A Broken Bone

I have, recently, added a lot more students to my studio.  This means  I am teaching every single day except for Sunday.  I like to have some days off, but I am full on in debt pay off mode with Dave Ramsey.  So, I have been working harder and harder to become debt free before I am 40.  

Well on Monday, I had three students.  During my second lesson I heard a loud scream and a lot of crying coming from the play room.  Then Edward came running in saying Nolen was really really hurt.  Luckily, Stephen was home because he called in sick.  He has the same cold I have.  It is always fun to share a cold with someone you love. 

Anyhow, Stephen ran into the play room and found Nolen laying on the ground clutching his arm.  All the while, I kept teaching my students.  Nolen laid on the couch and cried for 30 more minutes.  He was in so much pain.  We decided, after my last student left, that we should take him to Urgent care and get an x-ray.

Yep, it was broken.  Sad sad day for Nolen.  He is so upset that he broke his arm.  He hates that he is going to have to miss out on a ton of stuff because he broke his arm.  The TMES Gala is this Friday and he can't possibly play his cello.  Ugh.  All that hard work. I had to cancel swim team for him for the next 6 weeks because he will be in a cast.  We haven't tried bathing yet, but putting clothes on and off is extremely difficult. 
Nolen was the first Barnes Boy to break a bone.  He should be proud.  HA!

He broke his left arm just above his wrist.  I have broken that same bone twice but on my right arm.  Stephen has never broken a bone.

All in all, we are handling it just fine.  Nolen missed two days of school and told me he is never going back because his arm just hurts too much.  Poor kid.  I spent 20 minutes helping him itch his upper arm tonight.  Then I scratched his back and put him in bed.  I sure hope he sleeps tonight because he didn't sleep last night.

Broken bones are no fun. No fun at all.

I am so glad my parents are living here for one year.  We get to each pretty much every meal with them and play games with them at night.  Last night, we played kurplunk.  I lost. 

Great Wolf Lodge

For Christmas this year, I asked the boys if they were willing to get less gifts so that we could go on a family trip.  They were all in!  I found a groupon for Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado Springs.  I tried to find days that wouldn't conflict with our schedule; however, that was nearly impossible.  

We ditched school and drove up to Colorado on Thursday morning.  We arrived just in time to check in and hit the pool.  It was so much fun.  We went on all the rides.  We almost talked the boys into going on the scariest water slide.  It dropped the bottom out from underneath you before heading straight down going as fast as a speeding bullet!  

Stephen and I rode the scary water slide.  It was awesome.  The boys played for hours in the wave pool.  Edward said, later that day, that he still felt like he was in the wave pool.  HA! I remember having that feeling as a kid.  I loved the wave pool at sunsplash.  I would spend hours on the edge of the wave pool where the biggest waves could be found.  Edward and Nolen did the exact same thing.  They staked out their spot near the wall and found the best waves.  

There was so much to do at Great Wolf Lodge that we have very little down time.  If we weren't swimming we were using our "paw passes" to rock climb, do a ropes course, bowl, mini golf, do a magi quest, or play in the arcade.  The fun was endless.  I would almost say this was more fun that Disney land.  No lines and it was all day fun.  We did take some time out to watch the new "How to Train Your Dragon" movie on Friday.  

Friday evening, we drove up to the southern part of Denver to have dinner with Stephen's nephew Tarek.  We haven't seen him in YEARS!  It was so fun to catch up with him even if it was for only an hour. Nolen gave us a strict time limit and he had all he could stand.  It was pretty snowy when we headed back to the hotel so it took a bit longer to get back.  

All in all, the boys said their favorite part of the trip was swimming.  We went on the Whirling Tornado at least 20 times.  It was the most fun water slide and it fit a family of four perfectly.  Edward's favorite part out side of the pool was doing the Magi quest.  He was even knighted!  He completed almost all of the quests.  Nolen's favorite part outside of the water was rock climbing.  He climbed to the top of each of the courses at least 15 times.  I am so glad we bought the paw passes.  We were able to do all of the fun things inside the hotel with out the extra expense. 

We spent every single day at the pool.  We even went Saturday morning before check out and went on all the slides again as a family.  I think this was the perfect family bonding trip.  We spent hardly any time in the room and we did almost everything together.  The only down side to this trip was that I was sick.  (I am still sick).  I am VERY sick.  I haven't been this sick in nearly a year.  I tried not to allow this cold to bring me down.  I did fall asleep at 9:30 on Thursday night and slept hard until 6 AM.  Sadly, I passed this terrible cold on to Stephen. Now we will have to suffer through it for the next week.  OH, I didn't bring my phone with me very many places so I didn't take a ton of pictures, but that meant I was more in the moment. 

Ten, Ten the big fat Hen!

Today, Edward is 10! 

Yes, you read that correctly.  My sweet Edward is ten! 

He is still so much the same as he was when he was two.  

Edward wanted a bb gun for his birthday, so my dad took him to buy a gun yesterday.  He has been talking about it all morning.  He was so excited to get it out and shoot it.  Edward is responsible.  He still has that same "old soul" look in his eyes.  He is a wonderful kid.  

Edward loves swimming and running.

He loves legos.

He loves reading Harry Potter and watching the movies as soon as he finishes a book.  He is currently on the fourth book of the series.

Edward loves youtube.  I don't think I know a kid that doesn't love youtube these days.

He loves playing computer games with Stephen.

Edward is a great ready and he enjoys math.

Edward loves cubscouts and earning all his badges.

Edward is such a great kid.  

I love this sweet boy.

He is an amazing artist.  He has been taking drawing classes and is getting better and better each week.  He still loves all animals but especially loves lizards and his pet snake, "slithers". 

Edward truly lights up my life.  I am so blessed to be his mom.

I feel like I have known him my entire life.  

Happy 10th Birthday, Edward!

Lucky Edward! Today, school was cancelled and declared a snow day!