My Broken Head

Our family hosted a yard sale on Saturday. We did well considering the wind and my husband and I considered the many ways we could spend the extra cash. Towards the end of the sale, our four-year-old was jumping on the sofa. I was busy with a last-minute customer and not really paying too much attention. This level of activity is normal for my girl. So is the stunt she pulled when she jumped off the couch and landed head first in the dirt next to the couch. I heard no screams so I continued with the customer. A moment later, the screams came from my older daughter when she saw the blood running down her sisters face. I yelled at my husband and he came to see the problem. He carried our daughter into the kitchen and pulled out the peroxide and cotton balls. Under all of that blood was a fair-sized cut, not too deep, under her bangs. Ironically, she and I decided last week that we would let her bangs grow out. While I looked on and held tightly to my child, my husband cleaned the cut as best as he could. An uncertainty about how clean the cut was and a concern for scarring, we decided a trip to the urgent care clinic was necessary. Upon arrival, my husband was told that because she landed on her head, they would need to go to the emergency room. Fast forward to the two of them sitting on a bed in the E.R. hallway talking to the nurse. The nurse asked my daughter what happened and my daughter replied, " I broke my head." Later my daughter asked her daddy if there were pieces of her head laying all over the place.

Thankfully, she got through her ordeal (third hospital visit for a head injury for the record) and is healing happily. She got ice cream on the way home and shared with the teddy bear the hospital volunteer gave her. She proudly wears her hospital bracelet and is excited about picture day tomorrow with her forehead glued shut and bandage protecting the wound. I, on the other hand, am mourning the fact that I will be sending my "extra money" from the yard sale to pay the hospital.

Refreshment in Amboy

Our family went to beautiful Amboy for a few days of relaxation and refreshment. Anyone who knows Amboy is probably thinking I am crazy, but it was a wonderful weekend. Driving through Amboy, you see the remnants of a small but liveable town. There once was a restaurant, hotel, gas station, school, and other unrecognizeable buildings. Now, only a few residents remain but no businesses. My husband works just outside of Amboy and stays in a travel trailer on a coworker's property during the workweek, along with several other coworkers. The girls and I joined him for a quiet time in the desert. While he worked, the kids enjoyed digging in the dirt while I caught up on my reading. Wen he got back to camp on Friday, we ventured down a long dirt road to see a ghost town (remnants of houses and a mine) and sand dunes. When we arrived at the point where vehicles must stop at the sand dunes, we got out of the car and found nature at its finest. The ground was peppered with white flowers that looked like poppies. At closer glance, giant caterpillars, 3 inches long, were munching on the flowers. The kids were enthralled with the sight. On the way back we found a lemon grove where we picked enough lemons to make lemonade when we got back to the trailer. The following day we slept in, leisurely packed up, and headed home, stopping at Dairy Queen for ice cream on the way. We ended the "vacation" with pizza and movies at home. I doubt we spent more than $100 (gas being half of that cost) but we all had a great time.

So Cal Spring Break Cabin Fever?!?!

In beautiful, sunny Southern California, I would never think of having cabin fever over spring break. But that is exactly the situation in which I have found myself. I planned every day of spring break so that my kids would not have a chance to complain of boredom and my child who needs constant activity would not have a chance to find trouble. Saturday we went to Calico, Sunday we celebrated Easter, Monday was a visit to the library, and yesterday a visit to Grandma and Papa's house. Today would have been a trip to Coldstone for ice cream and then the park, tomorrow we leave for vacation returning Saturday, and Sunday is church.

Instead we are stuck indoors because the wind is too bothersome to allow for an enjoyable day outdoors. This would be good since we have so much to do to get ready to leave tomorrow, but the kids are going crazy and in turn driving me crazy! My solution? Pull out a new something I have stashed away so they can have some new fun and I can get some work done. I have lots of goodies hidden in my closet for just such an occasion. Sometimes it is a trip to the doctor, sometimes a sad day, sometimes an accomplishment, and sometimes just because, but a smile is guaranteed when I reach into the depths of my closet. I have DVDs, stickers, books, and other things that I pick up occasionally when they catch my eye and then into the closet they go.

Now, to get my work done...