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Hallowtide: Part 1 – Halloween (All Hallows Eve or All Saints’ Eve)

November 14, 2009 By Laura 7 Comments

This is Part I of a 2-Part series of posts about the triduum of Hallowtide, and how we celebrate it:
1. Halloween (All Saints’ Eve), 2. All Saints’ Day and 3. All Souls’ Day.

Essentially, over the course of these 3 days, we, the Catholic/Western Christians, remember our dead. We say prayers for the souls in Purgatory, we celebrate the lives of the saints, and we remember that Christ conquered death, with His own death on the cross, ultimately offering us life thereafter. In that light, death is not something to be so afraid of. But rather a point in time in which we cross over, to hopeful and glorious new life, with Christ. And during this time of specific opportunity known as Hallowtide, we remember and pray for the souls currently at that crossover.

Hallowtide is always a festive 3 day event in our family. We love this time of year, and very much enjoy our traditions, which I suppose differs a little bit from the vast majority. I think we have a nice balance though. We have fun with ‘Halloween’ and the silliness/just-for-fun that comes with that, while also giving attention to the historic Catholic roots of ‘Halloween’, and how it all began. Thus, our more extended focus on the 3 days of Hallowtide.

Just to note: One Halloween tradition we do not participate in is Trick-or-Treating. We don’t feel there is anything wrong with anybody doing that traditional activity on Halloween of course, but we personally don’t for a few reasons: The most important being {S}’s severe peanut allergy. There is just no way to make it 100% safe, and it’s sure not worth the risk to his life for us, one bit. Secondly, we hardly eat candy. And lastly, we don’t have a great neighborhood for that anyway> Not only do we not have sidewalks, but we only know our immediate neighbors, who do not have kids, and they don’t get any trick-or-treaters (nor do we) because we live on a dead-end with 1 street light. (That’s scary, alright. LOL.) So years ago, we began the tradition of our own little party, which the kids enjoy planning and participating in more than I could ever tell you. (I think the photos over the years speak volumes!). Needless to say, we haven’t bothered with costumes in recent years either. But we do have a tradition of designing fun Halloween shirts that Daddy makes! (It’s just vinyl cut out and applied, and we peel off later. )

This year however, started out our festivities with a break from our own tradition, by accepting the thoughtful invitation to some friends for a pre-party, party! These friends REALLY love Halloween, and the hostess is uber-creative!! We enjoyed a few hours with our good and long-time friends (3 generations 0f them), as well as some new friends. We all had a blast, and then we came home and partied some more!

Here are the kids showing off their Halloween shirt this year, and ready for a long night of partying!

Sorry about the glare on {O}’s shirt there. And yes, {J} does still have a right hand. lol (I just noticed that. lol)
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{A} got extra -creative with her shirt idea-front and back!
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The kids and some of their friends on the very popular trampoline. (No one was hurt in this jumping jamboree, despite the number of kids. They were pretty careful of each other. Perhaps because of my 93 reminders.)
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Our little wild-man, {S}, taking advantage of no other kids in the trampoline.
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We brought this cake we made to the party too, with the spider inspired from {A}’s shirt design. Our hosts were overly-impressed, but we loved them for it. lol. It’s chocolate cake, with butter cream frosting. (I know some of you cake-lovers were seriously wondering! ; )
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When we got home, we kicked off our own party. We started with some more eating.
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Just some simple picking food, with a little creepy thrown in!
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Earlier in the day, {A} had made these ‘Cleopatra Centipedes”, out of breadstick dough, red licorice and black piping. Reason being, we come across the occasional ‘Cleopatra’ downstairs in our house, and they are indeed creepy and scary! They freak us all out. Yes, even Michael. Don’t let him tell you otherwise.
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These look rather harmless though, don’t they? lol
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The small feast in progress. After this photo, I had a little too. But really, I picked a lot at the pre-party party. I was pretty all set.
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After dinner, the kids played ‘Donuts on a String‘. Michael had originally thought of bobbing for apples, but I said to him, “Umm…the kids hardly have any front teeth right now!” He was like “Oh yeah.” (That would be a long game, huh? lol). My friend suggested Donuts on a String instead, and it was a hit! Of course, those are our home-made donuts we pulled out of the freezer and defrosted.

(Now here comes something rare….photos of ME in a post….I set up camera for {A}.)

Now I was doing ok at first, but I can tell you….I’m not the partier my kids are!! I was fading FAST!
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I tried to fake it and put on my best-having fun face for awhile, but really….

Is it bedtime, yet? I’m a lousy faker at anything. I was so giddy and T I R E D, and thinking mostly about my bed relatively soon into our own party.
But I hung on for my kiddos, who had an absolute blast, until we went to bed very late!

Hope your Halloween was ‘all that and a bag of…..candy?’ : ) Want to see more of our Hallowtide?
You can check out Part II, All Saint’s Day and All Souls Day, HERE.

BOO! to you….and yours.

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Sunbutter: Happiness is Here Again! – A Peanut Butter Alternative

November 12, 2009 By Laura 9 Comments

This is a continuation, but digression, of the Peanut Allergy post. What I wanted to tell you in the last post, was how much I have always LOVED peanut butter, but gave it up for the previous 6 years because of the risk it put my son at. I missed it, but I just loved him way more. Understandably. But then we discovered Sunbutter, and it was like, I could kind of have both again. It’s the best peanut butter alternative around, if you ask us.

For years, on MOST mornings, I would have the same thing for breakfast late in the morning: coffee first, and later, more coffee with toast and peanut butter. Peter Pan, preferably, because I loved the sweet peanut-y taste. I’d be sure to spread it on while the toast was still hot, so it got all melty. Soooo good.

But naturally, the whole family has had to sacrifice peanut butter, and ANYTHING with peanut ingredients in it, since the discovery of {S}’s allergy. I’m not sure anyone missed it as much as I did, though. I mean, it was a strong habit to be broken, all cold turkey like that! Off course, I loved my boy MORE, and there was no way I would ever risk him to indulge. But, I have missed that breakfast most every morning since I gave it up. It was kind of rough at first! So I’d kiss & hug my boy, and that got me over it immediately.

Just to digress from my digression for one second, I am going to share with you a very quick story about just how scared I am of my boy having a peanut reaction:

3 years ago this February, I was planning a trip to Iowa for a professional photographer’s convention. I would be gone 5 days. It occurred to me at one point, “Oh….wow! I’ll be half way across the country from {S)! I can have peanut butter toast for breakfast!” But when that opportunity came, I couldn’t do it! lol. Silly, huh? The CrAzIeSt stuff went through my mind….like, “What if some gets under my nail and I don’t know it? What if I get some on something and bring it home, and somehow it gets into his system?” I know. Irrational. I knew I was being RIDICULOUS. BUT….in my crazy mind, taking that chance just wasn’t worth indulging to me. So, I settled for plain butter.

Anyway….back to the original story here:

This past summer the kids attended Vacation Bible School. It sounds mean to say this way, but by the grace of God, the one running the event, a woman, has severe peanut allergies too, along with many other allergies. So she was pretty pro-active in making sure the environment and snack-menu was absolutely peanut-free. Not surprisingly, {S} was not the only child with a peanut allergy there. There was a little girl who was just as much at risk. Her older brother was a team leader for this VBS along with {A}, and the 2 became friends, so they had a good conversation about this peanut-matter they had in common.

In the course of that conversation, the boy told {A} how they use sunbutter in place of peanut butter. He told her how they loved it, and where we could get it. {A} took mental note of it all, which is SO part her nature. Being the baker, and honestly, food lover, that she is, she knows grocery store layouts/ingredients / grams of sugar…..you name it, well. She told me all about sunbutter, and had investigated quickly to find that indeed, our usual store we shop at did not carry it. The store her friend told her about where they DID carry it, was in the opposite direction.

Apparently, this Sunbutter was made with roasted sunflower seeds? Didn’t sound anything like peanut butter to me. Really…I doubted it was even close. So it sure wasn’t worth a special trip just for that.

3 months later, we found ourselves at that store the boy told us about, and {A} was so on task about getting that Sunbutter into our shopping cart, to try.

The fact that it LOOKED like peanut butter had me a little hopeful, and very curious.

{A} was already making sandwiches with it.

I made my toast, and spread it on.

It smelled like peanut butter too. This was just getting WEIRD.

I took a bite……

Well, I won’t tell you how many jars of Sunbutter we have been through since! ; )

Maybe it doesn’t taste like Skippy, or Jif or whatever other brands, and granted, it had been almost 6 years since I had had any peanut butter at all, but by golly, it sure tasted every bit like Peter Pan Peanut Butter, as I could tell or remember. If not, freakin’ close enough for me!!!

It is all natural….it needs to be stirred well (like all natural peanut butter). But once it is, it stays pretty mixed.

It is on the expensive side, being organic. But…we have always found coupons, and then buy with credit to the store as you get on receipts, and get a real deal! So we buy 2 or 3 at a time. : )

The ingredients, to be exact, are: Sunflower Seed. Dehydrated Cane Juice, Salt and Natural Mixed Tocopherols to preserve freshness.

Overall, Sunbutter is much healthier for you than either butter OR Peter Pan peanut butter too!

But most importantly to us……

It’s safe to have around {S}. He can even eat it.
Our whole family enjoys it, without the need to worry that we are putting our boy at risk.

But I don’t think anyone is as happy as I AM!

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Vital Read: What EVERYONE Should Know, About Peanut and Tree Nut Allergies, and More

November 4, 2009 By Laura 10 Comments

This post is about peanut and tree nut allergies, and what everyone should know about them. But it’s relevant to ALL food allergies, and relevant to EVERYONE. So PLEASE, before you skip reading it, thinking you don’t need to because no one in your family has a peanut allergy, we ask you to take the time to anyway. Many people have at least one thing they wish others were more aware of, and this is certainly ours! Taking the time to arm yourself with a few facts, could save lives. YOU, could save lives, after reading this. There are so many misconceptions about food allergies, so we feel it is critical to spread some education and awareness about them! If you read below (also), you will ‘hear’ our story.

I have wanted to post about this for SO long. But I knew it was a ‘loaded’ one. I knew I would struggle to keep it short (I’ll try anyway.) It was just….a heavy one for me. Just talking about this topic literally makes my heart race, and take deep breathes. But today, I’m doing it.

Our Story

NOTE: At the time of the writing of this post, our son’s allergy was to peanuts and peanut products only. In subsequent years, an allergy to cashews and pistachios also.*

{S} was around the age of 1-1/2 when we learned, through one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, that he was allergic to peanut products. It was lunch time, and so we made the triplets lunch. They were always so cute, in the 3 high chairs that were all lined up, taking up almost all of my kitchen. It was {S}’s first time having peanut butter and jelly. They always got so excited to eat (still do!) and were so happy doing it. So I knew something was very wrong, when {S} started really whining, and clawing and grabbing at his chest and stomach. And he wouldn’t eat any more! (? Shock!) I got him down from his chair, lifted his shirt, and found red welts everywhere. He looked frightened too, and it was clear something was not right. Never having seen any of my kids act this way, I quickly called our pediatrician’s office, and they immediately told me to hang up and call the ambulance. I could hear the siren in the distance when I noticed his lips were swelling.

It took no time at all for the paramedics to arrive, and after a couple of questions, they told us they knew it was a peanut allergy reaction. They had already given {S} some kind of shot (which we would become very, very familiar with), and he calmed down quickly. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, the paramedic educated me briefly on peanut allergies, and if there was one thing he said that has resonated with me the most, it was this: That for most people food allergies, the person’s reaction to the first exposure is usually very mild. Maybe a tickle in the throat, or a little rash, which can even go un-noticed. But with every subsequent exposure, the reaction is likely to be 10x worse. This was {S}’s very first time having peanut butter, and his reaction was so bad, an ambulance had to be called. We knew then…..this wasn’t one day’s event, but something that was going to become part of our life.

The long and short of it is, {S} has an anaphylactic allergy to any and all peanut products. The most minuscule amount could threaten his life, whether he ingests any bit of peanut product through his mouth, or even nose as a result of something as simple as peanut shell dust being airborn. His reaction would be immediate, and severe. (We already saw evidence of that.) He has seen an allergist on a regular basis ever since, and they have monitored his level of allergy to peanut by-products, by way of a blood test called a RAST test. {S} had an initial blood test the first week we discovered his allergy, and his number was REALLY high then. In subsequent testing over the years, that number has only climbed. It is highly unlikely he will ever grow out of it.

Rather than get into trying to educate you all on the specifics of peanut allergies, I really encourage you to click on the new link in the right hand side bar, and read it through. If not today, on another day when you have time. There are so many false assumptions and misconceptions (wait…is that the same thing? lol) about peanut allergies, and many allergies in general. But if anything, we would just love for more people to ‘get it’. Being contaminated would not be a mere discomfort, or inconvenience for someone who has an an allergy of this kind; their life is on the line. The Peanut Allergy link in the right sidebar brings you to a new window, and a brief run down of facts. We would so appreciate it if you could take the time, sometime, to read it. Knowledge is power. And in this case, the power to save a life. If you read no further, please at least commit to doing that at some point.

There are a few things that bring us great comfort, is protecting our son from an anaphylactic reaction, and therefore possible death, as a result of being contaminated by a peanut product of one sort or another. For one, our families and friends have come to understand the seriousness of our situation, and have made efforts to accommodate keeping a peanut free environment for {S}, at gatherings and such. We are so grateful for that, but also, at the risk of being annoying, never cease to remind them when we have plans to gather. Secondly, we home school, so we don’t have to worry about such things as having the medication that could save him, in the nurse’s office, or, the ‘peanut-allergy kids lunch table’ that really, just isn’t preventative enough, and/or the parents who have the attitude “Why should my child not be able to eat peanut butter in school, just because yours is allergic” > I’d bet my last dollar they’d see things differently, if it was their child with the allergy.

Before {S} went to Vacation Bible School this year, we got him a medical bracelet, and one that he never ever takes off now….

It is engraved, with the message loud and clear. On the front it says in all caps, his name, and ‘SEVERE PEANUT ALLERGY’. On the back, it says ‘Anaphylactic Allergy to Any and All Peanut Products’.

We literally never take it off. It is getting beat up, because the boy plays hard. But we’ll just happily replace it any time it needs it.

Also, there is the security of our Epi-Pens!! {S} goes NOWHERE without them….

The Benadryl is just for good measure, AFTER you give the shot, and call the ambulance.

Where ever he is, wherever we go, they are with him, in this blue bag. ….

So if you’ve seen me carrying this bag, and just thought I had really bad taste in purses, you were mistaken. (My friend is a handbag designer, I know a dang nice purse when I see one. ; )

We need to have it with us at all times too….even when we think we shouldn’t need it. Like going to mass. One time not long ago, the mother right in front of us gave her little girl a package of those peanut butter and cheese crackers, to keep her quiet and occupied. Besides my major pet-peeve about parents low expectations of their children in church, fear rightly struck all of us on the spot. It would take an emergency before you would see any one of us disrupt a mass for anything, but that’s exactly what we might have done, as we stood right up and moved {S} right out of there. I didn’t calm down any less though, as I watched this little girl chew, dropping crumbs, with both food and drool falling out of her mouth all over the place, licking her hands and touching the top of the back of the pew right where we would be kneeling at. After mass, another mom I didn’t know, came over to talk to us….because she caught right on to what had happened during mass. Her nephew almost died with his peanut allergy when he accidentally was contaminated, and that’s when she got it! She was afraid FOR us all through mass. I could tell you many stories of the places there was peanut contamination where one would never expect it.

There was more to this post…..a HAPPY discovery I especially wanted to share with anyone who DOES have a peanut allergy, or knows someone with one. A perfect peanut-butter replacement, if you will. But I know you won’t read much longer, IF you made it this far. So, I’ll make it Part II of sorts, and I promise it’ll be shorter than this one! But if you did read all of this, THANK YOU, and if I haven’t mentioned it : ) please read the info through the sidebar as well. If not today, very soon.

Thank you again, to all of our blog friends and loved ones. <3 And if any of you are seeking a great peanut butter alternative, we recommend this post.

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The Joy of Reading – Elementary Homeschooling – 4 Recommended Chapter Books

November 1, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

I thought we’d talk a bit today about elementary reading, for homeschooling kids or not. Last March I blogged about our then six year old triplets reading their first chapter book, Nicholas – A Massachusetts Tale. Since then, they have continued to do lots and lots of reading, in the forms of shorter books, magazines, game directions, and what books their big sister has had in her gigantic collection for their age. Since March though, our library trips have consisted of other exciting and urgent items on our reading or viewing list. So just recently did we come around to getting back to the wonderful travels and tales of Nicholas, which is the series of books written by our local, gifted children’s author, Peter Arenstam.

Book One of the Nicholas series…. Nicholas – A Massachusetts Tale.

Book Two of the Nicholas series…. Nicholas – A Maine Tale.

The adventures and New England travels continue in Book Three, Nicholas – A New Hampshire Tale.

….and there are yet still more to the Nicholas series to request, and wait for that exciting phone message, ‘This is the library calling….the books you have requested are in, and we will hold them for you. Please pick them up at your earliest convenience. “

We also picked up another charming children’s chapter book, Poppy and Ereth, by Brian Floca, which the kids found as much entertainment and amusement in.

It’s easy to understand why! Just the cover alone entices me enough to want to curl up on the couch with some cocoa, and read it…if I had time for such a thing this time of year. Here is a description of the book, Poppy and Ereth.

Poppy, a deer mouse, and Ereth, a grumbling porcupine, have been the best of friends for as long as the animals of Dimwood Forest can remember. An unstoppable pair ever since they defeated the tyrannical owl, Mr. Ocax, Poppy and Ereth have enjoyed many happy adventures together. But when a swirl of bitter winter storms buries Dimwood Forest in snow and Poppy’s husband, Rye, dies suddenly, all Poppy wants is some privacy. “Dancing doorknobs,” Ereth mutters to no one in particular, “how can she not want to see me?” As he waddles back to his log, Ereth fears he may have lost his dear friend forever.

But Ereth has not lost Poppy, at least not yet. As the ground begins to thaw, life returns to Dimwood Forest and Poppy ventures out in search of excitement. Suddenly, swooped up by Luci the bat, Poppy is flying high over the forest and unexpectedly embarks on her greatest adventure. Meanwhile, Ereth, left to his own devices, manages to convince himself that Poppy has died and, as only the old porcupine can do, sets about to give her the best memorial service the forest has ever known.

The last episode of the Poppy stories, poppy and ereth is a rousing adventure befitting one of the great heroines of children’s literature as well as a final, heartwarming celebration of the life, love, and friendship of two most unlikely companions.

There is a follow up book to this one, titled Poppy Returns.

All 3 chapter books, were eagerly consumed, page by page, by all 3 of the little ones, even in time to be returned for their first due date! No need to renew, because they were all done. Which says something, because with the Nicholas series being books by a local author, their regular ample time is not allowed for the books to be out! Regardless, they really, really enjoyed not only reading them, but discussing the adventures of this charming mouse, the predicaments he finds himself in, and the friends he meets in his travels to reclaim his family’s journal. Lots of chatter about Nicholas and his friends, as well as Poppy and Ereth. It’s like having our own In-House Kid’s Book Club!!

I am all about kids getting lots (and lots) of exercising….running and jumping, swinging and swimming, climbing and shooting (hoops, that is),…… but you’ll never hear me complain for a moment about a kid sitting around and reading for awhile either. I am so glad our kids find SO MUCH JOY and THRILL OF ADVENTURE and wonderment, within the pages of books, the way they do.

These books are truly delightful reads, for any children, anywhere. But if you are from New England, as we are, they are all the more special. Wishing your children hours of enjoyment, lost in their vivid imaginations through these beautiful and adventurous, fun-filled tales.

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{O}’s Eye Injury Update

October 23, 2009 By Laura 5 Comments

So here’s the update and story on {O}’s eye, which turned out to be an injury: When we got home from our field trip on that Thursday, I took yet another look at her eye, which was never easy, because she was having a very hard time letting it be open at all. The light really bothered it, and she had been saying it hurt some too. But I finally caught a quick glimpse of a problem on the surface of her eye. It was not smooth and glossy as an eyeball should be! Like, something was not right with her eyeball. What I thought was a sty under her eyelid was still there as well, as tiny as it was. But I was realizing, in light of the days events, that any sty was not the problem.

(After seeing pedi and eye specialist.)

Off to the Doctors to Have Here Eye Checked

It was too late to get her to the doctors, and anyway, she buzzed right from the bathroom to her bedroom to put on her pajamas the second she could….she wanted to go to sleep a.s.a.p. Just as she had done all the way home (it was a longish ride)—it was exhausting trying to hold her good eye open, and she just wanted to rest her eyes and go to sleep. So I let her do that, but first thing the next morning, on Friday, she was off to the doctors .

I am always the one to take the kids to the doctors myself (I just prefer to, so I don’t miss a thing where the kids are concerned), but ‘walk-in clinic’ at my pediatrician’s is early in the morning, and I knew Michael could be ready much faster, so he took her. Anyway, by now I was expecting the diagnosis to be a small scratch in her eye, and come home with some ointment. I told him to keep that cell phone on.

The Diagnosis

So he took her, and I called him as soon as I thought they ‘might possibly’ be out of the appt. Michael answered his cell and said “We just walked out of the door, and we are actually now heading to a specialist!” Me > “WHAT? You are kidding me!”. He explained that the pediatrician on call that morning did a routine test to check for an eye abrasion: They put some dye in the eye, and put a special light on it, and it shows where the scratch is. What he saw, was a large circle right over the front of her eye, a bit larger than the inside size of a pea, split in half.

WOW! Man was I feeling like a terrible mother right about then.

It was confirmed at the eye specialist. There was a large circle abrasion on her eye, right over the cornea! Both the pedi and the specialist were shocked that she had injured her eye so severely, in light of how she said it happened. Which….by now I am sure you are really wondering too. So let’s go back to Wednesday night…..the night before the field trip.

The Backstory: How She Hurt Her Eye

On Wednesday night the kids were very excited about their field trip next day, and were talking back and forth in their bedroom (which is not unusual anyway.) We heard them. But next thing we know, {O} is out of the bedroom saying she has something in her eye. This happens to {J} ALL of the time, because he always manages to rub his eye with his hand, and fold over his long eye lashes into the corners of his eye. Michael was right there, so he took her in the bathroom and looked around in there….looking for anything: a fuzzy, an eyelash…something in her eye. Nothing. So he told her to go back to bed, close her eyes, and go to sleep. And that’s just what she did.

Of course…..as I told you in the field trip post, the next morning she was laughing and gabbing, but was keeping that eye closed. So I asked her about it, she told me again that it felt like something was in it. That’s when I took another look, and only found what looked like that little sty. But I asked her again then, why it started bothering her in bed the night before, and she said, “I don’t know. I was laying on my belly, propped up on my elbows, with my hands under my pillow, and the boys were talking and they made me laugh. When I laughed, I put my face down into my pillow, but I forgot to close my eyes first. (lol). As soon as I lifted up my head, it felt like there was something in my eye. “

As crazy as it sounds, to you, to me, to 2 doctors…..yes, she scratched her eye that badly, taking off a layer, with the top of her pillow! I am sure she turned her face too….but still. Who would think it? I have advised her to close her eyes first next time….but you know….too-little-too-late-never-thought-to-give-her-that-advice-on-laughing, until now.

So…..the specialist put medicine in it, bandaged it up pretty good, and we were instructed to keep her still and quiet all day, and bring her back the next morning. So on Saturday morning, I brought her back, after a sleepless night filled with guilt and fear my little girl would go blind from that sunny day at the orchards. <sigh>. By Saturday morning, the doctor said it had healed a little bit, and to spend another day doing the same (still, quiet and rest), take the patch off for Sunday, put ointment in it 3x a day, and bring her back on Monday afternoon.

Love and Care

So here she is on that first Friday, she was really just wiped out. It was just hard keeping one eye open, it was still hurting (if I asked her) and I think she was still recovering from all of the effort the day before at the orchards and out to lunch. But what did do my heart so good, was to see how her siblings reacted to her being hurt. They took such good care of her the whole weekend. They laid with her, they got her a drink or a tissue when she needed it, they checked on her and kept quiet-ish for her.

They took turns helping to feed her, so she didn’t have to try and see where this or that was on her plate.

{S} worked so hard at the table for a good part of the day, making her seasonal flags to have around her to cheer her up. (If she opened her eyes, I guess.) Above is the autumn one. But yes, there was a spring, summer and winter one around her as well. (It bugs me that seasons are not supposed to be capitalized! I was shocked when I learned that. It still looks wrong to me. Why are days of the week, and months of the year capitalized, but not seasons of the year? But I digress.) How sweet is that flag?

Oh…my sweet Girl. When she was tired of lying down, she would sit up for awhile like this.

Sometimes, the kids would read her some of her favorite stories.

On Saturday, I let her get up and walk around a little. Stretch her legs and get some air outside. As long as she walked slowly and carefully, and remained quiet-ish. She wasn’t as tired as she had been, so she was looking better to me.

Over the weekend, I had been conversing with a photographer/optometrist friend of mine online. She told me ‘I have seen this kind of eye injury bring grown men to their knees, time and time again! With an abrasion that big, I give them a prescription of strong pain medications (she named a kind….which I wouldn’t remember), and it’s not unwarranted in cases like these.‘ I was shocked. And I felt even worse.

But that’s the thing about {O}. She has always been a really tough cookie. I recalled one of many examples, at a time when she was 2 or 3 years old….she had gotten that ‘nurse’s elbow’. You know…where the elbow gets out of the socket somehow? It needed to be re-set. The doctor told her, “This is going to hurt, but it’s going to be fast.” {O} said “O.K”…..and in that moment, I saw her go to another place. Her eyes glazed over, and she like….mentally blocked out the pain. Or something. The doctor popped it, and she didn’t even as much as flinch. The doctor said “WOW! <laugh> She is one-tough-kid! I have never done that in all of these years, without the child not crying after. It really hurts!” She’s something else. To think she took on that big field trip and really made the best of her day too…..she’s something else.

Sunday we did indeed take the patch off, and kept ointment in it. By Monday, it had really healed nicely. Which really just amazed me once again, about God’s amazing design of the human body, and it’s ability to heal as it often does. Her eye is at some risk of re-injuring in the future, but usually that is the case with more of a deep abrasion. She’s looking pretty much good as new, and I thank God for it! Being a photographer, I do see a small inconsistency in the reflection on the surface of her eyes when the light hits it just so, but no one else would likely ever notice that. She did fail her recent vision test in that eye at her 7 year old check up, but she has a real eye doctor appointment coming up in early December, and I expect there will be a big improvement.

Thanks you so much, for reading this whole post, if you did. It was seriously like therapy for me to type that out! <sigh> We have been pretty crisis-free, considering we have 4 kids, so this was a BIGGIE in our family. Especially for the head-worrier (as opposed to warrior, lol) of the family….ME! But we got through it…….she’s ok……..and we thank God for His healing.

On a HUMOROUS NOTE: Several days after she had gotten her patch off, she came to my bed in the morning, asking to have ‘a little cuddle”. So I let her crawl into my bed, and we started talking. She started telling me again how it happened that she hurt her eye, and in the process of literally showing me, she hit me square in the eye with her elbow. I didn’t want her to know how much it hurt, so I acted like it didn’t. But awhile later I had a black eye. lol. A few minutes later she came walking towards me talking…“Mama, do you think maybe later on I could….<sees me>……Oh SSHHOOT!” She was so cute…I just hugged and kissed her. After what she had been through the past several days, I wasn’t about to complain about a black eye.

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BOO! to you….and yours.

But I don’t think anyone is as happy as I AM!

Our Story

*NOTE: At the time of the writing of this post, our son’s allergy was to peanuts and peanut products only. In subsequent years, an allergy to cashews and pistachios also.

Off to the Doctors to Have Here Eye Checked

The Diagnosis

The Backstory: How She Hurt Her Eye

Love and Care

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NOTE: At the time of the writing of this post, our son’s allergy was to peanuts and peanut products only. In subsequent years, an allergy to cashews and pistachios also.*