It was a call no parent wants to hear.  "Mrs. N, I have A in the clinic and he's been hit in the head with a baseball bat.  We have to notify parents anytime there's a head injury.  Here's the Principal."  The call continued:  "Mrs. N. this is Mrs. R the Principal, A is bleeding pretty bad and the nurse and I want to call the ambulance to transport him to the ER"  In my head I remember thinking, "The AMBULANCE!?!?"  I asked if I could call my DH to come up there.  We only live about 2 miles from the school.  She said, "Yes, but we are going to go ahead and call the paramedics." 

My mind was racing!  DH didn't answer the first time I called.  I ran to my own car, knowing I could not get to the school in the time it would take paramedics to assess and transport him.  Still, I needed to make my way toward that end of town even if it was going to lead to the hospital. 

When the call came in, I was testing a second grade student on our district reading assessment.  Mid-assessment I asked the other teacher in the room to finish the assessment and I ran out.  I'm sure they wondered what was going on.  I called my AP as I reached the car to let her know I was leaving campus. 

The next call I made was to DH.  This was probably only 2 minutes after receiving the call from the school.  DH answered and said he was on his way.  It wasn't long until I got a call from DH and he said he and DS 1 were transporting our DS 4 to the hospital.  I met them in ER. 

DS 4 was bandaged, but in good spirits when he arrived.  He told the triage nurse that he was "orientated".  I think he meant "oriented"!  DH and DS 1 took pictures to send to their friends and our family.  I was going to post one here, but can't get it to upload.  Immediately my other boys texted back and said, "That is going to be the coolest scar ever!"  It seems that his wound is the shape of an arrowhead.  Here's the finished product where you can see the arrow look...

20 stitches later, and a whopper of a headache, DS 4 came home.  He remained in good spirits.  And I remain thankful that this accident was not more damaging.  Only an inch lower and it could have been his eye.  And I will be forever grateful for the "village" that surrounds us to reach out and help in times of need. 

Another Sunday Seven...

When Sundays roll around, I often find myself reflective and thinking about my abundantly blessed life.  There are also times, though, when I am earnestly praying through a darker place in the journey.  I know, though, that these times are small little blips on the radar compared to my entire life and/or to the eternity for which I am heading.  That's why I love the blogging concept of Sunday Seven.  It can be "Seven Anything"...blessings, events, thoughts...anything.  Here's my seven for this week:

1.  It's been a bit of a roller coaster at work for me.  We are still in the "change phase" as we acclimate to a new leader.  It's a fact of life any time the make up of a group changes.  This week a big report was due to the DOE in our state.  We worked hard on it and handed it in on time.  It was good to experience "team" as we worked on it.  I am energized by working WITH people on projects.  It's so much better than going it alone.

2.  I took my Mom to the doctor on Wednesday of this week.  This is very frightening for her as she hasn't been in more than 20 years.  And she's so afraid they are going to tell her that she is "going to die".  The appointment went well...although there are more in the future.  The highlight of the day for me, though, was getting to eat a light supper with my DS 3.  I love it that he is going to school in my hometown.  It makes it a bit easier to see him more often.

3.  My friend Sandy and I led "Brownies" for the first time on Friday.  LG is part of an after school program that is designed to help with homework/academics but also provide enrichment.  My friend Debra leads this program at our school and has asked for months if I would volunteer to be the Brownie leader.  I told her I dropped out of Girl Scouts.  That didn't shake her.  So, there I was Friday with my "Great Big Brownie Smile" and 18 3rd grade girls who want to be part of something.  Thank goodness Sandy is an experienced Girl Scout!

4.  I LOVED the fact that the new shows started up last week.  I really don't watch much TV in the summer. For that matter, I watch limited during the school year.  But DSs 3, 4, and I have found some shows over the last year or so that we like to watch together.  So for me, this means we'll be sitting together enjoying and talking about the shows we are watching.  It's a good bonding activity for us.

5.  DH took DS 4 and LG to "Coastal Clean-up" yesterday for DS 4's extra credit.  It's funny because we have done this with all the boys.  DS 1 even called when they were leaving and said, "Must be for Ms. S's class."  He was right.  It's kind of a middle school tradition for us.

6.  I took LG to Tampa yesterday to see her older brother.  He is in a medical shelter up there as he has MD.  He's doing pretty well.  We thought it was a funny coincidence that he is going to the same school where I went for 7th grade!  Anyway, visiting him was good for him and LG.  We played cards and they played games together.

7.  I made a huge trip to Goodwill yesterday.  LG's "Pretty in Pink" Slumber/Birthday Party is this coming Friday night.  We are going to do dress up, modeling, make-up, nails and everything "girlie".  So I went to get the dress up box done.  I am very excited to see what the girls come up with for costumes to walk our homemade runway!

That's it from my neck of the woods this week.  Happy Sunday!

Another Monday Comes Around...

We celebrated DS 2's 21st birthday yesterday with our family.  His actual birthday was Friday the 10th.  I'm telling ya' it hit me hard.  My guys are almost all young men now.  It's hard for me in some ways...but in others...I'm so glad to see them successfully enter the next phase of their lives.

DS 2 has recently moved to Tampa for school.  It's been a rough transition as he was quite connected in Gainesville with a church and small groups.  He and his GF have been seeking ways to get connected as they really don't know anyone at the University.

Thank goodness this weekend they think they found a church and started to make some of those connections.  I am thrilled for them!  And you know it does a Mother's heart good to know that even though 21 hit, his main concern for the weekend was finding a church and a small group.  God is good.

I spent a majority of the weekend in Orlando at the Florida Reading Association Conference.  My friend Sandy and I presented there.  I love going and just sensing the pulse of reading instruction.  It helps me be better and more well-versed in what I do.

Another week is here and I'm going to (once again) be SWAMPED!  Sooo...not sure how much blogging I'll be able to do.  I still don't like that part of feeling off kilter and out of balance.  I keep telling myself "I'll get it all back."  But then things go off kilter again.  I am hoping.  Really I am!

Reflections on a Saturday...

Our church is all about outreach.  If you've followed this blog for any time at all, then you know this already.  One of the things we are going to do to reach out globally is a monthly flea market.  So today was the first stab at this little undertaking.

First of all, I am well aware that it's no "little" thing.  There's all the collecting of stuff.  There's the sorting.  Pricing.  Setting up.  Etc. Etc. Etc.  But our church is filled with people who love to give so the team was large for this project.

It was a HUGE success!  I am still no fan of trying to make money 25 cents at a time.  And I really hate it when someone seems to want to bargain down a nickel or so.  But this was a slightly different flavor.  People knew it was for girls in Belize today.  So, in some cases, people even donated EXTRA money than their treasures cost!  I loved that!

Perhaps my favorite story of the day, though came from this little guy.  I do not know him, but isn't he cute??  He came to my table with his two quarters in hand to buy this train.  He was holding it as if he just bought pure gold.  So I walked over and asked him if I could take his picture with it.  He agreed.

I said, "You and Thomas smile!"  He stopped.  Looked at the train.  Looked at me.  Then said:

"He IS smiling already!"

I replied, "OK, you smile then!"  And this is the precious little picture I got.  His Grandmother came over to me just after this little photo exchange and told me that he started preK this week.  When his mother asked him how the first day went, he replied:

"I TOLD Miss A [his teacher] the whole alphabet, my name AND I counted for her AND she still wouldn't let me come home!"  I almost laughed until I cried right there.  I LOVE that little spirit!

On another "garage sale" note.  I was taking money and this lady walked up and said, "Aren't you Susan?"  While checking my mental filing cabinet and trying to figure out WHO she was, I said "yes".  She then said, "I used to cut your hair."  As it registered that she is the lady that cut my hair more than a year ago and I haven't been  back, I wanted to CRAWL UNDER the MONEY TABLE!  No.  I wanted to PAY HER to take her stuff.

Am I the only one who hates to switch hair dressers and feels like it's close to divorce?

The rest of the day has been pretty quiet.  Football is playing in the background.  I'm trying to get the kitchen back together and the boxes put away.  And all is well in our world.

Hope yours is also well!