Broken Arm

Maybe it was inevitable with all the climbing Selena does, but it finally resulted in a broken bone.  Her and Allie were climbing on top of the dresser and jumping onto the bed.  Selena slipped and fell and hurt her arm. It was almost bed time and she was in pain, but there was no visible signs of injury so we went to bed.  

The next day I kept her home from school and was trying to decide if it was broken or not and I made her a homemade sling to keep it propped. I called the nurse line towards the end of the day and she said it was probably okay to monitor it for another day.  The problem is, we only have catastrophic health insurance so every doctor visit we pay out of pocket.  While we do get the insurance adjusted rates, they are still unreasonably high.  We really didn't want to pay $500 to be told it was a sprain and to ice and elevate.  

The next day she said it felt better so I sent her off to school in her homemade sling.  Oops, talk about bad parenting. :S  When she got home it was noticeably swollen so we took her to an urgent care clinic in which they x-rayed and confirmed that it was indeed broken.  They said it was a buckle fracture.  

She got a purple cast that she wore for 4 weeks, and she just got it off and so she seems to be good as new. Though she didn't really stop monkeying around.  I'd still catch her climbing on top of stuff and swinging from her one good arm. 

When my mom asked if she learned anything from the experience, she couldn't think of one thing.  When the nurse asked her how she broke it and Selena said she fell off her dresser.  

The nurse said, "Dresser?".

Allie piped up and said, "It is really fun to climb on top of the dresser and jump on to the bed."

The nurse said, "So you probably won't be doing that any more?"

They both looked at her like she was crazy, and did she not hear the part about it being really fun.  

So hopefully we won't have to deal with any more broken bones, now that we got this one out of the way.  

Puyallup Fair

Every year we go to the Puyallup Fair in September.  It isn't as convenient to go, as it was when we lived in Puyallup, but it is bigger and more fun than the Evergreen State Fair and thus we make the trek.

The one highlight of the trip is the Mutton Bustin.  Floyd and I watched it, slightly horrified, every year before we had kids, so when we had kids of our own it seemed like they should be a part of it, even if it is absolutely insane.  Selena wanted to do it when she was three, but they said she didn't weigh enough and only let her be on the sheep in the corral, and then pulled her off when they opened the gate.  When she was four, she fell off immediately, last year she made it about half way but got stepped on and there were some tears and bruises.  This year she was ready and had been planning the perfect technique.

Allie on the other hand seemed unenthused.  They upped the age limit and it wasn't an option when she was three.  This year when asked if she was going to do it, she wouldn't answer, but when it came time to sign up she said she was ready.

Both of them did absolutely awesome.  Selena made it all the way to the end and then some.  She ended up getting second place because one other girls also made it to the end, and apparently she had a more difficult sheep.  Allie made it half way across and popped right up when she fell off.  It was fun watching.

Face painting, the Cutest Show on Earth, and of course the rides are the other main highlights.  Usually food is also a positive, but as I get older fair food just seems gross to me, and Allie is gluten free so that also limits.

Plants Vs Zombies Halloween Costumes

I find it so crazy that every year I make the girls costumes that surprise me in how cool they are.  I impress myself.  I find it so bizarre that I am that mom who makes cool Halloween costumes because over-the-top costumes doesn't really match my personality.  But the girls get so excited planning what they want, and they have such faith in my abilities that I don't really have a choice. :)

This year the girls decided to go as Plants Vs Zombies characters.  My brother has been playing the game for years, but I hadn't gotten around to trying it.  My sister was playing it with the girls and Allie started asking if we could get it, and Selena, Allie and I all became addicted for a short while later.  Thankfully the obsession only lasted a few weeks.

Selena wanted to be Chomper, and Allie wanted to be a Marigold, the little flower that gives you coins.

For both costumes I used this post from the Memory Nest as a guide.  The main differences were for the Chomper costume:
- I used tacky glue versus a hot glue gun.
- I used fleece instead of felt.
- For the leaves I used really thick interfacing sandwiched between the fabric and sewn around. I probably should have made them bigger than I did.
- I also used the interfacing for the teeth.

For the Marigold costume I also used the interface and sandwiched it between some white fleece and sewed it onto some elastic.

Once again I used the Heidi and Finn Urban Unisex Hoodie.  Using two layers of fleece make it really warm and thus the kids do not need a jacket when trick-or-treating.  Fortunately the lovely creator of the pattern had graded the pattern up to 6 - 12 years and I was able to buy that and get a good size for Selena. She probably could have fit in a 5T, but since she had broken her arm and had a cast I needed something a bit bigger to fit over it.

And of course my other go-to pattern, the Willow Wayfarer Hipster for Slimster, was what I used for the pants.  I am sad that Selena is just about getting too big for the biggest size for that one.  I'm not sure what I am going to do next year.  I used fleece for this which also is warm and cozy.