Feels like a new house!

No more yellow house for us!  We recently went from this...

to this!!!

You can't tell in these pictures, but the front door is red!  Color me happy!  (Also, Cody is peeking out the front window!!!)  What do you think???

Josh's injury (don't freak out... he is FINE!)

We went to a dinner party last Friday night at a friend's house.  While the adults were chatting, the kids decided to go to the park for a baseball game.  Everything was going well until we got a phone call saying Josh had gotten hurt.  Jeff went down to the park to check it out and returned with a grimace on his face.  He told me he was taking Josh to the hospital because he thought he had broken his leg!  YIKES!!!  Apparently, Josh was sliding into second and Alex was trying to tag him and they crashed their shins into each other.  Since Alex outweighs Josh by about 70 pounds and he didn't have gravity on his side, he took the brunt of the collision.  His leg instantly swelled up so much that it looked like he had a baked potato under his skin.

Jeff insisted that the rest of the family stay at the party as we didn't need the whole gang traipsing to the hospital on a Friday night.  I tried to remain calm at the party, but it was a little bit difficult to concentrate on having a fun time since I was so worried about Josh.  We sat down and iced Alex's leg for a bit since he also had a couple bumps.  Finally, we heard from Jeff that Josh had not broken his leg (BIG sigh of relief!) and that it was a deep tissue bruise.  We really felt like we had dodged a bullet... call it Dolan luck (although, I am sure Josh wasn't feeling very lucky!!!).  We brought Josh home and got his leg propped up and, with the pain meds, he was able to sleep through the night.  The next day, he kept his foot elevated most of the day and just relaxed.  By Sunday, he was able to put some weight on it, but wasn't able to walk without crutches. 
We are very happy that the injury wasn't as serious as a broken leg, but we are still keeping an eye on it.  Our main concern is that he doesn't overdo it with activity because he could get a hematoma or blood clots.  Josh is not an easy kid to keep on a low level of activity!!!

It was difficult to get pictures to do justice to the nasty bruise, but these will give you an idea...

Happy Birthday, Aunt Julie!!!

Happy Birthday to the amazingly awesome Aunt Julie!!! -- click me!

(You should be able to view this video by logging in with your Google account information.  You don't need a YouTube account.)

A Biking Adventure

Jeff FINALLY bit the bullet and bought a new bike.  We have had our matching Diamond Back bikes since I graduated from college, so it was about time!  Uncle Terry found an amazing online deal for a full-suspension bike and it was delivered this week.  Terry came to visit this weekend and put Jeff's bike together as well as installed bike computers on Alex & Josh's bikes and did a tune-up on my bike.  After all that work, it was time for some fun, so we went on a biking adventure.  We headed east on the bike path right behind our house.  We mostly stayed on the trail, but at one point, we turned onto a gravel path.  As soon as we did, I heard Mattea say "Now THIS is a bike ride!".  Shortly after, we had to cross a small creek.  Jeff and the boys rode through it with no problem.  Mattea was a little hesitant, but I told her just to power through it and she did.  Then, it was my turn.  I got 3/4 of the way across, hit a dip and stopped pedaling... that was my mistake.  I totally crashed and my entire left side was instantly covered in mud and water.  Once the crew realized I was okay, they all had a pretty good chuckle about it.  Josh asked me several times if I was really okay.  Considering how I looked, I can see why he kept asking!  We rode up towards Target and stopped at a pizza place for lunch.  After lunch, we headed out on a path we hadn't ridden on before... it was a new adventure!  Mattea was riding Josh's old bike with gears, so she was getting used to that which was a bit of a challenge, but by the end, she had it figured out.  We rode past this neighborhood and encountered this steep set of stairs that led to another part of the bike path.  Crazy Uncle Terry went right down the stairs on his bike!!!  The kids thought it was so cool!  We didn't let them do it, but we did make Uncle Terry do it again so we could catch it on video!!!  On our way back home, Jeff took an alternate route and ended up crashing and landing muddy water just like I had earlier.  After that happened, he turned to Josh and said "What do we call that?" and Josh replied "Karma".

Last Day of Spring Break

Monday was the last day of Spring Break for Josh and Mattea, so I took them to the new park.  Mattea's friends Hannah and Molly came along, too.  The kids had a blast playing!  We stopped for ice cream on our way home.  The weather was better than expected which was a nice surprise.  What a great day!!!

Conversation with my kiddies

This is the conversation I had with Josh and Mattea during lunch the other day.

J - "So, Mom, you know that Kony guy?
Me - "Yeah.  Joseph Kony?"
J - "Yup.  Cameron has him as his profile picture on Facebook."
Me - "Interesting."
M - "Who is Kony?"
J - "He's a really bad guy."
M - "You mean like... oh, what's his name?"
Me - "Osama Bin Laden?"
M - "No, that's not the one."
Suddenly, I can see where this is going and what she is thinking.
Me - "Mattea, are you talking about Barack Obama?"
M - "Yes!!!"
Me - "He's not a really bad guy."
M - "Well, he makes some really bad choices."
J - "You've been listening to Dad too much."

I laughed SO hard.  These kids crack me up!

Frosty the Headless Snowman

Our nice warm weather turned chilly on Monday and we got some of that silly white stuff. It was enough to cover the ground and apparently enough to build a snowman. Josh built the snowman and Mattea decorated it. I thought all was fine and dandy until I saw Josh walking out of the house with a bottle of ketchup. Oh boy... I could totally see where that was going. So, of course, he asked me to come outside to get a picture.

And in true Josh form, that wasn't enough.  So, he ran inside to get his "prop" and insisted I take this picture as well.