SLED FREE OR DIE

The Bach's came to visit.

We had a FUN day.
On the schedule of activities?
SLEDDING!
Here are some pictures Sister Bach took.

Thank you again for coming!
(and come back soon!!!)

The LONG walk up the hill...
(LOVE this picture)

Sledding = Joy

MAN DOWN!!!

NO...I DO NOT THINK

I can dance.
But it sure was fun trying.

BEN'S BEEN GOOD....

Have YOU?!?!

THE REST OF THE STORY...

Here's the rundown:
Monday Ben was at BB's.

She gave him night meds - and told me so.

Shortly after Steve picked him up.

Put him to bed after arriving home.

Gave him a second set of night meds.
(unbeknownst to me)

See...I forgot to relay that SMALL detail to him.

An hour later I went upstairs.
They were both sleeping.

I had an impression about the meds.

I asked Steve if he had given them to Ben.

YES was his answer.
My heart sank.

I called his doctor.

"Get him to the hospital" was his reply.

Ben was unconscious at this point.

We couldn't wake him.

(it was unnerving)

The ER put two IO's in his shins

(still no reaction from him)

and pumped lots of fluid

to help with his VERY low BP.

The local ambulance came

and I cringed.

I can't help it.
I SMELLED fear

as they approached him.

It's a mother bear thing.

As they are walking out the door,

the medic grabs my arm and says...

"We ain't gonna let the grass grow
driving up there if ya know what I mean."
WHAAAT?!?!

I turn to leave trying hard not to roll my eyes.

He grabs me again and tells me,

"And I know your husband's a cop, but you ain't gonna have the same leeway as us medic folk, so don't try to keep up with us."

Might I add that these are the medics that took an HOUR to load Ben onto the stretcher and into the ambulance?  It was painfully slow.  I had my bed made, things unpacked and almost fell asleep by the time they arrived. 

The PICU put an IV in,

took his IO out...
ran more fluid,

and Ben slept the rest of the night.

AND then all of the next day.

He was in his happy place.
The end.

(I hope)

HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME!

Yesterday I was sitting in front of my Christmas tree, finishing up the last of my cards, while thinking about this past year.  It seems like not a week goes by where there isn't SOME kind of drama in my life.  And I'm not even Relief Society President.  I was actually thinking that THIS must be the week.  This is the week that will sail smoothly and happily by, and my fellow blog readers will be just as happy about it as I.  After all, Christmas is only 2 days away.  Only good things, right?  That is, until the lines of communication go awry.  Sometimes it happens.  And it just so happened to be last night.  I'll go into more detail tomorrow, because tonight I'm plum tuckered out.  Here's the cliff's note version.  Ben was accidentally overdosed on his medication.  He spent a night in the PICU for observation.  (We arrived at 2am)  He received his first (and second) IO's.  (IV's that go directly into the bone - shin bones to be exact...drill and all)  Blood pressures were dangerously low and heartrate was hanging around 40.  He was un-arousable...completely unconcious.  We were discharged this morning and spent the day going to our appointments as regularly scheduled.  The good news?  He's gonna be fine AND I happened to get all of my cinnamon rolls made and in the car before all of this happened.  That means there were some very happy nurses, doctors and valet friends.

   Ben going by ambulance.

In the PICU, nurses looking for IV access.

The IO that stayed in the longest.

The other IO that didn't last very long.

Ben at one of his doctor appointments.

It was a whirlwind trip.  My head is still spinning.  I'm beyond exhaustion.  AND I'm going to bed.

HEY LADY...IT'S ME!

The other day I was in Walmart exchanging some items that we had but didn't end up needing.  Kayla was waiting patiently for me in the car.  When I was done, I walked out of the store and in the distance a lady happened to catch my eye.  I could have sworn it was Stevie's 2nd grade teacher, someone that I dearly loved and hadn't seen in awhile.  She was unloading her cart into her car.  In my mind I decided that I was going to detour her way to say hello and give her a big hug.  As I was hurrying towards her with this OPEN MOUTH LOOK OF EXCITEMENT, I noticed that she too was appearing very happy to see me as HER mouth had a WIDE GRIN on it.  Had I paid more attention, I might have noticed the "not sure I recognize you" look in her eyes.  My eyes were locked on hers and hers on mine as I moved closer.  I was trying very hard to contain my excitement, although I must admit that I started to half skip at this point.  I got even closer when it was starting to dawn on me that maybe this wasn't who I thought it was...my head started doing that tilt of confusion, afterall she was STILL smiling at me, WHY was she still smiling at me?  My pace slowed way down as I started to doubt myself.  I should have picked up on the clue that she was unloading her basket faster and faster never taking her eyes off of me, probably hoping to jump in her car to get away before I reached her.  It wasn't until I was a couple of car lengths away from her that I finally saw her clearly and realized that this was NOT the lady I thought it was. My body then made an abrubt left turn back to my car, only this time I was running.  Inside my car...waiting for me...was my 14 year old HYSTERICALLY laughing at me as she had witnessed the whole thing.

TIS' THE SEASON...

For WRAPPING!
Hours and hours of wrapping.
Santa has some pretty cute helpers. ;)

Every year the police department chooses families that are in need and delivers Christmas presents to them on Christmas Eve. There is a lot of work that goes into it before that night. There is a lot of shopping, sorting, and wrapping to be done. We've carried on this tradition for many years now and my kids look forward to it every Christmas. I love that they can be involved in something so wonderful.

Merry and Bright!
Lots and lots of Christmas cheer ready to be delivered.
I am grateful for happy hearts and willing helpers.
Bonus shot of Stevie's healing bruise. This picture doesn't really bring out the lovely colors, but you get an idea anyway.

THREE'S A CROWD...

One of the teachers at the high school where Steve works gave this pink doggie bed to him to bring home for Mickey. It's a dog bed for ONE. He thought she would like it. She LOVES it. Apparently the boys do too. I've been laughing all day because we have two roomy beds for the pugs and it's THIS one that they ALL want. More than once I've seen Max standing on the outside watching Mickey and Sue share the bed wondering how he could get his beefy body on board without capsizing it. He finally figured it out. These are some pictures I took through out the day. Three is definitely a crowd...but a happy, warm, snuggly crowd.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS...

Is a new incisor.

Thursday is basketball night.

I'm still on the injured reserve list,

so I stayed home with the kids.
2 hours later I got a phone call.

It's Steve.
An elbow to the mouth and one less tooth later,

I make a phone call to our neighborhood dentist.

That ought to be a pretty bill

for someone who has NO dental insurance.

GOOD GRAVY!
(note to self: buy mouthgards)

The GOOD news?
Now he REALLY looks like he's from NH!

REALLY?

( Apparently changing a seven year old's bum requires a pediatric size mask, actually it require a WHOLE lot bigger of a mask, but it's all we got.)

There are just NO words for this post.
(probably because I'm LAUGHING so hard)

CAROLING...

It's a DANGEROUS pastime.
Remember two years ago when Kaleb got hit by a CAR?!?!
And how my husband called me at home telling me:
"Kaleb's been hit by a car....(5 second pause while my heart dropped into my shoes)...but he's okay. You'd think a police officer would know to reverse the order of that sentence.

Kaleb ended up having some serious bruises and contusions, but he walked away from it thankfully. Tonight it was Stevie's turn. She came home with a nice "shiner" on her right cheek. Should be beautiful by morning. There's an even BIGGER bruise on her knee...I just didn't take a picture of it because her face is much cuter than her knee. I'm just sayin'...

PS: My blood work came back normal.
The end.

ONLY IN NH...

(45 minutes I tailed this guy. I was fluxuating between being totally grossed out to being somewhat jealous. WHAT? I like deer meat. But c'mon, THREE deer? And did they HAVE to be strategically placed like that, with the hoofs flailing about? SICK!)

"PATIENCE" Daniel Son!

It's not my best virtue. I try, I really do. Sometimes I pray for more patience, but that seems to get me into more trouble. Today was my first day back at my Muay Thai class. It's been about 17 days. That's about as long as I could wait. Remember I tore my calf muscle playing basketball RIGHT after one of my Muay Thai classes? Well, I finally felt good enough to go today. I let my instructor know to go easy on me. He understood because he's torn his TWICE! We did some light running, it felt good. I made sure to really stretch out my calfs...along with other muscles. Then we started hitting the bag. He warned me about the round kicks. (See picture) You have to switch legs quickly, which puts a lot of pressure on the calf muscle. I made a mental note and proceeded with the class. Halfway through we started doing pad work. I was working with Dashi (the grandmaster) and got distracted. I went to do the round kick on my left side and heard the 'POP' again. It dropped me to the floor. SO....I'm back on the bench, the injured, reserve bench. (sigh)

BLOOD WORK

Doctor's. They frustrate me. Six weeks ago I had surgery to remove half of my thyroid. Afterwards it was my resposibility to get my blood checked four weeks out of surgery. I kept reminding myself, but life sometimes gets away from me. Then I went to Utah. Because I had to take Stevie to the hopsital for an appointment the other day I thought I 'd kill two birds with one stone. Plus I haven't been feeling great. I brought my blood work with me and had it drawn. The results would be ready in a day or so. I gave them two days. I called this morning. All I wanted was a yes or no. YES you do have to take medication to regulate your now imbalanced thyroid for the rest of your life or NO everything looks great and your half a thyroid is making plenty of hormones to regulate your body. That's all I was looking for. Yes or No. After speaking to the secretary and asking for my results, I hear her quietly whispering to the doctor. After a few minutes he gets on the phone and proceeds to explain to me that he really needs to see me face to face so that he can give me the results. This isn't just something he can tell me over the phone. THAT right there gives me a hint. Remember the LAST time that happened? He called and wanted to see me to go over the results of my thyroid biopsy. (if it had been normal, he would have said so over the phone) I wanted to tell him..."Do you KNOW how hard it is for me to get out of the house with my son? I can't just throw him in the car and run over there, never mind the risk of exposure to germs at a doctor's office?!?!" Now I have to wait until next Tuesday. I could be totally wrong though and my numbers may be perfectly normal but I'm bracing myself for an abnormal result. I know it's not the end of the world to be on medication for the rest of my life, but I will still be sad. I love the freedom of not being dependent. After all...I AM a very independent girl. ;)

HAMMERTIME MEETS...

CYNDI LAUPER

(pictures like this are too good NOT to share)

Can't touch this!

Steve just called, he told me that

"White Snake" wants their lead singer back.

MAKE-A-WISH CHRISTMAS PARTY

Today was the annual party.
Here is our "Very Important Person" Because the crowd was LARGE,

our wish granters gave us a quiet, private room.

This was great for keeping all the germs away from Ben.

We enjoyed lots and lots of yummy food.
The chocolate fountain is always a favorite.

There were cookies to decorate...

crafts to make...

prizes that were won...
(even the special kid got a prize)

Face painting and games...

And pictures with Santa Claus.
(I love the way he's gazing up at him)

All that fun makes for a tired ride home.

We LOVE you Make-A-Wish,

and THANK YOU!

MY TWIN

Love you Ben.
And thank you for hosting me.

XOXO

IN THE PRESENCE OF...

This is how I spent my day,
surrounded by these dear children.
It makes being away from Ben a little easier.
I get to hold their hands and kiss their cheeks.

This is Hunter.
And Caleb.
And Chloe.

Thanks for helping me fill the void until I can return home to squeeze my own boy.