"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!

Wordless Wednesday

My Entertainment

Just in case any of you have forgotten what it's like to have a two-year-old in the house...here are some samplings of this morning's conversations. Mind you, this is a very opinionated and slightly bossy two-year-old who speaks quite fluently and with much emphasis on getting his way.

No! I not a Doggy, I Zane!

Don't sing dat, just put my shorts on now! (Evidently he doesn't like my singing.)

You go on airplane Mommy? I go on airplane too.

I want cereal, not cheerios. Dose cheerios have milk? Oh, okay.

I DONE! Take my tray off! Take my bib off!

Me: Do you want shoes on? Zane: No, I fine. Me: Okay, just stay on the porch (shutting door). Zane: NOOOOO! (stomping feet & getting upset) I need shoes on!!!

I run way now. (Was sitting down to get shoes on...)

I funny. He he he he he.

Where are you Mommy? Oh! I find you!

Bathtime @ Our House

I think I'll leave this one as a Wordless Wednesday post...

Back to Home-School!

Yay! Yesterday was our first day of school for the year. This is the first time we've started before Labor Day so it feels a little strange to me, myself, and I but we're thinking it will work out fine and dandy. Obviously the children are...well, what are they?? Goofy? Silly Rabbits? Funny Bunnies? Something.


The new schedule has them freaked out--especially the room check before lunch and the starting time of 8 a.m. I suppose they're the only ones who realize it's just a schedule on paper...and real life doesn't always follow the plan.

Ooooohh! I LOVE new school books and supplies! Elena is in 3rd Grade and Kai is in 1st. Here's our line up for this year:


Bible/History/Science/Literature/Reading: Adventures In My Father's World (American History for 2nd & 3rd graders and their younger siblings)

Spelling: Spelling Power for Elena (This program starts in 3rd grade and can work all the way through 8th. I have high hopes.) Kai will start spelling next year.

English: Elena-Primary Language Lessons (2nd half) Kai-Language Lessons for Little Ones, book 3

Copywork/Drawing: Draw Write Now books 2 & 6

Math: Elena-Teaching Textbooks 3 Kai-Horizons 1

Electives: Discovery Homeschool Academy (YAY for Tuesdays!!) They cover music, art, PE, keyboarding, Spanish, science, social studies & tons of fun.

Wow, that all seems so nice and tidy. If I had time to go on and on I could tell you the process of making all those decisions. It's a lot of work!

Our office is still providing a lovely area for school...we rearranged the walls a bit and still have some tweaking to do.


Oh, some more B2S poses:


Aren't they sweet?


Here's our timeline wrapping around the walls:


A close-up:

And my favorite framed print...(my new camera has a fish-eye option...kind of strange, but okay!):


Happy Back to School or Home-School week to you all! Enjoy the Adventures!!!

Boys' Birthdays!

It's Birthday Season at our house...only one more to go this month. Here are some snaps of our fun times for ya to check out!

Four boys all born the same week, all but one the same year! That's my Kai-boy in orange.

We didn't wonder why he had a tummy ache that evening...

Almost every Vox boy child (and several of the girls) around age 6! It was a blast and they loved swimming altogether. I had my work cut out for me just making sure Zane didn't drown...he has no fear!

Speaking of Zane...he turned two on the 11th! Here he is seriously working on blowing that second candle out.

A bi-tar!!! And with Mickey Mouse to boot! He was in heaven!

That afternoon we drove out to spend a few days in Wichita. We celebrated with a trip to Coldstone Creamery. Mmmmm....

I like to take them all at once for birthday portraits. So they are all ready to go, but Momma couldn't find her $50 gift certificate and called it off. (Anyone who has ever prepared their young children for picture day can imagine the anguish in my own heart at calling it off...hours of dressing, blow drying, flat ironing, not spilling...all for naught. Sigh.) You can also see why I take them to a professional. This was the best one out of several. Okay, the last one was fun.

The Apple Juice Song

So Zane baby is singing now. It takes him about a minute and a half to get going in this clip...probably because he was rockin' out to his tune right before I turned on the camera. Elena and Kai will join in at the end with some comments...you have to check out Kai's necklace!

Not Mad Dog Hill...

We were hoping to go tackle the infamous "Mad Dog Hill" in Belton yesterday with our friends, the Thomases. But alas, just like something I would do (according to Eric) Kathy brought every stitch of snow gear possible and left her sleds at home! So over to their house we went...and got to try out the very fine sledding hill right across from their backyard!

This is the first "in-the-snow" experience for baby Zane. I think he was toast by the time the above group shot was taken! Okay, maybe he was toast from the beginning...it was just a balmy 17 degrees.


Kai is fearless (surprise, surprise)!


And Elena-bug loves anything remotely in the fun catergory!


Luckily, I was the one with the camera and did not get on the other side of the lens. Kathy, on the other hand...


We really had a great time with the kiddos and took them out for lunch at Pizza Shoppe afterward! Just another reason homeschooling rocks...with school done by 10 a.m. the sledding hills are all to ourselves!

Today there was more snow action in our front yard with the neighbor kids. Forts and snowballs to go along with a clowny snowman. Elena and Caden were out there for at least two hours solid! Three more inches tomorrow and maybe we'll make it over to Mad Dog Hill this week.

Funny Boy

Kai is a bit of a born comedian. He'll do or say about anything for a laugh. It's a God-given gift as neither Eric nor I are very funny...we have to get around Eric's Mom and Chuck to get the giggles as they laugh all the time.

Anyway, the kids and I were just telling the cow jokes on the side of our yogurt cups this morning and I remembered something from last month. I was wanting the kids to try out 4H for a potential "club" type thing for them to do together so we went to one meeting. When they did the roll-call, each person had to tell their favorite animal. Most were normal favorites--dog, cat, horse, bunny etc.

"Kai Eastwood?"

Loud and clear he answers: "PLATYPUS!"

Lots of snickers and he sits back with a satisfied smirk on his cute face.

Certainly this answer was from too much exposure to Phineas and Ferb (our favorite cartoon), but clever none-the-less.

Wordless Wednesday

Cute Baby Gift!

This darling Rocking Dragon is what we ordered for Zane's Christmas gift. Is it not the cutest thing ever?

It's on backorder from One Step Ahead until December 3rd so I hope they get a big shipment and we get ours! Here's a link if you want one for your cute little one...plus their special this week is $5 flat shipping.

I'm getting giddy!

Gingerbread Days!

We're baking gingerbread today! The Raymore Breakfast with Santa is Saturday, December 4 and we always make a couple houses for their Gingerbread House Silent Auction. The proceeds go towards our parks department and we love supporting their endeavors. This year I'm using a pattern for Row Houses and the kids are each making a house too!

Here is my entry from last year. The gal who won it kept it for displaying again this year. It was much fun to make...even had working lights inside!

I used the pattern for the Phantom House (a Halloween house, obviously) at the Haunted Dimensions website and just left off the porch and made it Christmas-y. They use cookie dough for their main house, but gingerbread works great (better in my opinion).

Then two years ago (gasp!...that seems like forever ago...I was 6 mos. pregnant with Zane) we each made a house. I was experimenting with recipes that year so poor Kai's caved in!

This one was done using the Farmhouse Pattern from Ultimate Gingerbread. I LOVE their site...navigating it can be a bit tricky, but it is packed with great ideas, patterns and recipes. Here is a link to their gingerbread construction-grade recipes: CLICK HERE and the one I use is called "My Favorite Gingerbread Dough" found if you scroll down to the bottom of that page.

I hope you take some time this Christmas to try out some gingerbread making fun! We started out a few years ago with the easy kits they sell all over the place...perfect for kids and less-ambitious grown-ups...and believe me, much less mess!

Elena's Half Birthday

Not sure how we started celebrating half-birthdays, but it sure is fun! We figure any excuse for cupcakes is a good one! Since Elena is SEVEN and a HALF now, I let her use the hand mixer for the first time. She did great!


My kids are never anxious for cake or anything...


And seven just really is a great age...some days we're all grown up and then some days...yay, the little girl is still there!


And then there's the one and a half year old...oh dear!

A Couple Firsts

Kai's first tooth...is missing! Yay!

His two bottom teeth were super wiggly so with a little help from Daddy with the pliers (yikes) out it came! This was last Sunday (9.26) I believe, and he pulled out his second one last night. The tooth fairy left him five golden dollars for the first one since it's extra special and two golden dollars last night.

I think Kai is most stoked because he's only 5 1/2 and Elena was 6 before she lost one. Plus, he's the first one of his Kindergarten buddies to pull one out!

Last week we also took Elena and Kai to their first KC Royals game.

I haven't been to the stadium since I was 13 so there were a bunch of changes, to say the least. The "Little K" area was fun to explore before the game. They did a couple of the ball games then rode the carousel.



Our seats were AWESOME (thanks Shawn) and we were ready for fly balls, but only "almost " caught a hot dog launched by the mascot dude (it actually was several rows away, but to Elena girl, that's almost). We also ran into one of our favorite neighbors, Miss Angie, and some of our friends, the Hodges...all sitting in our same section. That was fun times.


Oh, yes, and a giant E thanks to the Hall of Fame for our two family E-namers:

Chunk O'Love

Zane baby is 18 months old now! The little stinker melts my heart over and over every day. He is VERY opinionated and passionate about what's going on in his little life...but has yet to translate much of that to the tune of English (right, Joy?). Lots of signs and constant "uhs?!" - ugh!

Anyway, he is learning to use the potty and I guess my other two just weren't the chunky-monkies that Z-baby is...the boy is too big for our 2 potty chairs! We're talking thick ol' belly and thighs that make him sit way too far forward for there to be any chance of a successful "tuck and sit" if ya know what I mean! The first time he did it...ew, all over the chair, the floor, and me. Lovely.

So we were dawdling around Target yesterday and ran across the potty chair isle! Here's a picture of his cute new froggie seat. He seems to love it, and he fits! Yay!

You can also see how fun it is to be doing this with an 18 month old. Not so good when it was that 1/4 of a roll and one more upstairs left in the whole house. No worries, though, we were back at Target again today!