Summer is over. The humidity is gone, but the heat remains. We're hoping this weekend will mark the last of the 90° weather for the year. Mom's tobacco and corn were cut this week.
FATHER-SON CAMPOUT. The annual Robertson County Baptist Father-Son Campout was held last Friday night at Coldstream Camp. The boys and I went and we took a couple of other boys with us.
This event has no organized activities since it's a one night campout and so many of the boys have ball practice and games on Friday evening and Saturday, but Coldstream Camp has so many things to do no one is ever bored. When we arrived my boys hopped out of the truck and headed straight for the obstacle course. The lake, with its zip line and fishing, was a big hit as well. We enjoyed soup, hot dogs, and peach cobbler (made in Dutch ovens) for supper and eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast.
STITCHES. Jenna is still hobbling around in her boot. We've teased her for being our Tennessee Walking Horse. She is, however, feeling better and she seems to be healing nicely.
The doctor at the ER had told Vicki that Jenna's stitches could come out after about a week. Monday evening Vicki looked at Jenna's stitches and said she thought it was time to remove them. When Jenna heard this and realized her mom intended to be the one to pull them out she said, "Oh no! I want a trained professional." Needless to say, we've gotten a lot of milage out of this. Thanks to Donna Hall, who is a nurse practitioner, Jenna's stitches have been removed. Donna even brought her lab coat, complete with name tag, to church Wednesday evening so she'd look professional enough.
HOME TOUR. I have said before that we are not indoor pet people. Ben knows this, but I think he would like for Peanut to be allowed in the house. I am holding my ground on this simply for the fact that I enjoy breathing clearly.
We're having to work right now to train the cat not to come in when the door is opened. The other day Peanut walked in and then I saw Ben carrying the cat through the house. When I asked Ben what he was doing he said, "I'm giving the cat a tour of the house." Peanut has had several quick tours of the house now.
Peanut is a patient cat. Ben picks him up and holds him close whenever he goes outside. Peanut seems glad to see Ben each time and doesn't struggle too much when he's in Ben's arms.
CAKE DECORATING. Tonight Vicki and our budding baker went to a cake decorating class at church. This class was taught by Pat Johnson who made the really beautiful cake for Jenna's birthday. Jenna has been looking forward to this for weeks.
All the students had to have their cakes baked ahead of time. Jenna told Vicki she wanted her cake made from scratch and even wrote out the recipe. Reality set in today so Jenna had to settle for a yellow cake mix.
The finished product was decorated with a Halloween theme. The cake was covered with white icing and trimmed with orange and black flowers and ghosts in black outlining. We all met over at Aunt Mar's after the class so they could show off their efforts before we bit into their work. It truly was as good as it looked.
Joe
Friday, September 24, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
My Accident Prone Family
We’re used to Aunt Mar taking the occasional spill. That just comes with the territory when you’re in your nineties. We’ve just been really fortunate over the years that with three kids we’ve not had too many accidents. Our luck took a hit this week.
BUSTED CHIN. I have no idea how Nate did this, but Friday at school he was sitting down in his chair and missed the seat. On the way down he hit his head and then his chin, busting it open. The wound was deep enough the school nurse called Vicki. She was in town with Mom and Aunt Mar for Aunt Mar’s hair appointment so it took her a while to get out to school. The nurse kept Nate in her office until Vicki got there and I think Nate kept her entertained the whole time. Nate saw Dr. Saunders, the newest addition to the practice (whom he has renamed Dr. Joke because he was carrying on with a lot of jokes). They put some derma bond glue on his chin and sent him on his way.
BIKE WRECK. Last night marked the first Scout meeting of the year. Vicki and Jenna decided to come to White House with us for supper at Sonic and then to ride bikes along the Greenway while the boys and I were in Scouts. Jenna, who does not have a lot of biking experience, was a bit apprehensive but willing to try.
When we got to the school (White House Heritage Elementary) they unloaded and took off down the Greenway toward White House High School. They were going down that last hill as you approach Tryee Springs Road (which is pretty steep) when Jenna lost control of her bike by not braking hard enough and crashed into the side rail of the footbridge right where it makes that sharp turn. Fortunately this happened very close to the intersection with the road so I could easily get to them in the truck.
To make a long story short, after getting the boys from Scouts Mom met us at Pinson’s Crossroads so Vicki and Jenna could go on to the hospital and I could take the boys on home. Jenna has a gash under her chin which took seven stitches. She also has a severe sprain to her right wrist, and a small fracture in her right foot. We followed up with Dr. Cutright, an orthopedic specialist, today. He double checked the x-rays and agreed with the ER’s opinion. He said to wear the wrist splint until her wrist feels better and to wear a boot on her foot until a checkup in two weeks. Even after healing, I’m not sure she’ll be getting back on a bike anytime soon.
On the lighter side of this story, Vicki was filling out all the paperwork today at the doctor’s office when she got to a question that made her refer to Jenna for an answer. The question read something like, “When did you first become aware of your symptoms?” Jenna’s first response was, “When I hit the side of the bridge,” but then she corrected herself to say she was aware of her problems a few seconds before impact. You just have to find humor where you can.
Jenna is feeling much better now and seems to be more frustrated at her lack of mobility than anything else. Vicki has been dealing with guilt over this accident as anyone would. Jenna has wisely and sweetly told her mom to stop blaming herself which has really meant a lot to Vicki.
GRANDPARENT’S DAY. \Grandparent’s Day is an annual event at the elementary schools here and East Robertson celebrated yesterday by inviting grandparents for lunch. Mom was one of about 500 guests served in the school cafeteria. She ate with both Nate and Ben. There were so many people the boys said they hardly had time to eat. Vicki was one of the parent volunteers for the day.
Joe
BUSTED CHIN. I have no idea how Nate did this, but Friday at school he was sitting down in his chair and missed the seat. On the way down he hit his head and then his chin, busting it open. The wound was deep enough the school nurse called Vicki. She was in town with Mom and Aunt Mar for Aunt Mar’s hair appointment so it took her a while to get out to school. The nurse kept Nate in her office until Vicki got there and I think Nate kept her entertained the whole time. Nate saw Dr. Saunders, the newest addition to the practice (whom he has renamed Dr. Joke because he was carrying on with a lot of jokes). They put some derma bond glue on his chin and sent him on his way.
BIKE WRECK. Last night marked the first Scout meeting of the year. Vicki and Jenna decided to come to White House with us for supper at Sonic and then to ride bikes along the Greenway while the boys and I were in Scouts. Jenna, who does not have a lot of biking experience, was a bit apprehensive but willing to try.
When we got to the school (White House Heritage Elementary) they unloaded and took off down the Greenway toward White House High School. They were going down that last hill as you approach Tryee Springs Road (which is pretty steep) when Jenna lost control of her bike by not braking hard enough and crashed into the side rail of the footbridge right where it makes that sharp turn. Fortunately this happened very close to the intersection with the road so I could easily get to them in the truck.
To make a long story short, after getting the boys from Scouts Mom met us at Pinson’s Crossroads so Vicki and Jenna could go on to the hospital and I could take the boys on home. Jenna has a gash under her chin which took seven stitches. She also has a severe sprain to her right wrist, and a small fracture in her right foot. We followed up with Dr. Cutright, an orthopedic specialist, today. He double checked the x-rays and agreed with the ER’s opinion. He said to wear the wrist splint until her wrist feels better and to wear a boot on her foot until a checkup in two weeks. Even after healing, I’m not sure she’ll be getting back on a bike anytime soon.
On the lighter side of this story, Vicki was filling out all the paperwork today at the doctor’s office when she got to a question that made her refer to Jenna for an answer. The question read something like, “When did you first become aware of your symptoms?” Jenna’s first response was, “When I hit the side of the bridge,” but then she corrected herself to say she was aware of her problems a few seconds before impact. You just have to find humor where you can.
Jenna is feeling much better now and seems to be more frustrated at her lack of mobility than anything else. Vicki has been dealing with guilt over this accident as anyone would. Jenna has wisely and sweetly told her mom to stop blaming herself which has really meant a lot to Vicki.
GRANDPARENT’S DAY. \Grandparent’s Day is an annual event at the elementary schools here and East Robertson celebrated yesterday by inviting grandparents for lunch. Mom was one of about 500 guests served in the school cafeteria. She ate with both Nate and Ben. There were so many people the boys said they hardly had time to eat. Vicki was one of the parent volunteers for the day.
Joe
Monday, September 6, 2010
Pleasant Weather
Today is the seventh anniversary of the Swann Family News.
We have had the most excellent weather this weekend. Actually, it's been nice all this past week. I think it's supposed to heat up again in the coming week, but that's okay because it feels like summer is starting to run out of gas. I just hope we get to enjoy a long season of fall weather instead of jumping right in to winter.
AM I GETTING OLD? I've been asked to run sound for weddings at church for around 15 years now. I did one a couple of weekends ago and another this weekend. One thing I've noticed -- these brides and grooms keep getting younger and younger each year!
This weekend's event was the Paige Martin - Jesse Cooper wedding. Paige is the daughter of our church secretary. Their reception was held outdoors at a neighbor's house where a large tent was set up, dinner was served, and guests could dance to a live band. They couldn't have asked for a more pleasant evening.
THE FAIR. Last weekend I worked the Fairest of the Fair as I have for 13 years now. For the last several years we've been too busy to make it to the fair itself, but this year we made some time to go. (We think Nate was in a stroller last time we went.) Unfortunately, something I ate during the day disagreed with my stomach so I wasn't feeling well when I walked in the gate. Everyone else, however, had a good time riding rides, playing games, and running into friends.
PEANUT AND 36. We are now a two pet family. A couple of weeks ago Rick Robinson and I found a stray kitten at church. Since Rick and Sharon have plenty of cats I took the kitten home. He's an orangish red cat with a hint of tiger striping.
In trying to decide what to name the cat we posted a picture on Facebook and asked our friends for suggestions. Two people suggested we go ahead and call him Roadkill and be done with it. The kids decided Peanut was a better name. Hopefully Peanut will have enough brains not to become roadkill.
My suggestion was to name the cat TC. This is short for Tree Cat. This is because he spends most of his time in the maple tree beside the house. I've even joked that I need to build him a small treehouse.
Our second pet is a goldfish. Ben won the fish at the fair. The kids spent $5 for 36 ping pong balls. Then they got the throw the balls at a table full of small bowls with fish. Anyone lucky enough to get a ball in a bowl with a fish wins a fish. We've named our fish 36 because Ben landed a ball in its bowl on the very last ball.
(Actually, Vicki and I call the fish 36D when the kids aren't around. This is because we were standing back about five feet behind the kids when they were throwing their ping pong balls. When Ben scored his hit we both looked at each other and said the D-word under our breath.)
AN ENJOYABLE LABOR DAY. We had a very relaxing Labor Day at home today. This evening we grilled hamburgers over at Aunt Mar's. After supper Mom got out old pictures and we had fun looking back in time.
Joe
We have had the most excellent weather this weekend. Actually, it's been nice all this past week. I think it's supposed to heat up again in the coming week, but that's okay because it feels like summer is starting to run out of gas. I just hope we get to enjoy a long season of fall weather instead of jumping right in to winter.
AM I GETTING OLD? I've been asked to run sound for weddings at church for around 15 years now. I did one a couple of weekends ago and another this weekend. One thing I've noticed -- these brides and grooms keep getting younger and younger each year!
This weekend's event was the Paige Martin - Jesse Cooper wedding. Paige is the daughter of our church secretary. Their reception was held outdoors at a neighbor's house where a large tent was set up, dinner was served, and guests could dance to a live band. They couldn't have asked for a more pleasant evening.
THE FAIR. Last weekend I worked the Fairest of the Fair as I have for 13 years now. For the last several years we've been too busy to make it to the fair itself, but this year we made some time to go. (We think Nate was in a stroller last time we went.) Unfortunately, something I ate during the day disagreed with my stomach so I wasn't feeling well when I walked in the gate. Everyone else, however, had a good time riding rides, playing games, and running into friends.
PEANUT AND 36. We are now a two pet family. A couple of weeks ago Rick Robinson and I found a stray kitten at church. Since Rick and Sharon have plenty of cats I took the kitten home. He's an orangish red cat with a hint of tiger striping.
In trying to decide what to name the cat we posted a picture on Facebook and asked our friends for suggestions. Two people suggested we go ahead and call him Roadkill and be done with it. The kids decided Peanut was a better name. Hopefully Peanut will have enough brains not to become roadkill.
My suggestion was to name the cat TC. This is short for Tree Cat. This is because he spends most of his time in the maple tree beside the house. I've even joked that I need to build him a small treehouse.
Our second pet is a goldfish. Ben won the fish at the fair. The kids spent $5 for 36 ping pong balls. Then they got the throw the balls at a table full of small bowls with fish. Anyone lucky enough to get a ball in a bowl with a fish wins a fish. We've named our fish 36 because Ben landed a ball in its bowl on the very last ball.
(Actually, Vicki and I call the fish 36D when the kids aren't around. This is because we were standing back about five feet behind the kids when they were throwing their ping pong balls. When Ben scored his hit we both looked at each other and said the D-word under our breath.)
AN ENJOYABLE LABOR DAY. We had a very relaxing Labor Day at home today. This evening we grilled hamburgers over at Aunt Mar's. After supper Mom got out old pictures and we had fun looking back in time.
Joe
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