ER visit for Miriam

Tuesday night in the middle of cleaning up from dinner and getting children ready for church youth night, Miriam tipped over in the computer chair and struck the back of her head on our stone hearth.  She immediately started jumping up and down and screaming which means she immediately started flinging droplets of blood all over the area she was at.  While I hugged our screaming girl, Dode looked through her hair until he found her wound.  He was pretty sure it would need stitches.

We needed both of us to get her to the hospital, Dode applying direct pressure and me driving.  We didn't want to leave William home with the kids alone for who knows how long so we loaded a bike into the van for Dode to ride home once we knew what was going on with Miriam.  While Dode held direct pressure and  I struggled to get the bike in the back, Miriam kept screaming, "No!  Let's just go now!"  I finally got it in and were on our way with a very unhappy girl.

We drove up to the Arlington hospital (less than a five minute drive) and were soon in our very own treatment room.  Dode reached around in his pocket and announced, "Miriam, I got you something at work today."  He'd found a key chain on the side of the road and thought she'd like it.

It said "Seattle" and had dangling ferry boat, space needle, and whale.  She spent a lot of time looking at it and playing with it while we waited.  (She liked it so much that the next morning I found her asleep on the couch with the key chain cradled against her cheek in her hand.  Good timing on finding that key chain!)  The doctor came in, looked at it, and said a few staples would work perfectly for closing up the wound.  Dode left us in their capable hands and set off for home.

They tried to make it more bearable for Miriam by first numbing her up with a topical ointment and then injecting her with novocain.

The gauze is holding the topical numbing cream against her head in the back.  Doesn't she look pitiful!?

The hard part was as soon as they finished injecting the novocain  they reached for the staple gun, not giving the skin any time to actually numb up.  The nurse held her down while the doctor gave her three staples.  I held her hands while she screamed over and over, "I WANT to go HOME NOW!"  She was screaming and crying but she held perfectly still for the doctor, one brave girl.

We got home and by then the novocain was working fine.  She felt pretty good and was soon engaged in a typical night of activity.  The novocain wore off in the middle of night and she was once again a very sad girl.  Jacob woke up with her and helped her with ice for her head, got a movie started for her, and slept on the couch downstairs to be with her in case she needed anything else.

It's been a few days now and the wound is tender but not painful.  She had a stiff neck and shoulders for a while and said, "I think there is a string that goes from my feet to the back of my neck because when I walk, it pulls on that string and hurts me."

This is Miriam's third ER visit for a head injury.

June 2006

Family vacation to Yellowstone park.  

We stopped at Dode's friend Collette's in Billings for one night.  We had Miriam sleep on the floor.  In the middle of the night, she tried to get into bed with us but tripped and hit her head on the bed frame.  I never saw it in the dark, just lifted a crying girl into bed with us and got her to sleep.  When we got up for a 4:00 am departure on a day we'd planned to make a long drive towards home, we saw that both Miriam and I were covered in blood.  We had to drive a half hour in the wrong direction to find the nearest hospital.  Thankfully it was a slow night and we were in and out in about an hour.  Our visit earned Miriam some steri-strips and a scar she bears today.

August 2009

While on my first single mom vacation with the children, Miriam falls down inside a lava tube and earns herself three stitches.  More details here.

November 2012

The doctor talking with Miriam about the treatment plan.  She's looking down at her key chain, feeling really sorry for herself.  Miriam was impressed with how many people she saw during our hour long visit in the ER.  Three different RNs, a doctor, and a ER Tech.

After receiving her staples she told me, "Getting stitches is a lot easier!"  I think she would have endured the staples a lot better if they'd waited for the novocain to take affect.  I'm hoping the staple removal next week won't hurt her too badly.

Isaac becomes a scuba diver

Isaac finished his certification as a scuba diver.  He'd earned the cost of his lessons by doing yard work for Janice and Matt during the summer.  He was able to attend classes with Janice and Matt there as assistant teachers.

Isaac in the pool the 1st weekend of classes.

Isaac and Janice

Matt and Isaac

Being underwater gives Isaac a pretty crazy hairdo!

Isaac at the open water part of the class, this dive was in West Seattle.

Isaac thought the fins he borrowed from his dad were terrible during the surface swim but he liked them once he got underwater.

Isaac practicing at the rescue line.

Early release from school all week = play times

The elementary children had early release all this week for conferences.  I was excited to get extra time with them and wanted to do something special.  I planned fun things for the week.  Most of the activities were with Miriam, William and Elizabeth.  Elizabeth told me that she doesn't really enjoy doing things with Miriam and William because they're the little kids.  She'd prefer to be lumped in with the teenagers.  They were at school so they missed out.

Monday
On Monday we went bowling in Arlington.  I made sure to make reservations earlier in the day.  When we got there, we were the only people bowling and no one else ever joined us!  There is a restaurant attached to the bowling alley with windows looking out at the lanes.  We were the sole source of entertainment for anyone eating at the restaurant.  We went as soon as they got home from school.  Dode was at work but I think he's uninvited from future bowling trips.  We went bowling for a date night and he lost the feeling in his thumb for months.  He's falling apart on me!

It didn't take Miriam long to learn where the sweet spot was.  She wasn't very good at aiming but when her ball got close to that spot, she got so excited.  They had a great time and asked me when they could go back again.

Miriam said these batter dipped fries were the best fries she'd ever had.

$3 for the basket, definitely worth it!

William used this ramp to aim his ball.

Elizabeth getting ready to bowl.

Miriam proudly wearing the crown she got at Disney on Ice.  I used to bowl here on a youth league.  It's fun to see my children getting a chance to bowl here now.  It's a good thing they removed the signs they used to have up, "Don't loft the ball." because Miriam lofted the ball nearly every time she threw it!  (Lofting is letting go of the ball when it's still high in the air, causing it to crash down on the lane with a loud bang and possibly damaging the lane.)

In Arlington, you still do your own scoring.  Miriam caught on to the process quickly.

Once bowling was over, it was time for conferences for Miriam and William.

Miriam came along and read some books in her classroom while I spoke with her teacher.  Miriam's reading has gone up a whole grade level since school started!  William has 8 sight words.  His reading level is still too low to register on any assessment tests but to his teacher and to me, eight sight words is amazing!

Tuesday
Tuesday was the day to do something that I've been needing to get done for a while, take the kittens to get fixed.  I had them fixed up at NOAH near Stanwood where they do low cost spay/neutering.  They also do pet adoptions.  They have several cat "colonies" and a kitten room where you can pet the cats.  The children were wanting to see the animals available for adoption so I made sure we got there 45 minutes before the kittens were ready to be picked up.  They loved petting the cats and playing with the kittens.  You forget so quickly how much they grow.  The children just wouldn't believe me that our kittens were ever as small as the kittens at NOAH.  They were!  They had several big orange cats.  I used to have an orange cat and I said that the next time I got a cat, it would be orange.  Well, we found these kittens so I'm stuck with boring common tabby cats.  On the way home, Elizabeth told me I should just adopt an orange cat.  She was sure her dad would understand because it would be for me.  She doesn't realize that although they all believe he was OK with us keeping the kittens was for the children, it was really for me.  Maybe someday I'll have an orange cat again but it won't be for a long long time!

Caged up and ready for the trip.  You can see that one of the cats has her paw out, trying to get out.  NOAH required the cats be brought in in separate carriers.  I think that was the worst thing for the kittens.  They rely on each other so much!

Wednesday
On Wednesday I took the children to see Wreck it Ralph.

It's a Disney movie about a video game villain who wants to be a good guy.  There are tons of video game references throughout the movie.  Apparently I've forgotten most of my childhood because although I played video games, I can't remember characters or story lines.  Even though a lot of the inside jokes sailed right by me, I thought it was a cute movie.  

Thursday

Well, our Thursday plan was to go to Absolute Air Park, an indoor trampoline warehouse here in town.  Elizabeth had a friend coming over to the house to play after the trampoline warehouse, so we had just enough time if we went when they got home from school.  We loaded up the car and drove over only to learn they didn't open until 3:00 pm, too late for us to go.  Miriam shed quite a few tears that we wouldn't be able to bounce that day.  I promised that we would still make it happen but she'd have to wait.

Friday

No fun on Friday.  It was the last day of the school quarter and Isaac had some late work he needed to get done.  I spent the day keeping him on task.  By the end of it, we weren't very friendly with each other.  The school office closed at 3:30 pm.  We arrived at the parking lot at 3:20 pm.  Then, I spent three hours running him around doing his errands.  After that, I was too burned out for any playing.  Miriam was hoping we could go to Absolute Air park but we were worried that it would be full of teenagers and we weren't sure that was compatible with our little Miriam.

Saturday

On Saturday morning Miriam was finally able to go to Absolute Air park.  Elizabeth really wanted to sleep in Saturday morning so once she woke up around 10:30, we set off to play.  I was the observer while Dode, Anastaya, Elizabeth, William and Miriam jumped.  Dode teased me because at some time during our hour, everyone spent some time moping with me.  Elizabeth was disappointed because she REALLY wanted to do a flip but was too scared to actually pull it off.  She kept chickening out at the last minute and was really frustrated with herself.   

Two little boys watched Dode do this and had to tell him, "That was amazing!"

Anastaya gracefully floats down to the foam pit.

Elizabeth might not be able to flip, but she was the last girl left in the dodgeball game.  In this photo it's Elizabeth up against three boys.

William jumping into the pit.

Miriam gets some big air before landing in the pit.

Two minutes before our time was up, Anastaya landed wrong and twisted her ankle.  I looked over to see her laying on her back crying, an ice pack on her ankle.  We brought her home where she lay on the couch with it elevated to see if that brought any relief.  We had one more activity planned for the day, a family bike ride.  There was no way her ankle was up to a bike ride so we left her recuperating while we headed out.  

Last weekend, a new stretch of the Centennial Trail that runs near our house opened up.  The new section runs from Bryant (North of Arlington) to the Skagit County line.  We've been waiting for years for this part to open.  It rained for the grand opening last weekend but Saturday was sunny, and cold.  How cold?  There was still frost on the foliage along the trail.   By the time we were done with our bike ride, I was a block of ice.  My toes were so cold I could hardly walk.  Dode was amazed that I was frozen.  He was overheated.  He was riding a mountain bike pulling a tag-a-long bike and a stroller.  He was working hard.  I was riding a very efficient street bike and spent most of my time coasting.  I just wasn't generating enough heat to stay warm.  By the time I went to bed that night, I was still covered in goosebumps.

Trying to stay warm on a very cold day.  On the way back, Elizabeth lost all the "get up and go" she started with (and that wasn't much!)  At times we were down to five miles an hour, I was frozen and it took all my patience not to hurry her along (something she hates).  At one point, Dode accidentally called her Miriam when he told her to get to the side of the trail because someone was passing.  That made her so mad.  She rode near me and gave me a piece of her mind.   I tried to calm her down but I think it was more a week's worth of being stuck with the little children than a true personal insult that was bothering her.

Dode's one of a kind train.  On the bridge over Pilchuck Creek.

Proof that we made it!  In front of the Nakashima Barn near the Skagit County line.  Elizabeth is resting on the bench.

We got home from the bike ride and found Anastaya exactly where we left her.  She was still unable to put any weight on her ankle and it had started to swell up.  It was time for a visit to the walk in clinic.  X-rays revealed that it's just a sprain and they sent her home with crutches, a splint, and a note to excuse her from PE for two weeks (one of the main reasons we went to the doctor).  Elizabeth said, "Someone always gets hurt when we have a family activity".  I don't think someone always gets seriously injured but I told her, "That's how we know we're having a good time!"  She said, "When do we start skydiving?"  Silly girl!

Waiting for the doctor.  A "fun" way to finish out the day.  At least she has cute toe nails!

Disney on Ice 2012

Dode took advantage of discount tickets he can get through work to take the girls to Disney on Ice again.  He ended up only taking Elizabeth and Miriam because Anastaya had plans with a friend.  Anastaya was so disappointed not to go, especially when her plans fell through too late to get another ticket!

This year's show featured princesses and story lines from Tangled, Cinderella, and Princess and the Frog.  We'd told the girls ahead of time that there'd be a lot of vendors selling lots of fun things but their treat was getting to go to the show.  Miriam emptied out her piggy bank and stole (with his permission) all the money from Jacob's Karma Bowl (a bowl where he keeps his spare change) and came up with $10.  She was sure she'd find something to spend it on.

She ended up buying cotton candy that came with a crown for only $12!  She thought the crown was so special that she continued to wear it for days afterwards.

Miriam with the crown that came with the cotton candy.

Miriam with her friend Savannah

When they got to the show Miriam noticed right away that a bunch of her friends were sitting in the tier above them and she wanted nothing more that to join them even though she had better seats.  Dode convinced her that they could visit but she'd need to sit in her assigned seat.

I made sure Dode brought the camera with him.  When he got home I asked him if he'd gotten any photos.  Yep, two!  One of Miriam with her crown, one of her with a friend, the photos you see above.  What about a photo of Elizabeth or the $11 cotton candy?  Nope!  We don't have any photos of Elizabeth but she took plenty of pictures of the night.  I think I could figure out everything that happened at the show from the 200-300 photos she took.  Following are a very small percentage of the photos she took.

This elaborate coach made one loop around the ice and was never seen again.  Dode was amazed that they'd spend so much time building something that would be used for less than a minute.

Princess and the Frog set

Elaborate sets are part of the Disney magic.

The princess grand finale.  Princesses from many movies and Mini and Mickey all dressed in white versions of their famous dresses out on the ice at the same time.

Elizabeth was trying to get a photo of the line for the ladies bathroom.  It stretched half way around the outside of the stadium.  

Elizabeth opted out of a photo in the lego coach but she was willing to snap their picture.

King Tut

On Friday we got to visit the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle.  We went with the school so tickets that would have cost us $36.50 each (and I would have gone at that price!) only cost $11.50.   I've been waiting to see this since I was a little girl.  In elementary school I was a huge Egyptologist.  I read every book on Ancient Egypt my school library had.  When I moved to Arlington in the 6th grade, I spent a lot of time at the Arlington library where I consumed every book they had on Ancient Egypt.   When the King Tut exhibit visited Seattle in 1979, I wanted to go so badly but didn't get to.  I was not to be denied this time!

Apparently this exhibit has more than twice as many objects as when it came to Seattle last time so maybe it was worth the wait.  I was surprised that most of the exhibit didn't have artifacts from Tutankhamun's tomb but included artifacts from many of the pharaohs tombs and temples.  Some of the statues were 5,000 years old.  Amazing!

The school brought 300 people down to the exhibit.  The science center staff told us to line up single file.  This is homeschoolers lining up single file.  We're total rebels!  The staff kept asking us to scrunch together so they could get others schools lined up next to us but once you get 300 people standing 5-6 wide, it's impossible to form a single line.

Finally!

There is no photography allowed inside the exhibit but I found some images of some of our favorite artifacts.

This coffin was for a cat owned by a Pharoh.  They believed cats were deities.  I think cats still believe that!   

This small coffinette held King Tut's stomach.   It was about 18 inches tall.  The Egyptians embalmed four of the organs separately: the stomach, liver, intestines and lungs.  The heart was left in the body because they believed it stored a record of all your good and bad deeds.  They believed that in the judgement hall after death, it could be weighed on the scales of truth.  If it weighed more than a feather, your soul was consumed by Ammut the devourer.  If it weighed less than a feather, you got to go on to the afterlife.  The brain was discarded because they thought it was useless, the only part of the body they did not keep.

A head rest or pillow.  We read a lot about these in Rick Riordan's series the Kane Chronicles.  

Anastaya was able to understand the purposes of a lot of the artifacts we saw and recognize the roles of some of the gods depicted in the artifacts because of those books.

The most famous King Tut artifact of all, his golden funery mask, was not included in the exhibit.  It has become too fragile and has been sent back to Egypt.

Tut's funery mask.  The vulture and the cobra show that he was pharaoh over upper and lower Egypt. 

We did get to see this mask of Psusennes who ruled Egypt for 50 years starting in 1047 B.C.

In contrast, King Tut ruled for only 10 years, dying at the age of 19.  His rule began in 1332 B.C. but he is so much more famous because his is the only intact royal tomb ever found.  It was amazing to look at all the detail on the mask.  It was interesting to think of all the hours craftsman put into creating the works of art that would be sealed up in tombs never to be seen again.  You'll notice that Psusennes' mask only has the cobra which shows he only ruled over lower Egypt.

The exhibit was divided into different galleries.  At each exit, a security guard stood there and would not let any unaccompanied children pass by.  The children found this very irritating because I was going slow.  Isaac later said, "R.J.'s family went through in a half hour and we were there two hours!"  I told him I'd been waiting more than 30 years to get there and I was enjoying myself.

After the visit.  Elizabeth took our photo.

After we finished with the exhibit, we ate a brown bag lunch and headed to see the rest of the Science Center's exhibits.  They were having a special event where different colleges from the area each had booths teaching about life sciences.  Anastaya is very squeamish and didn't want to get too close to any real specimens but Elizabeth was happy to hold a sheep heart and explore the aorta with her fingers.

lunch time entertainment

Enjoying the rest of the science center.

We spent a while in the butterfly house, always a great place to spend a grey day!  

My Isaac was in a mopey mood all day.  I think Isaac C. would have gone into the butterfly house with us but he was trying to be a good friend to our Isaac.  My opinion is, if he wants to be a punk, ignore him!

After some exploring the science center, it was time for an IMAX movie about the mummies of Egypt.  We had Isaac Colson with us and he was so excited because he'd never been to an IMAX movie before.  Afterwards he decided that if he ever gets rich, he's going to rent an IMAX theater for gaming purposes.  

Heading back to the car.  Isaac Colson thought it was amazing to be this close to the Space Needle.  Although, he didn't think it was so great to be using the restroom with a homeless person sleeping in one of the stalls. 

It was so great to see the exhibit.  When it leaves Seattle on January 6, 2013, it returns to Egypt forever.  The kids told me that they think I should get a chance to see the artifacts again, in Egypt.  They're willing to accompany me on my dime.  Sounds like an amazing trip, too bad I don't have a newspaper route anymore.  That would be a lot of years delivering papers at 10 cents each!