Every time my dad goes out of town, someone gets sick or Owen does something dumb. When he went to Atlanta, my mom got pancreatitis. When we went to Australia, we pretty much all fell apart. (Strep, ear infection, broken arm) About 2 hours after my dad left for Japan, Owen invented a new magic trick. He's really into magic lately. The trick involved putting the back of Finley's earring in one ear and pulling it out the other. Too bad his brain got in the way. A pair of tweezers and my mom's steady hand narrowly prevented a visit to the emergency room. My dad left for scout camp today and this time Owen did something dumb and someone got hurt. Owen was watching a movie on the computer and raised the chair up as high as it would go. He scooted the chair back and then leaned forward. The chair slid out from underneath him and he hit the desk hard. I was sitting on the floor 4 feet away and thought he crunched his nose. Really he got the strangest x-shaped cut near his mouth. At first we thought he would need some stitches, but thankfully it isn't that deep. Dad, you're never allowed to leave again, for our sake. Also whenever my dad leaves, my mom tries to complete a project around the house. While he was in Japan a couple of weeks ago, the project was this wall. We don't have a fireplace so we don't have a mantle and we really don't have any shelves. That means we don't have anywhere that is easy to decorate. This wall has a little shelf on top that will hold pictures, decorations, and stockings.
It is actually painted and decorated now, but I haven't taken a picture yet.