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When we got back from tday visits, the first thing we did was check up on our yard...Em is showing you our lemon from our lemon tree and a carrot. We planted carrots out of season and since I have no idea how to tell if they are ready to pick, we just randomly pick one here and there...you can see we are almost there! Hope they finish growing before it gets too cold!

We also set up the outdoor lights.  I never thought I would be the person who would have these things in their yard.  Something changed when I had kids...plus I found them at a garage sale so I didn't have to justify the money.  Gotta love garage sales!  :-)

K wanted to do some fun pictures...this is the snowman hitting her with the snowball.

And this is her getting crushed by the snowman.  Yes, she comes up with all this on her own.

And Sammy in a santa outfit...

Then my cousin came into town and we took him to play frisbee golf.  I asked K to show me how she throws...what great determination!

And stellar form!  She actually throws pretty well.

Of course she needed a poser shot too.

She hangs in for a few holes and then, well, she finds other things to play with along the way.

I had to try for a few frisbee shots...

It was a nice relaxing day after the drama of Em's head...oh, I didn't mention that...Fast version: Em fell on the tile in the kitchen and hit her head.  She threw up right away but then she seemed to be fine so I let her go to bed.  Unfortunately, over the next 18hrs she threw up four more times and after we took her in to see her dr, we decided on a CT scan to check it out.  Em and I were in the ER forever, as always, and despite my attempts to convince her the scanner was a big giant donut and she got to go inside, as soon as they removed her glasses, she lost it.  No matter how hard I tried, I could not convince her it was not going to hurt her and she cried so hard she was moving inside the restraints.  We tried for a long time and then I held her chin still while they took the pictures and finally I started to lose it and we quit.  I thought there was no way they got a clear look but after another long wait, they said the radiologist was able to read them and there were no bleeds and no fractures.  PTL!!

She was off her game for several days but seems to be functioning normally again.  Her dr believes she had a mild concussion.  I thought concussions were only if the skull actually cracked but apparently it is any shaking of the brain that causes a change in its functioning...her vomiting and fatigue were obvious...if we assume her crabbiness was from a headache, it all fits in.  With our new found definition of a concussion, M and I spent an evening trying to figure out just how many concussions we have had in our lifetimes!  I am not trying to make light of it, I know it could have been serious but for once, we got to be the people who go home and lose a night of sleep instead of the people who go to the hospital for a week, so cut me some slack.  I'm allowed a moment of the type of thinking that follows a lot of relief!  :-)

God Bless!   Please pray for M's safety as we have been having lots of rain this week.  

Tday with the Other Side

After Dad went back to work, I went up to my brother's place for a couple of days while my parents were there.

The only thing better than doing crafts with your child is having grandparents do them!

One morning we headed out to the dunes to play with all the toys...

The toys being a remote control car and a remote control glider...Sammy loved it too!

"Ya-Ya go dare"...

Nana had the kids running back and forth across the dunes...genius!

Later that day, we went to the tide pools to check out "the creatures" as K calls them.

My attempt at an artsy shot.

K is so funny...you know her texture-phobia?  It only applies to all things non-living...

Em was in "cling mode" as she always is at the ocean so it was a lot of work to get her around.  Thankfully, Nana was willing to help out.

We saw lots of sea slugs (sea hares) as well as all the usual suspects, sea stars, sea urchins, sea anemones, muscles, crabs, hermit crabs, etc.

Oh yes, and your lovely trilobite fossils.

Naturally, the kids ended up playing with a pile of rocks...

My kids didn't want to put their shoes back on because of all the sand, so I enabled their OCD and carried them back to the car. :-)

We also had several concerts played for us while we were there.  K and N will even sing.

Last but not least, we celebrated my brother's birthday.  His birthday is actually at the same time as Em's but he was gone for training during that time so we did it now.  Goofball!

SO, that covers thanksgiving!  I hope yours was fantastic!  We feel privileged to have seen so much family in such a short amount of time!  God Bless You All!!

Tday at Erickson's

We headed down to Nana and Poppy's house for Thanksgiving...

We were there early since we had just stayed overnight after Emily's appointment at UCLA so we took the opportunity to hang out. Dad teaching K to throw a ball...this has already been and will take many lessons. :)

Quitting to just let her run.

Then the other E's showed up...Auntie K in her new cast (the tendon pulled a bone chip away but thankfully no surgery) and the girls more than happy to cuddle while playing princess apps.

Great-Grandma flew in from MN and we had a wonderful feast!  One of the kids heard Nana telling Great-Grandma about the feast before her and pretty soon all the kids were thanking Nana for "the feast".  It was cute!

So, Nana's mom.

My girls love pretties!

All that food and the olives were the big hit!

Kisses...

Look at all of us looking!

Then it was outside for more playing.

You can't see J but he is pulling Uncle M over...

The kids piled up these empty containers and knocked them over then the two youngest lined them up in the garage.

Playing tigers...

Headed to the church to play in there for a little while.

The two performers

Look at that move!!

We even managed to fit some craft time in!

While we were packing to go, Em decided to lay on the ground and take a nap "wiff my fwiends."

We also stopped in at the Science museum real quick on our first day there...

These are magnetic rocks you build the wall with.

I don't think they intend for you to take them up the slide, but when you are the only ones there, the rules aren't as stringent.  :0

God Bless!!