All Clear (or pretty darn close)

We had our follow up at the orthopedic doc on Friday and there was good news. I don't have a Twitter account and am not much for hashtags, but just for fun let me say :: #allclear, #batterup, #happyboy, #activerestdidit'sthing!

The doctor did advise that he ease back in to throwing with his right hand, so he suggested not pitching or catching, since that would involve way more throwing than any other position. But he can rejoin the batting order and start fielding as a righty again! His first game after the all clear is tomorrow night and he is pretty pumped!

Active Rest

Early in June our sports-loving, baseball playing kiddo told me, before bed one Friday night, as we were praying together and I was tucking him in, that his elbow really hurt. This kid has a pretty high pain threshold, so I probably should have taken it a bit more seriously right off the bat (no pun intended), but in true "seasoned mom" fashion, I told him to take it easy and see how it felt in a couple days. I promptly forgot about it and started thinking about all the other things taking up mental space in my brain these days. Well, a few days later he told me that it still hurt. And I could tell he meant it. So I made him an appointment at the pediatrician for the next day. She looked at it, asked him some questions and got him an x-ray. Since there are growth plate issues to consider with an elbow in a pre-pubescent kid, and since she is a pediatrician and not a radiologist or orthopedic doc, she said she'd have to consult with a radiologist and get back to me with the verdict. I got a call the next day that the radiologist wanted us to head to an orthopedic clinic to have him seen by a specialist there because it looked like the bone had pulled away from the growth plate. (Sounds super painful to me!) So we we made an appointment at the orthopedic clinic with a guy who specializes in elbows and works quite a bit with baseball players. In the hours between the explanation of the concerns of the radiologist and the appointment with the orthopedic doc, I googled a bit about elbow growth plate injuries. That was probably not the best idea! It just got me worried and certain we would have surgery, or at the very least be down for the count for the rest of summer. And this was approximately 2 hours into summer vacation (quite literally -- school got out at 11 for the year and the orthopedic appointment was at 1:30)

At this point we are now about a week out from the first complaint about elbow pain and, tough, determined kid that he is, he has played in 2 baseball games since the pain started. At the appointment with the elbow guy we got a diagnosis of Medial Epicondyle Apophysitis, which meant nothing at all to me, but sounded like something you should take seriously! The lay term for what was causing the pain is "Little Leaguer's Elbow". Sometimes it comes on all at once, with one long throw of the ball or swing of a bat . . . but this case seemed to be more of the repetitive use version, since there didn't seem to be one particular "event" that prompted the onset of the pain. Thankfully there was no splint, cast, or surgery required. Just "active rest". No throwing. No batting. Less strenuous activities like swimming and biking were fine, but I assumed that the baseball season was pretty much over at that point. Turns out that was a naive assumption on my part. I should have known better, after all the years I have known this particular child!

A few pre-injury baseball pictures :: 

Within 24 hours of the diagnosis, we were at a sporting goods store buying a glove for his right hand, so he could learn to play as a lefty. Without missing a beat (or a game) he continued playing. (No batting still, though.) Even though he was out of the batting order, he was fielding with surprising accuracy and power as a lefty. I guess it is advantageous to have a left-handed first baseman, so that is what he has played most in the games since his injury. He is one determined kid. As hard as that particular trait can be to parent, at times, I know it will serve him well in life. He made up his mind to do something and he did it. (Hopefully with no life-long damage to an important part of his body that he would appreciate having full use of for the rest of his days!)

We are coming to the last week before our re-check. We have an orthopedic appointment again at the end of this coming week. New x-ray and exam. I know it will not go smoothly if anything less than an "all clear" is given at this appointment. So we are hopeful that time and rest would have done the healing work that is needed to get back into life at 100% (if not a bit more!).

But the past few weeks, I have been giving extra thought to the idea of "active rest". I think there are some areas of my life that could use a bit of active rest. Not completely down for the count across the board, but intentionally avoiding some things in areas that are "injured" in my life and giving them the time and space to heal a bit. Maybe you have areas that could use some active rest too. Think on it a bit and see.

Flashback Friday

I know #tbt is a thing, but Friday, for me, is the day when I seem to get a bit nostalgic and enjoy looking back at old pictures. Anyway, here's a favorite of mine of Jacob and his buddy, Jack, at a football game of theirs in 8th grade. Jack goes to high school at Cretin, not RAHS, and tonight is Roseville's homecoming (Jacob is pretty pumped!). Guess who we are playing? Yup, Cretin! So, 3 years later, these two will be playing football on the same field once again . . . they'll just be wearing different colored jerseys.

And I love that they are still friends! They are both such fabulous young men! I'm proud of them both. And since both teams are "Raiders", I can safely yell "Go Raiders!" all night long and be cheering for them both . . . but, as much as I love Jack, I'm hoping the Roseville Raiders come out on top tonight. It hasn't been our best season and a win would be good for our souls! Bring on the Friday night lights!

Tennis

Just in case you think football is the only sport that anyone plays around here, a bit of tennis goes on too (and a few others too!). Here are a few pictures from a match on a glorious fall afternoon this week.

Pictures can be a bit tricky to get when it's a bit frowned upon to actually enter the courts. Most of them have a bit of chain link in the foreground. You get used to watching through the fence, but it makes taking pictures a little more challenging than usual.

She's got some serious power!

Football

The football season is just flying by. Both boys are playing again this year and are enjoying it. They both play wide receiver, mainly. It's fun to have them playing the same position. If you drive by our house, there is a good chance you will witness a game of football of some sort going on in the front yard. Be it a game of catch, some full-on pads for all out tackling (often involving a tough 7-year-old sister, also in full pads) or a game of touch. The boys sure love their football.

Both boys teams are a bit on the wrong side of a winning record for the season so far, but are enjoying themselves anyway . . . thankfully! We have had some great family and friend fan support, which means so much to the boys (and their parents!).

It's so fun to watch your kids do something that they love . . . and our boys love their football!

The elementary school kids get to have one night game under the lights on the turf at the high school each season (all their other games are at a grass field at a local park on Saturday mornings). They are SO pumped for their night game. Our 5/6 team (the Raiders!) plays tonight and we are excited to cheer loudly for #11 and his teammates! Hopefully the weather holds out and the game will go on and we won't get too wet in the process!

And their football playing keeps our laundry room busy as well . . . here is an entire load of football stuff drying on the line after particularly muddy games for both boys last weekend. One game in the rain and two games in the mud after a whole lotta rain the previous day!

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2251. kids rolling down grassy hills
2252. a great dinnertime discussion following by the kids praying for each other
2253. field day :: potato sack races and tug-o-fun
2254. the escape found in reading a good book
2255. the closing of a really great chapter of life :: 3 years of watching Vince :: what a blessing!
2256. Joe washing dishes
2257. Sara's ever-expanding vocabulary :: I can barely keep up with her new words
2258. waking up to birds singing a beautiful song {loudly!} outside my window
2259. a full decade of Lydia :: Happy Birthday LJ!
2260. Anna asking me :: "Mom, how do you spell 'I love Lydia and I love everyone in our whole family except the mean people.'?" :: silly girl
2261. Sara telling me "dress off!" when I was changing her clothes
2262. an amazing beautiful double rainbow :: possibly the most beautiful, clearest, sharpest rainbow I have ever seen
2263. post-rain sunset
2264. a great first game of the season for Rebekah's soccer team
2265. last day of school
2266. a tangible, almost immediate answer to the sincere prayer of an 11-year-old :: thank you Lord!
2267. great, wonderful, fabulous, caring, excellent, passionate teachers
2268. having Luis {our basement contractor/carpenter} join us for our last-day-of-school BBQ
2269. four kids with check-ups at the dentist and zero cavities!
2270. Rebekah's first shift at the library
2271. a Saturday morning family walk {before it got unbearably hot}
2272. a freshly mowed lawn
2273. much-needed rain
2274. stopping in time to not hit any of the 3 deer that tried to cross the road right in front of our van. in the dark. in the pouring rain!
2275. a good run, despite the heat
2276. kids literally COVERED -- head to toe -- in dirt!
2277. godly, encouraging parenting commiseration

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

soccer

Today we had our first games of the fall soccer season. I signed Rebekah, Lydia and Joe all up and got a message back that the 3/4 girls teams were all full and there wasn't a spot for Lydia . . . shoot! But then I found out that Rebekah's 5/6 team didn't have enough players, so I asked really nicely if they would take Lydia even though she wasn't technically old enough {plus, that would save me running people to practices and game for 3 separate soccer teams}. Rebekah's coach said it was ok with him, but he'd have to get it ok'd by the park and rec people. They agreed too, so I was happy {although Rebekah was a little miffed the she had to have her too-little sister on her team -- but when I explained that if there happened to be 3 soccer games that overlapped on a certain Saturday morning then it would be possible that neither of her parents could be at her game, but if she and Lydia were on the same team, they were pretty much guaranteed at least one parent}. So Joe is on a co-ed 1/2 team and Rebekah and Lydia are both on an all-girl 5/6 team.

Here are some shots from our really hot, no-win morning at soccer::

sisters::

a extra-cute spectator::

um, you can see better if you actually face the game::

game 2 {did I mention it was at a totally different park? and started before the first one was done? convenient, huh?}::

run buddy::

out-standing in the field::