Dino Mat

This morning, I made a play mat for Cal to use at church (quiet books aren't gonna cut it -- he's too wiggly). Now I just need to find a couple plastic dinosaurs.

I found the idea here.

Overly Specific?

Now you, too, can own a personal set of Ten Plague finger puppets for your impressionable children.

Complete with Dead Baby.

A watched pot...

I started my garden today -- we'll see how this goes.

Tomatoes, Bell Peppers and Cucumbers

I've never done this before, so I'm trusting this lady's video.

Preparedness

A week or so ago, I was at my Aunt Heather's house watching the BYU game, and she had a big orange duffle bag out on the floor. I asked her about it, and she said she was updating her 72-hour emergency kit. I don't know what it was about that exchange, but I have launched into full-scale preparation mode. It's been a fun project to do with Cal while Reed is "away" (working 80-hour weeks), and I may or may not have reached the "too involved" point. Haha! I thought I'd list some of the ways I've become more prepared lately, and some of the resources I've come across as I've tried to learn more about this subject.

1. 72-Hour-Kit -- I've put this off for a while, because it always seems like there is SO much stuff to pack up. I mean, pretty soon the kit starts sounding like an entire U-haul truck, filled to the brim. But as I went over recommendations from the church, and began collecting items, I figured out that it wasn't such a huge imposition. Technically, I used a website that isn't officially affiliated with the church. Click here for the checklist that I used.

And voila! Everything on the list, with room to spare. With one exception: water. It recommends a staggering 3 gallons per person, but even with a disaster-induced adrenaline rush, I doubt I'll be able to haul 9 gallons of water as I'm fleeing with my nearly two-year old son. (I picture a meteor storm in my hypothetical apocalyptic scenarios, just fyi.)

So instead, I have six, 12-oz water bottles tucked in the orange duffle bag, and extra water stored in my home.

Included inside the orange duffle is our emergency binder, which I have learned is an important part of any emergency kit. It took a little bit of time, but I collected all of our important documents: medical records, insurance info, house and car key (yes I had to go make copies specifically for the kit), copies of prescriptions, passports, cash, checks, etc. It actually felt very refreshing to have it all organized in one safe place.

I went to ReadyAmerica and filled out emergency plan forms to include in the binder. It was a pain to collect all of our doctors' numbers and info, but it made me realize that I didn't have a lot of that information ready at my fingertips in case of emergency -- now I do.

2. Food Storage -- I guess I'm a real grown-up now. For those of you who don't know my dad, he is actually a food storage JUNKIE. When it comes to food storage, I've always sort of felt like I'd just run to my dad and he'd provide for my little family, too. But I need to grow up now. I've got Cal. I can't run to my dad, even though he has a sweet generator-powered emergency stove top, and we'd eat like kings during a nuclear holocaust.

I've found a lot of good information about how to start and maintain a food storage system, utilizing the resources that the church has for us. I found this blog post to be helpful regarding the LDS Cannery, which I plan to use. You can even download the order form and fill it out ahead of time, which is nice, because it lists the prices. This is a goal for this year. I plan to increase our supply each month, if possible, AND learn to cook the foods kept in our food storage. (What the heck do you do with a bag of dry beans?) :)

3. Gardening -- All of the preparedness sites (LDS and otherwise) have stressed the importance of knowing how to start a garden, including how to germinate seeds and properly take care of and harvest plants. I've always discounted this, because I live in an apartment. But I have a nice, sunny balcony now -- I can easily start a container garden, and why not practice gardening skills (something I've never really done before). Worse case scenario, I waste $10 and don't grow anything. Best case, I grow red peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers and have free gazpacho all summer long, AND prove to myself that I could start and maintain a garden if the need arose in my life.

4. Education -- As hokey as it sounds, I'm trying to learn skills (things that are probably second nature to other people), such as how to purify unclean water, how to sprout seeds, how to turn off the gas or put out a fire, first aid skills, etc. I want to know that, should an emergency arise, I would have the [cultivated] common sense and knowledge to handle the situation properly. So over the last two weeks or so, I've been going to eHow and google, looking up random things like "how to manually open a garage door during a power outage" or "how to safely collect rainwater." Haha, Rachel, I bet you know ALL of these things!

So wish me luck in my continued preparations. I highly recommend a similar project to each of you. I never hurts to be prepared for emergencies, and we have a lot of support and resources from the church and from our communities. Plus, I may get free gazpacho out of it! :)

I am really loving my time as an Achievement Days leader. The group of girls that I work with are really fun, and super spunky. I find myself looking forward to activities, and am constantly brainstorming about ways to teach them. I also really appreciate the program itself. The self-expression, introspection, community service, and talent development that Achievement Days promotes is such a fabulous resource for both parents and tweens. I am grateful to be a part of this awesome program!

Here's what happened:

Hannah and my mom were in Bakersfield, California for a Redlands East Valley High School band competition. After the competition, the whole band went to a place called Jon's Incredible Pizza to have a big party from 11pm to 2am. Ms Glass, the band director, did everything right: there were probably 40 adult chaperones present, and the kids were actually "locked in" at the restaurant. They'd rented out the whole place, so it was just band members and chaperones inside, and the kids had to be "cleared" to leave. That is my understanding. I think Ms. Glass took every precaution.

So at about 1:00am, my mom went back to the hotel to go to sleep. Around 2:00am, the band started coming home to the Clarion hotel across the street. When they got to the intersection, the chaperones started taking the kids across the street in smaller groups. The intersection had a signal light and a crosswalk.

This is a map of the accident location. The kids were crossing the street after having a party at Jon's Incredible Pizza. They were heading toward the Clarion.

A band member named Julia told us that she was walking about 5 feet in front of Hannah, and that she (Julia) had just stepped onto the curb (after finishing crossing the street) when she heard screeching brakes and a big thump. Then she turned and saw the car drive away. So Hannah and Zach were almost done crossing. The person who hit them was running a red light (which had been red for quite a while). Other band kids said that Hannah was launched from the impact.

From what I understand, Zach (who later received 80 stitches on his head) got up immediately and stumbled around in shock and confusion before sitting on the curb.

Conrad & Sally Lucero were with Hannah within seconds, and so was Tracey (a nurse). In the next minute, Ms. Lucero had run to the Clarion to call my mom from the lobby.

When my mom got the call, she was told to come to the Lobby, because there had been an accident. Mom says she didn't really understand what "accident" meant. She initially thought it was some sort of accident in the lobby--like someone falling down stairs, or tripping. She'd fallen asleep in her clothes, so she was out of the room in seconds. When the elevator doors opened after reaching the lobby, my mom saw the entire band holding hands in a circle, praying. (Se cries every time she talks about that, now). That's when she knew it was bigger than shed first thought, and that it was Hannah who was involved.

Mom says that someone (a man) put a coat on her (it was pouring rain outside). Thank you to whoever that was.

Ms. Lucero took her arm and led her outside, and talked to her the whole way to the intersection, prepping her for what she'd see when she got there. Thank you Ms. Lucero, for being there for my mom in that awful moment. Mom said she (my mom) must've kicked into adrenaline mode. When they reached the intersection, Hannah was lying in the street. The ambulance had just arrived, and the EMTs were cutting Hannah's clothes off. Hannah was fighting them big time (which is apparently very common with head trauma), so my mom kept saying, "Hannah, you gotta let them do this. Let the EMTs help you."

The road is four lanes on either side. At 2am, my mom said it wasn't very busy. It was raining.

The EMTs loaded Hannah into the ambulance, and my mom said, "Hey! Can I come in the ambulance?!?"

The EMT guy yelled, "Get in!"

Mom turned to Ms. Lucero and said, "Please bring my stuff." and then jumped into the ambulance (passenger seat, not the back) and they shut the doors.

Driving to the hospital, mom said that she could hear Hannah fighting them on everything (there was a little window, which was open, between the driver area and the back. Mom was trying to call out comforting things to Hannah, but doesn't know if Hannah heard/understood her at that point.

They arrived at Kern County Hospital, and a team of people were waiting for them. My mom watched for about 30 minutes, then asked for a phone to call my dad (she didn't have anything with her -- no cell phone). After two unsuccessful tries on the house phone, she called Rachel's cell phone (who ALWAYS picks up), and Rachel ran down and woke my dad. They started calling the rest of us at around 6:00am.

Hannah was transfered to Loma Linda Hospital in an ambulance later that same morning/afternoon. She was in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, until they told her last night (Monday night) that she was stable enough to be moved to Basic Care.

Hannah has a skull fracture that runs from the top of her head to just below/behind her right earlobe. She was leaking CSF behind her ear, but the Loma Linda Pediatric Neurologist handled it. (My mom was the one who saw the area and asked about it, and then the neurologist was called in immediately.) He found a piece of glass embedded under the skin, and stitched up the area. It's under control now.

Her skull fracture has set itself naturally. Normally, if an entire section of the skull is dislodged, they staple it into place. But because Hannah's skull is still intact all around the fracture, she won't have to have staples, and the skull can heal just how it is.

She had some bleeding on the brain, and some air beneath the fracture, but both were to a small enough degree that the doctors didn't feel it was a danger to her.

Her tibia on her right leg was snapped in half. (That's where they think the car initially struck her.) At first, the doctors thought she may have to have surgery to put in a metal plate on the tibia, but they decided they could just set the bone. They set it Monday morning, and said that Hannah was very tough during that process. They gave her a lot of morphine for the pain.

She has a bruised lung, but no bleeding. That will heal on its own. They're giving her antibiotics to fight off infection.

Probably the scariest part visually was her face: HUGE gashes in the soft tissue of her face. Very gorey, and very deep. My dad was a MESS about that, but he's doing much better. Brother Andreason from church, a plastic surgeon, was EXTREMELY helpful in choosing the surgeon for the job. My parents are very grateful to him. The reconstruction surgery occurred Sunday night. Hannah has 300+ stitches in her face. It looks much better now. She looks just like Hannah.

We've all been able to visit with her, but she is sedated and sleeping most of the time, and when she is awake, she is completely exhausted (too tired to open her eyes or speak), nauseated and dizzy.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts, well wishes, prayers, meals and helpfullness. My parents are very grateful. We are ALL very grateful.

I LOVE Autumn.