Monday, November 3, 2008

The Madness Continues

By God's grace, we are mostly able to handle the day to day chaos that our life brings. I mean, really...four boys ages 5 and under can really stir up a ruckus! :) It's especially challenging now that Caleb and Matthew are crawling at the speed of light around our house. whew! You can always find toys on the floor, a stray sippy cup in the living room, some food crumbs on the table from lunch, and some laundry just begging to be put away - but, we manage. Balancing the busy life of raising boys, Brad working like mad to make his way through a PhD program with integrity, and one tired momma with a watchful eye on our home life(and our food supply) & homeschooling - it's a delicate balance to say the least. One unplanned event or unforeseen circumstance can cause us to cry, "UNCLE!" Read on for details... :)
Brad took the "big boys" (Sam, 5 and Luke, 2) to the park for some play time after dinner. I got busy cleaning the kitchen and readying the little guys (Caleb & Matthew, 9 months) for bedtime. Sam and Luke burst through the door with big stories of going down slides and learning to "pump" their legs on the swings. Brad shared a story of pushing Sam on the swing and not getting out of the way quickly enough while "faking Sam out" and standing in the path of his swing. Brad reached his hand out to stop the swing from hitting him and hurt his little finger on his left hand. He thought it was jammed. It looked awful - red and swollen -and hurt pretty badly. The next morning, he went to our local doc for an x-ray. He didn't see a break - but, wanted to send it on to a radiologist for a second look. In the meantime, Brad was to wear a splint on the injured finger. The babies thought it looked like a great teething toy! They were constantly trying to eat it. Fast forward nearly 3 weeks and the finger doesn't seem to be better. Brad was referred to an orthopaedist for an evaluation. This surgeon took one look at the x-ray and saw a break. ugh. Brad was to have surgery the following morning at 8:30 am.
We rustled up some babysitters for our kids. Thank God for our dear friends, Tricia and Mary, who each took two of our kiddos for the morning. Brad seems to be mending well and will follow up with the doc in two weeks to have the wires removed. OUCH. Poor guy. In the meantime, he is on the "disabled list" - no diaper changes, no lifting the boys, no washing dishes (as if {{grin}}), and no bathing the little ones, either. It's a challenge!
Thank goodness my parents were concerned enough for our well-being to come visit us over the weekend. :) What a blessing!

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