Phillips Family Photo Blog

Heather and I took the kids out for a night on the town. We started with putt putt and finished with ice cream sundaes.

It was the kids’ first time doing putt putt. Maddux played like it was hockey. James would put the ball on the tee, hit it about four inches, pick it up, walk it to the hole, put it a mere four inches from the hole and then tap it in with the putter. Thomas watched the action closely but did not play; maybe next time.

Score was not kept. There were no winners and no losers. Just a great time had by all. We did keep the scorecard though. A souvenir for the kids’ memory box perhaps.

Maddux takes the first shot.

Heather helping James.

Maddux retrieves the ball from the hole.

James ponders his next shot.

This ended up being the most unconventional game of putt putt of all time, but no one cared and everyone had fun.

I took a short video that does a better job of explaining the chaos than my words have.

James positions the ball exactly where he wants it.

Thomas took everything in stride.

Maddux couldn’t wait until we got to the castle.

The castle almost looks formidable from this angle.

Definitely one of the nicer putt putt courses I have ever been to.

The miniature town.

A few months ago, I had had enough of my job that I had been working at for more than three years. It was fun for a while, but enough was enough. Between late April and late June I had several months to enjoy my wife and kids a lot more than ever before, and it was great recovering mentally. One of the downsides to not working though is having to live off of savings. Whilst living off savings, we bought only the necessities and saved as much as we could.

One of the things we deemed as not necessary was haircuts for the kids.

As of a few weeks ago now, I am employed again and we are no longer living on savings. What a relief because kid haircuts were LONG overdue!

Below are the before, during and after pictures. Enjoy!

Enjoying playing in the ball pit while they wait their turn.

Jamesycakes

Thomas before – he went first

Thomas during – he looks like a Who from the Grinch movie

Thomas after – all done! what a handsome boy!

Maddux before

Maddux during – pretty princess!

Maddux after – her haircut was more of a evening out of the ends and trimming her bangs than a cut

James before – from the front

James before – from the side

James during – the only way to tame that mullet is with the clippers

James during – snip snip snip

James after – all done! another handsome boy!

We took a day trip up to Shuswap Lake today for a picnic and a hike. We had a great time.

A few pictures from our Canada Day.

I’ve kept wondering when we were going to catch a break. Seems that we may have tonight, but not the kind of break we were hoping for. Heather is off to the hospital with Maddux. She fell out of her bed, in her sleep, and landed on her right wrist. It’s swollen and she can’t move it. She has a very high pain threshold, so when she says something hurts, it must really hurt. Maddux’ bed is a bunk bed and she fell out of the top bunk.

The worst part is that she didn’t even want to come down and tell Mommy & Daddy that she hurt herself, worried that we’d be upset that she wasn’t sleeping. It was on a hunch that I went up to see if everything was OK, as I had heard a loud thump a little while earlier. I opened her door and she looked over at me and said “Hi, Daddy.” I asked her how come she was still awake. She burst into tears and showed me her wrist. She was shaking like a Pomeranian, too. Poor girl was in shock. Somehow, even with a very sore wrist, she managed to climb back into her bed, which is no easy feat, even when both your wrists work. Below is a picture of her bed; notice the ladder up the side. That’s where she fell down from. Yikes!

My worst fear as a child was breaking something during summer break and not being able to enjoy summer to its fullest. Today was Maddux’ first full day off of school. She wasn’t even able to make it one full day. I feel so sad for her.

Update 2010-06-19 2:37 AM:
Yup, it’s broken. Poor girl.

The bulge is where the green-stick fracture is.

Maddux and her splint.

Update 2010-06-24:

Just got back from the hospital. The splint wasn’t working very well for her, so we had her arm put in a cast instead. She was delighted!

Update 2010-06-30:

Just got back from the hospital again. Everything is good. She has another appointment in a couple weeks for x-rays and to likely get her cast off. She’ll be so disappointed to not have her purple cast any longer. However, the doctor said that they could remove it in such a way that she can keep it and use it for “dress-ups”.

Update 2010-07-14:

Maddux got her cast off today.

Waiting to see the doctor. Her teddy bear, Rupert, came along for moral support.

The technician is removing her cast.

No more cast! Yippee!

The fracture healed up very nicely.

We all went to the playground today. The sun hadn’t set yet, but it was behind a group of clouds, so I got some nice diffused shots.

Enjoy the cuteness!

We’ve started a tradition wherein we take our kid(s)’ picture at the front door, every year on the first day of school. Here’s the ones we have thus far, in chronological order.

 

2009 – Maddux in preschool

 

2010 – Maddux (check out those eyes!) in kindergarten and James in preschool

 

2011 – Maddux in grade one and James & Thomas in preschool

 

2012 – Maddux in grade two, James in kindergarten and Thomas in preschool

 

2013 – Maddux in grade three, James in grade one and Thomas in kindergarten