All for the want of a Nickle.

Ever heard of that Nursery Rhyme, "All for the want of a horse-shoe nail" where an entire battle was eventually lost? Well, we had a similar experience at our house yesterday afternoon. It was quite relaxing at first. I was cleaning my room, Elsie was playing on my bed, and Peter was rolling around on my floor looking for spare change. Suddenly, Peter turned over onto his belly quickly and started gagging. I knew he had found a nickle, and suddenly, the realization came. He was swallowing a nickle! He gagged and cried and gagged and I quickly looked for signs of choking. He was breathing, but still very uncomfortable. I called my pediatrician and the nurse told me he needed to go to the ER or Insta-care. I ran outside where my neighbors had gathered on their hill and handed Elsie off. Another neighbor quickly got her car while I grabbed a throw-up bowl, and she took us to the Insta-care. I used her cell phone to call Mike. It took me 3 tries to get his cell phone number right. I admit, I was scared. I kept telling Peter, "It's okay, you can still breathe, you will be alright" to comfort him, but truely, I was comforting myself. Just as we were about to drive into the Insta-care parking lot, Peter threw-up. As he threw up, I heard with it a "clink" from the bowl. After fishing around with my finger through his bile (being a mother really has its moments of desperation) I indeed found a nickle in the bowl. PHEEEW! Peter immediately felt better and I can't tell you the amount of relief that was lifted from me. I called the pediatritian back and asked if anything further needed to be checked. He gave me the clear that everything was indeed all right. As my neighbor put it, "There's never a dull moment at our house!" Isn't that the truth.

Bees

After reading The Secret Life of Bees, the busy insects have become an interest of mine. I've read a bit into the health benefits of honey, vs. sugar and read a little bit on the social structure of a beehive and whatnot. Well, I've forced my interest onto Peter and checked out books from the library for him on bees. For Joy/Pre School this last Wednesday, we met at my house and learned about bees as well. The kids loved it. When I asked, "Who do you think gathers all the honey and does all the work in the hive?" The boys answer, "the boys" and the lone girl answered, "the girls". Well, she knew what life was all about, apparently (joke).
After we talked about it for a while, we went to a local business that sells honey. In their store they have an actual hive behind glass. Peter and his joy-school friends loved it! The store manager even found the queen bee and we all got to see it. It was fun for even me. Then the kids had a great time sampling all the different flavors of honey. They were so enthralled, which is a rare occurrence for all of them at once. When I asked Peter and his male friend what their favorite part was, they said seeing the queen bee. When I asked Peter's little girl-friend what her fav was, she said seeing all the "princess bees". I didn't get it until later, but now it makes perfect sense. If all the workers are girls, and there is one queen bee, all the others must be princesses. Every once in a while, that glimpse you get into a child's brain is well worth the hours of frustration when you are not.

Is that a.... Groundhog?

I was on a walk with Peter and Elsie a couple mornings ago and just as we reached our neighbor's house, I saw something in their driveway. I stopped, and stared. I knew right away it wasn't a cat or bunny, but the process of elimination continued. No, it's not a squirrel or beaver or weasel; too big to be a prarie dog. It must be a... groundhog? Out here in the West we don't see too many of those. However, I began to get pretty excited, after all, it was pretty cute. I pointed it out to Peter and he and I began to follow it around the driveway. It eventually hid behind a small wood pile of theirs, so we walked on home.
I eventually called the neighbors, and told them I thought they had a groundhog in their front yard. I could hear the skepticism in his voice, but he said he'd check it out. Come to find out, it wasn't quite a groundhog, but a rock chuck. Well, I needed some clarification, so I went to the trusty internet. Aparently, woodchucks and groundhogs are the same thing and found mostly throughout the east half of the country. From what I could gather, rock chucks are very closely related, but found here in the west. Well, my great neighbors, being the humane people they are, caught the rock chuck and took him up to a nearby canyon. It made for an unusual day!

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud!

There are signs of spring everywhere! Birds are chirping, bulbs are blooming, the grass is growing, and neighbors are out chatting. Ahhh, there is not anything more welcoming than the long awaited sun and warmth that comes with April! A few days ago I took the kids outside and we were enjoying just that, the outside. Often on sunny days my neighbors congregate on a little hill on the street and chat for hours. Anyone is welcome, so I wandered over there with the kids and began to chat for a bit. At first, Peter and Elsie were having a great time with all the neighbor's dogs. However, after being knocked down a few times, they soon tired of man's best friend and wandered off to greener pastures. After a few minutes, I thought it was about time I tracked them down. Come to find out, they had found another wonderful sign of spring, MUD! They were covered, and Elsie was even chowing down on the stuff. Good thing they were so cute and having so much fun, so that I couldn't afford to be mad. Those little rugrats.

Field Trip to the Fire Station

A group of friends with young children and I got together at my house in the morning, about a week ago, and I showed the kids our garage and what can happen in a fire. Some were excited, some were scared, and Peter was thrilled with the attention and telling his friends what happend. Afterward we loaded up and took a field-trip to the fire station. I felt blessed when we walked in and the fireman giving the tour had actually helped put out our fire. He was talking to the kids about what to do when their house, or garage, or something caught on fire, and Peter interjected, "Or when your favorite toy is on fire..." We all smiled, yes, especially when your favorite toy is on fire, you call 911, Peter.
He was a brand new fireman and had just been on the job 4 months, he told us. He let one of the boys try on his gear he wears when there is a fire. It was covered in soot, and one of the Mom's commented, "Look Peter, his coat looks like your garage!" The fireman nodded and said, "Actually, that is your garage." It had been a brand new coat previous to our fire, apparently. Although it was funny how semantics played out, the overwhelming feeling of gratitude came to me again, and I was so grateful for the hard work of these great firemen and their sacrifices for us, and me. Even though Peter was a bit shy, he had a great time and really enjoyed his fireman sticker at the end. He also loved watching the fireman come sliding down the pole and seeing how fast it was.

It's a Baby!

Yes, we are having another baby! On April 15th, Mike and I went to my doctor and got to see our baby on ultrasound. It had been a long 11 weeks plus, proceeding this date, since I began showing at 6 weeks. I am glad and relieved to finally make it official. The baby was a whopping 5 cm long at this point, and everything looked good and healthy. Whew, it's is always a relief.

General Conference

At the beginning of every April, those of the LDS faith gather around their churches or living room televisions for 2 days and listen to the words of our leaders and our beloved prophet, President Monson. With all the commotion in our home the previous week and work that needed to be done, I have to admit, my attention to this conference was undivided. However, Sunday morning came and we sat down together as a family and began to listen to conference while we ate doughnuts. Elder Uchtdorf spoke first, and began speaking of the confusion throughout the world and wrestlessness in people's hearts when he said, "People run from one new idea to the next, hoping to find something that will answer the burning questions of their souls." Peter had been running around, doing his thing, when suddenly he stopped and turned to Mike and I and said, "Hey! We have a burning question! Why did we have a fire in our garage?" That's right Peter, that is a good burning question. I just love how little minds see and hear things!

Our Fire

Wow, has this month been a whirlwind! About 4 weeks ago I was hanging out downstairs with Peter and Elsie and went upstairs to make a bottle. After making the bottle and getting ready to head back downstairs, I paused a moment and smelled. Hmmm, I thought, could that be a gas leak? I proceeded to check out our oven, making sure everything was turned off. Hmmm, this was surely an odd smell to be smelling, I thought. Just then I heard a "Pop" from the garage, and my mind reverted back (was it 4 years ago?) to when our neighbor's garage caught on fire, and that very sound was what I first heard from their home. The realization dawned on me, that there was a huge possibility the smell was a fire in our garage. I went to our garage door, 15 feet away, and opened it, only to see black smoke billowing into the house. I closed the doore and quickly ran downstairs. I told Peter that we needed to leave the house, because there was a fire in the garage. He went into a panick mode and bolted for the stairs, only to stop half way up to burst into tears. I quickly grabbed the phone and called... 911? No, my husband, and told him we had a garage fire and that HE needed to call 911. He was a bit hesitant, not knowing what was really happening. I hung up and ran to my neighbor's home, with my 3-year-old in one arm, and my 1-year-old in the other. I found a neighbor that was home (and how relieved was I about that!) and asked if I could use her phone. I quite calmly told her I needed to call 911 because our house was on fire. Wow, this is harder to write than I had expected. All the emmotions come flooding back to me.
Anyhow, she took my children, and I ran back out to meet the police and firemen, who came within minutes. Within 6 minutes they had the fire put out. We had 20 gallons of gas in our garage that had miraculously been untouched. How blessed we are!! Our home was mostly untouched and still liveable. I often think, if those firement had been just 5 minutes later in coming, what a different story I may be telling. How grateful I am that everyone was safe and our home was so well protected. It's funny how an emergency such as this, has woken my senses to appreciate my blessings and God's love for me and His children.
As the days have gone on, I continue to see the miracles God continues sends. Miraculously, we put our car in the picture into reverse and drove it right out of the garage. With a few green scrub brushes and a heavy concentration of water and laundry soap, we scrubbed the soot right off the car. You would never know it had been in a fire. So many friends have had "family nights" at our home salvaging posessions and helping us clean. They have brought meals and food over and have been an unceasing strength to me.