Since Quin's Surgery

 

Well, after the last blog post . . .

 

Quin didn't get to leave the hospital as quickly as we expected.  We were all ready to go home and they did a sedated echo to check his heart one more time before we could leave.  The echo showed that his heart was not functioning at the efficiency of a normal heart.  They made us stay at the hospital a couple more days to get him on the appropriate doses of medicine.

 

Since, his surgery, Quin has been doing great.  He has a lot more color.  He is growing hair.  He is happy and gaining weight.  He is like a completely different child.  It is great to see.

 

 

On May 24th, Avalon had her dance recital.  Her class had been working on their pieces since September.  They were still a little unsynchronized, but they were really cute.

 

 

My sister has a zoo pass and she took us all with her to the zoo.

Doesn't Quin look so much healthier?

 

 

 

There is a war monument in Rigby that has my grandfather's name on it. So, for some cute patriotic photos, we took some pictures of the kids in front of the monument.

 

In this first photo, I added a picture of my grandfather.

I made these shirts for the kids.  They were really simple.  We just blocked off the stars with freezer paper and sprayed bleach on the shirts.

Quin isn't supposed to spend too much time in the sun because of his medicine, so Aaron bought him this fedora.

 

 

Sterling, Avalon and Truman have been taking swimming lessons this summer.   The oldest two love them.  Avalon has a grin on her face the whole time she is in the water.  Sterling gets a sense of accomplishment from figuring stuff out.  Truman on the other hand refuses to try most things.  He ended up being the only kid in his class because the other kid wouldn't even get in the water.  The problem with being the only kid in the class is that he gets to dictate a lot of what happens in his class.  When the teacher asks him to do something, he just says "no" or "I don't think so." He is getting better, though and I think he is learning. 

 

These are pictures from diving board day.

I have been working on some random projects lately.  These are some kitchen crocks that I found and painted.  They were originally green, black and white.  I painted them red and then used chalkboard paint on the front of them.  I planted herbs in them for my sister-in-law's birthday.

I have been having fun with this frame.  It was an old frame that I got for a couple of buck at DI.  I painted it red and then put chicken wire in it.  I can change it with for every season.

I found these cute buntings at Hidden Treasures' fire sale. I ordered red burlap ribbon online and it wasn't quite the right color so I spray painted it with orange and black spray paint.

This shelf is an old drawer that I found.  I painted the back blue and the sides yellow.  I left the top and bottom the natural wood because I liked the surfer look of it.  I put it in the kids bathroom.

 The kids colored these pictures for their bathroom.

Sterling wanted his own nightstand.  There was only a small space available next to his bed.  Sterling loves antiques and so we found an old milk box and put legs on it.  He can put stuff in it and on top of it.

Aaron made this bench for Sterling.  Sterling wanted to be able to sit and watch his giant pumpkins grow.

Aaron helped me make this bench from an old crib.  I love the way it turned out.  I am just having a little problem keeping it sealed from the weather.  I didn't choose the best material to make the seat.

 

 

This was the spring from the crib I used for the bench.  I painted it blue and I really like the way the Clematis looks on it.

Last summer we got the kids a playhouse.  It took forever to put together and then after only being up a month or so, the wind flipped it over and destroyed it.  Aaron built the kids this playhouse.  He took the window frames and door from the old house and then built the rest.

We used some chalkboard paint on the wall inside, so the kids can color.

Aaron also saved the stove and sink from the old playhouse.

Sterling is on a soccer team this summer.  They are called the "Green Bunnies".  Intimidating, I know.  Sterling has gotten a lot better at soccer.

 

 

Avalon was in the Jefferson Stampede days parade with her dance school.  She had a blast.

 

In other random stories, Truman got kicked out of nursery a couple of weeks ago because he spanked one of the nursery leaders.  I guess she bent over and he slapped her on the bum.  The nursery leaders and primary presidency didn't seem to see the humor in it.  Aaron and I, however, weren't sure if we should laugh or punish him.  To say the least, he walked out of nursery last week and told Aaron that he "didn't spank anyone" in nursery that week.  Baby steps, I guess.

 

Quin has started moving around a lot more.  He has this weird movement that he does and can get most places.  He gets on his hands and knees and then pushes his legs so he is on his feet.  Then he twists his hips sideways so that he is in a sitting position.  He pivots on his bum and does it all over again.  He is surprisingly quick, even though it is a complicated way to get around.