Cassidy gets stitches

Apparently stitches in the head are becoming an annual event at the Heward household. Friday March 22 Cassidy had to go to the ER in Thermopolis and have stitches in the back of the head. All the kids had been sitting on the couch and diving at each other and pulling each other off the couch onto the floor. I had just gotten after them that it wasn't a good idea and to go play with some toys. Madison had hopped off and Cassidy was about to when Statton tackled her wrapping his arm around her neck and pulling her off the couch and smacking the back of her head on the heater on the way down. I of course lost my temper. I yelled and Statton gave him a swat and marched him to his bed to stay while I went to comfort Cassidy who of course was crying. When I went over to get her I thought the back of her hair looked a little discolored but I thought it was a play of the lights but when I did a double take and pulled back some hair I realized she was bleeding pretty bad. So we got some paper towels and sopped up the blood and tried to get a look at the damage. It wasn't terribly huge but it gaped open enough that I felt she probably needed some stitches to close it up. So I told Blair we needed to go in and made everyone get their shoes on. Statton of course got out of bed to get shoes on and started just bawling when he realized what he had done to his sister. 

 Like I said it wasn't the hugest thing ever but it gaped open enough to require some stitches. So after getting to the er and getting checked in and examined by the nurse she went to call the doctor. I asked her if he was coming from home and she said yes that they don't keep a doctor in-house. Not that our thing was a real emergency but I'm thinking what do you do when something major comes in. Oh well small town living I guess. So the doctor came in probably about 15-20 later and looked at it. He said yea we probably could have gone without and she just would have had a bigger scar but atleast with stitches the scar will be smaller so he gave me the choice to stitch or not to stitch. He said if it was his daughter he would probably stitch. Good enough for me sew her up! As you can see from the picture she was so distraught by the whole thing.

Finished product! She got two stitches and I think it looks much better. Brave little thing she didn't even flinch when they numbed her head and did the stitching. Afterwards we stopped and picked up some chocolate ice-cream per Cassidy's request. What a way to spend a friday evening. We were joking on the way home that next year it is Madison's turn for stitches. She of course did not agree. Let's hope that's true.

Our life update

Well we sat down and figured out Blair's hours on his apprenticeship and realized that he would be officially finished and a Journeyman Lineman the first week of February. Well a little before then we found a job posting for a Journeyman Lineman for High Plains Power in Thermopolis, Wyoming. The closing date to apply was about a week before he would officially top out but we figured by the time they combed through applications and did interviews he would be official.So we went ahead and applied. Well sure enough he got a call to do an interview. Because we had been working with Titan for the last year and a half they had done a lot of work for High Plains Power so most of the guy were familiar with Blair and the work he did. So he went ahead and interviewed and the next day Blair called me in the afternoon and told me they had offered him the position. Of course I was shocked because to be honest it wasn't our top choices of places to go and the night before while talking it over neither one of us really wanted it. But we had been praying for a long time for a permanent job that would allow us to settle down and we always said we would be willing to go wherever the lord wanted us to go. So we accepted the job. He started on March 4th. To top it all off the company he was with was wanting him to move again for maybe just 6 weeks and then come back to Riverton so we were faced with the whole dilemna of pulling kids out of preschool and moving and we were just frustrated and wanted to be done with all this moving around crap. So this job offer took care of a lot of our frustrations and concerns. Ok so all that being said we are thrilled about the job and the prospect of settling down and getting a house and being able to put kids in kindergarten this fall without worrying about having to move them around. This truly was an answer to many prayers and we are so grateful to have been given this chance.

I wanted to take pictures of the last and final move we will ever have to do again in this trailer. It provided us a home and shelter for many years but I'm glad to say goodbye and move on to the next phase of life.

Pre-School Birthday Celebration

Cassidy and Statton were in charge of Birthday Treats on Tuesday at preschool. They decided they wanted to bring frosted sugar cookies and capri-suns. So I met them about an hour before school was out and helped them pass out their treats and to take some cute pictures of them with their birthday hats on. 

 Loving the blue in his teeth.

They certainly enjoyed being center of attention for the day and they even got to sit on the special couch and chair during storytime.

Happy 5th Birthday Cassidy and Statton

Cassidy and Statton turned the big number 5 on February 17th. It was a Sunday so we took some fun pictures of them in their church clothes. We actually spent the whole weekend celebrating their birthday. On Saturday we took them to Thermopolis to go swimming at the hot pools. They had been begging to go for awhile but I had been saving it for their birthday weekend. After swimming we drove home and all the kids passed out. We then grabbed some pizza at Pizza Hut and had it at home. 

 What a handsome little boy!

 What a pretty little girl!

 I made them do a hugging picture which of course they giggled about.

 Madison of course wanted her picture taken. She looks pretty cute herself.

 The local Safeway here was amazing about doing these cakes for me. I wanted to give each kid their own themed cake but I knew it was going to be a very small gathering but Safeway happily did each kid their own themed cake on an 1/8 sheet of cake.

 Cassidy loved her Rapunzel cake.

 Statton was excited to see that his cake was a construction zone themed cake. Of course being so small of cakes not all his trucks fit on.

 I feel like I rarely get in on most of the photos that I take so I made Blair take some quick shots with my two favorite 5 year olds. Love these kids!

 The kids loved being sang to and blowing out their candles.

 We invited our friends Cortney and Wacey over to celebrate the kids birthdays with us and they were so sweet to buy them Hotel Transylvania and a box of popcorn. We love having them as our neighbors.

 Statton got a new game for his Leappad and a semi-truck full of monster trucks for his birthday.

 Cassidy received a new leappad game, a barbie sketch book, and a tutu. (Made by her mom)

I can't believe how fast these two have grown. I still remember sitting with them in the NICU in Ogden. They are such fun kids and I feel so blessed to be called their mother.
Cassidy:                                                                                          Statton:
-Loves the color pink                                                                       -Loves trucks
-Loves to dance                                                                               -Loves his cowboy boots
-enjoys learning                                                                                -enjoys learning
-Loves to pick out her own clothes                                                   -Loves sports
-Loves to pick out her sisters clothes                                                -Looks out for his sisters
-Likes to be in charge                                                                       -Happy and outgoing
-Happy and outgoing                                                                        -loves to meet new people

Christmas 2012

Once again we were able to take a long Christmas break and spend it with our families in Idaho. Christmas morning was spent opening presents with Grandpa and Grandma Darrington and Great-Grandma Merz. 

 Pictures before the madness began.

 This is all the kids opening their first present. The kids all got Leappads.

 Statton also got a tonka dump truck and Cassidy got a princess castle. They also got some games for their leappads.

 Grandpa Darrington with some of his gifts.

 Grandma Merz with the chocolates we gave her. Grandma Darrington opening some of her gifts.

 Madison received the biggest gift this year. She got a play kitchen which of course will probably be enjoyed by all the kids.

Merry Christmas to my sweet kiddos! It's gets better every year watching the kids open their presents and be excited about Santa Clause coming. Grandma even had an elf on the shelf that we were able to enjoy the last few days before Christmas. The kids got a kick out of him and loved the morning when they saw he threw toilet paper down the stairs. Looks like that might become a tradition. We were so grateful to spend the time with our families.

Storytime Santa

Santa came to visit the kids during storytime. It was really cute they put on a puppet show for the kids and then had Santa and Mrs. Clause come out and surprise the kids. 

 It was so cute to see all the kids enjoying visiting with Santa this year.

 Madison mostly sat and smiled.

Cassidy was happy to visit with Santa as well.