Halloween 2009

This year Quinlynne had quite the time deciding what she was going to be. Then she broke her arm & we didn't know if the cast was still going to be in place on the big night. Turns out she had a splint, but she still went as a ladybug. I wanted her to be a princess- but the thought that won me over for the ladybug? How many more times am I going to get to see her dressed up CUTE? I had a test today, so Uncle Charlie & Aunt Connie had her for the weekend so I could study. I had to work in trick-or-treating in there somehow.

Quinlynne came home about 4:30 on Saturday evening so I could get her ready. I painted her face. At first she wasn't too sure about what I was doing....but neither was I! After each phase of the makeup application, Quinlynne would get up & run to the bathroom mirror to see what was going on on her face. I knew I had done something right when I heard her shrieks of approval & her making "OOOOOH" sounds in the bathroom.

We went to downtown Broken Arrow for some Halloween action. It was satisfactory. That is all I have to say about it. We then came back to our neighborhood & hit the few houses that had their lights on.

I dressed up (at the last minute) as a gypsy. The thing is...I don't think most people realized I was dressed up! I had on lots of mismatched jewelry, a scarf around my head, I don't know what I could have done differently. Oh well.

Cast is off

We went to the orthopaedist on Wednesday. Quinlynne's bright pink cast was removed. I took my camera with me so I could document this occasion for Quinlynne. The results: her bone is healing. She still has to wear a splint, and we go back to see the orthopaedist in 3 weeks to check on the progress of her radius.

She's checking out the machine...not sure what is gonna happen.
Going to let her arm be worked on, even though she's not sure of what's really going to happen. (Even though I had explained to her several times the process.)

Sawing, sawing, sawing.

It's off!


Here's my arm, momma!

Rah-rah!

Quinlynne's little Fall program in dance class was Thursday. I was afraid we'd have a repeat of last year....when she just stood there like a bump on a log. I was so pleasantly surprised when she danced her little heart out. They were dressed up like little cheerleaders & even had little pom-poms. If you want to go watch it- I put it on youtube.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0A3eT5dSKw

Here are some pictures of it. I'd really like it if cheerleaders' skirts were this length all the time!

Our SCARY jack-o-lantern

Quinlynne & I took Sunday evening as our FHE time. The girl had been harping on me forever to carve our pumpkin. I had a plan. Quinlynne & I had been talking about it. This was not going to be any ordinary jack-o-lantern. (Our neighbors across the street already had their jack-o-lantern lit on their front porch....talk about the pressure on me!) So, we brought the pumpkin inside & started cutting it open and cleaning it. Quinlynne actually got her hands dirty this year. We carved & carved & carved.....this is our final product.

Sorry about the blurriness of the dark picture. But, you get the idea. Quinlynne enjoys going out in the evening to light the candle in her jack-o-lantern. It is also her job to blow out the candle before she goes to bed.

SOOOOO spooky, isn't it?

Kinky or straight?

You know how it goes....girls with straight hair want curly hair....girls with curly hair want straight hair. Well, it's already starting at the Hoffman household. I long ago came to grips with the fact that my hair is straight as a board and there's nothing I can do about it. It's straight & boring and blah. Quinlynne, on the other hand, has beautiful curly hair. Learning how to do curly hair has been a bit challenging for me, but we're coping. A few weeks ago, as I was getting Quinlynne ready for bed, she started stroking my hair and said "OOOOh, Momma, you're hair's so silky & soft & straight." She was just running her hand through my hair & did it over & over. Running a hand through Quinlynne's hair is not something you can do easily. Your fingers get stuck in the curls. Since that evening she has repeatedly informed me that she wants straight hair. I keep telling her how lucky she is that she has such beautiful, soft, curly hair.

Saturday we were getting ready to go run some errands. I had the curling iron & the straight iron heated up. Quinlynne wanted me to use them on her. So...I did. It looked TERRIBLE!!!! It looked like she had on a wig. Grandi hated it as well. I couldn't get all of her hair straight because she wouldn't stand still & I was afraid I'd burn her. She was dying to go out with straight hair though. We compromised & I put her straight hair in a ponytail. If she decides to straighten her hair as she gets older- I hope she does a better job.

That Fall time of year

This year Fall has been beautiful. It's wrecking havoc with my allergies, but it's been beautiful. I've enjoyed not having 90 degree weather into October, and the oranges, yellows & reds are amazing to regard. Fall is my favorite!

Every year we go to the pumpkin patch in Bixby. I've told you this before. Well, it has been raining so much this month I was beginning to wonder if we'd be able to go. Between my schedule, Grandi's schedule & the rain.....time was running out. Last Friday I ended up taking Quinlynne to the pumpkin patch by myself. I know Grandi was quite sad about this- but she survived.

It was super muddy out there. It was also super busy. I've never been there when it was that busy. There was also a nip in the air. This was not the best for picture taking. Quinlynne did not want to take her jacket off. So- I didn't really get many pictures of her with her pumpkin shirt on. The few that I did get- she was crying because she wanted her jacket on again.

We ended up running into a friend of mine from nursing school. She was out there with her family. Quinlynne has had a few play dates with her girls, so it was fun to watch them hook up. Quinlynne is about a year older than my friend's oldest daughter. Quinlynne and Cady enjoyed playing follow the leader. I think Quinlynne just likes trying to take control. Anyhow, the two of them were standing up on this hay bale to look at some animals. I got the cutest picture.

Enjoy the beautiful weather & beauty our Heavenly Father has blessed us with!

Anything wrong with this picture?

Again, since I have to spend so much time on the computer- I alternate between my laptop & the home computer. I found this one.

What the crap is my dad wearing? A Harley shirt, his sunglasses hung from a pocket, a buck knife of some sort in a leather holster on his belt(Because you never know when you might need to whip that out when you're doing stuff around the house), probably a cell phone on there somewhere, and he has a toothpick in his mouth. He is trying to demonstrate to Abby how to ride that tiny pink scooter. Oh my goodness! What a dork. Love him!

Been too long

Needless to say, it has been entirely too long since I've posted. I am now in the midst of my med/surg clinical rotations. I'm in Hell.



I have tons of pictures I need to edit & save to my computer. But here's one for you. This is from when Quinlynne's eardrum had ruptured & we were having to put ear drops into her ear. She hated it. I remember having to get eardrops put in when I was her age & how much I detested it. Poor thing. And look at her curled up on her changing pad. Definitely not the 19 inch long baby girl I brought home from the hospital.

Class Act

I had to run to our local Coweta Wal-Mart late this evening. I'm talking....10:45 or so. You gotta just love the class acts you can witness there.

1) It's chilly out. I had on a jacket. That's saying a lot. There was a mom coming into the store. She was wearing jeans, a sweatshirt & flip flops. I'm okay with that. However, the little boy she had in the buggy (probably 3 years old) was wearing a long sleeve shirt, camo pants, and NO SHOES!! No shoes on his dirty little feet. You know, I understand if he was running around the house with no shoes on. But, if it's cold enough that you need to wear a sweatshirt- take the time to put something on your kid's feet!

2) I was in the aisle, on my way out. I see a man standing with his kid in the basket. He was obviously waiting on someone. I hear a lady in the next aisle calling out flavors of something. I wasn't really paying attention to her. We arrive at the end of the aisles at the same time. She is holding two bottles of Boone's Farm "wine". She says "When did Wal-Mart start carrying wine?" I had to totally stifle myself and keep walking. Honey- if it costs less than $4.00 a bottle, it probably can't be considered wine. Also, I don't think true wine would have flavors like "Blue Hawaiian" and "Strawberry Margarita". Something tells me, the Napa Valley winemakers wouldn't approve of those names.

Yes, class acts, I tell you.

*Just so you don't get the wrong idea....I'm not a drinker. I'm not going to say that I have never tried any of these beverages- but I didn't like it- so why bother? (Not to mention I was raised to NOT partake in these beverages.) BUT, I do know enough to know that good wine costs a bit more than $4.00 a bottle.

Poor little thing

Quinlynne spent the weekend with Charles & Connie so I could study for my exam today. Saturday Uncle Charlie called me to tell me that Quinlynne fell out of the swing. She was crying and wanted her momma. Being the World's Greatest Mother that I am, I told him to just give her some ibuprofen & see what she was like in 20 mins. He called me back & told me that she was doing better.

Let's just fast forward to last night. Mom went to pick up Quinlynne. She got home with her & I did notice a few things about her arm. It was a bit swollen and she was very protective of it. She would not put any pressure on it. I put her to bed & the child woke up a couple of hours later crying because her arm hurt. I noticed her arm was a little crooked. (It is by her wrist on her right arm.)

I decided I didn't want to wait until Monday afternoon, she had waited long enough. I packed up my study materials & my child and headed for St. Francis. We got there and heavens, let me tell you...it was full. Quinlynne was crying, she was scared. Since she was using her arm and had a good ROM in it, no body seemed to think anything was wrong with her. She coughed when we checked in, so the nurse said we'd have to have a chest xray & Q had to wear a mask. She certainly didn't want to. But being the good child she is- she did.

We were called to have xrays done. As Quinlynne was being positioned for the chest xray, she started crying a little and said "I don't want to go to heaven right now." Poor little thing thinks when you go to the hospital, you die. Isn't that sad and cute all at the same time? I assured her she wasn't going to go to heaven right now, we were just going to take some pictures. We took chest xrays and xrays of her wrist & arm.

We waited a few more hours before we were called back to an exam room. (We thought we'd be out of there before 3 am, as that is when the pediatric portion is closed.) Nope, we didn't even really go back to the room before 3 am. Ugh! The nurse & doctor were GREAT with Quinlynne. They let her go with them to look at her xrays & explained them to her.

Sure enough, Quinlynne has a buckle fracture of her right radius near her wrist. The doctor said it was just a little break since her bones are still pliable. We now have to go to an orthopedist. I'm trying to get all of that taken care of today. She is faring well in her splint right now. She just got up from her bed. Poor little thing....keeps on crying out in her sleep.

She did tell me that she thought she'd be okay because Uncle Charlie gave her a blessing when she fell. I'm glad she's learning faith in priesthood blessings at a young age!