Oh, What a Night!

Well, we had an adventuresome night in the mil10 household. EK got to make his first and hopefully last trip to the ER. It all started at his last basketball practice of the season, he and his teamates were chasing after a loose ball when he slid into the metal garage door.

You see he practicies at the Travis gym. Several of these gyms used to be open to the outdoors. A few years ago these were closed in, but they closed them in using large metal garage doors. That way when the weather was nice they could be opened back up for some fresh air.

When he hit the door, of course being the "tough love" parents that we are, I remained seated and JMM just kept saying "You're alright, get up, its okay." Of course we were just thinking he would have a big ugly knot on his head. However when he got up, JMM was able to tell immediately that is was more serious than expected. JMM stopped the bleeding with his hand and I rushed to the car to get some napkins to apply to stop the bleeding. Another b-ball parent had a kleenex that she gave them to stop in the meantime. The coach went and found the Travis custodian and the custodian got some band-aids from the first aide kit. By this point the bleeding had slowed down, we put a band-aid on it and headed to Nurse Grams to find out if this was going to require a trip to ER.

Of course Nurse Grams confirmed the news we were dreading, so we headed to the hospital. Once there we decided to try the PCA night clinic and see if they could handle this situation. Once the nurse saw the injury, she informed us we would need to head to ER.

And the wait begins. I have always heard stories about how long people wait in ER, so I guess considering we made it out of there by midnight is pretty good. When we finally saw a Dr. and they took a look at it they confirmed it would need 2 or 3 stitches. They applied some blue stuff to numb the area first, which had to sit on the area for over 30 minutes. Once the blue stuff had sat and numbed the area enough so they could clean it, they came back. The nurse cleaned the area and stitched him up.

He now has 3 stitches on the side of his left temple at the end of his eyebrow. He is so proud because everyone keeps telling him that will make him look tough. He did an amazing job at the hospital. I am so proud that he is my son.

View from the Front Porch

Ice has gathered on one of our crape myrtles in the front yard. It seems everyone else on our street has already pruned theirs, so they don't have the opportunity to see the ice accumulate on last year's growth.

Did you know that in 1997 the crape myrtle became the Official State Shrub of Texas? It is true!

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
75R13667 PAN-D By Pitts H.C.R. No. 14
Substitute the following for H.C.R. No. 14: By Pitts C.S.H.C.R. No. 14

WHEREAS, The crape myrtle has been a distinctive part of the Texas landscape for more than 100 years, and this striking shrub never fails to add a touch of class and beauty to its surroundings; and

WHEREAS, Many Texans appreciate the splendor of the crape myrtle and have taken a special interest in its proliferation in their communities, making it difficult to traverse our great state without witnessing the plant's annual summer flush of color; and

WHEREAS, Originally imported from China, the crape myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica, has thrived in the Lone Star State's often brutal climate, and the establishment of these hardy hybrids has done much to encourage tourism for many Texas cities while also bolstering civic pride among their residents; and

WHEREAS, In 1857, the wife of Confederate General Sam Bell Maxey introduced the crape myrtle to Paris, Texas, and in 1916, after a fire devastated this Northeast Texas town, one of the community's first beautification projects incorporated these colorful shrubs; several years later, newspaper publisher A. G. "Pat" Mayse further established the city's link to the plant when he sold thousands of crape myrtle seedlings for 25 cents each as Paris's residents prepared to celebrate Texas' centennial; and

WHEREAS, More recently, citizens planted crape myrtles along the 18-mile stretch of highway between Paris and the Texas-Oklahoma border; this prominent display provides a distinctive welcome to travelers entering the Lone Star State from the north and offers a memorable Texas farewell to those individuals who must leave the friendly confines of our state; and ...

Continue reading here.

NO SCHOOL - Bad Weather Day

Yipee!! Today we got to stay home from school. I love it. I thoroughly enjoy these bad weather days. The only downfall is that we will have to make this day up sometime in the spring, but that sure won't keep me from enjoying this family time today. JMM does not have to go to school today either. So we all get to stay home.

One of my favorite things to do on these bad weather days is to get up and cook breakfast. As most of you know, I am not much of a cook, but I can mix up things that come ready to go in a bag. I always make muffins when we are at home from school. I will occasionally make these muffins at other times as well. My favorite muffins are the chocolate chip ones. JMM and EK prefer the berry ones, either blueberry or triple berry.

The photo above is from a previous bad weather day in 2007. EK is enjoying his fresh, hot muffins.

Germ Quiz Answers

How did you do?

1. D
2. C
3. B
4. A
5. C
6. C
7. C
8. B
9. D
10. A
11. D
12. A & C
13. A & C

Germ Quiz

Germ bugs have hit the mil10 house. However, they will not prevail! Modie shared a germ quiz with us today that she saw on a recent episode of Live! with Regis and Kelly. It was fun, so why not share it here?

1. How many surfaces does the average person touch in 30 minutes?
a. 10
b. 40
c. 100
d. 300

2. Of your personal items, most germs can be found on
a. Mascara
b. Face Powder
c. Lipstick
d. Hair Brush

3. Most germs enter your body through
a. Eyes
b. Mouth
c. Skin

4. Which has more germs?
a. Women’s hands
b. Men’s hands
c. Dog’s paws

5. More than a quarter of all colds are passed by what?
a. Kissing
b. Someone sneezing in close proximity
c. Hand contact

6. What is considered the job with the most germs in America?
a. Truck driver
b. Garbage man
c. Teacher
d. Custodial worker

7. What percentage of Americans doesn’t wash their hands when leaving the restroom?
a. 12%
b. 27%
c. 33%
d. 58%

8. Where do the most common germs lurk in the kitchen?
a. Countertops
b. Sponge or dishcloth
c. Cutting board
d. Refrigerator door handle

9. How many species of microbe live in the human mouth?
a. 5
b. 50
c. 500
d. More than 700

10. Germs can escape a flushing toilet and contaminate things in the bathroom—such as toothbrushes.
a. True
b. False

11. What is the best place for your toothbrush?
a. The medicine cabinet
b. On top of the toilet
c. On the bathroom sink
d. Near a window

12. Which is usually the most contaminated object in a hotel room?
a. Remote control
b. Toilet seat and handle
c. Doorknobs within the room

13. Which of these classroom surfaces has the most bacteria?
a. Water Fountain
b. Doorknob
c. Computer Keyboard

Answers will follow!

Lego Batman: The Videogame

As time has allowed we have been enjoying this game. Legos. Comic books – specifically Batman. What is not to love?

Since two players can play together, the guys in the mil10 home often play together. You would be surprised by the amount of teamwork involved. And yes, as of lately we have been enjoying the option of playing as villains.

MLK Day - No School

Thank you Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for all you did for our country in regards to civil rights. It's because of you and all of that work you did that I get to stay home from work today and spend it with my child. Thank you.

On another note, just when we thought we were running out of pirate things that we could buy for our pirate obsessed son, Legos has came through for us. They have a brand new line of Lego toys that came out right after Christmas. They are Lego pirates. They also came out with a few new Indiana Jones Lego sets that EK did not already have. Of course we had to purchase one of the new Lego pirate sets today. We started out with a small one called Krackin Attackin.

EK is so excited about the upcoming WDW trip in November. One of the first things he wants to do when we get there is visit the Lego store in Downtown Disney. It should be exciting.

For those of you who love great children's books, Good Morning Texas just spot-lighted some great books for kids with the inauguration tomorrow. One of the books was called Barack Obama Son of Promise, Child of Hope. Another one is called Change Has to Come which is based on Obama's famous speech. The 3rd and final book was called Abe's Honest Words. The illustrations in the books were awesome. I will definately be on the hunt for these books to read to my students at school.

A New Year, A New Hobby

Because schedules are busy and we don't have the opportunity to see everyone as much as we would like to, we thought using a blog would enable us to tell you about things that are happening in our lives.

Since this is our first post, we wanted to keep it short and sweet. In the future we will post on random topics such as life at home, traveling, work, artwork, and who knows what else. This should be fun!