School is in the air...

Another full & productive week in the Strawn home, somehow I wonder where the energy comes from! I think we feed off a now 4-year-old & almost 2-year-old in that department.

Lars has been up almost every night this week, fussing & crying about something. He’s been off of dairy & peanuts for a couple weeks now and I’m filling him up with so much fruit, as that’s about all he’ll eat now that he’s allowed. I’ve spent some time on the net searching, begging friends & friends-of-friends for dairy free recipes & suggestions. I’m starting to get a little less panicked about getting up every day!

He’s been receiving Occupational Therapy twice a week already & on Monday, we meet with the school’s team to see what else, if anything, he may need to get caught up to a normal 2-year-old. Whatever ‘normal’ means.

Meanwhile, our grocery bill has sky-rocketed with all these specialized Soy & Rice foods & fresh fruits that I’ve been browsing for ‘stay-at-home’ mom jobs online to make extra money. So far, everything I’ve found looks like a scam, so I’m steering clear until we’re really desperate! As my father has always said, “If it looks too good to be true, it is.” Once a cop, always a cop.

Eden is a week into being 4 and she is showing all signs of a pre-schooler. She loves her new bag from Aunt Janet and has it all packed and re-packed. Lars follows her around pushing the toy car and carrying his own make shift bag and has started wearing her old pink shoes, which looks so funny, but adorable all at the same time.

Friday night was the last regular race of the season for Eden & Daddy. We made pizzas here at the parsonage & sent them on their way. That means Friday night was also Mommy’s last night to herself for a while. The silver lining to this story is that hockey season is right around the corner!

I spent a fair amount of time in the evening this week working on the last lesson plans of my EMT class. I have one month left and am only dreading the lesson on teaching bio-terrorism tomorrow night. I know so little on the subject, and I’m sure my IP address has been flagged by Homeland Security because I spent several hours looking up different types of incendiary devices, dirty bombs, small pox information, Q disease facts and the like. Not to mention researching important dates of such incidents like Columbine, Waco, Oklahoma City & the obvious one of 9/11 in their relationship to heightened security. It was quite unsettling, but informative, none-the-less and something we in the EMS world need to be prepared for, even here in Western Nebraska.

Speaking of emergencies, Lars gave us a scare this week when, while at the park picking up Lexi & Kyra from school, he toppled off the picnic table bench and cracked his head on the table on his way down. I picked him up and cuddled him and he stopped crying almost immediately. I asked the girls if they wanted to stay and play or if they wanted to walk back to the house. They all agreed it was too hot to play and as we were getting in the stroller, Lexi said, “um, Sarah, he’s got blood on his head.” I pulled my hand away from his head and a faucet opened up. There was blood everywhere, and the more I tried to see where it was coming from, the more restless & uncooperative he got. Soon, his soft blond locks were a sticky shade of red and people were walking by on the side walk, “Do you need me to call for an ambulance?” I’m thinking, “No, I’m two blocks from the hospital and I’m probably the only EMT who would respond this time of day anyway, but thanks.”

Instead, I called Al, who happened to be working from home b/c they had shut off the electricity at church that day, told him to grab a bottle of Sterile water & a towel and drive up to the park, which he did immediately. By the time he got there, Lars had blood down the back of his shirt to his diaper, his hair was caked in it & my neck & face looked like I’d butchered a pig with my bare hands. I climbed in the front seat with him & we drove the two blocks to the Emergency Room.

As I suspected, it was more blood than foul and we went on our merry way after finding the source of the leak. For the next 24 hours, Lars grabbed his head and cried, ‘owe-ey’ over and over and over again. Every time he touched it, it would bleed, but I couldn’t really put a band-aid in his hair. Unfortunately, he won’t take Tylenol, or any other medication for that matter, so we had to endure the pain together.

There is really nothing new under the sun, is there?

I picked up two new piano students this fall and they started on Wednesday. What a hoot the 6-year-old is. She’s a real spitfire and was tinkling up and down the keys, singing made up songs while she played. Her older sister is a bit more shy, but also has an ear for music. I think they are both going to be a lot of fun.

On Friday, I started out early in slicing up pickles to can and freeze. Al also picked up his level and power screwdriver & began building my pantry. In my excitement, I hastily removed all the piled up boxes of stuff that was in what used to be a coat closet and let him get to work. Both kids helped both of us and we were constantly tripping over brooms, babies & blankets, not to mention, each other. He finished the pantry before lunch and I started in on the 12# of tomatoes that needed to be put up. He got Eden down for a nap by sleeping on the couch with her, and I had the kitchen to myself, as Lars was still sleeping. Since it was race night, I got the pizzas going just in time to realize the afternoon was gone and I was bone tired.

Douthit’s came for pizza and after everybody else left, Laura & I got to sit down in two nice comfortable chairs and, as they say in Australia, ‘have a yarn’. It was nice & relaxing, as was the rest of the evening.

Saturday was somewhat a day of rest for me. The preacher was gone all day for an LWML zone conference & visits and so I didn’t have to pay attention to lunch time. Lars took an early nap & Eden was unusually quiet and co-operative. I got some bills paid, the desk organized, toys picked up, laundry put away, kitchen floor washed, items to sell listed on craigslist & some dairy free websites easily marked & the camper packed & almost ready to go away Labor Day Weekend.

We spent Sunday afternoon in Sidney teaching a First Aid class, which was an all day affair, and ended up having dinner with one of the other pastor’s family. His family had a dog, which Lars loved, and a Cockatoo, which Eden loved. I loved the couch, which is where I sat until I was nearly asleep!

Good week to you all~