Incapacitated

The kids and I went to see Erik play hockey on Monday night. It's not very often that he has a game that falls earlier than 8 pm, and I was enjoying the fact that I actually rounded up all 3 kids on a cold, rainy night and got out of the house to do something remotely fun.

Then halfway through the second period Erik hobbled over to the stands to tell us that something was terribly wrong with his knee. Of course, I had been too busy chatting that I hadn't noticed him skate off the ice in pain and then spend 2 shifts on the bench.

Erik's had knee problems before. The meniscus in his right knee tore when he was playing soccer with some kids during our missions trip to Peru (post-marriage and pre-kids). He ended up with physio (while in Peru) and then surgery (back in Abbotsford). Since then, his left knee has been starting to show the same signs of weakness that we noticed in his right knee before it tore. And sure enough, Monday night's hockey game was the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back" because something awful has happened in that knee of his as he was making a casual turn on the ice. We're just not sure exactly what.

So the last few days have been frustrating. I feel a bit like I have a 4th child at home. Because I have to do a lot of things for him. And he can't really help me. I know it's not Erik's fault. And I'm trying to dote on him patiently. But I do feel mad at the situation. It seems like I've had to deal with a sick or injured husband more than the average wife. And, while I know I'm treading on the dangerous ground of self-pity, I can't help but feel like these kinds of things always seem to happen to us...

But I need to maintain perspective. I know well enough that there are a lot of worse things in life.

Anyway, yesterday was a low day for me. I was feeling sorry for myself and overwhelmed with trying to complete a transcription assignment and dealing with nattering children and a classic 45 minute nap from my youngest. I was trying to find something - anything - that Erik could do to help me. Laundry folding was first on the list. And today he had the kids on the floor doing some toy building.

I had to remind Erik how to fold towels. It's been a while :)

Now we just play the waiting game. Erik had an x-ray (to rule out broken bones I think) and then he will likely get referred to a knee specialist. So, we won't know for awhile yet what exactly is the problem. Today he was able to limp around a bit without his crutches which was encouraging. Though - of course - he overdid it and tried to go without advil and is now paying the price. But, this small improvement is still giving us some hope that it might not be as bad as we thought.

Onto other things - it is the season of dress-up parties. Here are the kids at our church Harvest Party last night, waiting in line to jump in one of the giant inflatables. Micah has been a zebra for 3 years in a row. And until he comes to the realization that most kids don't wear the same costume year after year, I will continue to let him sport the zebra look :)

Silas reluctantly wore the elephant costume - you may remember this post a few years back when Micah was the elephant.

I'm lacking inspiration to wrap up this post in a smooth manner.

So, until next time...

July Celebrations

The July long weekend was full of celebrations. First there was Canada Day, of course. We took the kids into town to watch the fireworks and were quite impressed! In fact, they were possibly even slightly better than Abbotsford's since we didn't have to listen to cheesy music playing the whole time.

Then, Erik turned 30 on July 2nd. Despite it being a huge milestone birthday, the day was pretty low key - some of my family joined us and we enjoyed some of Erik's favourite foods - pulled-pork fajitas (too bad the Boissevain Co-op didn't have the ingredients for fresh salsa) and fruit pizza for dessert.

Here's a close-up of my fruit pizza masterpiece :) Maybe you'll remember his birthday post from 4 years ago when I made another birthday fruit pizza with Erik's name written in kiwis.

On July 3rd we went to Lake Metigoshe with my parents and my sister Nichole's family for a picnic supper and boat ride.

The kids braved the lake water and even swam all the way to the dock with Daddy's help.

Silas has been practicing his standing - he's still leaning against the cooler in this picture, but is getting more confident on his feet. He's finally taken a few steps all on his own just in the last few days.

Lake Metigoshe is a huge lake. A small corner of it is in Canada (which is where my parents' cabin is) but the majority of the lake is in the US (North Dakota). Every year they have a big fireworks show over the water during the July 4th weekend. Hundreds of boats gather out on the lake and wait for it to get dark. This was a first for our family - and definitely something that should become a yearly tradition!

Canadian & proud of it!

Boats gathering to watch the ski show that was taking place a few hours before the fireworks.

Grandpa got a bit of a break while Silas took the wheel.

Getting cozy in the boat.

Silas finally succumbed to sleep.

Waiting for it to get dark seemed to take forever! But the neat part was that all the surrounding cabins were setting off their own fireworks - so there was a bit of a "pre-show" to watch.

Erik snuggling with our niece, Kailyn.

Silas woke up just before the big show started and was totally mesmerized by the fireworks. It was amazing how many boats were out there! Definitely a memorable experience :)