Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Happy Graduation (a year late), Will & Ethan!!!

A Belated Graduation Celebration
for
Will and Ethan Young
When: Saturday, August 1, 2015
3:00 - 7:00 pm
Where: Young Manor
(if you'd like to join us and don't know where we live, you can send me a private message at DL4everyoung@att.net and I will send you directions) 
Hope to see your bright, shining faces here as we celebrate the young men we are so blessed to call our sons and friends! 

Parenting....an update.



I don't know why but I really love this pic.



just waiting on our baby sis to get here....


From this picture up, there is no purpose other than just pure randomness and nostalgia...for digging through files, boxes, gobs of pics for the two big boys' upcoming open house....there ya go!
May 28, 2015: The infamous bike crash......way to initiate summer, kid.

She knocked these two teeth out...the rooted one was not loose. the unrooted one was on the verge of coming out....but that rooted one?? yeeee-ouch!

Looking a bit like a prize figher! she handled it all like such a champ, I still can't get over it.
I'm obviously way behind in an update but when I'm done explaining, you'll see why and hopefully all is well....

I needed to get Molly's bike-sker-faffle blogged because, in looking back over the blog to scour for pix from 2007 and on, I've really appreciated the documented life. If for one else than us, yah! it has been so fun to look back over the past 8 years on the blog, to see our family's development and growth...of course, some things don't make it onto the blog....but hopefully the things that do will remind us of the so-to-speak undocumented items.

I journal also...so I always tell my kids that, when I leave this crusty ol' earth, the documentation they will have to sift through will be interesting and probably somewhat entertaining....oh dear.

So back to the bike accident....We'd been out running errands and such on a lovely May Thursday. Upon arriving home, we decided an evening bike ride would help us shake out the jitters and hunker down for a chill evening. David, Will and Ethan were out of town. I was putting some groceries away and straightening up....I walked out of my room, after hearing Mel speak loudly that "the baby is bleeding" and I assumed, quickly, that she was playing around or encouraging Moll to "get over herself" a bit (as we have to do a lot at this sassy age of 7-8)...Nope....there stands Mel with a very bloody Molly in her arms....buckle....Oh no!

Now, I must add, I don't do the bloody situations in our house....you know, the kind that are more than a bloody nose or scratch...or birthing on the bedroom floor....those are all pretty straight forward blood-soaked situations....David or Ethan are the go to blood guys. Calm, non-squeamish and pure awesome. (refer to the April 2008 blog post when Levi needed medical attention/stitches, while his dad was NOT home, and I called on Ethan.....)

not me.

We get her seated, kinda look at her face out of the corner of my eye and assess that she probably knocked out 3 teeth (come to find out that she'd only knocked out 2, see above. Mel, bless her tender soul, found them both) but that garbled, bloody mess was hard to navigate for a sissy. "Mel, can you maybe look in there and see what the damage is???" (I did look but gosh. looked like ground beef) Moll's lip was blowing up like a balloon and it was hard to tell if she'd need stitches. Her nose even took a hit and I think she will always have a little scar there....aww.

Naturally, I called my mom almost instantly....they came down as rapidly as they could. My Mom is another one of those calm in the face of trouble kinda gals...

The scariest part of the first few moments was the shock she was in. She kept asking what happened...when we'd tell her that she fell off her bike and knocked her teeth out, she'd reply "I did????? what happened??" and Mel and I would just look at each other and cry. Secretly, so as not to freak our little patient out more. Then, once we got her settled on the couch, she'd ask questions about going to heaven and seeing Jack...again, Mel and I would cry and comfort her a little more. Then Levi read Scripture to her (Psalm 23) and we prayed for her...she really calmed down at this point and started to become more coherent.

That girl got whatever she requested that evening. You know what that was?

Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese
McDonald's french fries (in small bits)
Edy's all natural fruit popsicles
And Chocolate for the momma and sister, who were finally able to breathe normally.

So yeah...this parenting thing is NOT for the faint of heart. Makes these days on earth just all the more special.

In hindsight...a helmet would not have prevented this injury, though now we are more hypervigilant about making sure the two younger kids have them with us, not always on....That was the first question David asked me...."Was she wearing her helmet???"..........no.

In other news....I will be blogging a copy of the flyer I've made for Will and Ethan's upcoming open house. Why are we having an open house a year late? Because we need to and because they actually wanted one. How can a parent not honor that?

So, Stay tuned for the official announcement...Saturday, August 1, 2015, 3-7 pm, here at Young Manor....A big ol' whopping party to celebrate two of the most amazing, Christ-honoring young men this side of the Mason/Dixon....

I'll get back to more of that parenting insight I've been gleaning and putting into practice in a bit....hopefully not a month, but in a bit....