All aboard...choo, choo!

Everytime I see a train I think of my Grandpa Latham.  When he was a young child he ran away from the orphanage he was in and jumped trains with his brother and rode up to Chicago.  Growing up, I thought of it as being kind of adventurous and fun to sleep on a train. However, now that I am older I think of the many dangers of the whole experience.
My boys love visiting any train depot.  They don't care whether it is for a ride or just to piddle around and climb on the old trains.
Here are some pictures that my son Asher has been really wanting me to take.   And just to let you know we were not on a live track!

My kiddos

The kids and I love to scout out old sheds and new places to take pictures.  Here are a few of a nice colorful shed on our dirt road.

A fun past time of 'Ring around the Rosie' is always fun

Braxton just look  like a young man in this picture.

Tennyson is challenging to take pictures of  but this reminded me of  Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water....

Asher was picking a bouquet of mini flowers for his mommy..how sweet!

Yall come back soon because I can't wait to share some more!

Happy 7th Birthday Braxton

It is so hard for me to believe that my oldest boy is 7 years of age.  Braxton is really enjoying school and is beginning to play soccer for his second season.  He has the most tender heart and is a very hard worker and loves to help others.  For his birthday he wanted to go with one of his good friend bowling.  They had a great time bowling and trying out arcade games.

I don't know who had more fun the big guys or the little guys!

Chandler is thinking..come on STRIKE!!!

Braxton is resting before his turn.

Asher is patiently awaiting his roll.

Braxton and Chandler playing arcade games

Tennyson watches her brothers closley and then tries to copy everything they do.

Here is a very rare photo of me holding precious cargo!

MaNa made Braxton a birthday cake and we celebrated at their house.

There is not much better than cuddling up with  your granddaddy.

Braxton wanted to thank everyone who helped make his birthday special!

Our Sous Chef's

Ever have those times where you just crave something???? Well for our family it has been pancakes.  We have been having pancakes almost every weekend and occasionally for supper during the week as well in search for a favorite pancake recipe.  I think we are close to adapting one to our liking.  Mark and I both love being in the kitchen and thankfully our children are following in our footsteps.  We do our best to include them in the preparation, cooking, and clean-up as well.  Even at their young ages of  Braxton 6, Asher 4, Tennyson 21 months our boys are rapidly becoming the chef rather than our sous chef.

Braxton really helps me in the kitchen freqently while Asher is given "Tenny" duty. 

Asher giving the flapjack a flip.  He's quite meticulous about the procedure.

Tennyson's amputated finger

On Monday Feb 22, 2010 at 6:30pm Tennyson had the end of her finger crushed off when a old wooden school desk chair fell over with her. Within minutes we picked up the finger tip from the floor put it in a damp towel (a haunting memory I might add) and headed for the hospital. At: 7:42pm She was transfered from Chilton ER to Children's Hospital to be "put to sleep" for surgery.
Upon arrival, we were immediately sent back despite a packed full waiting room...a crying baby with blood and an amputated finger gets everyone's attention and a high triage. The surgery went well. Children's called in a hand specialist plastic surgeon and they decided to sew on her finger. There is a 50/50 chance she will lose/keep it. They don't anticipate much scaring. She had a bit of a reaction to the Ketamine used to sedate her but a nice dose of Benedryl helped aide that issue. Mark and I were able to stay with her throughout the surgery. She has a pretty purple splint  cast and will be on antibiotics and pain meds (Tylenol, Motrin, and Lortab elixar). At 2 am on Feb 23rd we were discharged from the ER. We will follow up with the plastic surgeon in 2 weeks.

We got home and put her in bed at 4am. When she woke up she went to the playroom and looked at the school desk/chair and took a giant step backwards and said "uh oh". She proceeded to walk around and say "mess" at the blood all over the floor. She is handling the cast well and we are managing the pain. She was so strong through the whole ordeal and it is amazing how resilient children are. God took care of her !!! And my precious daddy cared for Braxton and Asher while we were gone.

Also, my Grandmother, was admitted to the hospital the same day for an ongoing kidney infection and adverse reactions to the antibiotics. She is very weak and confused. My precious, and WORN OUT mother stayed with her in the hospital.

Here are a few poor quality images of us in the hospital and the progress over the past couple of weeks.

We were awaiting the plastic surgeon to come re-attach her finger. We were proud of how well she handled the pain and the whole situation for that matter.

Here is the best image we got from our camea phone and a point and shoot.  Anyway, She was upset about the "mess" on her new pajama's that Nana had just sent her.

Mark is holding her after the surgery. We were waiting on her to wake up from the sedation which was not an easy task at 2am and much exhaustion from the day.

She is outside taking a walk to see the birds and dogs, and chickens, and rocks and whatever else her busy little eyes find.

We went for her follow up visit and unfortunatly the finger did not take. Eventually, it will debride itself naturally.  Even though at times it hurts and it is hard for a loved one to think about. We try to focus on the positive b/c it could have been worse. God will continue to take care of her and ease our minds. We are thankful because she is still healthy and.....

She's still ACTIVE and keeps up with her brothers!

She's still playing!

She's still loving!

She's still smiling!