At Home in the Mountains

Guess you could say in some ways we are in our own little episode of Survivor sometimes, but on our version of Survivor, getting "cast off" is how you WIN the game! :) Today was getting casts off day. Maddy's legs look like they've healed up great. Her skin is very dry and her legs have lost a little muscle but they were so non-muscular before that they actually don't look too much different than before she got the casts. Maddy was a great patient for getting her casts off. She giggled the whole time they were cutting them off and loved watching the whole procedure. She still has some steritape on her surgery incisions but that should fall off soon. She also still had all the pen marks from when they drew on her legs for surgery. I think that will wash off in the bath tonight. The REAL bath she can finally take and so desperately needs. She got upset when we went down to orthodics. I think her knees are still a little sore. Especially the one they operated on

 Yes, we went camping in the rain and mud this weekend. Yes, we are crazy. Yes, we had a great time! blowing bubbles coloring instead of eating hotdogs may the force be with you hanging with friends chubby bunny, chubby bunny, chubby bunny gorgeous girl with gorgeous flowers

front yard and scarlet maple Many of you won't care about this minutia on home improvements but for those of you who are interested.... Since we've moved into this house, neither Aaron nor I have been very interested in doing much in the way of home improvement projects. I guess we always felt like we were going to be moving sooner than later and it wasn't worth all the effort. While this saved us money, it didn't really make the house feel like our home either. Last summer, hoping to sell the house in the fall, we did some landscaping in the yard. That was fun, but we didn't really do much over the winter. We were thinking of putting the house on the market this spring, but decided against it. The timing just didn't seem right. So with that decision behind us, it just felt like time to do some simple and fairly inexpensive projects to make our house a place we want to live. The first project I undertook this year was painting the living area and dining area.

Gangsta Maddy. She is reading the Bible though! Playing dress up with Daddy Little Jackie O meets mariachi band MMMMMMM! Corndog! I can't believe she ate the whole thing! Must have sun glasses to properly eat an ice cream sundae If sunglasses are not available, Mr. Potato head glass are a great sub for fashionable eyewear Say cheese! Maddy stroller buddies. Nothing beats going for a walk and then cuddling up with your best but for nap time. And you never have to leave the stroller! Maddy was trying to crawl up the hill. You've got to give this girl a 10 on the determination scale Maddy found this old paci in the toy bin, put it in her mouth, and announced that she was Baby Bethany. :) Texting. Wonder who she got that idea from? This is the smile Maddy gets on her face when she watches a movie with a baby animal. This particular animal was the baby fox in the fox and the hound

Sliding with Maddy I am incredibly blessed that I have so many great women in my life who are examples of great moms. Obviously this lady is my #1 Mom choice. She is a great mom and a great grandma. When I get tired or out of patience with Maddy, all I have to do is think about how she did it with four kids ( I don't know the answer!) and I feel inspired. I also feel inspired that she ran the Pike's Peak ascent last year! I hope that someday I can be as amazing as my mom. The following mom's are pretty great in my book too: My Mom and me at the top of Pike's Peak Amber Fletcher Sherry McCluskey Cindy Hall Janet Joyner Amanda Fletcher Kim Fletcher Nell Fletcher Jan Skidmore, Chrissy Cross, and Mildred Eckstein Jennifer Joyner Pam Joyner (no picture) Betty Embry Sherry Embry Amanda Embry Girls from our old small group Evelyn Tyler Girls from our Brookhaven small group Anna Fletcher Rachel Griffith