After living in ‘the city’ for more than three years, we have finally arrived at an important milestone: we made our first visit to the local Urgent Care. You’d think with five children (some of whom view gravity as more of a guideline than a law), we’d be racking up “frequent-wounder” miles.

Don’t get me wrong — we have not neglected our responsibility to patronize the local health-care establishments. Both Joshua and Daniel have spent time in the hospital for appendicitis; indeed, Daniel spent 7 full days in the hospital, racking up huge medical bills (hooray for medical insurance!). Even little Sarah started us off in this community with a scary emergency and hospital stay. For some reason, though, we’ve never brought our custom to the local Urgent Care branch.

Daniel was very brave, and hardly said more than ‘ouch’ during the whole process.

“We’ve had a bit of an injury,” Kathy told me. Her voice was guarded as she called me from the van, sounding as though she was pretty worried but didn’t want to scare me.

“Really? How bad? Who was hurt?” For some reason I live in fear of dental injuries — I imagined some child with broken teeth, gushing blood from the mouth.

“It is Daniel. He was crawling through the bushes and poked himself with some kind of stick; there’s something weird sticking out of the wound.”

It is nice to have our boy all patched up.

We agreed that she should finish driving home from the play date, and that I would take Daniel to Urgent Care if the wound merited such attention. Looking at it in the driveway, my heart sank — although not a large wound, it seemed to stretch open rather stubbornly. I didn’t think I could get it to close with a butterfly bandaid (assuming we could find one). Besides, what was that yellowish stuff poking out of the wound? Our insurance copay is $100 for an emergency room visit, but only $30 for an Urgent Care visit. Now that we’re on the budget, there’s no point in being all snooty — off to Urgent Care we went.

David came along for the fun, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake. Two hours later, they finally looked at Daniel’s leg.

“It’ll need stitches,” opined the nurse. She got out some supplies and we waited for the doctor to make his appearance. I must admit, I was worried. What kind of doctor works at this kind of clinic?

The problem with puncture wounds is that you’re never really sure how deep they are.

I guess I needn’t have worried. The doctor who finally stitched Daniel up was a kindly old gentleman with an excellent bedside manner. “That’s just subcutaneous fat,” he assured me, pointing at the extrusion in Daniel’s wound. He stuffed it all back in and applied 8 or 10 stitches with expert precision. We hobbled out to the car with a roll of surgical tape and some extra dressings, good value for our $30.

Tim
Project 366, Day 123

Not only is he a chef par excellence, but Joshua is also a party planner extraordinaire. Perhaps there is something inherently flamboyant about a large family, but ours certainly loves parties and the opportunity for a fun gathering. Birthdays are always a festive occasion at our house. Cheerfully the children have all embraced the joy of celebrations. Joshua, as the oldest, has long been assisting me with birthday parties - everything from planning menus, hanging decorations and organizing games.

The party opens with bright skies and sunshine.

Today was no exception. I couldn’t have hosted Daniel’s birthday party without tremendous help from Rachel and Joshua. Rachel was my assistant in the kitchen - baking cookies, wrapping treats, filling goodie bags, and making ice cream/pudding parfaits. Joshua developed and executed a massive treasure hunt - complete with buried treasure bags in the back yard. This book was his inspiration.

I found this “treasure” at a used curriculum sale last spring.

Daniel had eleven guests at his party which made for a lively crew. Throw in a few siblings and the number of children running about the house was seventeen. Last week, of course, it was 80 sunny.

Today - it snowed.
In April.

No matter, Joshua (the game/slave master) had the kids out in the hail and rain racing about looking for clues.

What’s a little rain and snow if there’s treasures to be sought?

One of the clues was buried underneath Rice Krispy Treats covered with pudding “slop” (leftover from our fancy dinner on Thursday). Joshua was gracious enough to give the kids spoons - only one was brave enough to dive in without using any utensils.

After the treasure hunt (nearly an hour and a half long), Joshua handed the party over to me and retreated to his room. Hosting a birthday party is exhausting.

Every good birthday party includes push-ups. Very trendy these days.

Exhausting - tell me about it. I still had another hour and a half of time to fill before the parents returned. Crafts, gifts, dessert and a portion of a movie and then I could go hide in my room as well. Ha!

Happy Birthday, Daniel!
Thank you, Rachel and Joshua for helping with the party, and Tim for taking pictures! It is such a joy to watch the older children give of their time and energy to their younger siblings.

Kathy
Project 366 - Day 110

This whole budget thing is rather strange. Or perhaps it’s just the actual sticking to the budget that I find unusual.

Daniel’s birthday is this week so Tim and I went shopping this evening. We picked up Rachel at the YMCA on our way and brought her with us. We looked at all sorts of things and ended up purchasing some secret items. I can’t go into detail on the blog, of course, as Daniel is a loyal reader and his birthday surprises would be ruined.

Daniel rests up in preparation for his birthday …

I will say that it was incredibly difficult staying within our budgeted amount. We are used to buying one substantial gift and then probably 5 to 8 additional presents. We are indulgent parents in this area. Or at least we used to be. Now we are financially wise and responsible parents.

Sigh.

Knowing how many toys are strewn about the house, shoved into corners and neglected, keeps me from being too sad. Our house is bursting at the seams with fun in all shapes and sizes. The children do not NEED additional toys. They enjoy variety and fresh entertainment, but they don’t need it at the cost of credit card debt.

Daniel, we love you so much! You are a wonderful boy, growing into a sweet young man. I’m sorry we have been so financially irresponsible over the years and modeled poor behavior to you and your siblings. We are excited about your birthday and eager to celebrate with you. Our love for you will NOT be measured in how much money we spend or how many toys we buy. Our love is priceless and immeasurable, there are not enough presents in the world to demonstrate our joy in being your parents.

Happy Birthday Week!!

Kathy

P.S. How do you all plan birthdays on a budget? I have Joshua running the party itself and the siblings sharing in the present exchange, but I would LOVE some additional ideas.

My mom is making me blog. She does the typing, I do the talking.

Last night, Mom and Dad had a Date Night. That basically means the kids go off in the garage to eat, watch movies or play games while the grownups stay in the house, have a nice dinner and talk.

We had pizza, curly fries and broccoli. Joshua and Rachel made a delicious pudding parfait for the kids’ dessert. They layered vanilla pudding, Cool Whip, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate pudding, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, and more Cool Whip.

It was wonderful!

Feel free to have another Date Night soon, Mom and Dad.

Daniel
Project 366 - Day 78

One of the burning questions (in some circles) is whether to accept compensation for blogging. Some say it is reasonable to be paid for writing, and (especially if you are open about it) claim that it does no harm. Others feel that being remunerated for blogging (especially posts which recommend or review products) can create a conflict of interest and may compromise the integrity of a blog.

For many, this is a moot issue: nobody will pay them for blogging, so it doesn’t really matter which side they choose. Until recently, I fell squarely into this category … but no longer. In Kathy’s quest for sleep, her desperation has reached new levels, and she is now offering payment in poker chips, which I can redeem for additional computer-game playing time.

Here’s the pay scale:

• a basic, no frills blog = a 1/2 hour chip
• a good post = a 1 hour chip
• a really top-notch, world-class entry = a 2 hour chip

“But I don’t really have anything to say,” I demurred.

“Look, do you want the chip or not?” Kathy challenged.

Truth be told, I’ve burned through nearly the whole week’s poker chip allotment, and there are two more days before my supply is renewed … I need the chip. It is in this way that even the loftiest ethical standards can be eroded. The problem is, there really are two things I’d like to write about, and I don’t have anything particularly witty to say about either. I guess I’ll just pick one, knowing I’m doomed to a half-hour chip.

The Best Piano Recital, Ever

Today we hosted a piano recital at our home, with Rachel, Daniel and David performing to a small audience entirely comprised of family members. As was confirmed by several of the spectactors, “It was the best recital, ever.” I’m sure it had very little to do with the fact that it was also one of the very shortest recitals, ever.

Kathy whipped out a programme, to add a touch of class.

Rachel has been taking piano lessons from Mrs. Nancy, as arranged by my Mom. In many ways, the whole thing has been very painless for us — my parents pay for the lessons, and they even arranged for a piano to be delivered to our home (since we left ours in the Duckabush). Rachel has made good progress, and we’re very proud of her, although she speaks in considerable self-deprecation and sometimes dreads her lessons (especially when she hasn’t practiced).

Having Mamie and Grandad here to witness the recital was a great treat.

Recently, there has been a new development: David became interested in the piano. Rachel would call David to sit by her when it was time for her to practice, and he started to pick out simple songs on the piano. The next thing we knew, he had somehow wheedled lessons out of Mrs. Nancy (and Grandma) and was playing from his own little songbooks.

David takes his role of piano student very seriously.

Not to be left out, Daniel began to attempt songs from David’s book, apparently belonging to the self-taught school of piano mastery. And so we had three performers in today’s recital. Each of the three made selections from among their favorites, and (after a short introduction), played away happily, basking in the adulation of all four of their grandparents.

Daniel couldn’t let his little brother surpass him in musical achievement …

A Cream Puff improves any recital, in my opinion.

My Mom brought her famous chocolate-drizzled cream puffs, which contributed substantially to the success of the event. She also brought each of the budding musicians a gift, which brightened their day considerably. Indeed, each of the kids wanted to play their selections a second time, once they got over their initial nervousness.

Rachel received the coveted ‘canned raccoon’, a prize she has sought for several years.

We clapped and took pictures and munched happily on cream puffs, swapping stories of recitals we had attended. My sister Posie figured prominently in some of these tales, to the great interest and amusement of the children. I managed to play the one song I know on the piano, although Mom put a bag over my head in the middle of the piece, which (I felt) somewhat lessened the dignity of the moment.

Rachel was quite glad to be done with the whole ‘ordeal’.

Feel free to comment on how the subtleties of wit and phraseology of this post combine to make it worthy of a full hour chip.

Tim
Project 366, Day 38