Category Archives: Houston

What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger

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Or so the saying goes. And perhaps that may be true for the boys. But I’m beginning to wonder if all the 3 Amigos’ falls, bumps, bruises, scrapes, gashes, maladies and injuries aren’t going to put me in an early grave. This stuff can stress out an old mama like me.

So here we are, tending to Houston’s mending arm and dealing with all the to-dos that come along with his recovery: cast removal on 8/6; getting a removable hard splint; the twins and I accompanying him to physical therapy twice a week; applying a heat pad and doing arm-extension exercises at home; keeping the arm safe, etc.

Woody & the Injured Boys: Sounds like a great band name for a couple brothers who are bound & determined to get boo boos.

But really, things are good. Houston has gained back a lot of flexibility, mobility, strength and use, especially in extending his arm out straight. In fact, he improved by 5 degrees just this week.

Houston does have ways to go with bending his arm, though, which is not surprising due to the severity of his break. We’re optimistic overall and are just taking it one day at a time. Please still keep our tough guy in your prayers!

“Write your injuries in dust, your benefits in marble.” — Benjamin Franklin

So on 8/14, we met some of our CC friends at a park few towns over for some fun in the unseasonably temperate weather. Houston worked his arm responsibly and the twins had great success in bike riding on the playground’s flat, paved surface.

As I was packing up the van, I heard Zeke wailing. He had fallen from the play equipment and had a huge, golf-ball size lump on the back of his head. I think I went into mother shock ’cause some of the details after that are kind of blurry.

Stephen is now giving the kids Spanish lessons every Sunday for an hour — a longtime goal of ours that is finally happening & everyone is loving it!

I didn’t see the accident and there are differing accounts as to what happened. Some eye-witness parents told me that Zeke hit his head on a metal pole when coming down, while the kids said his head only hit the ground (which was luckily covered with ultra-safe shredded-rubber mulch).

But what everyone did agree on is that Zeke fell from a very high height, which Miss Christie estimated to be about 15 feet. And thank God my dear friend was there ’cause I was pretty much speaking in tongues when I called Stephen, so he had to talk to Christie to figure out what had happened and then the best course of action.

Fortunately, Zeke wasn’t puking or blacking out or doing anything much other than crying. But due to the extreme elevation of his plummeting descent, Stephen wanted me to meet him at the ER. So, Christie led me out of the semi-unfamiliar town to the the highway, until I was on a recognizable route and could speed away toward the hospital.

From Lincoln logs to Legos, the 3 Amigos are passionate about constructing things out of tiny pieces & then inevitably crashing their creations down.

The CT-scan showed that all of the swelling was happening on the outside of Zeke’s head and that his brain was fine — no bleeding or contusions or distension going on inside my sweet boy’s head. Thanks (again), Lord!

And according to Zeke, he and Asher had been playing an intense game on the towering platform, which required him to chase Asher with his eyes … wait for it … closed! I’m telling ya, I really abhor helicopter moms, constantly hovering over their kids and their every move.

“Raising children is an uncertain thing; success is reached only after a life of battle and worry.” — Democritus

But perhaps I should take a closer look at this modern phenomena and attempt to reattach the umbilical cord, for safety concerns, of course. Obviously, I’m kidding.

But c’mon … can’t my boys just be a little more careful? Or do I have to become an overbearing, overprotective zealot? Surely, there’s a compromise somewhere in there. Hopefully, we’ll figure all that out before I have a trauma-induced heart attack!

I keep telling Gabriel that if he (my boy who is most like a bull in a china shop) can avoid major injury during childhood, it will prove to be an amazing story for he & brothers to share w/ their own kids one day.

Even if the self-induced injuries were nil, there are still always medical concerns that can eat away at a parent. As you know, Houston has Horner’s Syndrome, which we were fairly certain was caused by an injury to his sympathetic pathway during birth.

Yet, there was always that slight concern that the condition was due to something other than birth trauma, like a mass or tumor in the chest or neck, which in turn, affects the ocular muscles. Our local eye doctor has always been great and given Houston phenomenal care.

But with Houston’s semi-frequent headaches, auras and nosebleeds (and Obama-care looming), we wanted to put to rest any serious concerns once and for all. So, we headed to the Duke Eye Center on Tuesday to see one of the country’s leading pediatric neuro-opthalmologists.

Now that summer’s almost over, this pre-injury pic of the dudes swimming w/ Daddy reminds us that we’ll have to get the boys their aquatic fix @ the YMCA’s indoor pool this fall & winter.

As we had hoped and prayed, it was confirmed that Houston’s syndrome is indeed congenital and, thankfully, not a severe case at that. The doc said we might want to consider cosmetic surgery for his ptosis down the road.

Stephen and I figure that we’ll discuss the eye-lid-correction procedure (which is a routine, day-surgery kind of thing) with Houston when he’s older and can make an informed decision on his own. But for now, all is well.

Other than all that heart-rending medical stuff with the kids, I recently underwent my first mammogram, which was pure torture! I also found out that I now have tendonitis in my left thumb. I love the wisdom that comes with age, but I could surely do without this lame body!

August hasn’t been all doctors and hospitals, though. We really have managed to have quite a good month regardless of all the healthcare happenings.

Zeke & Houston get giddy over a dancing ghost @ Cracker Barrel, where we stopped for lunch en route home from the Duke Eye Center in Durham.

On 8/7, Miss Christie had us over for cupcakes and ice cream for Jackson’s 4th birthday. We then hit their neighborhood pool for what was our first swim since Houston’s accident. Everyone took like fishes to water, and it was a pleasant, injury-free outing.

On 8/12, we went to the sprayground for the very first time this summer with Miss Beth and the boys. We had a grand time and plan on going again tomorrow with the J-Crew.

On 8/13, I took the dudes to see Despicable Me 2, which was Gabriel and Zeke’s first real movie (meaning at the theater and not a dollar flick). Their obsession with Gru and company continues unabated, so much so that we are even toying with the idea of them dressing as minions for Halloween.

Another thing the 3 Amigos are really into is Pink Floyd. It started when Daddy and they watched a documentary about the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii in 79 AD.

A tad perturbed by the fact that Mommy will only let them spend $1 from each of their piggy banks on video games, the 3 Amigos gather in front of the Tim the Minion poster after seeing “Despicable Me 2.”

Somehow, this morphed into viewing video clips of Live at Pompeii, the 1972 concert film in which the band performs in one of the Italian city’s ancient amphitheaters. The boys are especially enthusiastic about the movie’s version of the ethereal song “Echoes.”

Also on their fave Floyd playlist is GoodBye Blue Sky from the 1979 masterpiece, The Wall. Even though it’s a spooky, foreboding song about the Blitz of the U.K. by Nazi Luftwaffe during WWII, the dudes find it utterly appealing.

From British progressive rock and American punk (particularly The Ramones’ Beat on the Brat), to classic country and contemporary Christian hits on K-Love, the kids have quite a diverse ear for music. And luckily, Stephen and I would have it no other way!

The dudes stand in front of a beehive during a visit to Historic Orchard @ Altapass during their time in the mountains for the Houston Family Reunion.

Last weekend, Stephen and the boys went to the mountains for the annual Houston Family Reunion. Other than the accidental deaths of Amarillo (a yellow caterpillar from home) and Zebra (a found caterpillar from Granny’s), they enjoyed seeing family, some from nearby and others from afar.

I stayed behind to clean and reorganize the house, since we had our walls, ceilings and all trim professionally painted earlier in the week. The mess was definitely similar to that of a move and my work is not yet complete. Sigh.

But the casa already looks great! It’s amazing how much dirt and funk some spackle, primer and a fresh coat of quality paint in beautiful colors can hide. Plus, I’m confident I’ll have things in working order by the official kick-off our homeschool year on 9/3. Yee haw!

Climbing trees may lead to this!

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So, this is what happened to big bro yesterday around 11:30 a.m. According to Houston, he was trying to get out of a tree in our backyard that he and Zeke were climbing. He says his foot slipped on the wet wood and then he fell on his elbow when trying to avoid a branch on the way down.

The x-ray of Houston’s “broken left humerus” (read: broken elbow).

Zeke says that Houston was attempting a “sliding” trick. But then again, that info comes from the dude who supposedly refused to get help after the fall and told Houston, “That’s what you get.” (Yeah, that has caused some animosity with the injured party, which will be dealt over the coming days for sure.)

I spotted Houston walking through the yard with a sourpuss face and went to find out what was wrong. I immediately saw his disfigured left arm, began to freak out, plopped him down in a deck chair and ran to get Stephen.

Strangely enough, Houston never cried, but I, on the other hand, was hysterical. His arm just looked horrible and I simply couldn’t think straight for a while.

Stephen was pretty flustered, needless to say, but decided that we could get Houston to the ER faster than could an ambulance. Now, just how to load Houston into the van?

Here’s what Houston’s elbow looked like on the outside. Can you understand why a mother might get a bit hysterical after seeing this?!

The couple attempts we made at barely moving Houston caused him to scream in pain. My emotions subsided briefly enough that I came up with a workable scheme: let’s just load the chair with him in it into the back of the van.

Thankfully, that worked quite seamlessly and my calm and common sense had been redeemed. I rode in the rear with Houston as Daddy sped off to the closest hospital with the entire clan in tow.

We pulled in at noon and Houston’s surgery began at 2:37 p.m. The doc had to manually reassemble his broken elbow bones, fitting them back into proper place like a puzzle. And then he inserted two pins to secure the healing fracture.

The operation only took about an hour and everything went well. God was surely guiding the hands of the surgeons, nurses and anesthesiologists.

I spent the night with Houston, while Granny (who raced into town when she heard news of the injury) helped Daddy with the twins back home. And Houston was released from the hospital about 3 p.m. today and is now resting peacefully in bed.

A much-happier Houston from earlier today is psyched and ready to head home. Thank God for watching over our sweet boy!

Gramsey and Papa are going to take Gabe and Zeke for a few days, so that I can kick off this first week of recovery giving Houston full-time care and attention. But I know this is going to a long and arduous recuperation: soft cast for 10 days, then a hard cast for four weeks, followed by physical therapy. Ugh.

The biggies now are that we keep Houston out of harm’s way (another reason we wanted to have brothers visit Virginia); minimize the swelling and maximize the movement in his fingers; and continue to pray that the growth plates in his elbow mature unabated so that Houston will again have full mobility of his left arm.

It just breaks my heart that my little fish’s dreams of summertime swimming are dashed and that the next couple of months aren’t going to be what he had hoped. But I also know that Houston’s injury could’ve been much worse and that his surgery could’ve gone horribly awry. We’re doing alright, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

Word(s) of the day

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Recently, I began doing this with the boys. The gist is to introduce a brand-new, 3+ syllable word on a daily basis. I define it, write it on the chalkboard, and then we discuss its spelling and phonics.

We also try to use the word properly and in context throughout the day. Here are some examples:

  • “Baby Rorie was born early. She was premature.”
  • “Don’t jab a stick in that hole. You’ll antagonize the snake.”
  • “Charlotte said Wilbur was an intelligent pig.”
  • “No running in the house. Please ambulate instead.”

One of our best pals, Steven, ties the knot w/ his sweetheart, Paige. (Click to see more pics from the late-April wedding & reception.)

The day after the SCOTUS ruling on Obamacare, I befittingly chose two 2-syllable words – power and corrupt — in lieu of doing the norm. I figured if the feds can break the rules on a whim, so can I.

Let your freak flag fly

Since the dudes adore flags, we started looking at specific flags a little more in depth. We’ve already done the Virginia and Texas state flags, as well as the Revolutionary-era Gadsden flag. The lessons include a brief history of the flag and its symbolism, and then coloring printables to look like the original ensign.

When Zeke plays with the small flags we have around the house, he likes to fly them in the breeze of an oscillating fan, while humming either Oh Tannenbaum or the Superman theme song. I suppose the connection between flags, Christmas trees and superheroes is that they’re all majestic in his eyes. How sweet is that?!

Bahama mamas

On the first day of summer, Miss Jessie did a Bahamas-themed lesson. She just returned from a cruise there, so she shared photos, homemade mini-sailboats for races in a large pan of blue-dyed water, and helped the boys do some straw weaving, before they got to stamp their passports. I also cooked up some boiled fish and grits.

Big bro turns 5

We had Houston’s 5th birthday party on 6/23. It was a backyard affair with a few neighborhood friends, and pals from Moms Club, MOPS and CC. Jessie made Houston a solar system cake, which was a huge hit with the kiddos.

Ever loyal to the Godfather, soldiers (Willie & Stephen) protect the Don (Adam).

My homemade guacamole was also such a crowd-pleaser that Gabriel ended up choking on it and chips. Yippee, I’ve now officially given all three of my kids the Heimlich!

Houston got tons of wonderful gifts, of course, including an ant farm and a microscope from Stephen and me. Our hope is that using a real ant habitat will ensure longer lives for the critters and the microscope is for viewing all our accidentally killed pets.

On Houston’s actual birthday of 6/26, we found two Tiger Swallowtail caterpillars, Spaz and Henry. We’re using our old enclosed fish bowl as their home and are trying our best to give them the proper care and feeding. Birthday boy and bros also flew homemade kites, which they handcrafted with Miss Jessie.

We kicked off the celebratory day with a jaunt to the theater to see Kung Fu Panda 2, which prompted our word of the day: “Sometimes Mommy cries during movies. She’s often sentimental.” Houston did great, but Gabe and Zeke were a tad high-maintenance.

It’s getting better all the time

We’ve been working on the new bedtime system for a few weeks now. Houston and Zeke took to it pretty easily, but Gabriel had been fighting it tooth and nail. Thankfully, my persistence and (waning) patience are paying off; G-man is finally getting accustomed to the nighttime routine and has become more pleasurable and less irrational during the process.

Mike & Anah show off Darby the cutie pie.

During one of the more trying nights, I said out loud that I was saint for being able to (relatively) calmly cope with Gabriel’s senseless antics, to which Houston said, “You’re a really good mommy.” That was music to my weary ears, but it was also a cue that I needed to do a better job of keeping my own drama in check, while remaining vigilant with the new plan.

It’s raining, it’s pouring

That’s what the boys were singing in the shower the other evening. Yes, they’ve started taking showers instead of baths, which is so much easier and is a total time-saver to boot. Houston made the switch first, and Gabe and Zeke followed suit soon thereafter … now if they’d just mimic big bro and his going-potty abilities, we’d be set.

Food is the way to a man’s heart

I, however, want it to be a direct route to his will. See, I’m attempting to use M&Ms as a mechanism to break the twins’ willful ways when it comes to potty training (or not using the potty, as the unfortunate case may be).

We still have a few of the old tricks in our arsenal, but we’re hoping that rewarding an independent trek to the bathroom with a chocolate treat may do the trick. So far, nothing newsworthy to report, but we’ve become pretty desperate … obviously.

Rebeeler have fun celebrating Steven & Paige’s big day.

The boys do love food, though, and not just your average kid fare. In fact, Gabriel recently tried a piece of a jalapeno from our garden. Sadly, it was way too hot for even our spiciest boy, but we were impressed with his adventurous palate and quick recovery.

Needless to say, the chocolate cherry tomatoes from our little horticulture plot are a lot more popular with the dudes. They’ve also been eating lots of fresh basil and cilantro, and we look forward to munching on okra and carrots soon.

Swimming & fishing

We spent an entire afternoon last week at Miss Christie’s pool and have another pool date with her and the crew later this week. I hope to do these casual aquatic jaunts consistently throughout the summer with the goal that real swimming will eventually materialize. Nothing groundbreaking yet, but we shall see.

Houston isn’t just trying to swim like a fish, he’s also catching them. Cousins Terri, Ricky and Patrick took him fishing this weekend while he and bros were up in the mountains visiting Granny and Grumps. Houston used the Spider-Man rod Granny bought him for his birthday and caught two fish, I believe one trout and one catfish.

Gabriel and Zeke didn’t get to go on the big-boy outing, but Terri did take them down to the creek for lots of rock-throwing. Honestly, they thought that was as cool as catching a fish.