Summer Snap Shot

Kendal roasting marshmellows at FHE
Trey loving every bit of his smore
BAYLEY

The last couple of weeks have been very representative of what summer 2008 has been like....busy. It doesn't seem like I get very much done in the summer months...only what is REALLY needed to be done, because there is always somewhere to go or something to do outside that seems much more exciting and enticing. Last week we made a quick trip up to my brother Spencer's house to go to the dentist and then spend some time with his wife Leigh and their baby Spence. The kids had a great time and walked away from the dentist office cavity free. I however was not as fortunate. For the first time in my life I left the dentist office with two cavities and two fillings...I blame it on the fact that the city we now live in, Oxford, does not add fluoride to their water. One of the perks of having your brother as your dentist is that he worked me into his schedule so that I could have my fillings done the same day the cavities were found. He talked me into having the teeth filled without any numbing....not quite as bad as it sounds, but I think next time I will give the numbing a try.
After returning from our visit to the dentist, the rest of the week was a blur of activities. I am pretty sure the activities included picking blueberries, attending the library functions, going to the mall, swimming, swimming and more swimming (that is everyone except Kendal...she has decided that it is too much of a hastle to cover her cast to swim so she has forgone swimming to watching her new favorite movie "Underdog" while the rest of us swim). Trey has really started to enjoy the water...his new favorite thing to do is "CANNONBALLS". It is so cute as he jumps in he yells "CANNONBALL" in his cute little voice. This last weekend my parents, my Uncle Kent and Aunt Vicki, and my Uncle Ronan came down to jet ski. We had a great day at the lake and it was fun to see my uncles and aunt that I don't get to see very often. It is also fun for my kids to see that I have cool Uncles and Aunts too.

Today we are headed to spend a couple of more days with Spencer, Leigh and baby Spence. The kids are excited for one more summer road trip! I can't believe Bayley starts school next Thursday. She is very excited, she got the teacher she wanted, so fortunately I think she will be ready when Thursday roles around. Kendal, Trey and I will miss having her around, especially since our summer isn't quite over...I'm not quite ready to get back being REAL productive as of yet!

Trey weened himself of a pacifier at 10 months, but yesterday morning I walked into his bedroom to find him asleep with an old pacifier in his mouth....I think it was one I kept around for Kendal to use with her babies. Let's just say that pacifier has magically disappeared!

Memory Tag

My friend Lori had this great "tag" posted on her blog. It's easy and fun, so give it a shot! Here is how it goes:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember, good or bad but be nice please! ;)

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments!

Lake Wedowee 2008

The Thornton Kids

The Griffeth Family

Just about every summer, the Griffeths (my side of the family) try to get together during the summer months and play at the lake. This year our "reunion" was held at Lake Wedowee, which is about 40 minutes from my house. We were thrilled that my three brothers, their wives and kids were able to come and play at "our" lake this time around. My parents rented a beautiful 5 bedroom, 3 bath house with it's own dock, huge porches, great kitchen, and 2 family rooms. It was just about perfect. Each family was able to have their own bedroom and everyone got to sleep in a bed...even my girls. We played lots of games, ate lots of great food, and of course spent most of our days out on the water. I've had more than one person comment on how nice it is that my extended family is close enough that we would enjoy staying in the same house for an entire week together. We really do have a good time and of course great memories of the times that we have been able to spend together on lake vacations.

Bayley probably spent the most time on the tube at the lake...she had a great time!

Trey played bully with his younger cousins...sorry Nate and Olivia, it won't be long until you all can give it right back to him.

Kendal didn't let a broken arm keep her from holding Baby Spencer

We can't wait for next year's Griffeth Lake Vacation! Thanks for a fun week!

Cast Off, Cast On

Kendal sporting her newest hot pink accessory
A broken arm didn't keep her from wanting to fish with her Dad
Trey fishing WITHOUT his cast on
Kendal with her cast cover-up on

Last week Trey was scheduled to have the cast on his leg removed. It was. However, we now have another cast (#2 of the summer) in the Thornton household. This time around we have a hot pink arm cast on Kendal's right arm. Tuesday morning she was walking down the steps at the lake house to join her Daddy fishing on the dock, when she tripped and fell. She landed on her arm and after I took a quick look I pretty much new immediately that she had broken her arm. She really didn't want to go to the doctor, but after chatting about the importance of getting her arm fixed we headed to find a doctor that would take off Trey's cast and put a cast on Kendal. We ended up at the Orthopedist office where Trey went for he leg and begged for the opportunity to see the doctor. After sitting in the waiting area for almost 2 hours, we were the last ones called back before lunch. Kendal was x-rayed and even before the doctor came in I could clearly see the her arm bone was broken. At this point I began to try to talk Kendal through the process of getting a cast and trying to highlight all of the "cool" stuff about having a cast. We talked about what color she would get, who she wanted to sign her cast and what she would tell everyone who asked her about her cast. I think she was actually pretty excited by the time the doctor came in. Then he proceeded to tell us that the arm had to be reset. I have not experienced this part of a break before, but I was sure that it would not be pretty. He gave us the 3 options. We could numb the arm with shots, take Kendal to the hospital and put her asleep then reset the arm, or he could reset the arm in the office but it would hurt. Kendal and I decided that we would count our way through the last option, and that is what we did. She did complain a little, but she was not hysterical by any means. She is one tough cookie. The bad news about this cast is that because it is a full arm cast it is NOT waterproof. We found a cast cover that is supposed to be airtight, but after one swim in the pool the top of her cast was a little too wet for my liking, so we are still looking for other options. She has to wear the cast she has on now for 4 weeks and then she will be a half arm cast for the last 2 weeks. Even though it was her dominant hand that was broken I have been surprised at how well she has done using her left hand to eat, brush her teeth, and even paint....in fact the painting she did yesterday was best she has ever done! She has had the "itchy" cast a couple of times already, so hopefully it doesn't get too bad. I can only imagine....

Trey got his cast off, however he is still walking around with a limp. I'm not sure if it is because he got used to walking with the cast or if he is still hurting. If he doesn't improve I will probably take him in this week with Kendal when she has her arm re-xrayed to make sure that the bone in her arm has not slipped. Let's just say after 2 casts in less than 1 month, I am thinking that our calcium intake is going to increase dramatically in hopes of preventing further castable injuries.

We did have a great time at the lake last week with the Griffeth family. I will post pictures and details hopefully tomorrow!

Quick Update

Trey loves to play with the hair dryer...Bayley was kind enough to let him use her hair
Yes, our cute Kendal can give "those" type of looks sometimes
Sunday pictures happen less frequently since Jeff has become Branch President...something about being on time to church
Trey's idea of blueberry picking...fortunately he did not get sick

I haven't been very good at taking pictures the last couple of weeks, so without the need to download my pictures I in turn have not been a very good blogger. Anyway, just because I haven't been taking pictures doesn't mean that we haven't been busy. We have been busy enjoying our summer. The last week or so has been full of lots of swimming, fishing, golfing and blueberry picking. The kids really are having a great summer. We plan an activity just about everyday that gets them out of the house and excited. Sometimes it just a trip to the library for new books, other times to the mall for "Kid's Day at the Mall", or we have also found a new place that offers free jump time on inflatables...my kids love inflatable jumpers.



This week we are headed to the lake for the "Griffeth Family Reunion". This years reunion is being held at Lake Wedowee which is about 40 minutes from our house. It should be a lot of fun! I'm sure I will have lots of pictures and a full report after the week is over.

I am proud to post the picture of our first tomato from our container gardening. It was rather tasty....and actually looked pretty good. I have very little luck with gardening, so I am thrilled. However, despite this accomplishment our little tomato plants have halted in the growth and so I will be lucky to get another 5 or 6 tomotoes from our 2 plants.