A FEW THINGS WE'VE BEEN UP TO LATELY...

Exciting post title, huh? It was that or this:

"BUELLER FRACTURES HIS FOOT; A SNAKE IN THE SKIMMER; A COUPLE OF VISITS FROM A TAME DEER NAMED LIZA JANE; MASKED; A TRIP TO THE PEACH PARK; A COUPLE OF NIGHTS WITH NO CHILDREN WHICH LED TO MISSING SAID CHILDREN WHICH LED TO BABY FEVER WHICH TRANSLATED INTO PUPPY FEVER."

Now that sounds a bit more exciting.

• BUELLER FRACTURES HIS FOOT. Mac takes the prize for having the first broken bone of the Norton boys. I hope it's the last although I doubt it will be. It's a small fracture on his left foot (a fracture of the 5th metatarsal to be exact) that he walked around on for a few days. We think he did it when he had a bike wreck while we were camping but there's no way to know for sure. There definitely wasn't any one incident we could pinpoint when he would've done it so we're guessing it had to be the bike wreck. It wasn't even a bad crash, just one of many. A little Neosporin and a band-aid on the knees, some lovin' and he was good to go. Regardless he began complaining of pain on the top of his foot, mainly at night. He played like normal during the day so at first I thought maybe he just bruised it. He's a tough cookie, though, and not one to complain so when he continued saying it hurt I had a feeling he had broken it, especially when I noticed it was swelling. Never underestimate your own intuition. I made an appointment with our pediatrician. He was a little nervous but having Sissy there helped. He kept telling me it wasn't broken. "No way, momma, it's NOT broken." :)

After seeing Dr. Trumbull he sent us for an x-ray.

They confirmed it was a small fracture so we ultimately decided to see an orthopedist. We were able to get an appointment very quickly. We were hoping for the best but preparing for a cast:

He had a whole lot of help in deciding that orange would be his color if a cast was needed.

After meeting with Dr. Curtis I was very thankful we had two options:  He could cast it or we could get fitted for a boot. Is there really any question? The boot for sure! He said to wear it all day for two weeks but he can take it off to swim and sleep. Que the hallelujah chorus. I know there are a lot worse things than having to wear a cast for two weeks but a cast in the summer for a boy who is ALL boy (as well as one who spends a lot of his summer in the water) would just plain suck.

No pity party here. He thinks that thing is the coolest, and his brothers are already fussing over who gets to play "I broke my leg" first when Mac is done with it. It hasn't really even slowed him down that much.

We go back in a couple of weeks to make sure it has done its job. In the meantime he's rocking the boot like a champ, yellow sock and all.

•  A SNAKE IN THE SKIMMER. The boys were swimming the other day when Grant said, "Momma, WHAT is this?" I walked to the skimmer and saw this:

Well, son, that would be a snake. I'm not a fan of snakes but I don't have a phobia of them either. Plus Chris was working so I had to put my big girl panties on and deal with it. I looked up what kind it was and found out it was a ringneck snake.

A baby one at that. They are harmless so we decided to return him to nature. (Because I'm not ashamed to say that if that sucker had been poisonous he would be dead). It was stuck in the skimmer so I had initially planned on grabbing it by its tail to get it out of the skimmer. I was mentally preparing myself for it and called my dad to make sure he thought that would be ok. SURE he says, just pull it out, put it in the grass and let it go. Easy for YOU to say, Jack. But I had my three little guys watching so I was gonna go for it. You know, had to keep the coolness factor going. I had a stick in my hand to try to get him off the side because I couldn't get to his tail, so when I tried to get him off the side he swam out into the pool. YESSSSSS! Saved! I scooped him up in the net, we took a few pictures, got a good look at him then let him go. And that's about the only size snake I'm ok with finding around here any time soon.

• A TAME DEER NAMED LIZA JANE.

That's Liza Jane. She apparently lost her mother right after she was born and was raised by some people who live close to us until she was able to survive on her own. She stays close and comes to visit now and then. The other day as Chris was leaving he called to tell me a deer was in the yard and to let the boys know so we could see it. He knew it had to be LJ because as he drove past her she didn't move. The boys and I were standing in the front yard watching as she walked toward the house along the edge of the woods. As she got close I called her name. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at us then immediately started walking toward us. It was the neatest thing. I told the boys to stay back and let her come to us. Only one certain little boy got a bit overly excited the closer she came and tried to go to her. She didn't like that one bit. She ran to the backyard but stopped there. We tried to lure her with some peas from the garden. She came close enough to smell but didn't care for them. She hung around briefly then went on her merry way. I'm determined to be her friend. :)

She hasn't let me pet her yet but will come to me briefly and on her second visit decided she would lay down and take a little rest right beside me. Stay tuned for a "Liza Jane is my friend" post because it's coming. I'm sure of it. ;)

• MASKED. The other day the boys were bored and decided they wanted to make some masks. I have no idea what prompted it, but I took to the google in search of some templates. There were plenty to choose from. Dawnie was here so we all chose a mask to color, cut out and ultimately don.

I don't know what was so funny about seeing each other with them on, but it was so incredibly hysterical. We all laughed so hard then got to laughing at each other laughing. Laughter like that is good for the soul - not so much for the bladder - but good for the soul for sure!

• A TRIP TO THE PEACH PARK. Martha (a/k/a Rachel) called me the other day to let me know she and Claire (a/k/a Mags) were meeting mom and dad in Clanton at Peach Park and asked if we wanted to join them. Mary Lou (a/k/a Grace) was at the beach with a friend for the week so she needed to keep Claire busy. And what better way to take up part of a day than a visit to Peach Park for some good food and yummy treats. Dawnie spent the night with us the night before so we all loaded up and headed north - first to get B then to meet everyone at PP. 

Thanks for the pics, Snuggs (although I couldn't post the best one) haha!

It was HOT but fun and relaxing, and as always there were lots of laughs. We missed Mary Lou so I think we need one more PP trip before summer's end.

• A COUPLE OF NIGHTS WITH NO CHILDREN WHICH LED TO MISSING SAID CHILDREN WHICH LED TO BABY FEVER WHICH TRANSLATED INTO PUPPY FEVER. That really says it all. A couple of weeks ago thanks to my mom, dad and Dawnie, Chris and I had a weekend alone. I'm very thankful for a mom who realizes when I'm in need of a break. Chris and I don't get much alone time. I think because we don't, though, that we make the most of the times we do. We didn't do anything particularly exciting. We ran errands, shopped for a coffee table, did some grocery shopping and had dinner for two. But that's exactly how we like it. I mean, sure, an all-inclusive vacation to some tropical island where the only thing on the agenda is soaking up the sun while sipping fruity drinks sounds like a slice of heaven, but it's not reality. So instead we enjoyed one night at home with the house to ourselves then the next night at the camper... Where we did sip on some fruity drinks. We rode the jet ski and just enjoyed each other's company. We love doing things as a family but every now and then I just want some time with my man. It was perfect.

Perfect at least until we had done everything we talked about doing and had some down time. Down time? What is that? We don't do well with down time. Down time makes us miss the kids. Down time without my children for some reason gives me baby fever. Why?

I don't know. It just does. We all know that isn't a possibility (thankfully) so it automatically turns to puppy fever. I need a puppy about like I need another baby. Or a hole in my head. Or whatever. I DON'T! And while I can sit here now and talk about how silly it would be and sound like a rational person, it's like all voice of reason flees my body when I'm not around the kids.

I have been wanting a Yorkie for a while now. I don't know why I want that particular breed I just do. I've done my research. When we get a dog I want it to be my baby. I want one just to be our pet, just for us to love and care for and spoil. We found a reputable breeder out of Georgia and gave her a call. She had a female in the type and size we want. (It has to be a girl. Umby and I are way outnumbered with wee-wees as it is). She answered every question I asked her, and I felt very comfortable with the breeder. We had worked out logistics and I was literally a PayPal click away from this sweet baby girl:

Isn't she precious! I had the go-ahead from the hubs and everything. He said, "If you want her, get her... But you're getting up in the middle of the night to take her out."

Wait.

Ok. Maybe she's not so precious after all. Or maybe it's that my sleep is more precious. Maybe all voice of reason hasn't escaped me.

I decided I would sleep on it and am glad I did. Ultimately I made the decision that we're not quite ready to add to our family just yet - because it definitely will be like bringing home a baby. Maybe when the boys are a little older. Mimi brought the boys home after church Sunday and it took them being home about two seconds before I knew I made the right decision. My plate is pretty full these days as it is. I told mom she brought them home just in the nick of time. :)

Whew!

One day, though. One day.