The Mona-blog

Hi all! It’s been an interesting week for us and we thought we’d share… No pictures this time, but as you read, you’ll understand why and thank us! The big news is about Daniel’s trip to the emergency room. He’s going to be OK, but he’ll be hurting for a while. Now that I’ve alleviated the suspense, I’ll give it to you from the beginning… mom’s perspective, anyway.

I went to the elementary school Thursday, intending to volunteer in the library. As I walked in the door, about 5 people excitedly pointed out the office window and someone shouted, “Here she is!” I was a bit thrown by this reaction since, even though I do practically live at the school, I didn’t think I was supposed to be there before then. Next the secretary told me that Daniel needed stitches, and I looked into the clinic to see Daniel crying, and surrounded by the school nurse, the principal and 2 other staff members. Still, I thought, “Well, maybe stitches…we’ll see…” I’m not one to run to the ER when I can fix something myself. Even seeing the bloody wad of gauze on his knee, I wasn’t convinced. But when they lifted the gauze for me to see the gaping hole in Daniel’s knee, I spun on my heel and said, “I’ll pull up the car.” Even I would not attempt to patch that one. Apparently Daniel tripped and fell knee first on asphalt that had gravel on it, and it took a nasty bite out of his knee… all the way down to the tendon.

At the hospital, they numbed and cleaned Daniel’s wound which, luckily, did not have any gravel in it, since his pants didn’t tear in the fall. They examined the tendon to make sure it wasn’t torn (yes, you could see it through the hole in his knee) and took x-rays to make sure the knee wasn’t fractured. Luckily, all they needed to do was sew him up -- seven big stitches. He has a brace to keep him from tearing the stitches out (which didn’t work so well, since he already tore one), and he’ll wear the brace at least until the stitches come out a week from Monday. They put him on a fairly hefty dose of antibiotics, which tells me it was a worse wound that anyone wanted to say in front of him. Sadly for Daniel, he has a very low pain threshold, and it’s been pretty rough, especially at night. Unfortunately all they give kids for pain are Tylenol and Ibuprofen. On the bright side, no surgery was needed, and Daniel can now say that he, too, has had stitches, leaving James the last in the family to be stitch-free. (That will be fixed by a few more seasons of basketball, I’m sure!) Daniel will also have a pretty impressive scar to show off, come summertime.

In other news, David finished up a carpentry job for some neighbors, who were so impressed with his work that they gave him a bonus, and he has several interviews on the horizon for a job in his field. We are hopeful and prayerful that he’ll get a job soon. Please keep sending positive thoughts and prayers our way.

I have been spending a lot of time banging my stress away on the piano. I’ve been filling in part-time as choir pianist at church, b/c our regular pianist just had a baby. I’ve also been asked to accompany the 5th graders at school for a special song they’ll be performing next month.

Peter is very excited about the upcoming gymnastics competing season and has been working hard on his routines. He also has figured out the ultimate way to avoid learning how to type better. He discovered that his phone has a version of Word on it, so he “texted” his paper into his phone and uploaded it to the computer. I can’t help but be a little proud of his ability to find a solution that worked for both of us, though I have to roll my eyes at his method. J

James played well and hard at his basketball game Saturday, and personally scored almost half of the points for his team. This was, unfortunately the week for them to learn how to lose gracefully, but all the kids did a great job and made their parents and coaches proud.

And the most delicious news of the week comes from Rebecca, who found a very tasty muffin recipe on the Holly Hobby website and insisted that we make it. We were glad she did! Here’s the recipe:

Applesauce Muffins

2 cups flour
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup applesauce
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 stick butter or margarine (melted)

Mix together dry ingredients, stir in the wet ingredients. Scoop into muffin pans that have been greased (or use liners). Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Let cool on wire racks. These were very yummy, but they are a little high in fat. I think next time I will try using 1 ¼ cups applesauce and ½ stick of butter or margarine.

Have a great week!