Turns out… the backlog apparently works differently.

So… A week before Thanksgiving, the scheduler for the area calls Jeff. There has been a cancellation. Can Greg do December?

Emails are sent to me asking this question. Immediately after reading first email, I notice second email, with answer ‘Yes.’

Oh boy.

(There is only SLIGHT liberty taken there…)

So, It’s pull out ALL the archives, load them up, sort them through, remove the duplicates, rebuild the index, throw all that out, because you should have removed the Duplicates BEFORE adding them to Aperture, and Aperture doesn’t like it when 30,000 pictures disappear at a time.

NOW, you can start actually figuring out which 20-25 pictures are actually going to make the cut. I didn’t pull much of anything from before 2003, so Five years. That worked out to be around 150,000 pictures in the archive library (not counting the years 2007-2008).

2007-2008 were easy. I had already been using Aperture to handle all of my Digital asset management, so it was a relatively simple task to pull photos that were already marked well, and choose there.

But, I wanted to get some the earlier stuff as well. Neither Jeff nor I wanted to put recent pictures of the Kids on display. Jeff does work in the Public, and DOES have to tell people NO. Having the kids up there readily identifiable and letting some upset person pull the comparison wasn’t going to happen. Having said that, some of the early pictures of Mary don’t give you a good indication on how she is now, so those became fair game.

It’s not kosher to sell directly from the Library… So we now have a new Domain and face for some of my stuff. GAN Photo is now up and running, with a separate gallery and blog system. Given that it went up a few days before the pictures did, I’m sure that it is going to change and evolve. Some parts of it I like, some… eh. It’s hopefully going to get more updates than this site has over the next month.

Of course, on top simply getting the photo’s selected, I had to re-edit most of them, as the software available today is SO much more powerful and precise than what I was using 5 years ago. I was pretty happy seeing some of the older images pop back into existence and breath. My old D60 Camera did a VERY fine job, given it’s limitations.

Printing was actually the easiest part, aside from the fact that I was producing about 50 feet of 17″ paper to display. My Epson 4000 did eat some roll paper and drink heavily from the ink well. Combining with the Thanksgiving timing, that meant that I was making multiple trips to the local (Nashville Local, not Franklin Local) Pro Photo shop.

Two of the prints are Panoramas. Those, as well as three of my more recent favorites, went on Gatorboard to keep the cost down, and sizes up. The rest were framed and matted in Arab, AL right before (and after) Thanksgiving. My Dad made an incredible find on Ebay of 22×28″ frames, and we spent some significant time cutting the mats and getting everything just right. I thank both Dad and Mom heavily for their help.

The pictures came out wonderfully. I’ve got the exhibit area COVERED with frames, colors and images, and I’m really proud and happy to see it. I regret the Gatorboarded pictures, because we did SO well with the framing, and they just don’t look nearly as good. And Those were the ones that I personally liked the most.

That said, If I had not done them that way, I wouldn’t have had the space or the weight capacity. It does all work out.

I’ll post more at GAN Photo. I’d like to be able to detail some more of the methodology and stories behind each shot that is going up there. I’m going to be busy.

It was his great misfortune to still be on the light when I was leaving for lunch. A co-worker volunteered to help me catch the wee beastie and between the two of, with no squealing I might add, we got him in a box for me to take home to show the kiddies. Needless to say, Greg was thrilled. “You have what?” “No you cannot keep it.”

He was too big for the kids bug boxes as he was between 4 and 5 inches long, as long or bigger than Greg’s hand so I used a clear plastic pitcher to keep him in overnight. MaryVic was awed and drew pictures of him for school. William didn’t notice it at all. Yeah, yeah, I’m coloring here.

We took him to ‘school’ the next morning and all the kids were thrilled with one Dad making a “Fearsome Five!” comment. The three year old class was called over to look at it. William noticed it then and began excitedly pointed and waving “HI!” to it. He was even jockeying for a place to see it as the other children crowded around Ms. Nita’s desk to see it. It was decided he could see it best by scaling Momma.

After the excitement of the daycare and car ride, he was quite happy to rest on the reference desk for a while. I released him into a nearby flower garden onto some day lilies where he blended in very well.

Climbing the daylily.

Cleaning up.

Looks like his ready to catch his next meal.

Definitely giving me the evil eye. Go away crazy woman so I can catch some food after you have starved me 24 hrs!

He was really cool to catch and see. I wish the pitcher shots had come out better because he was huge! Hopefully he survives and maybe I’ll see him again around the library.

We went to the Wednesday storytime for preschoolers as we missed the Monday Toddler Time. MaryVic had a great time but William was a bit distracted. He wanted to push the stroller all over the place. They both enjoyed the craft and visiting everyone.

It was a nice day and we went to the playground outside the library.

Last year, Mary couldn’t do this without help. This year she has mastered it and insisted on having several pictures taken.

Very proud!

Lunch with Daddy afterwards. She was being goofy and refused to smile.

I found a toy that they hadn’t seen in a while and she’s begging William to share it. He would look at her and go “NO!

Dance class on Saturday. Another one spent walking the stroller.

Little did I know it was in preparation for this! We went to the Family Fun Zone at Thoroughbred Theater. We took the shopping cart with us. He pushed the cart around, chased the Chik-Fil-a cow and was able to flee the other mascots in this manner. I sat down with him in the chalk drawing area and asked him if he wanted to draw. I pointed him towards the chalk and pushed his cart on over. This was the second or third piece of chalk because I was so surprised to see him start walking independently. I was busy cheering and yelling at Greg who was being superdad and standing with MaryVic in the facepaint line.

After that I was brave enough to put him in a bouncy with some other tots. It was 4 years old and younger only and not crowded.

He liked being in but this is all he did. He went in it again but immediately wanted out.

The next morning I heard MaryVic coaxing William down the stairs. It is the first time since the accident that William got out of bed himself (the guest bed) and came downstairs. “Come on little fella, it’s not far now…” They were very cute. They haven’t made another trip down the stairs together.

One of only two pictures I have of William walking at the zoo on Sunday. I think there was the ‘help, my feet won’t stop’ red shoes deal going on. He would stop and squat frequently to rest. He occasionally laid down in the path to rest. He did not want us to pick him up and if we persisted in asking, he’d get up and go for a little bit more.

Sunday was probably the most he has walked with it getting less frequent as the week goes on. He does a mix of moving via crawling and walking. I picked up papers from daycare and we’ll see how he does on Tuesday for half day.

We’ve kept busy and went to Toddler Time this past Monday. He did walk around the library. He fell down the bonus room stairs Monday night but was okay. He calmed down fairly quickly compared to the playground fall in Arab.

On Tuesday MaryVic went to school. William and I did the grocery shopping and visited Home Depot for lock for the front door. MaryVic can unlock it so Greg has put a flip lock at the top. Not high security but it should keep her in. She stepped out one day and I thought she was with Greg, he thought she was with me… I found her wandering on the sidewalk in front of the house. I think she was looking for aliens. I don’t know why the child security doorknob thing works on the other doors. Yes, we do have one on the front door. I guess I should take it off now.

Yesterday we went to the pool and stayed around the house in the afternoon. It was interesting as the air conditioning guys were here until in the evening. A little more interesting when we found the hole in the ceiling but they were genuinely apologetic. As MaryVic, likes to say ‘accident’s happen’.

I twittered yesterday about the doctor and it doesn’t seem to be anything major. I woke up Tuesday morning and checked on William who was fussing at 3 a.m. I noticed my right eye hurt and went to get it checked. The doctor said it was probably just sinuses and gave me some prescription eyedrop samples. She told me to take some sudafed.

Today is a quiet, rainy day. We may go to the pool again after naps. We’ll just take it easy and let the air conditioning guys finish up. The patching guys have already been here and will be back next week. Air conditioning guys are back to finish up. Greg is home talking to them so we should be all done with that soon!

On Monday morning he decided to ‘help’ me push the stroller around the library. I was carrying him while MaryVic rode in it. He does get heavy after a while, even without a spica cast. He squirmed confirmation so I put him on the floor. He crawled to it, pulled himself up and started trying to push it. He couldn’t get forward momentum without assistance at first but he ‘helped’ me traverse the whole library. He started to get some momentum right before we had to leave. I let him push all the way out to the van and he had a tantrum when I took the stroller away from him.

We went to the park on Monday too and he decided to independently walk a yard or so. I left him standing with nothing around and set down on the ground a few feet away. He was screaming but he decided to come over where I was sitting. He fell down once but stood up again and came until he was sitting down next to me. I was not deliberately trying to push him but he was being a bit bossy so I guess it was a ‘mommy tantrum.’

He decided to give the play shopping cart at home another try. He pushed it around for a long time in the evening. Once he was going, he was so tickled with himself that he didn’t want to stop.

All the walking took a toll. He fell asleep crying. On Tuesday, he flat refused to walk or crawl. He must have been very sore because he wanted me to carry him everywhere. Pinkerton Park was slammed with cars parked out to the main road so I took the kids to Strahl Street Park by the Community Service Building off of Fowlkes Street. It is a nice little park. William crawled the primary playground unit three times then insisted on being carried around everywhere.

I finally gave up and put him in a very warm bath with epsom salts for over 30 minutes in the afternoon. MaryVic joined him and they played for a long time. He felt better after the bath and tackled the shopping cart again. He pushed it around some and cried when I picked him up to put him in the van. He tried to push it out the laundry room to the van but I caught him and took it back in the house.

We took the kids to Chik-Fil-A for dinner. He scooted into the play area on his bottom and climbed into the little airplane unit where he could spin the steering wheel. He crawled to the unit to climb up for the slide and could make it up the first two steps which are pretty much on top of each other. He was too short to get any higher. It was probably for the best since MaryVic tended to get ‘stuck’ at the top of this unit during our first family nights at the restaurant. He would scoot around on his bottom to get to the play area and chase after the Cow in this manner. Usually he resorts to crawling which is a faster so it was funny to see him scooting.

He fussed some Tuesday night while falling asleep but not as bad as Monday night. He tossed his leg at one point and cried afterwards. He did fall asleep relatively quick. I can say that none of this fussing is as bad as during the ‘cast’ period. MaryVic came and got on the guest bed with us. I left them sleeping on the guest bed together in a pillow fence and they slept all night.

It is exciting to see him up and around. I’m so happy to see him starting to ‘go’ now. There is a tinge of sadness too as I notice the limp he has now. I’m so glad he is going to outgrown it and won’t be able to remember any of this. He truly is a little trooper.

He still continues to improve despite the hesitancy on Wednesday.

Wednesday overall was an interesting day. William was a little fussy but calmed down during an outing to the grocery story. We tried Publix which has the carts with the kid seats up where you push the buggy. You can see and talk to your kids. A plus and a minus as it means your four-year old can see the stuffed penguin with the baby on the counter. I don’t have one of those. No you don’t. I want it. That’s nice, today we are buying food. But… you got brother something! Brother had a .99 package of SpongeBob mac and cheese mix. I kind of doubted the penguin was on sale for 99 cents but I admit to not looking. NO! I did some sort of distraction tap dance and the issue was avoided. She did point it out again at checkout without fussing.

We came home and unloaded. I was needed at the library that afternoon so I called Greg. While he was seeing if he could come home, I put William in a warm bath which he really loved. I tried to get him down for nap but he was clingy, not going to sleep enough for me to get away. Greg came in and said he could work from home for a bit so I was able to get ready to go to the library. I put a show on for the kids and made lunches before leaving.

I was gone 3 hours and came back to the kids playing around the kitchen table while Greg worked. I was out longer than expected but they seemed okay. Greg told me that William had been kind of fussy. I took them for a walk to give Greg a break although he did come out and join us. MaryVic was hungry after a block or so and we headed back.

William started to melt down while he and MaryVic ate and I started cooking dinner. I don’t know what triggered it or if it was a culmination of the day with him being fussy and suddenly maxing out. He cried non-stop and wouldn’t really eat. He wanted to be held by momma. There was a slight break during the wild rabbit chase but I couldn’t put him down. I tried to get him to take a little nap even though it was late but again he didn’t want me to leave him. I finally got him to watch a show with sister while Greg and I ate dinner. He was just miserable.

After dinner, I put him in another warm bath. I gave him some pain medicine afterwards. I don’t know if it was the pain medicine or just the day but he had night terror symptoms twice before falling asleep for the evening. He went down between 8 and 8:30. I thought good, he was just exhausted, no real nap. Then he woke up at 9:30 and 10:30 thrashing around and screaming. He’d cry for Momma but not seem to recognize me while I talked to him. I sat up reading and watching him until 12:30 making sure he didn’t have another episode.

Thankfully Thursday was a better day for him. He crawled around most of the morning. He played ball with me while I cleaned up in the kitchen. We ran a few errands which included stopping at and joining the County Parks and Recreation Center in Franklin. It was suggested to me by co-workers as the indoor pool might be good for William’s legs and fun. We had 4 other stops total which included a hunt for MaryVic a swimsuit and trekking the Big K-Mart for swimmies and water wings. We have some from last summer but who knows where they were stored in the fall?

William fell asleep on the way home so he got a good nap in. After lunch and nap / quiet time, the whole family trekked to the Rec Center indoor pool. MaryVic got her water wings and was in the pool and halfway across it between the time I got the last one on her and started working on William’s water wings. Greg worked from the bleachers for a while before getting in.

William would not wear his water wings at first. He didn’t want to get in and refused to let go of me. He did like sitting on the side and before long was kicking up a storm in the water. I alternated between letting him do that and then pulling him in and floating him around. He eventually did put on his water wings and got to liking the water some.

After an hour in the water, we headed home. Greg ordered a pizza and cheese sticks for dinner. The funny thing is he ordered it via his laptop as we were leaving the Rec Center. There was just enough time for me to run a warm bath for the kids and get them in, when the pizza arrived. MaryVic cleaned up and was out to eat with Daddy. William stayed in the tub for 30 minutes playing.

We had a nice dinner and played the Wii afterwards before bedtime. No bedtime issues last night, just the storms that came through early Friday morning.

There were 4 times that William pushed himself up to lean on a counter, table or the bathtub edge using his left leg. He would push some with the right foot. The first time was when taking my id picture at the rec center. I looked down and he was up, with his nose on the counter looking at me. He had to do it twice in the tub and the Wii golf game was so interesting that he got up and leaned on the coffee table to watch.

I did stretch his legs out after the bath and compare the lengths. The bone at the inside of the left ankle kind of fits under the one on the inside of is right ankle. It isn’t really much or noticeable as he crawls around. I’ve had a few people tell me about other adults who had similar accidents so I know he’ll be alright. It was just a little sad to see. If I can get him to be still long enough, I’ll post a picture one day. Maybe it won’t take that many growth spurts to even out though!

I think the rec center membership is good at all the county facilities so the plan is to take the kids to the Brentwood facility which has a larger indoor pool with a connected ‘shallow water lap / teaching pool.’ The only concern is MaryVic taking off in the big pool. She knows no fear as long as she had water wings on.

And now it’s waffle time!

First, some pictures of William getting out of his chair.

The first step is saying hello! Momma: Say hello William! William: Hi GranMomma!!

He tried to put his foot down for a few seconds but then pulled it back up.

Came down on his knees.

And he’s down to attack Momma.

We went to Toddler Time on Monday which was on one of his favorites, trains aka Things That Go! We were all able to sit on the floor for the first time. I kept him very close to keep anyone else from stepping on him. He and Mary colored trains for the craft.

We spent sometime at the library. MaryVic was disappointed that it was not in my office but happy to take the ‘secret’ (staff) elevator on the way out of the building. Since they were good while I worked, I offered to take them for milkshakes. MaryVic saw the ‘Big M’ though and that’s where we wound up. She did love the playground there.

She would climb up here and wave at us.

Where’s sister?

I had a nice salad actually but neither of them ate their Happy Meal. They were each happy with the toys but MaryVic had promised to eat her lunch if we stopped here so the ‘Big M’ is not on the list for future stop. They did taste the nuggets but I guess since it wasn’t the Tyson low fat nuggets… William did drink his chocolate milk.

Naptime then off to Pinkerton Park. We played in the sandboxes, ran over the bridge in Tinkerbell’s Castle, did some swinging, sliding, and played in general. MaryVic ran from one playground unit to the other. I was so busy chasing and carrying William that I only took a few pictures of him.

Pouting because Momma won’t carry him up the stairs to the slide. Just try to do it yourself little guy.

Okay. He couldn’t make it up the first step though so I took him to a different slide where there were no other children. It was wider so we could slide down together.

This train unit is pretty well-worn but loved.

Tuesday was a bit gloomy, overcast but warm. We went to the zoo early. A hidden source of fun is the stall doors in the ladies restroom. William had a ball as this door kept swinging open and he would shove it away.

The navigator consults the map.

Might as well be comfortable.

Meerkats are always popular.

Despite the warm weather, MaryVic loves the Unknown World exhibit so we go inside to see the fish, spiders, snakes, lizards, and creepy crawlies. Strollers are not allowed and William wanted down. These fish are near the end of the exhibit so I sat him down. He stood there and watched the fish. MaryVic took a turn keeping people from getting too close.

A zoo keeper was there feeding the fish and the lizards, frogs, and other critters that live in the tanks. I’ve always been so focused on the fish that I had not noticed the topside reptiles.

Snacktime!

And we are off to see the animals. Usually MaryVic wants to go to the playground. Walking around to the animals was fine with me though. There were 6 school buses in the parking lot so I knew the playground would be a madhouse.

Where are the alligators?

The Red Panda. The kids would all shriek as it passed by the window.

Watching it. Take a picture of it when it goes past me, Momma!

Momma tries…

William may have spent too much time looking at frogs.

There are the cats, Momma! Clouded leopards.

And the koi.

But I want to throw money in! First you have to have some and second it makes the water bad for the fish. Pleassse!

The cut through at the Bamboo exhibit is open now and it does look like the renovations will be nice. There is a new family restroom building. You still do have to pass the Critter Encounters exhibit. We went in with strict admonishments not to touch anything. ‘Momma, she’s petting it!!!’ Fine, you can brush the goat… They do have disinfectant gel right outside the exhibit.

William fell asleep on the way home. After nap / quiet time, I mentioned going to the pond and fishing. This entailed getting the wire, bobbin and a hook with very helpful children. We had to dig for worms and guess who got to bait the hook? She had some fun though talking non-stop the whole time. I lured the little fishes up with some bread. They ate the first worm off the hook but never touched the second worm although they looked at it a lot. Patience and being still long enough for a fish to bite is not a her thing yet. It wasn’t like fishing with Poppa and Daddy where the fish bite every 10 seconds.

It was fun despite not catching a fish and they enjoyed the outing. Two poles are really needed though. William kept trying to wiggle away from me to get at it and fish too.

Recovery notes: William passed out last night and has slept a little better on Monday and Tuesday nights. I gave him some prescription pain medicine Monday and yesterday he got regular tylenol at bedtime. Yesterday was more of a rest day with Mom carrying him around the zoo, riding in the car and wagon. He didn’t get much floor time until in the evening. After nap on Tuesday but before the fishing expedition, he was fussy. I asked him if he wanted a warm bath and he said yes (‘uh-huh’). We did that before heading out to the pond so he is still feeling achy.

High note: He put his left foot down on the bed while getting in his pull-up last night. He has not been putting his feet down. I was holding most of his weight but it is progress for him to have the confidence to put it down. He did keep the right foot up. He is crawling around pretty well. He crawled around a good bit Tuesday night chasing a battery operated Thomas the Tank Engine. It moves slowly enough that he can catch it.

I’m going to call the county recreation center today about membership. My co-workers told me that it has a heated pool so that would be great for him and entertaining for both of them. They have both been fussing about the pool house whenever we walk past it.

MaryAlice and Roy arrived around 8:30 with the required chocolate donuts. She fed MaryVic and got her dressed after laying down the law about pajamas not being appropriate storytime garb. William was a little easier since he can’t get away. Once we were ready, we loaded up and headed to the library.

The children had time to play on the computer for 10 minutes before the 10 a.m. storytime. I left MaryAlice with them in the activity room and went to take care of some library stuff. I came back at 11:05 worried that I had taken to long. No one was in the department other than staff. I stopped and asked about storytime and Ms. Kristin said that they were still in there. Really ???

I went in and they were all there busily making books. I sat down and helped MaryVic finish her book. MaryAlice worked with William on his book.

We left the library at 11:15 and drove home to pick up Poppa and Daddy for an early lunch. MaryVic decided it was imperative that she have an Icee and almost melted down in the car over it. I don’t know where that stray thought came from to her head.

We had a quick lunch at Panchos. MaryVic stayed at the house with Poppa and Grandmomma while Daddy, Momma and William went to Vanderbilt. It broke William’s little heart to leave Poppa at the house. He cried, “Poppa, Poppa!!” until we reached the interstate then passed out.

We reached Vanderbilt after a bit of traffic. Thankfully we had left early enough that we were still there early. They had one of those wooden boxes with the bead maze on top so I sat there with William laying across my lap and playing with the beads. Greg and I chatted with some other parents from Hopkinsville, KY with a baby with clubfeet. They seemed to reassured somewhat in talking with Greg about it. Greg had issues with his feet as a baby too. Not nearly as bad as this kid, however.

A quick trip to x-ray. There is something about going into that dim room that sets William off. He screamed through the process. It was over quickly and we were back in the waiting room with the toy. Daddy got a turn with William across his lap.

We were called back to the cast room where we sat for a good 30 minutes before the doctor came in. There was a little girl maybe 6 or 7 years old who had just had her cast off, fractured wrist. Clubfoot baby had his casts off and was having his stitches checked. Another older boy was getting a cast put on his arm. Scooby Doo was on a t.v. so all the children were entertained.

Dr. Martus came in and showed us the x-ray pictures. You could still see the break but the bones were starting to ‘bridge’ and grow over the break. He didn’t see any problem with taking the cast off. He cautioned us to take it slow with William. He would be sore and stiff from being in one position for so long. Let him proceed at his own pace. Put him on the floor to wiggle around, etcetera. Keep carrying him around. Do we have any questions? Hmmm… There is only one pair of headphones on the wall? Do the parents get a set while the cast is coming off?

So now the cast comes off. You would think the little boy would be thrilled but no… Apparently he had bonded with the cast and the two year old rule of ‘MINE!’ was firmly in effect. The headphones were for him to keep him from being so scared of the noise from the saw. Would he wear them? No that was just another instrument of torture that was being inflicted on him. The child life specialist was called in but no toy was going to comfort him. He screamed, turned red, and reached out to Daddy, Momma, the child life specialist, not the guy with the saw…he was just evil at this point. “NO, DON’T, MOMMA, DAAADDDYYY!!” This last as Greg says for about 4 years of our lives. Finally the cast was off and Greg was able to scoop him up.

William snuggled in immediately. The saw guy came back to see if he was forgiven. Nope, lifetime grudge rule in effect. William came to Mommy while the saw guy tried to figure out if we were free to go. Greg saved the bar part of the cast, just the fiberglass – no steel rod, fyi. William and I looked at the dinosaur pictures and he gradually perked up

The skin was flaky but not as bad as we were expecting. We also didn’t notice any obnoxious smell either. There was just the hotspot on his back that we already knew about it and one spot on the back of his knees that was starting to get really red. It wasn’t great but so not as bad as expected. I could see that if he’d had to wear it much longer, he would have easily had more hot spots and it would have been a lot worse. The child life specialist told me to give him a warm bath when we got home to help ease the stiffness of his joints.

We ran into Dr. Martus inbetween rooms while looking at the dinosaur pictures. I asked him if we could go and he said yes. We proceeded to checkout and were told someone would be with us in a minute. An RN with other patients came up behind us and started chattings. She told me to do 2 warm baths or more a day over the next few days to help William deal with the discomfort of being mobile. She talked to the receptionist and we were finally able to go after promising to call the Cool Springs facility for a follow-up appointment in 8 weeks.

The care at Vanderbilt has been excellent. The only thing I would say is that we were surprised at the lack of follow-up advice after the cast came off. I guess we expected there might be a sheet or something. The warm bath suggestions were great but were totally asides as we bumped into staff. Warm baths sound completely logical but you know, not everyone does the logical.

So we went home. William was chatty on the way and seemed comfortable.

I might as well blog about yesterday. I am drinking a cup of coffee so it may be somewhat intelligent, intelligible. Oh, and around 4:15, MaryVic came downstairs. Apparently she had a bad dream… I wonder what could have caused that! Now what did we do yesterday? Let me jog my memory with caffeine and the iphone.

We went to Toddler Time. MaryVic is sitting on the floor with her hands on her head. Sorry about the picture Kristin! She is the librarian reading stories and doing Toddler Time. I had a better picture but front and center is a little boy staring at the iphone. He wanted to be rich and famous but..

Craft time…

“Good job William!”

Sharing the crayon…

But the horse needs some more color.

Showing the books to the horse puppets.

This is the good book! Posing for pictures for Mom. Both played on the computers for 30 minutes after storytime. They played Barney games. William watched the video clips and Mary did a counting game. They also watched Stellaluna the book on the computers.

Then off to Momma’s office so she could check email and voicemail. William got some tummy time.

MaryVic exercised.

We were very good while Mom caught up with her co-workers. Okay maybe there was an incident with the admin hallway door as Momma talked with Olivia due to impatience and MaryVic being overly helpful!

MaryVic regaled anyone who would listen with the story of her ‘broken’ toe. She managed to blister her big toe on the side while running around barefoot almost all day or the 20 minutes she was outside in her furry lined crocs. Everyone she spoke with was most impressed with her Hello Kitty band-aid if treated to the show.

A quick call from Daddy reminded Momma how long we’d been at the library and we left to pick him up for lunch. Momma vetoed eating in the clean mini-van at Sonic. It was fairly easy to convince her to eat at the place with colored chairs, Shane’s Bar-B-Que.

Both enjoyed their fries and cheese sandwich. MaryVic was good so we partook of the free ice cream offered that day. Actually it was ice cream and apple or peach pie on Mondays! The lady was nice enough to bring MaryVic some just ice cream.

We went home afterwards for a failed attempt at napping. I guess the change to doing so in the bonus room was too distracting. Downstairs a couple of hours later for some quick cleaning. I insisted it was too nice to stay indoors and dragged both children, screaming, outside. MaryVic rode her bike as far as the pool house and parked it in the bike rack. She walked the rest of the way. William quieted down once she was walking with us. We fed the fish, saw turtles and a couple of young ducks diving in the pond.

When we got home Wiliam pushed up for me.

It is still a lot of work. Missing his nap here.

We tormented him with another hair washing. You would think that without naps they would pass on out but evidence gathered indicates that lack of nap has no effect on bedtime. William had some screaming bouts but settled down. MaryVic fell asleep eventually too. I got up and laid with William during the storms after midnight.

And here we are at 4 a.m on Wednesday morning, watching Wubbzy.

5 a.m. artist at work

Okay, I think I’m due another cup of coffee. No big plans for today. MaryVic goes to school in 2 hrs. I’ll mop then relocate upstairs to run the vacuum. Probably Chik-Fil-A tonight. By then non one will be wanting me to cook!

We had fun at Monday’s Toddler Time craft with glue and crayons! MaryVic is waving around her duck puppet.

Looking at her first library card. Williamson County allows you a library card when you are 4 years old.

William has been enjoying playing with this pull-up toy. We had not sold it on e-bay yet but that was the plan. Hopefully it will be useful after the cast comes off too. The balls can be dropped from the top and roll down. I thought it might be interesting for others to see him pushing himself around in the cast, getting into a crawling posture. The cast is still very heavy on him but he would push himself after the balls if they rolled on out and then shove himself back to the toy.

William took it as a personal challenge to get the saran wrap back around the chocolate chip cookie when we lunched in Daddy’s office. He never did eat the cookie or get it wrapped back up.

We walked down to the pond and fed the fish. Have to fatten them up for catching later on. Get your fishing poles and bait ready Poppa! I think you have a few weeks though, the fish are not any bigger than a cricket right now.

Sister gave him a wish flower. You have to blow off all the dandelion puffs for a wish to come true. Yes, my neighbors love me for that little myth.

Chasing the dandelion puffs and yes Mom put a stop too it when she went off the sidewalk.

Getting ready to go in the zoo. MaryVic is a pro at using the key to open and shut the doors and trunk. We do not push the red alarm button because that makes Holly the van scream. I was worried about keeping up with her so I dressed her in orange and put the feathers on her head. It worked quite well but she also stayed close.

We played in the playground and went into the ‘reptile house’ like building. It has frogs, snakes, spiders, bugs. birds, turtles, lizards and bats plus other creatures. They don’t allow strollers in there. MaryVic was very good about staying with us as I carried him around.

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Playing at the dance studio on Thursday during MaryVic’s make up session.

We had company Thursday evening. One of the neighbors dogs came over and MaryVic ran him around the yard.

Playing at today’s Saturday dance class. This was the first time William has gone to her regular dance class and I had to spend some time explaining about his cast. He is quite good and plays during the class.

So far today, we have had an easy day. A storm came up during dance class and it’s been gloomy-gray so far. We went to lunch at Panchos and hopefully are on the tale end of a Barbie movie marathon now. So far we have watched Mariposa, Fairytopeia, and now Swan Lake. William took a nap. Guess I’d better check on the clothes washing and get W changed now that he is awake.

3 days until the x-ray and a decision regarding the cast!!

We spent more time at the library than planned. I needed to look for something for a co-worker which I couldn’t find in my office, of course! I spent some time in the office and the kids played very nicely. MaryVic shredded part of my ‘to be shredded’ stack and William did tummy time on the floor. Afterwards we walked around and touched base with co-workers.MaryVic got her first library card and checked out books. She was thrilled. I guess she takes after her mother’s reading tastes right now as she insists on checking out Halloween books. I like the scary stuff, good ghost stories and thrillers too. She was nice and checked out 2 board books for her brother.It was after one by the time we left the library so to apologize to the kids for having kept them there so long, we went to Sonic for milkshakes. They could not have the shakes in the just cleaned minivan so straight home. William fell asleep on the way but he did eat his shake after nap.After he woke up, ate lunch and I was finally able to get them moving. Well, I did give up after an hour and just bagged the chicken nuggets to go with us to the grocery store. We did the grocery shopping. I was very amused with MaryVic. We passed the store’s blood pressure check machine and she started going on about my arm. After spinning in circles 5 times trying to find what was on my arms?!, I figured out she was reminding to check my blood pressure which I had forgotten about. She sat in the cart telling me that she’d give me another sticker for checking it. I had already received two Kroger stickers because I was a good mommy (much to the Kroger pharmacists amusement). Blood pressure was fine: 117/50 and 106/67.The only other thing of note on Monday were I called Vandy again to double check about Williams appointment. Dr. Martus had said that April 1 was too soon to remove the cast and to either go to Vandy on Friday or come back to the Cool Springs office on Tuesday, April 8. The nurse called me back and said Dr. Martus needed to see William 3 weeks from the last appointment which would be April 2. The cast may or may not come off then. We have decided not to hold our breath hoping and just go with the flow.On Tuesday, MaryVic went to school with not a lot of fuss. William and I stayed home for the day. He was very good as I went on a small cleaning spree. Americare staff were back at the house again baiting the outside for the ants.We picked MaryVic up and went to Chik-fil-A for dinner. She got a pink and purple armadillo and William got a green alien man from the Balloon Guy. The alien guy was as big a hit as the train and he attacked Momma and stomped on dinner.The ants have found our primary garbage can in the garage. Of course, this is discovered in the evening, long after AmeriCare Pest Control is gone. Greg sprayed the corner of the garage down with Home Defense. So the Ant Wars wage on…All is well otherwise. We have an outing to the Apple store today, Wednesday, to see about the shift key on my laptop.