Tyson Fractures his Thumb

As Craig and I were getting ready to leave on our trip for Hong Kong (Craig on business...me on pleasure), getting grandma and grandpa Sandness prepared for the week ahead of them being in charge of the kids and their crazy schedules, Tyson gets hurt in baseball practice.  I quickly try and get him to Urgent Care before we head to the airport, but alas they are all closed.  So, grandma and grandpa took him the next day.  Long story short, he has a buckle fracture in his left thumb.

Unfortunately, Tyson didn't really like wearing the splint that was put on him and didn't exactly follow the doctor's rules of no contact sports (basketball)...so...I took him to the orthopedist today to make sure we are on the right healing track and they took another x-ray.  This doctor was none-to-pleased to hear that Tyson hadn't been wearing his splint over the course of the last 10 days and had been playing basketball to boot!  When asked if he would promise to keep one on for the next three weeks and promise not to play basketball, he couldn't honestly commit.  (Well...at least he was honest about it.)  So, the doctor decided to put a cast on it so that he didn't have a choice on letting it heal.  The generous mom that I am, I splurged the extra $50 for a water cast so that at least he could go in the pool over Spring break.

The thumb was still pretty painful when the doctor was checking it out so I think Tyson realized he needs to let it heal, so he didn't seem to upset about the cast.  Plus, he got to pick it's color:  Purple!

Visit from Family

We were recently blessed with a visit from my sister and her family, from Minnesota.  While it wasn't great that our kids still had school and sports commitments, we tried to take advantage of our time with them.  My sister ran the LA Marathon, so Kyra and I went to watch her run.  We also pulled the kids from school for one day so that we could spend some time all together and do something fun.  We ended up going on a whale watch and although we didn't get to see any whales, we did get to see a group of a thousand dolphins swimming together and then along side our boat.  It was pretty neat.  Definitely nothing any of us had ever seen before.

Kyra's Soccer Team Plays in State Tournament

Kyra's soccer team last Fall qualified for the state tournament.  After some very tough games, the girls ended up taking fourth, but what an awesome job out of 76 teams from the season. This is a travel team that she had to try out for last Fall.  She will have to try out again now in the Spring for next Fall's team.  It has been such a great experience for her.  We love the coaches, the girls on the team and the families/parents...couldn't have asked for a better group!

Keely Gets Her Ears Pierced

Keely has repeatedly been asking to get her ears pierced but I was so worried about how she would handle the pain of it, but she has been quite persistent...so she had them pierced and she is so happy!!

Trey Breaks a Finger

The first official broken bone amongst the kids!  Trey broke his finger playing basketball during lunch break at school.  Since the break was on the knuckle, they put him in a removable splint so that he could keep it from getting stiff.  The worst part, of course, is that it was during basketball season...but all is healed and he is back at the game.

Parent Night at Cotillion

We had a fun night joining Trey and Kyra for parent night at Cotillion.  While the experience of cotillion hasn't been quite what Trey had last year in Hong Kong, I think Kyra still enjoyed it.  Although she may not admit it, I think she even enjoyed dressing up each time.

The Rose Bowl

Trey and I were so lucky to be able to get some great tickets in the Badgers section at the Rose Bowl.  What an exciting day!  We had such a great time, from start to finish.  Thanks to our friend Sarah B, we were able to get our hands on some fabulous seat...Thanks, Sarah! :)

Christmas in California

Yes, obviously I'm trying to do a little quick "catching up" again... :)

As the kids were missing a snowy Minnesota Christmas, we decided to surprise them with a trip to the mountain to see snow.  We didn't tell them where we were going and had pre-packed the car the night before so they didn't see their winter stuff in the car.  While it wasn't exactly Minnesota...we did do a little sledding, rode on the luge and enjoyed a hearty meal in a dive of a small town cafe...definitely a successful day trip!  (Thanks Craig for planning this one.)

Then later in the week we headed to the beach and had a day of great fun...playing in the waves, the boys playing football, digging in the sand and burying Tyson!