The things they say . . .

He's still talking . . .

This weekend all the kids stayed with my sister Kerry's family while Buff and I went to a church retreat.

Owen was overheard complaining in the living room,

"Ow! The cat stepped on my foot . . . and now my butt itches!"

And now you know Reason #568 of "why we aren't getting a cat" . . .

Mount Lester

Dad was so excited about his man-made snow Mountain, he wanted to share it with y'all!

We have named it Mount Lester!

Update of Owen's eye . . .

If I were to write out a description of our life, I think it would be sold in the comedy section . . .

We have seen the ophthlamologist 3 times in the last week due to the injury to Owen's eye (and they still don't have my consent form on file yet - I've signed it 3 times and every time they say I haven't signed it. Sounds like my house. It's around here somewhere - just not where it needs to be!)

On Friday, the doctor was concerned because the right eye was severely near-sighted and there was some difference with some of the dimensions of the inner eye (I don't know if I could explain it - ask Buff if you want the accurate scientific update). His right eye was reading negative 8 near-sightedness and his left eye was actually far-sighted. Apparently this was very extreme, but yet correctable with glasses.

Today. Three days later. Now his right eye is far-sighted. The near-sightedness is COMPLETELY gone. No lazy eye. No permanent damage. The whole vision issue was temporary and was indeed caused by the injury.

Sigh. It appears the roller-coaster has just screeched to a halt. Although, I'm not getting unbuckled yet just in case it takes off again. (We have a follow-up appt. in two weeks - just to make sure . . . )

So here is what it all means.

1. Owen will not need glasses.

2. Owen's amazing coordination makes complete sense again - and I feel better about my clumsiness (maybe I can use my eyes as an excuse after all).

3. Buff is relieved that Owen's future sport career has not been derailed and he may be able to take care of us in our retirement after all.

4. Brice is back in the dog-house.

And now I wonder what this week's story will be . . .

Memories

Playing with homemade play-doh:
Cost - "Free"
(I suppose the ingredients cost me something once upon a time.)

Painting with the "big" paints
(as apposed to the "little" watercolor / easier-to-clean-up-paints):
Cost: $1.99 a bottle

Playing hide and go seek
(and finding a really good spot in the laundry hamper):
Cost: FREE!

Digging in the bottom of the couch and finding untold treasures:
Cost: Saved me $25 because we found the missing library DVD!!!!!

Getting to spend a quiet night playing with the "little" kids
while dad took the "big" kids to a concert:
Cost: Priceless

"Mom, Can I have a drink of water?"

"Yes, Owen. Go and lay down and I will bring it to you."


20 minutes later -

Mom forgot - Mom ALWAYS forgets . . .




Apparently the urgency of his thirst has worn off . . .

There had to be an easier way . . .

There is one thing that can be said about the Powers family- at least we are consistent. We consistently do things the hard way.

On Sunday, Brice broke a major family rule and loaded his air-soft bb handgun (it uses plastic bb's) - and decided to shoot it. He was with a friend and, well, common sense seems to go out the window when there are people to impress.

Either he is a VERY bad aim (which is most likely) or Owen stepped between the gun and the target at the worst possible moment. Well, Owen got shot - in the eye - and by "the eye" I mean directly in the iris of the eyeball.

Yeah. Ouch.

When I took him to my eye doctor, he said it was a very minor injury that should heal itself well, but there was some major concern as to why his vision was sooooo poor in that eye. An injury of this sort should not cause severe vision loss - apparently. (I mean, he ONLY got shot in the eye . . . )

So off we went to a specialist to see if there was any internal damage, such as bleeding, in the eye.

Come to find out there is truly no deeper damage to the eye, but he has other vision problems totally unrelated to the eye injury. Upon their first assessment, it appears that he is severely near-sighted in his right eye and actually far-sighted in his left eye. Because of this, his far-sighted eye does most of the seeing work - explaining the vision "loss" in his injured right eye.

We will go back on Friday to further investigate and learn the solutions to this problem. On Monday, we were only scheduled to discuss the injury - now we have more to talk about . . .

Here is what is so amazing about this story:

1. This could have gone undetected for years making the near-sighted eye weaker and weaker and harder to fix. This is a grace gift that we found it now. Owen gave us no reasons to be concerned for his vision.

2. Most people just go to the doctor and he finds their problems for them. No, we have to add more drama and pain to the process than any one family needs in a lifetime.

3. Owen is the most coordinated person in the family - and he does it all with only one eye working well. Both of my eyes work together and I can't even walk across an empty room without tripping. Life just isn't fair.

4. Brice now thinks he is the hero in this story rather than the culprit . . .

So, stay tuned. This can only get more and more fun.

The things they say . . .

Aaron and Owen were playing superheroes. Owen was armed with a wooden spoon and Aaron had the nerf gun.

They were valiantly fighting off the bad guys when we overheard Owen state to Aaron,

"That guy was so bad . . . he was ugly."

Birthdays . . .

Mikayla had her birthday - ON Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving came Christmas. I know that isn't news to you, but it is my explanation as to why it is now January and I am just acknowledging my child's birthday.

Wow. Did she grow up this year, or what?

This is from last year (or 2007). . .



and this is from 2008 . . .


And all I did was blink.

Another plus is that she helped make the cake - perty fancy, heh? We almost gave up in the middle of the project because of a few glitches, but we persevered. What other kind of cake would you suggest - for a birthday on Thanksgiving?

A hamburger, of course!

Owen also conquered another year, and we "celebrated" in the midst of all the other holiday celebrating.

Since he is only turning four, his cake was a little less complicated - although a bit more slimey.


I woke up the next morning and he had made his contribution to the cake.

Clever.

These other pictures are for Grandma Powers - so she can see what she got him for his birthday. He is trying to position his hands like Spider-man does when he shoots out his web. Still needs a little practice. He really had to think about it . . .

Hurry up, Spidey, the bad guy is getting away . . . .

Close, but don't hold it that way . . .

Got it!

Thank You, Grandma! Call if you need a superhero!

Just for fun.... :o)

1. Go to the place on your computer where you store your photos.

2. Open the fourth folder.

3. Post and explain the fourth photo in that folder.

Ellie loved to nap in the corner next to the entertainment center and someone had thrown the couch pillow there... so, she cuddled up and took her nap!

I miss my puppy!

The things they say . . .

Owen talks a lot. Owen often talks too much. Owen will repeat anything he hears - so be careful little mouth what you say . . .

If you have ever carried on a conversation with him, you know what he is like when he is very serious and matter of fact . . . this is one of those conversations.

He was talking to some adults at church, and I think he made them spit into their coffee when he said (out of the blue) . . .

"There is heaven. There is hell. Hell has fire. You can't say 'What the hell' cuz that's a bad word."

(Apparently it is okay to say as long as you are just explaining not to say it . . . )

Then today he came into the room screaming. I asked him what in the world was the matter.

"I bit my tongue!"

"Oh, no, how did you do that?"

"With my teeth!"

Okay. I had to ask!

Brady Bunch Family Band

Our Little Guitar Hero

Hudson is a true ROCK STAR!

Pretty sad when you get schooled by a

5 year old!

The things they say . . .

Our newest Carra-ism . . .

"Hey, Mom. I just ate some fish food."

"Oh, really. Was it any good?"

"Yeah, it tastes like dog biscuits."

Ha! This is from the girl who dips everything I make her to eat in ranch dressing to make it taste better!