"911, What's Your Emergency?"

Tuesday afternoon ended up a little differently than we imagined.  Our Kai-boy is still in one piece and everything is fine--but it took four hours of adventures to be sure that was true.

We went for our usual after-school play date at the park with a pile of Discovery Homeschool Academy friends for a fun time doing dangerous things like running with sticks & spinning too fast on the tire swing.  The moms gathered in the sunshine to keep warm & catch up on all the craziness of being who we are.

The mob of ditch urchins made their way up to the playground and just as I was starting to think it was about time to go, time froze as a scream pierced through the giggles of play.  My friend, Kelly, dashed toward the playground saying "He fell right on his head!".  I turned to look and saw a crumpled boy with a mop of red hair laying limp on the ground under the monkey bars.

The moment when you realize it's your own kid seriously hurt is hard to describe.  Moms swarmed over us as I held him still on the ground.  I remember hearing "don't let him move", "hold him still", "is he okay?" over his sobs.  Someone wrapped the blanket I had been snuggled in over him and I grabbed my phone, called 911 and started praying.  Thankfully, while we waited for the EMTs, he was conscious and could move his fingers and toes.

When they arrived, he had calmed down enough to tell them what happened.  He had leaped off of the elevated stepping pads to the s-shaped monkey bars--something that he said "usually works".  But his sweaty hands caused him to slip and the momentum made him flip to the ground, landing directly on his head.  The fall was from about six feet in the air so the EMTs said, "No choice, you're headed for Children's Mercy." 

So, collared and strapped to the board, they loaded him up in the ambulance.  He seemed calm and I could tell by the speed of the procedure that there was not an immediate danger, which helped me to think as clearly as can be expected at such a time.  Eric & I were a little disappointed they didn't get to use the sirens and drive really fast--I mean, we did pay for a ride!

"Try not to look dead, Kai, okay?"

My dear friend Kathy was able to take Elena and Zane home with her, Eric was meeting us at the ER, and my sister, Jodi, helped juggle phone calls, kids and meetings that we were supposed to attend.  I'm so thankful for them all!  We kept in touch via text during the evening, and knowing Kai was bathed in prayers of so many families was such a comfort for him and for me.

We were at the ER for about three hours, which I totally realize isn't that long of a visit, but it sure felt like forever for my hungry boy who was flat on his back.  Children's Mercy does many thing well, but the mirrored glasses that allowed him to watch the ceiling-mounted TV probably topped his list of favorites.  He was uncomfortable with the collar on for so long, but he was so patient and very concerned for the other patients that he heard entering the ER with screams and sobs.

After two trips to radiology to rule out any breaks (neck x-ray, ct scan & an elbow x-ray), three nice nurses and two great docs, Kai was able to walk out of the ER with instructions for some ibuprofen, a hot shower & to "be a better monkey!".  Not too shabby.

As a momma to two rough-and-tumble boys, I couldn't help wondering if I should have just let him dust off and hop up to run again.  I talked to the CM staff and my own Mom, who is also an ER nurse, and they both reassured me that calling 911 was the right thing to do.  It would have been a disservice to Kai to take the chance of serious injury to his spine.  My heart hurts for the kids who don't get to walk away like he did. 

So all glory to God for yet again protecting our beloved boy!  Thank you, Jesus!

Giddy with Gold

Up, eat, go to other house, get school going, paint, feed munchkins, paint, more school, paint, eat again, paint. Yeah, guess what I've been doing? But it looks faaa-buulous (can you hear me sing that?).

Pictures say more than words, so peruse at your leisure...of course, I'll have to add a few comments.

Elena's mural wall completed

After sketching the design in pencil, I started filling it in using a small angled brush and attempting a steady hand.   I ended up going over the entire scroll two-three times tweaking the curves and touching up edges.  This design was copied from a picture we found on Houzz (the world's most awesome, inspiring home design site) and I would link to it here but my iMac is having some internet issues and can't get to it.

Aqua bath for our girl

The golden hallway (paint is wet here)...lovin' the chocolate doors!  I've had lots of comments about them...go for it at your house...and painting them on the hinges seems to be the easiest.

Ahhh...that's a touch of sun going in under the master bath tiles.  A Sun Touch tile warmer mat thingy, that is.  I dared not even ask my super-handy honey to get this for us...but HE brought it up and wanted to try it.  Wheeee!  My piggies will be happy.  As long as it works.  It's almost ready to hook up.  Fingers crossed!

Kitchen "before" aka "this morning"

Kitchen "after" aka "this afternoon". 

And that's it.  For today at least.  Tomorrow brings more gold on the main level hall and living room...plus fun Valentine's Day parties at the kiddo's academy.   I think I'll go crash now. 

Progress on the Kids' Rooms

I can't tell if I'm moving in slow-motion, or so fast my head is just spinning.  Two bedrooms down and our new way of life is starting to fall into a routine.  Hopefully the whole fam coming home at 10 p.m.--like last night--will not be part of that routine!

We worked on Kai's room last week...he likes to add a little graffiti each time he paints.

He found several design elements he liked on the much-loved houzz.com, but after much discussion, we decided a really cool horizontal stripe technique would be the best bet for longevity.  The green is left over from the color of his other bedroom.  It turns out quite dark when full on all walls, but was perfect for this accent.  I eyeballed where to place the stripes along the wall, then measured and marked all the way around.  Thankfully, I didn't get out the level as it might have drove me more crazy.  Bring on the frog tape!

Worked like a charm!  I don't think I pressed hard enough on the top tapes so had a tad bit of seepage on the brown stripe, but nothing that 40 minutes with an artist's brush and a steady hand didn't take care of.  The best advice I found, but didn't take, was to go over all the edges with the base color before doing the stripes...I think I wanted to test out the claims of the green tape!

We hung the now brown doors and replaced the outlet covers last night...he already has his tent set up, ready to camp, or more likely, do his reading in the new space.

So this week I've been working on Elena's bedroom.  It's a vision in lavender.  Even the ceiling.  Actually, it's a really cute theme with a stenciled border of carousel horses and two shades of light purple.  But that's not going to fly with my girl.  She has done her research...again on houzz...and has quite the plan.  But first...as she wrote in her English assignment yesterday..."I've learned it takes a looooonnnnngggg time to prep to paint!"

And even longer if Momma insists on learning to use new tools.  I'm ever-so proud of myself for figuring out how to use a paint sprayer in order to save me hours teetering on a ladder cutting in a vaulted ceiling.  Many props out to the paint guys at the Raymore Lowes for giving me a full-on demo when I showed up with my borrowed machine and asked for help!

This is the set up, and above you can see the handy-dandy extension wand that made my ceiling-painting a breeze.

Someone asked how I managed to not have paint all over me.....

 That's how.  Awesome.

And after seeing how easy it was to use the sprayer, I decided I should just spray all the trim too!  So yesterday I decided to rip all the carpet out of her room.  All you gym-goers...forget that...just rip up carpet.  It was quite the workout and I may have some nicely sculpted shoulders and arms after this project!  (Good timing since I'm no longer carrying around a toddler, which usually takes care of that.)   I was delighted to find that they did not staple the pad down...hoping that is true for the whole house.

Cutting in around the ceiling yesterday...it's a long way down.

Elena took care of the corners and around outlets...while Super Z-Man...well, that's how he usually looks.

Today I tackle the sprayer again to do the trim in Elena's room and perhaps the hallway.  Our special-order Cocoa-colored grout should be ready for pick up in the next few days and we can then grout the three rooms already tiled...maybe four as Eric is working on Elena's bathroom floor today.  Yeeeee!  Excited!

Meanwhile...the kids are liking doing school work down in the basement (just didn't want anyone to think they were off the hook LOL).  We're studying China for two weeks leading up to the big Chinese New Year celebration at the Nelson-Atkin's Art Museum.

And don't think Eric and I are JUST working...we're playing in the Ice Bowl disc golf tourney this weekend (my first tournament) and plan to go freeze our patooties off in the name of charity.   Brrr...the tag line is "No Wimps.  No Whiners."  What a perfect tournament for me.  Ha.

You Might Like Previous House Posts:

The Work Has Begun    A Tour of the Bones

The Work has Begun!

Whattyaknow.  Between real life and working on the new house, finding the time to journal about our progress is rare.  So while the pasta boils, here's a peek at what we've started with one good work Saturday and snippets of time from day to day.

Eric is on floor duty, and this one is icky!  It's the powder room on the main floor hallway and had a tad bit of a toilet leak.  Thankfully, the subfloor does not need replaced so it's ready to prep for tile in this pic.

 

Meanwhile, I've started tackling the walls and trim, starting in the smallest bedroom.  The prepwork is fantastic.  I think perhaps the previous owners let their kiddos loose with pushpins and posters.  Anywhoo, spackle is my friend.

Bye, bye vinyl!!

Eric was going to learn a new skill and refinish the kitchen floors himself, but after talking to several people and doing more research, we've decided to leave it to the professionals.  As soon as we get a sample of the prefinished floor that we're installing in the living room, we'll have the refinishers match the stain as close as possible.

Mmmm....chocolate!  I'm pretty traditional, a lot eclectic and a tad bit trendy with my decorating, so for the interior doors I'm going with trend.  They are all getting a fresh coat (or two...or three) of deeply chocolate paint.  I LOVE them with the fresh white trim!  This is getting started on door #1 of....hmmm....I don't think I want to count.

Ooh, look!  Progress on that nasty powder room floor!  This was taken last night and now it's almost complete.  We choose a rich brown tile for all the bathrooms and laundry.  It's color variations remind me of a well-loved leather chair.  ♥

I always let my kids paint--at least a little bit--in their own room.  Here Zane takes to the roller with relish!

Last night's finishing touch was hanging the closet doors in Zane's now finished bedroom (except carpet).  Looks FANTASTIC! 

Now I'm onto the prep work in Kai's bedroom.  This window sill has some water damage so after sanding through several layers of paint, I gave up and spackled the whole thing to resurface it.  I spent this afternoon cutting in and hope to get over there tonight to finish cut #2.

So it's a start!  We ordered the prefinished wood floor today and decided on the carpet.  In other news, we had two showings on our Sandpiper house this weekend so traffic is picking up...and so am I...ya know, socks, laundry, legos, legos and did I mention legos?