May 24, 2009

A Change of Plans

I should be writing about our long walk to Uncle Micah and Aunt Holly's house, jumping on their trampoline, planting flower seeds in our garden, or filling the kiddie pool with water and running through the sprinkler. But our plans changed in an instant. We didn't get to the sprinkler part of our day.

We did all those fun things Saturday morning and afternoon. It was a beautiful day and the boys and I were going to wear ourselves out playing in the sun and water. Josiah wanted to hook up the sprinkler after filling the kiddie pool with water. Being the helpful boy that he is, he went in search of our sprinkler. The first sprinkle he found didn't work. A part was missing. So he went back into the basement to find a working sprinkler. Instead of emerging triumphant, he came out crying and limping. At first I thought that he may have stubbed his toe. If only he had. Instead he told me he stepped on broken glass.

I looked at his foot which was bleeding quite a bit. Too much for a band-aid fix. I grabbed my sock which was close at hand and pressed it against his foot. I told him that we would have to go to the hospital and probably get a couple of stitches. That was not what he wanted to hear. No. No! I don't want stitches. My heart felt for him. I had to have him hold the sock tightly against his foot while I picked up another crying boy and got John for help. Josiah did great. After John came out, I questioned Josiah more about the glass. I wanted to be sure that there wasn't any glass left in his foot. He said there wasn't and I rinsed his foot with the water hose which was still running and probed around the wound a bit to double check. Then John set about bandaging his foot while I called my mom to see if she could watch Nathan and Noah so that John and I could both take Josiah to the E.R. Grandma arrived in a few minutes and they waved us off as we drove away.

There was a long line in the emergency room but we waited patiently. Josiah was very calm by this time and the pain had all but stopped. When we got into an exam room we talked a lot about the gloves, the tray, the disposals, the sheets, the bed rails, other patients, equipment, etc.


At this point, Josiah said I could take a picture of him. He made a face for me.

Here he is after two different people have looked at his foot, the original triage nurse and the fast track nurse. We were waiting for someone to do the stitches now. He asked me if it would hurt. I told him that they would give him something to numb his foot - that it would be a shot in the cut. He asked me if the shot would hurt and I told him, "Yes, it will. But then it won't hurt when they clean it and put in the stitches." Then he asked, "Can you cry?" I told him, "Yes, you can cry if you want to." He was so brave! His face clouded but he didn't cry. The nurse practitioner and the other nurse were wonderful. As they worked they complimented and encouraged Josiah. He got three stitches.

Then his foot was wrapped up and we went home. It was a four hour ordeal. (When we got home, Nathan ran to greet us and promptly fell down flat in the driveway. My first thought: Please not again! Thankfully, he just scraped his knees which was fixed with cleaning and hugging and holding and, of course, band-aids.)

Josiah has figured out how to get around without walking on his foot. There's a lot of hopping going on around here. At church this morning, the kids were going to have a race but, in honor of Josiah, instead of running they had a hopping race. I assured him that he would be allowed to hop at school this week.


I found the glass that did the deed. The blood on the tip was my clue.


Josiah says he had a fun time at the hospital. We're not going to make a habit of it though.

May 22, 2009

Still Roofing

Just because the dumpster is gone doesn't mean the work is over. The roofing continues. John is on the roof nearly every non-rainy day. It is seemingly slow-going with only one man working most of the time but the progress is evident.


This is our roof ... from the inside. (You seriously didn't think I would climb up there to take a picture, did you?) We have two little storage closets that aren't "finished." The boys and I listened and watched as the John and Randy tore off the shingles that day. When the sunlight made its way through the cracks, we were even able to see the guys as they worked and, of course, holler to them.




As I write, John is up there putting new shingles on this section. He's almost done shingling our house roof. Today is cooler so he won't be as worn out as yesterday. After the shingles are done, there will be the ridge vent, counter flash the chimney, facia, the other stuff, and the garage.

Okay, okay. You talked me into it. I climbed up the ladder and took this picture. Wow. Look at the nice new shingles. Look at the strong man attempting to even out his tan while working. Look at the steepness of this roof! And then keep praying for that strong man's safety.
After he works hard and comes inside dirty, hungry and tired, he gets to look forward to this: our boys.

They love to sit with him.

Play with him.

Make him laugh.

And climb all over him.

Reawakening Talent

This month I went to an art show and it wasn't just any art show. This was for our seasoned citizens who are 55 and older to display their talent. And my mom's paintings were on display!

Thirty years ago my mom painted and this year, she began to paint again. Holly encouraged her in this endeavor by telling her about the show and giving her new art supplies for Christmas. Mom entered two paintings into the art show. Yeah! She and I met Holly at the opening to see all the entries.


There was pencil, acrylic, oil, photography and watercolors. I took pictures of our favorites.

There were many from which to choose. It was hard to choose just one for the the People's Choice award entry form. I loved the pencil and colored pencils. Holly really liked the yellow flowers done with oil. My mom's favorite was the water which was also done with oil paint.
After the paintings had been entered, Josiah said to me, "I hope Grandma wins a prize." Since I had already heard the news that she didn't, I let Josiah know that she didn't win anything this time. His response: "How could anyone make prettier paintings than Grandma?!" Well said, Josiah.

This is my mom next to her paintings. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next... and hopefully learning a thing or twenty from her. Way to go, Mom!

May 18, 2009

Good Guess

As I am reading my book today, Isaac and Josiah approach me. Isaac says, "Aunt Sarah, do you want to guess what we are?"

I look at them. They're not in costume and I haven't heard much out of them. So I guess. "Are you .... Secret Agents?"

"HOW DID YOU KNOW?!?", exclaims Isaac.

What can I say? I'm good. *wink*

I think that Josiah may have tried to bluff his way into being something else if Isaac hadn't confirmed my guess. He can be tricky that way. He might get it from me.....

May 14, 2009

Picking Up the Trash

The day came for the dumpster to be picked up. Since Josiah would be at school, he requested pictures "unless the driver doesn't like his picture taken because it makes him nervous or something." (Isn't he thoughtful?) I was briefly tempted to show him the drop off pictures again, just backwards. But I'm a sucker for my boys' requests.


Here is the full dumpster. Wait. What? Oh. Okay.

I stand corrected. HERE is the full dumpster.

Time to cover it.

And here comes the truck.

Yes, I'm aware there's a hooker in the picture. Don't worry. There's nothing inappropriate here.

Gotcha!

Seriously. I was a little concerned that the dumpster was too heavy for the truck.

Apparently, he wasn't really trying to lift it yet but was just making it snug.

All secured. Let's get this show on the road.

If this truck could groan, I think it would.

Get 'er up there!

Nathan was jumping up and down with excitement over the show.

The driver was very nice and waved to Nathan. Good-bye, Dumpster!
Good-bye, Truck and Nice Guy! (I shall call him Dave.)
*Dave* even honked as the truck drove away. Yeah! HE HONKED! HE HONKED! Yeah!
The simplest things can make Nathan's day.
I'm excited to be able to park in the driveway again and to use our backdoor without having to squeeze past the dumpster.
I, too, enjoy the simple things.

School Day

We had the opportunity to experience class time with Josiah. They had been learning about the rain forests.

Josiah's teacher, Mrs. Spicher, read a story to us.

John, Josiah, and I sat together to listen to the story. See, Jessica?

The students sang a song about the rain forests' layers.

Tune: "If you're happy and you know it"
There are four layers in the rainforest.
4 LAYERS!
There are four layers in the rainforest.
4 LAYERS!
Forest floor, understory, canopy, emergent
There are four layers in the rainforest.
4 LAYERS!

Then we were able to taste test the food products from the rain forests. Josiah is trying coconut and chocolate.

After we tasted something, we marked whether we liked it or disliked it. This is the chocolate sheet. It looks like there was only one "dislike." Smart people! Josiah told me it was one of his classmates that doesn't like chocolate. Really? Go figure.

We had bananas, coconut, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, macadamia nuts, sweet potatoes, cashews, and more. The most unpopular were the plantains. You really have to cook those!

My brother, Micah, tried a lemon.

I think he marked "like."
I took the remaining part of my lemon home with me as a special treat for Nathan. He loves them!


When he finished it, he asked for more. Wow. I like my lemons in water or with other food.

It was a fun experience and I learned that the rain forests must be preserved ... because they produce chocolate.


They Took the Roof Off

I've got some catching up to do. Deliveries, trucks, a dumpster, scraping, pounding, friends, ladders, pounding, and more pounding. As the construction continues, so must the stories. If you like construction, you're in for a treat. If you don't, well, you're in for it anyway.

On the 25th of April, John and some of our friends took the garage roof completely off and built a new one. We had a great time watching their progress.

Removing the roof has begun.
Here's my inside out view.

Noah had a front row seat.


There was sawing and hammering....

heaving and kicking....

until it was gone.

Micah and John S. got rid of that last stubborn beam.

Clara, the house, was calling, "What about me?" Hold your horses, Clara.

Eli and Nathan did their own project of carrying wood back and forth.

Nathan looks like a little construction worker. Sometimes the boys would climb up the ladder to get a better view or sneak in a couple slides.


Isaac and Josiah did some of their own work. Hey! That's MY Pibb!


Ahhh! Refreshing.
The roof must go on.
No roof vs. old roof
Don't drop it!

Hi John!

After they finished rebuilding the first half of the roof, they removed the other half.

Tah Dah! The bones of the roof are back.

There was much measuring, cutting and nailing.

They wrapped up work at dinner time. Literally.
Thank you for all your hard work, Ric, John S., Mike, and Micah! Awesome job!