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Of course the time around the holidays always go to quickly.  And if I were better at simply writing more often, and having shorter posts, I wouldn’t dread the updating so much.  Trying to remember all the details is a headache.  “Hmm, did I write yet that Reese’s eye-teeth are coming in?” Or that funny thing she said? And of course they all say such funny things that one day I’ll regret not keeping better track of it all!

So, we hosted Thanksgiving.  I think I’ll appreciate the time and money that go into hosting a holiday that isn’t readily apparent to the visitors.  Even the freedom to sit and chat is taken away as you do the dishes. But we had fun!  I didn’t get many pictures though! All eating ones, which of course are always attractive.

We put our tree on Black Friday.  Mark and I were actually so exhausted that we slept through all the door buster deals, went shopping for a few things, and came home and did the rest. (And as an aside, the gift we are giving this year is pictures, and I don’t think they are going to be ready in time for Christmas! And it’s more expensive then you think to do it without a DSLR. You have to develop them.  And scan them in.  And re-scan using a company that uses a better machine.  And edit.  And order.  I told Mark that we might as well have just gotten a camera. He said “Yeah, X amount of dollars versus at least $1,500.  That is fiscally smart!”

Anyway, the tree and decorations thing went well.  I uploaded my pictures onto Facebook.  If you don’t have Facebook, or I am not a friend, please sign up!  I hate to upload pictures in so many different spots.  It took a while to find a place for all the decorations, but we managed.  Mark even got the outside of the house done before Thanksgiving.  Last year we made the mistake of waiting until after, and it was cold, snowy, and miserable.

The kids went to see Santa yesterday.  He and Mrs. Claus were at the library.  They read them stories and sang songs, colored pictures, and then finally sat on laps.  Everyone had fun.  I will put a couple pictures here, and the rest will go to Facebook.

 Gabby was in a play at church based on the story of the 10 virgins.  She and all the girls (including her BFF Emma and her cousin Aimee) did a wonderful job.  We can’t wait to see the pictures Terrie got, and the video, but for now here are the ones from my failing camera.

And lastly, we took some fun pictures of Reese and decided to put them on our Christmas card.  I am not entirely happy with the card.  When you get it, come back and compare it to the picture here.  The company I used either did a color adjustment or something, because it is more yellow then the original, and the colors are stronger.  For example, each kid’s face is in an ornament, and Gabby’s was designed as a light aqua, but on the card is a very strong turquoise.  I may complain to the company, but won’t ask for a re-do.  They are in the mail as of today. Hopefully I will get a credit for next year! And the letter is VERY tongue-in-cheek.  It’s supposed to make you smile, so do it!

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Ever since Mark and Zach went hunting, Dylan and Alisa have been playing the ‘Kitty’ game. Which consists of them crawling around meowing all day, and loudly at that. (It is a step above the ‘Bird’ game, I guarantee it! And no homemade nests lying around waiting to be tripped over. And definitely better than the ‘Moose’ game, where Dylan hoped to catch a moose in his homemade moose trap (his bed surrounded by pillows. Though he did have fun when Gabby fell in!)

So, imagine our surprise when we heard real meowing on our front porch, and opened it up to see a gorgeous, light orange cat with big yellow eyes. It looks to be somewhere between a kitten and an adult, and a little on the skinny side. It is friendly, and cautiously wants in the house (but I am afraid of worms, diseases, potty time, rabies, etc.) so out it stays. With some pleading to Mark we fed it, and it stuck around until morning. It disappeared while we were at church, and we had some upset kids. But he (and we know it’s a he because Mark checked (much to his embarrassed disclosure, when the kids and I (I didn’t grow up on a farm, and the Dirty Jobs show only teaches you so much!) asked “How do you know?” Yes, 35 year old men DO still blush! came back that night, and a friend gave us some cat food to tide us over. We asked her what she does for her cats, because they stay outside all winter too. She builds a box house and puts a warming pad in it. We hope he stays. We don’t have a lot of money for Christmas, so this would make a very nice present (in addition to a finished basement, bathroom, and school room. Which may seem lame to some of you reading, but the kids are more then thrilled with that!) Of course, some family may be missing him right now, and if that is the case we hope he makes his way back again!

And of course, I am finally getting the pictures of the concert and weight chart up. (I ended up taking a screen capture of my Word document rather than figure out tables.) I will also try to embed a youtube video of one song from each of the concerts. The low quality makes it sound much less wonderful than it truly was! I am not sure if I can embed videos with this software though, so I’ll edit it sometime if it doesn’t work out.

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Before I had children, I was convinced that I didn’t want daughters. I was afraid they’d all look just like me, and hey I hated the way I looked as a girl/teen so why put them through that trauma? And then I found out I was pregnant with a girl and for a while thought about her being everything I wasn’t and how jealous I’d be and wondered if I would resent that. And then I gave birth and I was filled with hope. I desperately wanted her to be the most beautiful creature on earth, more intelligent, more funny, more everything. Until I put Gabby into piano. She has been taking lessons since around mid-April, and is BLOWING ME OUT OF THE WATER. And it’s not fair! WAAAHHHH! She can now play a church hymn that has been my nemesis…”Called to Serve”. She is WAY better with dynamics and theory than I am. She has the raw talent that I never possessed and I am a little jealous! I guess I will just have to work harder and catch up, because NO WAY is she going to be better than me on this!

The hunting trip went fine. There aren’t many deer where they hunt, so they saw one on Saturday (along with some grouse and red squirrels) and none on Sunday (though they did see a wolf.) Of course on the drive home they saw 10 deer, LOL! Figures! I’m just happy to have them back, safe and sound! They came home smelling like a hunting shack (ew) but Mark came home with that post hunting stubble that I like so very much, so you win some, you lose some!

Zach’s band concert was last night. He did an excellent job. The band is much smaller than in Glencoe, and not as developed (they don’t have a marching band, for example.) I will post pictures of him and Gabby on Friday (she has her choir concert on Thursday, so I will dedicate a post to them then. I also made the chart showing the kids weights at various ages, but haven’t figured out how to make a table on this program yet, so I will do that on Friday’s post as well! Oh, and some pictures of Reese playing outside in the snow too. Until then!

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My first thought is: how on earth did Al Franken get THAT close? The fact that there are 6,000 votes in MPLS alone that were rejected by optical machines but could count with a hand re-count is a bit daunting. No offense to the pro-Al visitors, of course. By the same token, just because I’m a bit weird this way, how on earth did Michelle Bachman get re-elected? This is one lady that scares me in the opposite way that Franken scares me. I suppose I really am moderate, above all else. On the other hand, listening to Rush, Hannity, Coulter, and Savage have to choke on ‘Senator Franken’ would be funny, and make an excellent SNL skit!

I enjoyed John McCain’s concession speech very much. This was the man that I was highly interested 8 years ago! I am disappointed in the boos from the audience. And Obama’s speech: WOW. Perhaps I am highly effected having just finished a month long unity study with the children on the Civil War. But as I sat on my couch with my children gathered around me, and listened as the commentators call the election, we couldn’t help smile a bit. Was this the candidate of choice for me? No, but to have gone from a time where black people were ‘things’, lower than work animals on the plantation totem pole, and hell-bound with no chance for salvation, to having an African American president (or half, as I have come to discover there are bitter people out there who think he’s not really black because he’s half white. Huh? Remember a time in history that if it was common knowledge that you had even a drop of blood you were ‘less than’?) And his speech brought me to tears like McCain’s did. BUT, okay, history was made. And now we move on. He is just a man, coming into a really bad economy and other troubling issues. Race should no longer be an issue, in my opinion. Next time let’s make it a woman, a true barrier to be broken! (But NOT Sarah Palin. The info coming out today about behind the scenes and the wardrobe choices and her ‘rogue-ness’ are a wee bit scary.)

I am disappointed in some reactions. To those who are now ‘moving out of the country’, enjoy your trip. I am guessing Socialist Europe is not where you are headed (as opposed to a democratic republic that utilizes social programs). Please don’t hang around and complain, just make good on your promise and go. To those who feel that Obama “is not, and never will be MY president, and I will never, ever support him” I hope you take the time to get active in the political process and find a candidate that will win the confidence of the people next time. But, yes, he IS your president. (And welcome to how Democrats have felt the last 4-8 years.) I’m confident that if nothing else, you will be more compassionate to the feelings of ‘the other side.’

To those who feel Obama is evil, a hypocrite, a liar, a Muslim only claiming to be Christian, a man who has “nothing, not one good thing” about him, a terrorist, and anti-American, and a Marxist communist, who knows we may find out you are right. Let’s base it on his performance in office instead of on the smears of the campaign. To those involved in the discussion I read about ‘is it appropriate to assassinate a president that is dragging the country down’ you are SICK. (And please don’t bring up ‘better that one man perish than a nation dwindle…” because we are the USA. We can lawfully take care of any situation without murder. Please pray that our president have a soft-heart, an open mind, and honest intentions based on the Constitution.

To any Democrats (and I haven’t run into any, but the accusations are running around amok) that think this means greater handouts, free childcare and welfare and health care, please don’t abuse these things. These are programs that are there for the truly needy. They need to be overhauled BIG TIME. If you can, in any capacity, work please do so. Support your self and your children with good old work ethic. Don’t lie about numbers, don’t ’steal’ from people’s hard earned money. Don’t have more children to get better welfare, don’t stay in school for 10 years, etc. etc. etc. Prove the ones who doubt you wrong. Show them you can fulfill the American dream. You can be anything and do anything you want.

Off my soap box! Enjoy your day!

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I am amazed at how positive this campaign has been. No negative ads, no lies, no smears, no distractions or peripheral issues! Oh wait, maybe it simply pays to NOT HAVE TV! Other than the occasional tuning in by adjusting the rabbit ears (I know, what is this, the 80’s?)

Mark and I went to vote at 8:00 this morning. We cast ballots number 161 and 162. I had a variety on my ticket, Democrat, Republican, and 3rd Party. I’m glad I took the time to study the judges’ platform, there were about 25 of them on there, most uncontested.

I think it’s been about 3 weeks since I last wrote. I am so bad about keeping up on this. Alisa had another eye appointment, and she went down to wearing her patch 2 hours a day for 3 days a week, for 3 months. Then after a month of no patch, we go back to see if it gets worse again. Apparently it does in about 15% of cases, and this test allows them to weed out the ones who can stop. Zach is almost halfway done with his Mara appliance (that moves the jaw forward for overbites.) No more than a year remaining for braces. Then we can look toward Gabby, I am sure!

Zach’s Court of Honor went well. He is now 1 month into his Life Scout. 5 months to Eagle. He has 12 weeks of physical fitness testing on one merit badge, and about 3 items on another and then he is done. All that will remain is his Eagle project. Yay!

We had a nice Halloween. Went to Grandma’s house to get dressed up, and then visited the Great-grandmas and Mark’s aunt Nancy, and then down 1 street to give the kids a little taste of ‘real’ trick-or-treating. It was a glorious night, and we are grateful for that. Here are some pictures: Halloween Pictures 2008

Zach and Gabby have concerts next week. Zach’s is on Tuesday, so he gets to race home from hunting for that. Gabby’s choir concert is on Thursday. I am cautiously nervous about the hunting thing. Zach is a font of information about safety thanks to his class. And I always find myself at odds at not wanting them to get a poor, sweet, defenseless animal, and proving them selves ‘real men’ (Tim the ToolMan grunt inserted here.)

Today Reese had her 15 month appointment (Yeah, at 16.5 months!) She was 32.5 inches and 23.5 pounds. At some point in a future post I will post what the other kids were at this age. She took her shots well, was cute for the doctor (and painfully shy, but at least she talked. The child has a vocabulary of over 50 words, can repeat most words, and talks in 2 word sentences but you’d never know it around so-called ’strangers’.

And lastly, we spent some time taking pictures with Mark’s SLR camera (film, not digital, *sigh*) Here are the results. I am definitely not happy with the group pictures. It is HARD to get ‘perfect’, LOL. But I think some of the singles could be used as 8X10’s on the wall instead of using a studio this year. Fall Portraits 2008

Now everyone pray for my men this weekend, and for me dealing with the others alone!

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Since my last post. We’ve just been so busy. Some days I feel like a barely have a minute to relax. In addition to the 3 times a day we drive to town (seminary, band, and choir) Zach was taking his Firearm Safety Training. His last day was on October 2nd, when he had to take his test. He got 3 wrong, and so easily passed, and I guess will be a deer hunter this year. Apparently until they are 14 (or something, ask Zach, he knows the law!) they have to be within reach of an adult, so that makes me feel better. Mark and I have also been taking a marvelous parenting class. We’ve learned some new ways to be better parents. Hopefully it will help with Ethan who is so HARD to read in the way of what his emotions are, and Dylan who is so different than the others in temperament. And Zach has also been working on his Cycling merit badge. He finished up with a 50 miler, which they did in 5.5 hours on the Munger trail. Apparently the last couple of miles were really hard on him, and Mark used his new parenting skills to get him to label an emotion and problem solve on his own. Yay! Mark didn’t get a picture though. I asked and he said “Oh, I suppose I should have done that, huh?” Don’t fret, my darling husband will come home with a media card filled with whatever deer is caught though! (Love you honey!)

Zach and Gabby got their first official report cards from school, and are both getting A’s. I knew they were doing just fine. We have to take standardized testing and all 3 of the kids score mostly in the 90th percentile or higher, some 99th, an occasional 80th and one 60th. I won’t name names, but one of the kids, no matter how much I warn them before testing day, when it comes to math they do not check their answers and mark “None of the above” whenever their answer doesn’t match on the first try. Zach is doing great in Seminary. He is done reading John in the New Testament and is on the The Acts. Gabby is doing great in piano, has moved on to level 3. Ethan is self-teaching at this time and is a natural too.

Alisa has soared in her reading skills. It’s fun to see her get more confident and read on her own at night. Dylan is still our little jester. But unintentionally. We recently had a General Conference and listed to a choir sing, and after one song he said “Wow, that was just beautiful!” Which it was, but it sure sounded funny coming from a 3-year old. Reese is doing great too. She does somersaults and mimics any word you give her, and uses probably around 30 or so on her own on a regular basis, and adds to them every day. Did I write yet that 3 of her molars are all the way through, and the other has the 4 points through? The only way you could tell was that she bit on her finger a lot and had a couple of sleepless nights. She loves to dance, and especially loves Jason Mraz’s song “I’m Yours” and Pink’s song “So What?”. She loves to rock out!

I can’t think of what else to write. I keep a list on a piece of paper of updates I need to add, and somehow that update disappeared. Oh yeah, we went to Valley Fair as a family (on Mark’s work’s dime, yay!) and had fun. I finally got to ride the new Roller Coaster Renegade which was a blast. Dylan rode on all the kiddie- rides he could, but was really upset when he couldn’t go on the big roller coasters. I really think he would have had a blast on them too! He loved Mild Thing, the kiddie-coaster. Alisa on the other hand had to get the nerve up to go on the Scrambler, LOL. Dylan hopped off one ride and pointed to Power Tower and Extreme Swing and said “Let’s do them next!” Yeah, except you’re about 10 inches too short, little guy!

The kids had their Primary Program, which went great. Gabby and I sang a song together with two other pairs of mother/daughters. It was in a key WAY too high for me though. I am finding as I get older I feel more comfortable as an alto, but since I’ve been singing Soprano all my life, I can’t hear the alto notes unless I practice them over and over. E above High C is a struggle, where as G used to be easy.

I’ve been enjoying the presidential/vice-presidential debates (*snort*). I thought Sarah Palin was cute for about 5 minutes and then her ‘folksiness” and non-answers drove me CRAZY. And what the heck was up with the winking? I liked Biden better than I thought I would. I thought the Town Hall debate was a travesty that the moderator ruined. It made me sick to hear McCain’s proposal to bailout homeowners (he’s conservative? I guess he really is a maverick in some areas, LOL), and I’m sick over what some of his supporters shout at rallies. I think I’ve narrowed my choice down to two 3rd party candidates. How we ended up with these two candidates is beyond me. Just yuck! Here are some funny pics/cartoons I’ve found, and I am also linking one of my favorite columnists, Robert Kirby from the Salt Lake Tribune on Debates.

And Halloween is coming. Hurrah! It’s on a Friday this year, and the kids were excited to hear that because it meant we could go to grandma’s house and Aunt Nancy! (And yes, when they read this, it’ll be the first they hear of it. Mark will call you, ok? Everyone knows what they want to be. We don’t know about Reese yet though. Or how to actually turn Ethan into a zombie and Dylan into a monster. But I am posting the siggies I use on my message board. The kids took the pics I used for the Brady Bunch siggy and used the color replacement brush and the liquify tool to turn themselves into monsters. I think it turned out cute! And then I had a friend make me a different one too. (Her is much better!)

And finally, last night was our 10 year sealing anniversary. This is an LDS ordinance you do in a temple. We initially promised the kids that we’d go to Disney World for it, but then they heard that Harry Potter World would be coming out in 2010 and they opted to wait for that. The kids set a beautiful table and made pulled pork sandwiches, scalloped potatoes, veggies, a delicious cake, Catawba juice (aren’t they awesome?) cleaned the house and did the dishes, and all while we were at our parenting class as a surprise. We brought home Spiderwick Chronicles to watch with them, and them sent them off to bed while Mark and I watched Iron Man, which is also a cool movie. It was a great night! On the next post I will include a picture of the table, and also a 2 minute movie I got off our camera of the kids dancing and playing. Now it’s bath time and supper and get-ready-for Sunday stuff. Later!

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Here’s a link to some current pictures of the kids. Enjoy! Fall Pictures

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Zach has been working hard on getting the last of his Eagle required merit badges done. The boys from his troop began the cycling MB last year, so the last couple of weeks he has been working to get his done as well. Cycling is an alternative to swimming, which he says he isn’t fond of. None of my kids are natural swimmers. I think I need to get a pool next summer because I hate that they love to fish and canoe, but hate to swim! Anyway, at the end of the month the troop is doing a 50 mile bike ride, and Zach needed to do 2-10, 2-15, and 2-25-mile bike rides. Mark has been a good sport about it. Unfortunately, Zach realized yesterday that the 50 miler was the same day as he Hunter Gun Safety practicum, and so he had to make a hard choice. He chose the hunting, so Mark will be taking him on a 50 miler some Saturday in October. He also finished off Citizenship in the World, and has 2 more requirements for Communications. That will leave him with Citizenship in the Nation and Personal Fitness (which he just has 12 weeks of logging his fitness regime to finish). He will have his Board of Review for Life Scout on the last Sunday of this month, at which point he can concentrate on his Eagle project and the last two MB’s. Early in April he should be ready for Eagle Scout. The statistics for Eagle Scouts are incredible. Something like 4% of scouters actually get Eagle, but 75% of presidents, astronauts, business CEO’s, etc. are Eagle Scouts. He has worked his butt off for this, as we are proud of him. He as a cousin (Preston) that should be finishing up at the same time too, so we are proud of him as well!

Reese has been so cute and funny lately. She is speaking so well. Her “No’s” (That previously sounded like Na or Ni) now are a definite “No!” One morning I heard her saying “Uh Oh” over and over for about 5 minutes on the baby monitor. She went back to sleep though. Now she likes to throw things on the floor and say it, or “Oh Dear!” She can mimic any word you give her (not perfectly, sometimes not even close, just the beginning sound) and she loves to climb and eat and play and be outside. She loves Zachary so much, and runs to Mark when he comes home from work. She likes to share my morning cereal with me, but I’d had enough when she picked up a hair elastic (with hair on it) and threw it into my cereal (saying “Uh oh!” of course) so now she has her own bowl. Her sleeping is a little better, but off because we all go to bed earlier, and so she wakes up at 6, but I can’t break my habit of reading a book by flashlight until 1 in the morning, so I am a veritable zombie.

The kids are doing great in school so far. Alisa, who “could” read, but slowly and never with any passion or joy, has REALLY picked up on, in just one week. It’s something she likes to do now, and we are so proud of her. Yesterday we had “THE” talk with Ethan. We’ve always been fairly open about s-e-x, and answered questions as they came, used proper body part names, etc. But reproduction is coming up in his curriculum and I like to be the one to explain it. With the help of a few books (from a gospel perspective, and one that is fun” we had a nice chat. Oh how I can remember the look on each of the kid’s faces as we cover the actual “ACT”, LOL. Ethan’s eyes got huge, and I thought he was going to cry. The funniest reaction was the one I heard about my nephew Kyle, I think. We also explain about a certain man in a little red suit and tell him that said person is actually an anonymous kindness that anyone can do, without expecting thanks, just because you know it brings joy to others, and that he was now invited to join us and the older kids in helping perform that kindness on Christmas Eve. with us. It helps them feel so grown up, and the kids actually are really good about doing random acts of kindness all year long. We then took him out for dinner. It’s never awkward, never embarrassing, and always open and gentle. 3 children down! (And a 4 year break!)

A friend had her baby yesterday. I admit to a little baby hunger. I’m used to being practically the only person in a small congregation of women who had babies, and now in our new church ward there are about 5-10 women pregnant at any given time. I’m often asked if I am “Done”. I used to answer that question. I don’t anymore, because I’ve looked like a liar for the last 3 kids! Am I open to more children? I guess so. Some days I feel so old and tired. Other days people are incredulous when I tell them I have 6 children. (My ego likes that, even if they are just being kind!) I’ve never had to endure the comments that so many moms with big families have to like “Do you know what causes that?” (Even though we have the “Yeah, and we like it” at the ready) or “When God Said multiply and replenish the Earth, He didn’t mean you alone” (so again, my “I’m not overpopulating the world, just outnumbering the idiots” reply never gets used either.) I actually only get compliments. Our family cruise was full of such kind words, about our “delightful children”. (And we typically cruise when school is in session, because as much as I like my kids, I’m not that great with other people’s kids. So these cruises are generally full of people who are cruising at a time that they hope there aren’t too many kids.) In Walmart a nice old man asked me if all the kids were mine and I tentatively said “Yes” just waiting to use one of my replies (Boy, do I feel like Mr. Collins from Pride and Prejudice who prepared the things he said to people in advance) but he told me “That is fantastic! Honey, come here, look at all these wonderful children. Bless you for doing something so wonderful!” I was in shock and awe. How sweet is that? Anyway, so I don’t say I’m done having kids because while I’m tired, there is only one way to KNOW for SURE that you are done, and that isn’t an option. Even with some medical procedures that leave you with a 99.99999999% chance you are done, I’d be the one proven wrong!

And this is long. Too long to edit, I fear! Sorry for the ramble. I should post more often so I don’t have to catch up so much.

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Today we began our first day of school, at home. All last week we took the opportunity to get used to Zachary in seminary and driving the kids back and forth to the middle school for band and choir, and clean the house one room at a time. It seems so busy without our own schooling! Once Zach gets home, we have about 3 hours until he goes to band. Once he is home from that, we have about 3 hours until Gabby goes to choir. Once she gets home we have 3 hours until Mark gets home from work. This year we are calling Alisa a Kindergartner. Unlike the other children, she was not ready a year early, even though she read early (but with no joy!) She has a literature, science, history, music and art curriculum through the Core Knowledge Series, and math through Saxon Math. Ethan has a similar curriculum, but we add more history with the Story of the World series, and more science through science textbooks I got at a garage sale. Gabby is in 7th grade, and has Saxon Algebra I, which we are taking very slowly, making sure she understands everything before moving on, as she doesn’t think as abstractly as math sometimes requires. She has a general science curriculum through Abeka. She also does Story of the World. Zach has Algebra II through Saxon (next year is Advanced Math and then Calculus!) Biology through Abeka, Literature, Composition and Grammar through Abeka, and Geography and Health through Abeka. He also does Story of the World with us. I also read to them from a book each day. We rotate who chooses the book. Ethan picked this time, so it’s Stuart Little for now. I don’t know what Gabby is going to pick, but Zach has said he will pick The Hobbit when it’s his turn.

Dylan and Reese stay busy by playing, coloring, “doing school work” etc.

Reese has not been sleeping as well, and has been a little out of sorts. I checked her gums, and she has 1 molar through, 1 where you can feel bumps through the gum tissue, and 2 that are swollen and white with pressure.

Dylan and Alisa had a fabulous time at Grandmas house, but we missed them so much were so glad when they walked through the door. Gabby complained of her throat and tongue hurting, and I looked at it and sure enough she had a red throat and swollen taste buds. I couldn’t even Google an explanation for that! And Alisa said “My throat hurts too!” so when I checked her out I saw white patches on her tonsils. She wasn’t in much pain, so I said I’d give it 2 days to see what happened, and sure enough this morning they are feeling much better and the white patches are gone. Does Strep go away on its own? And ooh, don’t Google image “Tonsil Stones” or read discussions about them.

And of course, saving ourselves from a trip to the clinic on that one, Dylan is complaining of his arm hurting. Now, this is the child that will on occasion wake up and say his foot hurts. We are guessing growing pains or cramping, because most of the time it doesn’t bother him. He does his typical running, walking, jumping, leaping, stomping, kicking, etc. with it. Now his arm hurts, and he won’t bend his elbow! He is very protective of the inner elbow. A quick internet search brings up dislocation, breaks, tennis elbow. But the problem is, he’ll hand from monkey bars, he’ll use it normally, waves it around, pulls ropes with it. He just won’t bend it or straighten it. I talked with an RN friend who said if it was any of the aforementioned things, he wouldn’t use it like that. She thinks it’s probably a strain. And if it it doesn’t improve within a week, then to take him in. Fortunately it is slowing improving. Cross your fingers and say a prayer!

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