Thanksgiving Play

Our last year to have a little one participate in the Thanksgiving Play.  One sweet pilgrim girl!

Haemolacria...NOT a post-Halloween joke!

I am patiently waiting outside the school for my kids to do the Friday sprint.  2 minutes early I see my mini-me being escorted by a teacher with a tissue over her mouth/nose.  "Oh, another bloody nose!"  Yes, we live in ATX where allergies are our worst enemy and Fran has suffered the most.  I take away the tissue and she is covered (in blood).  I clean her chin, her cheeks, her nose, even her eye...she must have blown her nose and drops ended up there, poor baby.  She is clean. I kiss her. Parents are staring at me because that is what parents do when a nurse is given a hurt/bleeding child.  Their reactions will follow my reactions.  She is fine, she is perfect.

10 seconds later blood pours (no exaggerating) from her left eye.  I wipe it immediately then look at my close friend leaning over my shoulder.  All trace of blood is gone.  I am frozen.  I ask her..."did you see that."  She replied "yes."  The world has stopped around me.  I don't think a single soul took a breath.  It bled again.  "SHIT" is what I wanted to scream but not appropriate for an elementary school ground.

In my almost 20 years of nursing, I have never witnessed, heard of, or even studied such thing.  With wonderful support of friends/neighbors, my boys were taken care of.  I took Fran to the school nurse, wanting to irrigate her eye in search of  a small laceration, something to explain this.  Nothing.  In her 35 years of the profession, she has never witnessed this either.  

ER, Urgent Care, Pediatrician, home...where do I go?  She can see fine.  She denies ANY pain.  She said there was no trauma, paper cut, bumps, or collisions.  Pedi it is...

She has never seen this.  The PNP has never seen this.  A phone call to Dell Childrens Ophthalmology Dept (yes, there a few weeks ago for a quick appendectomy) and this could be related to all the sinus/allergy/bloody nose problems.  NICE...antibiotic drops just in case, call Dell if it happens often.

Home by 4:00 for our Friday night late over...no more bleeding.  Praying for this NEVER to happen again. Not to her. And not in my sleep tonight.  It was awful!  

Halloween 2013

Another memorable Halloween at our house, but this year was all about this little girl...

and her scary scarecrow Daddy!

Grammy Hammy (Grandma Net) was so busy...

luring sweet kids onto our porch doing the hamster dance.   Innocent right?

Well, the kids would march right up to the candy bowl and the scarecrow would come to life.  A few kids cried.  I guess you can call this year successful??

Grammy Hammy got in plenty of love, even from the neighbors!

And once again our Halloween decorations rocked!

Yes, my boys were out and about too.  But too cool to hang out with mom or at home.  Thank goodness my friend got a few pics in!!

Mustang Island State Park

3rd annual fall camping trip, 4 families, and first time ever to camp on the beach...DONE!  Too many memories to mention...ABSOLUTELY!!

Fishing, crabbing, soccer and wiffle ball games, slack lining, campfires, s'mores, dance parties with glow sticks, swimming literally from sunrise to sunset, surfing, the cookie challenge, angry hungry birds, jelly fish stings, monster mosquitoes, a dead car battery and a flat tire, sunburns, poison ivy, chaffing, a worthless tent that went straight to the dumpster AND a Sunday morning rain storm while we were packing up camp!  

Unforgettable times!  Probably one of the best camping trips ever!!  I would do it again tomorrow!!!

Diamond Newbie!

4 years up at the baseball fields and Fran finally gets her turn.  She was a rock star and made us proud!!

Unhappy Appy

Thursday morning after a 12 hour night shift, I came home to a kid with the textbook appendicitis symptoms.  I tried not listening to my nurse instinct  (because why would one of MY kids need surgery) but after a LONG 10 minutes of arguing with my inner voice...I packed up our toothbrushes, books, IPAD, and snacks knowing we would be gone more than 24 hours and headed across town to Dell Children's Hospital.

An IV, blood work, and ultrasound later, the doctors confirmed my diagnosis (good to know I still have my triage skills after all these years not working in the ER) and we were in the OR by 4:00.  

After a good nights rest and  plenty of pain meds, Will awoke with a smile and ready for food! 

Determined to be discharged as soon as possible, we were walking the halls.

And to our surprise, the Longhorns visited!  Will walked away with posters, autographs, and memories!

And for the last pic...I told him it was okay to hold up the "horn" sign just this once!

Our Triple Tri

It was finally the day that all 3 kids were able to participate in the annual Colin's Hope Triathlon!  Fran grinned ear-to-ear the entire race and it paid off huge as she place 2nd in her age category!

Then is was the boys turn...they rocked too but one fell off his bike and got a visit from the ambulance!  He decided to finish the race (blood and all).  Overall, they both shaved seconds off their swim and run times from last year.

Definitely a GREAT Sunday morning!