I went all "CSI" up in here

Judging by the blood pool and the directionality of the spatter my guess is she woke up in the middle of the night with a bloody nose, proceeded to sit up on her knees crying hysterically and screaming "Mommy!"

All that from the blood pattern. Well, no actually, I was there. Good thing I put old sheets on her bed yesterday afternoon so I could wash the good ones. Now I just need to call in the bio-hazard clean up crew.

And we're off to get an x-ray in case the bleed is from when she fell off the toilet and hit her nose on the edge of the tub the night before last... but that is a whole different story.

What I am guessing I will be hearing for the rest of my life:

"Mommy you broke my leg AND my nose!" Well, hopefully not. That is what the x-rays are for. Wish us luck- ever since the leg incident she's terrified of x-rays.


****UPDATE****

The Good News: No broken nose (YAY!)

The Bad News: The Dr said I should expect more nosebleeds as she gets over her cold. Apparently once you go down that road...well I guess you just keep on keeping on that way. If that is the case I am covering her room in plastic. I don't think I can afford another "crime scene clean up."

Ugh.

We've been sick! Lily and I have been unsucessfully attempting to fight off cold/fever/cough this week. Lily stayed home from school yesterday so I think we've finally turned the corner but...ugh. Weren't we just sick a couple weeks ago??? Enough already. I think the prescription is a nice healthy dose of sunny warn weather. In fact, I'm sure that will do the trick.


Happy Friday to all!

Martin and the Girls Get Crafty

On Saturday while I went to my Girls Night In group, I left Martin in charge of a homework project for Kendra. Her assignment was to build a wind chime and make observations about it. Before I left I set out a bunch of possible supplies- including plastic lids, string, beads, tin cans and wood craft sticks.

As I showed Martin the supplies before I left he said, "I'm going to need your glue gun." I had no idea what I was going to come home to.



My initial idea was to hang the tin can on something then hang a bunch of sticks and beads that could hit the can as the wind blew. He claims he "isn't creative like me" but look what he came up with! A little less noisy than what I originally thought of, but way more cool looking. He had to do a lot of the work (especially with the glue gun) but he also made sure the girls were making choices about what they wanted and what they thought would work.

As Martin finished the building part, I had the girls guess (or hypothesize) about what would happen with the wind chimes. Then we hung them up and recorded their observations. Finally we came up with a conclusion by comparing their guess and observations. At one point I told them that we might call this process "science." They had to take that one in a little.

They were both very proud of their work and now we get to watch them outide on our porch. I just love it when we can make learning so fun- they  don't even remember that it is supposed to be "boring old homework."

Ging Gong the Cat

Last night Kendra had her Kindergarten concert debut. Her class and three others sang "Ging Gong the Cat." It included several musical numbers with cute costumes, instruments and voices all around. Even Lily was entertained for the hour long performance.

Great Job, Kendra! We are so proud of you!

We are hoping for some sunshine this weekend so we can have some fun outside!

As promised...

St. Patrick's Day pancakes...yum!! I thought about making Irish potato pancakes (which I LOVE!) but then decided I didn't have the energy for the prep work. So green shamrock pancakes it was!

This weekend we made some special headbands- mostly for Lily to wear on St. Patrick's day because I didn't think she had any green clothes. I bought some green plastic headbands, a bouquet of fake daisies (two green plus pink and white) and a tiny roll of flower arranging tape.
I poked some wire through the base of the flower then wrapped the wire around the headband. I used the tape to secure it in place and cover to pokey end of the wire. Voila! A cute headband that can be worn anytime.

I came up with this because Kendra still wears the headbands I made a Christmas time with the bow on it. Actually they both do and still have their claim to fame as my two favorite Christmas presents. I thought a fake flower would work well too- and it really did. I think I might try one on a ribbon though as well since sometimes the plastic bothers their heads after a little while. I made one for each of us girls- though I think I have worn mine the most so far, ha!

Too bad we won't see Kendra until tomorrow- but I know she'll love it anyway. Can't wait to show her!

**************

Lily: Mommy they shouldn't call it a FINish line...it should be a WINish line.


Lily: I am never going to stop cuddling you because you are my special Mommy.

If you are a mom, you know.

I can't go to the bathroom alone. No really. If I am on my way to the bathroom at least one other person or animal immediately needs something/accompanies me/waits for me outside the door while shoving their fingers or paw under it. Can't a girl have a second to herself? (If you really don't know, the answer is no.)

This morning when I needed to "go" I asked Lily to get her shoes and coat on, shoved Floyd out of the sink, then closed the bathroom door as quickly as I could. I was just, uh, minding my own business when I heard a weirdly quiet squeaky type sound. At the time I just wondered what the heck Lily was up to (obviously not putting her shoes on) but then ignored it.

Finally I opened the door and there was Lily, standing literally nose to the door, holding my hair clip (and of course Floyd sitting next to her). She opened *squeak* and closed it *squeak* (ah, light bulb!) and said, "I brought you your hair clip Mommy!"

Irritated, I snapped at her, "Lily, why were you standing right outside the door the whole time like that? Why aren't your shoes on?"

Lily, "I was practicing patience Mommy."

Dang it. How can I be irritated at such a good answer? She humbles me and amazes me with her power of perspective.

**************

Coming tomorrow- St Patrick's Day pancakes and we get a little bit crafty! See you then : )

Wednesday, what's up?

Hey everybody! We've been super busy this last week but we've definitely had some fun!


First off...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTIN!

You are awesome, hard working, crazy funny and one of the most giving people I have ever met! Here's to many more birthdays we get to spend together! Love Ya!

Over the weekend we had a BBQ at our house to celebrate Martin's birthday but mostly to try out a bunch of yummy food on the new BBQ grill. Oh my goodness was it tasty! Since I was mostly hosting and Martin was mostly grilling...Kendra was in charge of the camera. She did an awesome job and got great pics of everybody we were lucky enough to spend the evening with!

Well, ok. She actually took a lot of pictures of the food and floor and random objects around the house- but she had fun so- meh.

Last night Lily's school had a Pancake Dinner, Book Fair, and open house! Phew! What a busy night. It was great to see some of the parents and teachers and get a better idea of what is going on in their classrooms. I let Lily pick a book out. Of course she picked a Barbie book out of everything they had. : ( But it was a book and she picked it so I wasn't going to argue too much.

Lily told me last night she was completely out of underwear. We slacked on laundry this weekend after the BBQ so yeah. We should probably get on that in the near future.

So that's all for now! Hoping for a few quieter days in the near future but I could be dreaming.

Seattle Children's Hospital Radiothon- TODAY!

It is difficult to describe Seattle Children's Hospital as a great place to be. No parent or child ever wants to become too familiar with it walls, but when you are there because you have to be- no where else could be better.

I knew walking in those doors that it would only be a matter of weeks before Lily would be walking out of there on her own. Broken bones, compared to so many of the other diseases and conditions that are treated at Children's, are relatively simple to care for. Though her treatment was easy, every Doctor and Nurse we encountered at our many visits went out of their way to make Lily comfortable and happy. I can't even remember how many new stuffed animals, crayons, stickers and toys she came home with. I especially remember the nurse preparing her leg cast making bows out of the cast material for Lily to hold onto while she wrapped pink gauze from toes to hip.

You never guess that Children's is in your future- I never thought I would break my own daughter's leg- I never thought I'd be back there this year visiting Deven who was born 10 weeks prematurely.

Today is the last day of KISS FM Seattle's Children's Hospital Radiothon. Your donations benefit so many- every child and family who walks through the doors of the hospital. So if you've been there or known someone who has- please donate! And do it today before the end of Radiothon. The stories they share get me every time.