Why play in when you can go under

Why Play in the in it when you can just play under it? He now loves to crawl in and out of it and throw his toys in the middle of it. It is so funny to watch. He will crawl over to the Christmas Tree but on his way crawl through his exersaucer. Nixon is now all over the place and into everything.
Here is picture of the kids at OMSI in Portland. They had a Star Wars exhibit which was a blast to go through with the kids. I will add some more pics next week. I just wanted to get a quick update on here. Nixon is is off in the kitchen so I better go see what he's up to!

Candy and Mystery

We had a wonderful weekend with our good friends the Burness' down in the Bay Area. We toured the Jelly Belly Factory which was something we have wanted to do for a long time now. It sure was fun. Endless amounts of candy how could it not be awesome! Plus they were already decorated for Christmas so even more fun.









Somewhere I have wanted to go since I was a kid is the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. As part of my birthday Tim took me and the kids there. It was so much fun. The kids had a blast. In the house there are doors that open to walls and stairs that go to the ceiling. So Tim had the kids really excited about all the stuff that goes to nowhere. They would look at everything and say "Look there's a window that goes to NOWHERE! Or a door that goes to NOWHERE!" It was such a fun time. The tour was just over an hour and we even forgot a binky for Nixon but he did great in the back pack. On the way there the kids fell asleep in the car. All 3 of them isn't it the cutest thing.



































I know I am getting older when my cake is on fire! Tim and the kids put a candle for every year I have been alive on my cake! It sure made for a pretty cake though.

Trick or Treat

We had a great Halloween. We had fun trick or treating the neighborhood. And even took time out to swing on the swings. Paige was a Renaissance Pricness, Simon was Superman and Nixon was Tigger. I was a Silly Country Clown and Tim was a Sheriff with a giant hat! The kids really enjoyed it. As usual I think they almost had more fun passing out the candy at our house. They didn't want to go to bed incase more kids came for candy.

Birthday Boy and Sibling Love

Simon is now 4 years old!!!! I can't believe it. He is so grown up. He had a fun birthday party. The theme was the Disney Cars movie. He couldn't wait to get the cake. And check out his face when he got to open presents. It was priceless, I can't believe we got it on camera. I believe he was saying "Whoa look what I got" in this picture. We had a real fun time. I got a Volkswagen bug pinata for him and took the peace signs off the sides and added number 53 (Herbie, his number one favorite car). The cake was big and I put the candles at the top, so when I turned the cake around for him to blow out the candles he had to lean way over the cake and accidentally put his hand in the side of it. It was tasty to lick off!















Here are some pictures of the kids with each other. The first one is Paige and Simon on a hay ride to go pick out pumpkins. The others are Nixon with his big Sissy and big brother. They all have such a blast together it's wonderful to watch. He is now 17 pounds so Paige couldn't hold him too long he started slipping. Nixon thought it was great to have Sissy holding him. Simon is so great with Nixon and can get him giggling really good.

Well I will end this for now today is Halloween so I will add some more pictures in the next couple days.

Firsts Firsts and more Firsts

There are all kinds of Firsts going on in our household! Starting with Paige she learned to ride her Bike without training wheels on Oct. 12th. She told Tim she wasn't going to ride her bike again until he took them off. So he said OK and took them off. I kid you not I have never seen someone learn to ride a bike as fast as she did. Literally maybe 5 min. I was lucky enough to get it on video. Tim walked with her once around the circle (in front of our house) and then turned around to tell me to start recording which I already was and she just took off without him. It was so funny. I said um Tim she took off and he turned around and she was gone half way around the circle and that was it. We never had to help her again. Now she is out there riding everyday.

Simon also has a first. One week after Paige got her training wheels off he begged Tim to take the training wheels off his small bike (we got him a bigger bike for his birthday with training wheels but he can't touch the ground as good as on the little one, so, for no wheels it had to be the little one). We didn't do it for a couple days but he kept begging. So once again Tim said OK and took them off. Same thing he walked once around the circle with Simon and then Tim had to leave for a few minutes. While he was gone Simon just kept trying all by himself and with in about 5 minutes he had it. So he learned to ride a bike on Oct. 18th. Now he is trying to do poppa wheelies and ride up and off the curb. Paige goes up and off the curbs too. Those are the times when as a mother I have to look the other way or I will stress out that they are going to crash and I have to trust that if they fall they will just hop back up.

Nixon has a couple firsts. He has his first tooth coming in. It started to break through a couple weeks ago. He is handling it pretty well. He had about 2 days at first that were kind of rough but smooth sailing since. He also got to eat food for the first time. He still doesn't know what to think of it. It's just rice cereal so not too much taste to it. Out of all 3 he is the one that isn't just taking right to it. He was really watching us eat all the time so I thought I better feed the little guy some food. It's only been for a week or so but he really just kind of pushes it all back out and then when he does swallow some he does a fake cough. It's pretty cute. The other two took to it right away but he seems to not care too much. He'll get it. Although I think I am not offering it to him as much as I did the other two. I am in such a routine that I sort of forget to add that in. For now he doesn't need it for nourishment which is good. He's not in need of any calories that's for sure. He has also found his voice which means it's time to go to the nursery during church. He usually naps during church so we just keep him with us. But the last couple times he has decided he needs to talk along with the Pastor. I can't believe he is already 6 months old. We are truly enjoying being the parents of 3 I wouldn't trade it for anything.

A short update on Tim....
He is now out of the boot and off crutches for the most part. Unless he has a rough day then he will put it back on for a day or so. He has been driving for a few weeks now which is nice. He has even been crazy enough to hop back on his bicycle and drove his motorcycle around the block. He has been taking it slow though which is a must. He is glad to take that boot off even though he still can't walk normal yet. It's a longer process than we thought but the hard part is over. In 3 weeks he will have 2 screws taken out and then go back into the dreaded boot for a little while. Overall he is doing really well for what he has gone through.

As for me I can't think of any firsts but I can't think either!

From... Tim

Um, Hi. This is Tim.

Hi.

This is a picture of Bacon. I like Bacon.

Thank you for your time.

Love, Tim

I love my kids

The beginning of a lifelong friendship. Simon and Nixon are best buds. Simon just absolutely loves Nixon. I have to constantly remind Simon not to get too close to Nixon's face. Simon likes to get right in his face and then Nixon's little eyes cross trying to look at Simon. Both Paige and Simon love playing with Nixon and it is just so darn cute to watch. This last picture I took the other day while the kids were playing. I was sitting on the loveseat and heard the kids just giggling away so I peeked around the corner to see what they were doing and the kids had gone over to Nixon and layed next to him and were coping him. He would lay his head on the ground and they would too, then they would all 3 pop their heads up and giggle.
Simon woke up a couple weeks ago after being asleep for about 2 or 3 hours just screaming. Daddy Daddy where is he? I was down stairs and went running up and Tim was in the bedroom and got to Simon (as fast as he could on crutches) and was trying to calm Simon down assuming he had a dream that there was a "monster" or something. Simon just kept saying where is he where is he? Tim kept telling him nowhere there is nothing here it was just a dream. Then Simon said crying Nixon went down the toilet someone flushed it and Nixon was in it. Talk about broke our hearts. He had dreamt that Nixon went down the drain in the toilet. He kept saying he was there then he was gone. He talked about this dream for 2 days. I had to show him that the hole in the toilet isn't big enough for someone to go down. He informed me that in his dream Nixon did. So I explained to him how dreams aren't real. We also had to assure him that Nixon was asleep in his crib. It was sad to see him so upset but warmed our hearts how much he cares for and loves his brother. The three of them are in for some real fun times once Nixon gets mobile that's forsure. Simon and Paige are the best of friends already. I am so amazed at how they can play pretend for hours together. Right now they are into pretending they are bears or dogs. They crawl all over the house pretending. I absolutely love watching my three kids love each other and take care of each other. If one gets something they ask for another one for the other. Like gum or candy or something. I just love it!!

First Day

Paige and Simon both started school. Paige is now in first grade and Simon is in pre-school 2 days a week. Here are a couple of their "First Day of School" pictures. Aren't they so cute. I can't believe how fast they grow up. Paige is loving school. She likes that she gets more recesses and gets to stay for lunch. She even got to check out 2 books from the library now that she's in first grade. Instead of only 1 book like in kindergarten. Simon just loves school and his teachers whom he missed greatly over the summer break.

Nixon has a first also. He now rolls all the way across the living room floor. My days of being able to sit him down and go do something are over. He either wiggles him self a few feet on his tummy or just rolls and rolls till he gets across the room. I don't remember the other two doing that at four months, I will have to look in their baby books. Although he does have 2 older siblings he is trying to keep up with so maybe he will hit some of those milestones a bit early. I have to give the little guy a lot of credit he sure is rolling with our crazy schedule.

Another first is Paige started Brownies which is part of girl scouts. My does it bring back memories. I went to Brownies when I was in first grade. Most of the stuff is the same the pledges and hand shakes and songs. I think it will be really good for her and give her some confidence (not that she doesn't have any but she is pretty timid). She had her fist troop meeting this week and really enjoyed it. I was only up till half past midnight sewing her patches on her uniform before I gave up and finished them up the day of.

Well that's about it for the "firsts" that have been happening the last couple weeks. I have been busy gearing up and helping plan our first MOPS meeting (mother of preschoolers) which starts this week. I am doing registration and anywhere else I am needed. We have an incredible number of moms coming this year. We only had 20 something last year and we are at almost 50 this year. Tim goes to the doctor tomorrow to see where we are at with his leg so I will update on that later. Needless to say the Crothers household is very busy and on the go these days!

Yakima

Sorry it has been a while since I posted. We spontaneously decided to pack up and head up to Yakima (our home town where our parents are) and stay a few days. Since we got back on Monday I have been running around like crazy. We decided on a Tuesday afternoon that we would take off in the middle of the night (3:45am) and head up to Yakima. Tim had to convince me that he would be ok and that I could actually pack us up. I got done packing at 12:30am laid down for 2 hours, the alarm went of at 2:30am and I got the van packed the rest of the way and all 5 of us up and in the car to hit the road at 3:45am. It took 12 1/2 hours to get there. Wow was it long. The kids did great and Tim was pretty sore by the time we got there. He was so glad to be looking at someone eles's walls for a while though. He really didn't do much while we were there, not by choice but he still can't do much yet. I am sure he doesn't want me to say it but I did have to take him to the ER once while we were there. We spent Friday afternoon in there. Basically from him being on crutches and off balance he ended up with a muscle skeletal pull. It got so bad he couldn't move and he couldn't breathe. So they gave him a couple shots of a really good pain killer and sent him home with muscle relaxers and he was much better. I have to say I love that hospital it is by far the nicest one I have ever been to. And we have visited quite a few ER's and Urgent Cares. For some reason we can't seem to go on a trip the last couple years without one of us having to visit one. So to make a long story short we had a wonderful time we stayed Tuesday through the weekend and then took 2 days to get back. The long drive up was a bit much for Tim's leg. We stopped on the way home at my Grandparents for a while in Portland and then stayed the night at our friends, the Schwindt's in Eugene. It was a nice break for all of us. The kids had a blast playing at Grandma's and Grandpa's, it was nice for me to get a break and to have someone else that could help with the kids if needed, and for Tim to just plain get out of our house and sit on someone else's couch. The kids got to play in the hot tub, feed the horses, Simon got to ride in Grandpa Joe's jeep which is one of his favorite things to do! Nixon got to meet his Great Aunt and Uncle, Great Grandparents and Great Great Aunt and Uncle plus the Jolley family (well Brook and Dylan anyways). Nixon even got to meet Angie's friend Steven and his mom Gayleen. Angie met Steven when he was just 2 1/2 years old and is now 16 and have always been buds. It was a fun quick trip that we really needed. Sorry to everyone up in WA that we didn't get a chance to see it was such a rush to get up there and rush back we just couldn't squeeze everyone in. We are planning on coming back up at Christmas time so we will
make sure to squeeze everyone in on that trip










Feeding the horses -- Great Aunt and Uncle













Enjoying the warmth -- Going for a jeep ride!













Shucking corn with Grandma Pat -- Great Grandparents














Grandma & Grandpa -- Great Great Aunt & Uncle

Before and After

BEFORE AFTER

Here is the before surgery X-Ray and the after surgery X-Ray. In the before one you can see the clean break of the tibia then about 2 niches above that is another splinter part harder to see in this shot. Then you can see how the two bones are separated a bit where they should but up against each other tight. In this view you can't see the bottom part of the fibula that was broke also. Tim ended up with 7 small permanent screws, 1 plate and 2 long screws. In three months he has to have the two long screws taken out. We thought the plate had to come out also but it's only the screws. We were happy to hear that. That is a much easier procedure. The doctor did say that with heightened security in the U.S. the plate might set off a metal detector when traveling. Years ago it would not have but now days it might. So this is where we are at. He goes back in a month to have it looked at. He is still having a good amount of pain so he is still on meds for that. He won't be able to drive for a good while not to mention walk! His stitches were taken out today which wasn't fun. The incision is about 6 to 7 inches long. Basically from below his ankle all the way up to his sock line if he had a tall sock on. I didn't think it would bother me when she took the stitches out but I have to admit I got queasy and light headed and had to sit down. I also didn't it like it that he was in pain. The X-Ray tech lifted his foot up by his toes (who knows why) and it about sent Tim through the roof. I told Tim he was lucky I wasn't sitting next to his crutches I may have grabbed it and hit the guy. I do not like it when Tim is in pain especially when someone else causes it. Grrrrrr.

Daddy's Day Out

Tim got to get out of the house! We knew Target had the motorized carts so we took advantage of it. We called in advance and they said they were first come first serve and they only had two. So we took a chance and ran down there and there was one left. At first we weren't too sure because he needs to keep it up but the basket worked great for him to have it up on. I think he really enjoyed getting out of the house. It's been two weeks and the only time out of the house was surgery and the doctors office. Tomorrow (Tuesday) he gets his stitches out and splint cut off then we are onto the next phase. I think an airboot instead of a cast. The top of his foot is completely numb and he is just starting to get some feeling back in one of his toes. As the feeling comes back some pain comes with it. He is handling it all very well I am proud of him. I know he is very frustrated not being able to go play with the kids. Especially on nice sunny days. I think that's the hardest thing for him is not being able to play with the kids outside. He has gotten outside a couple times, we fixed up some chairs and pillows so he could at least watch the kids ride their bikes and get some fresh air. He is one awesome husband and Dad that's forsure. I am very thankful for all he does. Now that he can't do much I am even more thankful and appreciative for what he normally does. He can get up on his crutches for a few minutes before it starts to hurt too much and he made me a sandwich for lunch the other day. I have to keep telling him go sit down I got it! Although I think it must feel good to do some stuff too so you don't feel like all you do is sit on the couch. You can only watch so much T.V. He is getting around pretty good on his crutches. Those will be his legs for a few months. He is one awesome man I love him!

Surprise Visit

Angie's Uncle Dick, Auntie Laura and cousin Dan and his girlfriend Katura stopped in for a quick visit last Wednesday. Dan and Katura live in HI and were here for a visit and they were driving down to Shelter Cove to her family which is about an hour and a half south of us. We didn't know they were going to be passing through and they called us about an hour away and asked if they could stop for dinner. Of course the answer is Yes we never pass up an opportunity to spend time with family! They picked up dinner also which was a nice help since I still (shhhhh) haven't made it to the grocery store yet. Well I take that back I have made quick jonts for just a few items but really need to do a big shopping trip and plan a menu. So it was a really nice visit. They stayed for about 2 hours and got to see Nixon for the first time. It was nice to meet Katura too since we have heard about her but never got to meet her yet. She took this picture for us so I could put it in Nixon's baby book (someday when I get to it right?) to show his Great Auntie and Uncle and cousin saw him when he was just a babe. I always enjoy having my family come to my house it's a great feeling. Plus they didn't know it but they sure came on a good day. It was they day we were supposed to head up to WA on our 2 week vacation. I told Tim well we didn't get to go but we still got to see some family. Thank you Uncle Dick, Auntie Laura, Dan and Katura for stopping in!

Happy Birthday, Broken Ankle

Here is how Tim spent his birthday July 31st! These two pictures are before surgery. The day before his B-day he was riding bicycles with the kids and Simon started to fall off his bike so Tim jumped off his and when he did he stepped in a pot hole and rolled his ankle just right and broke his tibia and fibula and injured all the ligaments inside. The fracture actually goes all the way up into his shin. He had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital. I was at the store at the time but a neighbor heard Tim yell when he went down and came out and called 911 and then called me. I rushed home and actually got to him before they had him in the ambulance. The guys wife took my kids over my other neighbors house. I ran and told Paige and Simon I was going to the hospital. Simon said" Hey Mom Daddy gets to go in an ambulance!" while Paige's reaction was tears crying "I don't want him to go!" Nixon and I ran to the ER to get them Tim's info before he got there. They did the exrays when we got there and he had broken his tibia and fibula along with injuring all the ligaments inside his ankle. They said he broke it pretty bad and were all pretty amazed at how bad he had done it. They said he would need surgery. They ended up splinting it and sending him home on crutches with pain killers, which confused us. So Tuesday we saw the surgeon, whom is very very good Tim is in great hands, and he was honest with us and said the reason he had Tim sent home was because he was in the middle of another surgery from a mulit-car accident and couldn't have gotten to Tim til about 8-10 hours after the injury. That meant too much time would have gone by and the swelling would have been to great to do surgery. He also said he had been up for 4 days straight at that point and didn't feel he could bring his "A game". He said it was for Tim's benefit to wait til Thursday for surgery. Tim spent basically Sunday through Thursday in a tremendous amount of pain. He's on heavy duty pain meds but this type of injury it doesn't cover up the pain it just manages it. So to make a long story short... Surgery was Thursday he came through it just fine and all went as planned except the incision ended up bigger because of how high the fracture went. He ended up with about 9 screws and a plate up the outer side with two big screws holding that in. In three months he has to have another surgery to remove the plate and 2 big screws. He has to completely stay off it for a couple days then can start going around with his crutches but he can bear no weight whatsoever for 2 months. He can return to work in 2-3 weeks but only to sit there with his leg up. He is in a plaster splint for two weeks and then will get stitches out and put into an airboot for the rest of the time. And it's his right leg so I suppose that means I will be driving him when he does go back to work. Hmmm Tim to work at 8 Paige to school at 8:30 and Simon 2 days a week to pre-school at 8:30. Nixon and I will be running all over! As if that wasn't enough drama going on I was driving home with the kids from Costco and Paige asked if she could eat a piece of hard candy she got at church. I of course said yes. Well she popped it in and I drove over a bump and you guessed it she started to choke on it. I heard her make a funny noise and looked in the rear view mirror and her face was red and eyes panicked. I don't even think I completely stopped the car. I pulled over slammed it in park jumped out, opened the back door which happened to be where Nixon was. I flew over Nixon yanked her out of her seat and did the heimlich maneuver on her twice and then it popped out. It felt like slow motion. The thought ran threw my head can I do this right, oh my gosh what if it doesn't come out, can I do CPR. You know you know how to do things but in the moment you don't know how you are going to react. It all happen in a matter of seconds but it amazes me how much flew through my mind. So I had to take a few moments of course to calm myself down before driving the rest of the way home. I prayed with her and thanked God she was ok. I asked her if she could breathe and she said tears running down her face "No mommy it took all my breath away I thought I was going to die." I told her it scared me too and that God takes care of us and let me know what to do. So I am a bit worn out and tired but all is starting to calm down now. Hopefully the rest of us stay all intact with nothing serious. This is day one after surgery so Tim will be pretty sore for a bit but will start heading to feeling better and I will get the hang of taking care of everything right????? We have had some wonderful friends help with the kids during surgery and meals and things which I am so thankful for. It's all working out. Sorry this was such a long post but it's been a while and I thought I would just knock it all out in one since I am a bit busier now and don't have much time to sit and add to the blog. Nixon stayed with me the whole time at the hospital and did great, not a peep out of him and he was all smiles for all the nurses and doctors. Here is couple pictures at the hospital. Can you tell baseball was on the TV? Like father like son! Nixon took a nap on Daddy at the hospital. He actually took his whole hour nap with Daddy it was so cute. And I wasn't about to wake them up.

V.B.S.

This week the kids had a blast at Vacation Bible School at The Covenant Church here in town. Paige's kindergarten teacher's husband is the Pastor there. Simon was just under the age that it started at but they only had a couple kids in his class the first day so they offered to let him go too. It worked out that Paige's class was taught by Mrs. McRostie (her kindergarten teacher) so she was very comfortable right from the start. Not to mention 4 of the kids were from her class at school. Then one day afterwards some of us took the kids to a park here in town for lunch which was fun. So, Nixon and I had a couple hours each day just the two of us. I got my floors mopped and two of my bathrooms completely cleaned!!! As I am writing this it is Saturday and we went down to Ferndale, a little Victorian town just south of us, for their farmers market. When we got there we discovered there were only 2 booths selling things and then two girls with a box of free kittens. Needless to say Paige really liked the kittens. I have to admit they were cute and tempting. I told Paige if something ever happens to Macey (our psycho cat as we call her) she can pick out a new cat. We decided to walk through some of the cute little shops in Ferndale. There was one that was set up like an old time store. It was so cool it even had an upstairs with a museum set up with all the different types of shops you would find a hundred years ago. Then we came back to Eureka to the library to watch a marionette puppet show. The weather has been awesome here so we have enjoyed being outside all week! I already need a new bottle of sunblock! Simon doesn't like it on his face he says EWWWW not the face stuff please not the face stuff! Well there is still more sun to be soaked up and enjoyed so off to play we go.

What am I drinking?

Today at lunch I had juice.... What was in that juice? 2 celery stalks, hand full of spinach, 3 strawberries, 1 1/2 apples, half a peach, 1 carrot and a handful of grapes. Paige looked at it and went EWWWW that looks gross! I have to admit it did. It was mostly orange and green swirled together. Why you ask would I drink such a concoction? We are now the proud owners of a juicer! We haven't received the recipe book yet that we ordered so I just decided to throw a bunch of stuff in. Why not! At least I am getting vitamins and minerals. We are trying to make some healthy changes in our life and this is something we have started with. So far we have used it everyday which is good, we are sticking to it. It's easy to use which is nice. It was Tim's idea to get one which is exciting to me because he is the one throwing lots of veggies in when he makes his juice. And those who know Tim he isn't much for veggies especially green ones! He's even the one who bought the spinach, parsley and celery to go in the juice. Well little man Nixon just woke up so I better run!

Fun filled visit

Our best friends the Schwindt's came to visit for 3 nights. We had such a great time and squeezed in a bunch of fun things. Jake and Savannah are the same age as Paige and Simon and they have all been playing together since the days they were born. Can you say toys toys all over! It was so great for them they had non stop fun.


The Budweiser Clydesdale horses were in town so of course we had to go see them. Paige loves horses you know. They were incredibly huge, I knew they were big but standing right next to them WOW they are way up there!


We also went up to Fort Humbolt where they have a steam train you can ride on. Jake is very into trains. Luckily it was the one weekend this month that they ran it so before they left town we got to take a ride.





It was so cute to watch the kids interact. The big kids would play and the littler kids would play, then the boys and the girls, then all of them. Next year Nixon will be running with them! Us adults of course had a wonderful time together too! Angie (Doug's wife) and I were talking and realized that Tim and Doug met when they were Paige and Jake's age. Cool to think about. Now that's what you call a life long friend! They both married Angela's too!