Heath Family's - Annual Pumpking Carving Night !

Well, it's that time of year again! We had our annual pumpkin carving night this week. Due to Philip's Carpal Tunnel, he can't take part in the carving activity as he would like - his hands give out quickly. For example, his hands were done after carving out the lids for our 2 pumpkins. So, he serves as our adviser and photographer.

Here are some pictures - Mom and Damon each carved a pumpkin following our trip to the local pumpkin patch. . . . . . (Click on a picture to see a larger version!)

2008 Hamster Derby

Well, Damon entered his hamster, Shadow, in his first hamster derby at PetCo. It was pretty funny, to say the least!

Once they call "start," the owners are not allowed to touch their hamster balls. So, when the hamster runs half way down the track then decides to stop and do a bit of grooming, or decides to turn around and run the wrong way, the kids can't do anything to change their FATE.

It was pretty funny when the hamster next to Shadow stopped and began running the wrong way, the kids jumped up and down, yelling, "Go, you dumb hamster, THAT way!"

Shadow won his first race!

Then they pitted the first place winners from the "regular sized hamsters" and the "dwarf hamsters" (which are about the size of a large walnut) up against each other. Shadow didn't win that race - but came in 2nd!

Damon (and Shadow) were awarded a 2nd place ribbon along with some free hamster treats.

All in all, a good day! Enjoy a few pictures from the race. . . . .


Just warming up - getting ready for the big race.



The first race for "normal sized hamsters"



Shadow won this race!


Shadow has won 1st place in his group . . . now we are waiting for the finals race to begin!


Now it's time to pit Shadow up against the little "walnut hamster!" (dwarf hamster) Shadow came in 2nd place!


Receiving his prize . . . . a ribbon and hamster treats!


Our "boys" - Damon and Shadow

Here We Go AGAIN!

Damon was out playing basketball with a friend on Saturday evening. He came back complaining that he had fallen and his foot was a little sore.

I decided to just watch it and see how things went. By Tuesday, he was still complaining about pain (worsening) and he had bruising on either side of his foot. I decided to take him to the Dr.

GUESS WHAT?!?!? The child is in a cast yet again!

The way his foot twisted when he fell caused the tendon on the outside of his foot (below the ankle) to pull away from the bone, taking a piece of the bone with it! OUCH!

So, here we are again, in a cast for 4 weeks. Then we will XRay it again and see how things look.

I asked the Dr. if it was normal for a child his age (12) to be in a cast for various injuries 4 times in the span of 1 year. He said if they have severe ADHD like Damon does - YES. Especially at this age, they are more "gangly" (sp?) and are a bit out of sorts in the first place. Also, these kiddos don't pay attention to their surroundings as much as your average kid, and therefore, are more likely to step in a hole or fall or step off the curb on accident and injure themselves. They have already run a bone "strength" test on him, and things are totally normal - so there's nothing to worry about.

*SIGH* Oh, these boys. . . . .