Kind of Funny Friday

It's been 3 weeks since Dandelion #4's arm incident.  

One week after her surgery, we went back to the doctor and were told that the trauma team had:

• Not given us an accurate timeline of her healing/future surgery.
• Not cast her correctly following surgery.

Oh joy.  So we came home from that appointment without a waterproof cast, with a cast over her elbow, and an estimate of surgery 3 months out, not 6 weeks.

She was clearly ok with it, anyhow.  Her "gip," that's pronounced "hip" in Dutch, is of course "oranje."

 Fast forward a couple Fridays and we were back at the doctor.  Her cast was cut off, she had more x-rays (I'm pretty sure her inner parts glow from all the radiation she's been exposed to.  They give her no protection when they do it, but the techs all wear the leaded bibs.)

We saw a new doc today who said she *might* get to have her second surgery in June, but we'll have to wait and see.  Then he told us she could go cast-less since the rod in her arm will keep things stable.  

THIS is where it gets funny:

Doctor: "She doesn't need a new cast.  We don't want it to break again, though, since it's not all the way healed.  She will need to be very careful with it."

Me: (Silence and a doubtful stare.)

Doctor: (Repeats) "She needs to be very careful.  Is this a problem?"

Me: (LAUGHING OUT LOUD!)

Doctor: "Ok, we put a cast back on then."

Me: "Yes, good idea."

(Insert pic of new cast that I forgot to take.  It's orange again.  It's not waterproof again, but at least it's protective.)  

Not so Funny Friday

THIS is not what your arm should look like.  

Dandelion #4 got to have a slumber party with Daddy on the pediatric ward.

Then our Friday started off with surgery; a rod was placed in her right forearm to correct the two broken bones.

All patched up...for starters. In the weeks ahead, she has a couple of cast changes, then a second surgery in 6-7 weeks to remove the rod.



A brother pushing a pram...a cobblestone road with weird curbs...the stroller topples...its' rider tries to catch herself before hitting the ground.  Crack!  Thankfully, we have a fabulous, responsible babysitter who reacted perfectly and without panic.  My cell phone, that never ever works at the hair salon, worked and had a signal.  Thankfully, I looked at my phone JUST before they started highlighting it.  His timing is perfect.

We were immensely blessed by sweet friends and family praying, an amazing friend who, on the spot, took the other dandelions for a slumber party of their own, and more amazing friends who brought treats and dinner.  We praise God that Dandelion #4 is on the road to healing, we had doctors who could all speak English fairly well, and though the local hospital wasn't where we wanted to spend the last two days, God more than provided for our needs.  He showered us with love!

And she's off!

Look who's off and riding...and with practically no help from us.  I gave her a push ONE time and she took off.  Within minutes she was confidently riding circles around us.  

Life 'round here

Delightfully, our weather on Resurrection Day was lovely.  We had 28 friends in our home and garden, so sunny weather was appreciated for the kids to run around and do their egg hunt.  We all had a blast!

Other happenings around here...Daddy and the dandelions worked hard to get our veggie garden planted.  A little harder than they intended...day 1 resulted in more plumbing than gardening, when the shovel broke right through a drainage pipe we didn't know existed.  Thankfully, the Hubs is super-duper handy, so he popped to the local hardware store and fixed it, as good as new.  Then, day 2, the garden got planted all the way.  

Dandelion #1 was intent on us growing corn, so he planted that.  Dandelion #3 was insistent on strawberries, so she planted those.  We also have herbs, lettuce, beans, peas, peppers, tomatoes, etc.

Speaking of food...being a very international community, our church in Brussels has people who represent over 50 nations around the globe.  Once a month after service, a group hosts a luncheon.  This month, the host nation was India, so we stayed an enjoyed some curry!  It was delicious!

Friday Funnies

A conversation between Dandelion #3 and Daddy:

"Dad, are unicorns real?"

"No."

"Oh...well then I would just get 10 horses, and buy party hats.  You know, the pointy ones? I'll put the hats on the horses and they'll be unicorns!"

That girl and unicorns.

Resurrection Rolls

Every Easter Sunday, we start our morning before church with Resurrection Rolls.

To begin, Daddy reads John 19.  Then we lay out the "linens" for Jesus' body. 

Next we put "Jesus" on the linen.

Then we anoint His body with "oil and spices."  

Lots of spices.
"...and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Ephesians 5:2

Then we wrap up Jesus' body tightly in the linen.

We put Him in the tomb...then we read John 20:1-18.

When we open the tomb, we find that the linens are empty!  He is risen!

"He is not here; He has Risen, just as He said!" Matthew 28:6

(I got my "recipe" for resurrection rolls from the happyhomefairy.com.  You can pop over there to see her directions.)  

He's Baaaaack!

We're back to goodnight kisses, and little noses pressed to the window, waving goodbye each morning.  Daddy's home!

Belated Birthdays

Over the past couple months, we celebrated two birthdays in our house.  

First was Dandelion #4:

Daddy woke up in the middle of the night to join us for birthday breakfast.

For dinner she chose, of course, her most favorite place on the planet: IKEA!

 Trailing a month behind his sister, Dandelion #2 had a birthday:

Again, Daddy joined us via the iPad for pancake breakfast before church.

 Dandelion #2 has a good buddy who also had a birthday, and he was moving away, so the boys had a birthday bowling party together to celebrate.

We'd intended to feed the kids nachos, but the bowling alley was out of nachos.  THIS was all they had: Belgian bowling food: cheese cubes with pearl onions, tiny pickles and a dash of celery salt.  Yum?

Sweet, funny friends!

We SO miss our friends!  They're from England, but they've moved to the states, and we hope that they stay there for a long time so we can see them again!

Astronomical Awesomeness

Today's a pretty spectacular day on our side of the world: Solar Eclipse + Supermoon + Spring Equinox.  Who says there's not a creator orchestrating such awesome phenomenas?!  

Most of the time, the clouds were too thick to see it at all, but this photo was right around the peak.  Our latitude is such that we didn't get a total eclipse here, hence the tiny crescent of sunshine.  

Disneyland and Paris, France

For winter break, and to do something special with my mom, we trekked down to Disneyland and Paris for a couple days.  We stayed in a condo right outside Disneyland, did Disney one day, then took the train into Paris the next.  I think even if we aren't doing Disney, I'd go back to this resort and train into the city again.  It worked out really well.  The condo was lovely, had a playground right out the back door, and we were able to cook meals there.

Euro Disney is indeed like stepping back in time.  The park is smaller than the ones in the states, but it's still nice and we enjoyed ourselves.

Paris was a whirlwind.  We'll have to repeat it, but with modifications.  I'd been advised by a dozen or more people to do the hop-on-hop-off tour bus, but it ended up being very expensive and not a good fit for our family.  We'd have been better to buy the Paris day pass at the train station and we could have used the metro and buses to go wherever we wanted.  The Eiffel Tower was the highlight of the day, and it was a clear sunny day, so we were really able to enjoy the views.  

Our "funny" of the trip was dinner in Paris.  We needed to drive back to Belgium that night, so we picked up dinner to-go, took the train back out of the city and found a table in the RER station where the car was parked, then sat down to eat before heading home.  Dandelion #3 took a bite or two of her hot dog and told my mom she couldn't eat it because it was too hot.  My mom's response was that it was definitely not hot any more, as we'd picked it up in Paris an hour earlier.  She took a couple more bites but couldn't continue.  Then my mom tried some...it was hot!  Not hot temperature wise, but hot because under the melted cheese, there was horseradish!  Not a little, but a LOT!  Being the amazing Grandma she is, my mom actually ate a good bit of it.  I popped off to buy ham and cheese sandwiches for the dandelions, though!  

So...if you ever order a hot dog in Paris, BEWARE!!!

Eating crepes for dinner!  

The playground behind our condo.

Pipe cleaner creations...I'm telling you, pipe cleaners are hands down the BEST travel toy.  My kids will spend hours in the car, hotel, or wherever, creating crazy things.  You can string cereal to munch on, string beads or pasta for fun, or just make stuff.  I should put this on pinterest.  A box of cheerios and a bag pipe cleaners is all you need for a fun road trip!

Sleeping Beauty's castle...in the fog. 

Dandelion# 4 was really peeved that she couldn't drive the car. 

Everyone's FAVE ride: Big Thunder Mountain.  I will say, Euro Disney did this ride best!  It's longer, faster, and way more fun than at either of the parks in the states.

Arc de Triomphe

I'm so glad I wasn't driving in Paris!  There are whole sections of the city where if you have an accident, the insurance companies just cover their own driver and vehicle because you'd never be able to sort out who was in the wrong.

Notre Dame

The views from the Eiffel Tower.