The excavator came to our home this past Thursday at 7:30am and was finished in about an hour and a half. He leveled the yard and moved a tree for us. It was well worth the $150.00 for him to move the tree and for us to have a level yard. When he left I began construction on the box that will hold the mulch. I got about half finished and it began to rain. I decided to go to Lowe’s and get some sod; I figured that the rain wouldn’t hurt the grass.

It rained all day Friday and finally stopped on Saturday morning. I was able to get a load of mulch and some more sod before David R. and Craig G. came over to help. The weather held off all day and we got about half-way finished with the assembly of the playset. It rained all day Sunday so all I was able to do was take a nap. The box looks more like a mud pit than a playground. Volleyball anyone?

It rained all day Monday and today it’s beautiful with a high of 70 degrees. So maybe in the late afternoon I can get some more done. The good news is that with all the rain I was able to determine where I need to move some dirt around to fine tune the leveling.

Joshua, Caleb, Hannah-Grace and I hit the official Appalachian Trail. It runs about eight miles from our house. I am still prepping for them for an overnight camping trip and perhaps a log hike. So I put a pack on them with water, and various needed medications, and a stick. You gotta have a stick if you are in the woods — it’s a guy thing, or a kid thing, I forget which.

The grandmothers have purchased the grandchildren a playset for the backyard. I only mention it because of the size and number of the boxes that were delivered to our home via the internet. I need to have the backyard leveled and then to build a box around the set, construct the set, and then put mulch around it in the box. Maybe it will be done by the time they go back to school in the fall (ha, ha – so seriously it’s huge).

Hannah-Grace was introduced to the Frederick County Emergency Room the other night. All the children were going up to bed, and somehow going up the stairs H-G hurt her arm. My theory is that as she hung from my back jeans pockets she incurred a mild nursemaid’s elbow sprain.

http://orthopedics.about.com/od/pediatricfractures/a/nursemaid.htm

She immediately complained of pain in her arm, but I could not imagine from what. She didn’t fall, and her brothers were no where around. But, she wouldn’t let me touch her arm, and all she wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep – she even wanted me to close her door (which is unusual). I waited for her to go to sleep and went into her room to look at the arm. Even asleep she was holding it and grimaced when I moved it.

So I told Kimberly what was going on, I carried her to the van and into the emergency room. We were blessed in that on a Monday night they were not very busy and we were in a room in about twenty minutes. She was very brave and after the nurse gave her some Motrin/Tylenol she began to be able to move it. They took x-rays and after about three hours she was given the “all clear.”

In between doctors, nurses, and a trip to x-ray H-G and I prayed that her arm would get better and to be honest I had actually forgotten that we did. But by the end of the night H-G bent her arm and said, “Look daddy, Jesus made my arm better!” And I said, “Yes He did, H-G, yes He did.”

It’s been about a week now and the arm is as good as new. Oh, the cast is just for looks! She really didn’t need it, but the nurse thought it would help.

I also was able to get some good shots of the boys in their swim class.