brothers at the hospital make for frustrated big brothers (especially when you're in pain).

The x-ray tech confirmed that it was indeed broken and it was both the radius and ulna that were both broken. From there, we played the waiting game. I truly thought a broken bone had to be set that day....apparently not.

We got an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon for Friday morning. When we showed up, we thought we would get a cast and head home. We were told he would actually need surgery, so they made us an appointment for Saturday morning at 6 a.m. (although we still spent 4 hours at the hospital that day for pre-op stuff...sheesh!).

Saturday morning, Benjamin was indeed a bit emotional, but did really well. They rolled him into the O.R. a little after 7 a.m.. And he didn't even need incisions...just a bit of bone manipulation and a big cast all the way up to his arm pit. He had some extra swelling, but did great.

We headed home Saturday afternoon and he's done great. This did come at a rough time for a five-year-old boy...just when the weather is beautiful and you're ready to play and run outside, you get slowed down by a broken arm. We also had to withdraw him from gymnastics for three months. Looks like we'll all be laying low for awhile!

But, he's doing wonderfully. He went back to preschool yesterday and is just ready to be back in the groove!

Spring Break Recap

It's been almost two weeks since spring break, and I'm just now getting around to posting these photos and blogging about it. We had a pretty quiet week and stayed around here. David had a couple of Ellison baseball games to attend and he took turns letting the boys go with him to enjoy them.

We painted our room...finally! It had literally become the room that old furniture went when there was no other place for it. But, now it's a place we really enjoy. And I still haven't hung my curtain panels that finally came in...so I only have one photo so far. But, it's of our favorite new spot.

I have loved the vinyl word art that's so popular right now, but our walls are way too textured to use them (bummer). So, I talked David into letting me borrow an overhead projector from EHS and we printed out a verse that I painted on the wall. After getting some advice from a gal at church who did this, I was super excited. Little did I know how long it would take! Or how bad my neck would hurt! But, we are pleased with how it turned out. Those are little gold beads on top of the mantle...those new kind that come in the long strands...not sure if I need more here, but for now, it's done.

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Tuesday, Benjamin and I headed to Waco to hang out with one of my best friends ever...Lori and her family. Her mom, Carol, was even able to join us for the day! We had a fun day of eating at Panera, heading to the mall and then hanging out at Spice (one awesome store/stores). Even despite the crummy weather, we still had a great time just catching up.

I was so excited to pass this baby bed along to Lori's sweet daughter, Madelyn. This little bed was mine when I was little and I loved playing with it. Ever since Lori was pregnant with Madelyn, I really wanted her to have this. Miss Madelyn seemed to be super excited about it! I hope it brings her as much joy as it brought me 30 years ago (yikes...I am OLD).

Jackson, Madelyn & Benjamin

Playing in the mall play area.

Lori & me

It was a good week with no big plans....the kind we needed! Good thing we took it easy that week, since this past week has been one roller coaster!

Faux Meat

Before you go running away from this post...it's not as bad as it sounds. Seriously.

Morningstar Farms (and the Boca people) make some not-so-bad "faux meat" products. I have used the Morningstar Farms veggie sausage for quite some time and my meat-eating boys love it and can't (really) tell the difference.

I decided to branch out and give the "ground beef" crumbles a try. They are an all-natural, soy-based product. And I really liked the crumbles in the following recipe. I think the garlic and onion go a long way to really transform them to a more authentic experience.

"Meaty" Meatless Spaghetti with Fresh Spinach

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 (12 oz) package frozen burger style crumbles

2 tablespoons water

1 (26 oz) jar Classico Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce

2 cups fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped

10 ounces uncooked spaghetti

5 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 4 minutes. Add crumbles; saute 5 minutes or until crumbles are completely thawed. Add water and pasta sauce; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in spinach, and simmer 4 minutes or until spinach wilts.

While sauce simmers, cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

Serve sauce over hot cooked pasta, and sprinkle each serving with cheese.

We served this with green beans and hot bread and it was yummy...the boys didn't even miss the meat!

Yield: 5 servings (serving size: 1 cup pasta, 1 cup sauce and 1 tablespoon cheese).

POINTS Value: 8 per serving

More Retreat Photos...

BCoC Women's Retreat 2010

The Inn on Baron's Creek

Fredericksburg, Texas

Some friends posted their photos on Facebook from the retreat, so I snatched them to post on here for my own sweet memories of the weekend (seeing as how I only took two photos...see previous post).

These are photos of several people I spent quite a bit of time with during our weekend. They each have come to mean so much to me and we are already getting together for lunches and such to study, pray and lift one another up.

Ann & Gina

Ann was in my small group.

Gina and I ended up having a great time together Saturday night.

Love 'em.

Kim Hines

A gal who is praying for me and my life-long struggles with worry/anxiety. Love having her as a prayer warrior. So weird...we taught the middle school class a year ago with her and her husband, but I didn't truly get to know her until the retreat. We were in small group together and really clicked!

Me, Gina & Jane Anne

Gina and I already had lunch last week and I am hanging out with Jane Anne this week. Both of these women are precious! Jane Anne was also in my small group and we have A LOT in common (wink, wink).

Dinner for the King's Daughters (US!!)

Loved the effort that the organizers put into this. Literally, our meeting room was transformed in less than an hour to this beautiful setting. We all walked in and were amazed!

This was our speaker for the event, Anita Marshall.

Neat, neat lady that He definitely spoke through to us!

At some point....

...I will update this blog again (like for real update, with kid photos/milestones/events and such). But, right now I am not too worried about it. I am coming off of an awesome weekend that my heart so desperately needed. We had a church women's retreat in Fredericksburg last weekend and it was wonderful.

I went expecting to have my cup filled...but instead it was emptied, from the bottom. And this is a good thing. It was emptied of some stuff I had let build up that needed to be gone.

Also discovered my new favorite passage on the trip...Psalm 32.

I am still processing and sort of floating around this week doing this, that and the other. But feeling tremendously blessed by it all. And finally taking time to actually listen to God and hear what he's trying to tell me.

I took all of two photos this weekend...the exact same people in each one!

This is Marcy Patty (my roomie for the trip) and our friend Ellen Agan.

Was pretty blessed to come home to these fellas. Aren't they sweet?

The dinosaurs were super welcoming as well.