Saved by the Bag

Well...sort of...we will never know how bad Michael would have been hurt had he not had the airbags.  We are just thankful that he is OK.

He has been driving a different route the last week, as he is training with the Army Guard at Camp Bullis at this time.  He was heading home last night, and he had called to tell me that he was sorry that he was running late.  He was just saying that he would be home in 15 minutes and was about to say good-bye....when instead, I hear:  "Oh no...this is not going to be good!"  Then...silence...not a good thing to hear.

Then...I heard Michael say that he had been in a wreck...he was OK...but needed to go see about getting out of the car and checking on the others.

You do not realize how long thirty minutes takes unless you are watching the clock.  When you are busy, it seems to go by quickly and you are wishing you had more time.  When you are waiting...especially for something like this...the time goes by so slow!  It just so happens that I had Facebook up and I got a message from my cousin (Karen).  I told her what had happened and I was waiting to hear back.  She said, "...praying some peace while you stay distracted with young ones with a fast beating heart."  So true!  I told her it is easy to be distracted by all the little ones running around.  I prayed that he truly was OK and waited.

Meanwhile, this is what he says happened:

I was talking with Michelle on speaker phone and I was just about to hang up when I saw the truck in front of me slam on his brakes.  I knew that I was not going to be able to stop in time so I hollered out and slammed on my brakes.  Thankfully the person behind me was able to stop in time to not hit me.  Unfortunately, the same was not true for me.  I tried to veer to the side but it was not enough and I hit the truck at an angle to his right end.  The Toyota did not even touch his high bumper until half way up my engine block.  Due to the angle, the front end of the car pushed my driver side back.  

My airbags were "exploding" everywhere (The only one that did not go off was the passenger side because it automatically turns off when there is not a passenger.)  The sound is extraordinary...I later told an Army buddy that I would rather hear the sound of the tank main gun going off.  There was also a terrible smell throughout the car.  

I tried to open my driver side door but it would not budge.  So, I had to climb through the side door.  I checked on the other drivers.  There were five of us in all.  Then I tried to call 9-1-1.  I got through but then they hung up!  I went back to the other drivers and no one thought to call the police, so I tried to call to a direct line to the police department and it went to a recorded message that I should try back during business hours.  SO...I tried 9-1-1 again...this time I got through and they sent someone out.  Thankfully no one was hurt other than bruises.  

Hard to the bruising on his nose but I am sure it hurts!

OH...my nose did hurt a lot!  The air bag pushed my glasses into my nose and I am quite bruised where the ridge crosses my nose.  I do not think it is broken.  My head hurt really bad but I do not think I have a concussion.  I call my insurance after exchanging insurance with the driver of the truck.  I find out that the vehicle that started the trouble coming on to the entrance ramp to quickly has already fled the scene.  I guess I am glad that there is not a sixth car sitting with the rest of us but it is annoying that they did not make sure we are OK.

Two police cars show up and talk to all of us.  No tickets were issued.  I am not sure how insurance will handle this when there are so many vehicles involved.  I am just glad I have insurance that works quickly.  I had the tow truck here in less than thirty minutes and I already have a rental car set to pick up in the morning. 

I called Michelle and told her the news...sent pictures of the vehicle.  I did not get home in 15 minutes as planned...took me more than two hours when all was said and done.  

The vehicle does not look very good.  It will be interesting to see if they consider it totaled.  I have been told that the chances are higher when airbags deploy.  I guess I am glad we got the gap insurance when I bought it back in January (at least I hope we did that!).  

So...now we wait.  Appraisers and claims to be filed...wait for accident report to see how that works out.  But all is good...Michael is safe....that is all that really matters.

I told him later that he should have hollered, "I love you, Michelle" or at most I would have liked to have heard him say "Help me, God!"...because as I know he was in a wreck the last thing I want to hear before he crashes is "This is not going to be good."

Also...when he bought this car back in January, he was a little upset because it did not have power windows. I figured why pay for a fancier model (We did get a good deal on this car!) when he would only be riding it to work and back.  So, I told when he talked to the appraiser, he should say...the only thing I know is that the power windows do not work!  LOL!  I have to get the guy to laugh!  He was really shook up by it all!

I guess you know when you live in the city, when you get into a 5-car pile up and nobody thinks it is a big deal.  One man did pull to the side to help Michael push his car to the side of the road.  We also learned that the police in San Antonio only issues tickets if they see an accident or there are injuries.  I also wonder about how insurance will handle this.  When driving on the freeway, you cannot leave space between cars easily...if you leave space there is always somebody who will cut in to take the space.  Having ample room in between cars for safe braking distance is near impossible.  Crazy world!  It is times like this when I really miss the country life.

UPDATE:  Car was totaled...Michael was very lucky to not have injuries.  We will be looking for new car AGAIN...so watch for the big post on the car shopping adventure sometime in June!

Bees in the Field

Wow!  I was supposed to write this post over a week ago, but my computer continued to mess up and so I figure better late than never!

This is an important post for our record keeping and it is just a fun way to thank all of our new beekeeper friends we met since our move.  What better way to thank them for their help then telling everyone about our bee adventures in the city!

First we would like to thank Rick for willing to help us when we first brought our bees to San Antonio.  We were bringing the bees from East Texas in the middle of the night.  Michael would be the only one to unload the hive and he is not the beekeeper of the family.  Rick did not hesitate with his willingness to help should he be needed.  Thankfully Michael was able to move the hive without any trouble.  But, it is always good to know someone had his back! (January 18)

Now skip ahead two months and we went to our first beekeeper meeting in March (yep...I am that behind!).  This was so different from our other association (not in a good or bad way...just different!).  The older boys and I arrived to a FULL parking lot and we were wondering if we were at the right place or if there was another activity at the same location.  I think there were at least 100 beekeepers! (March 18)

The meeting began with general information and then the program for the evening began.  The program was presented by Cynthia and was inspired by her visit to the USDA Bee Research Lab in Baton Rouge.  She gave a great talk about all the research done at this site as well as the research throughout the country.  The boys especially enjoyed learning about the genetics of bees since we were discussing genetics in science at this time.  We were not able to stay until the end, but Cynthia was kind enough to send us her slide show so we could view the rest of the information.

She spoke about:

• Current Research/Future Bee Research; 
• Varroa mites; 
• Molecular Genetic Bee Research; 
• Fungal Bee Research; Insemination of Queen Bees; 
• Honey Extraction at USDA; 
• Sun Shading-Hives; 
• Africanized Bee;
• US Range Penetration/Rainfall Correlation; 
• Pesticides – Correlation with Colony Collapse Disorder.

Another surprise for us was the potluck dinner (said to happen at all the meetings!).  This was midway through the presentation, so we were able to stay for a short time.  This was a nice surprise and showed that this was a group that really encouraged family involvement  It was just a nice way to get to know other beekeepers in a relaxed setting.  At the beginning of the meeting, all the newcomers were asked to introduce themselves, so I was able to ask if anyone was interested in helping us split our hive.  So, at the dinner portion of the meeting, I met a couple who was in need of a hive who wanted to help.

NOW...jump ahead another six weeks...and we are at the annual bee field day...April 25th.  We met at Rick's family ranch early in the morning.  We first met Diana in her beautiful full garden.  The children enjoyed walking through the walk ways and trying different vegetable fresh off the plants!

They also liked meeting their dog Shiner!  Henry spent much of this time taking pictures throughout the grounds.  Michael and I went about meeting the other beekeepers.

After a brief introduction, we were sent about to different stations to learn different aspects of beekeeping.  We were able to learn about:

• Honey extraction (the association has a nice portable set up for members to borrow  when honey harvest comes around!)
• How to make lotion with bee wax (an easy recipe I look forward to using!)
• Local fauna for best pollen, nectar and honey production (for our use and for the bees)

Then we enjoyed a potluck meal and met more of the beekeepers.  This is when we met up with Dan who would follow us home to split our hive.  It did not take long for the younger children to find play mates for the day.  This was great because they were able to play while we went out to the apiary.

Thankfully, after the meal we were taken out to Rick's apiary to learn how to go through the process of splitting a hive and re-queening.  I spoke to several beekeepers in the field also, including a man from the Beaumont area who is working on a bee that is resilient to the Varroa mite that also works well in the high humidity of East Texas (mix of Russian and Italian bees).  Then a young man came and told me that he was glad to see the boys out in the field as we needed more young beekeepers (the next generation).  He told me that he would love to help us in any way to keep the boys interested.

I had to add this picture of the little guy (not one of ours)!

We then headed home with Dan so we could split the hive.  It had already been a long day but it was good to get it done while the method was fresh on our minds.  It was actually very easy.  We found the queen in the first frame we pulled.  (NICE!) so we were able to then pull from our second deep and not disturb her set up.  We pulled the frames needed for Dan's new hive (eggs or larvae that just hatched from the egg, drones flying, pollen and honey, plenty of nurse bees) and enough to remain in our hive.

The only big surprise were the ants.  Three weeks before we had checked our hive and noticed ants around the bottom.  We had placed cinnamon around the hive and it seemed to help (April 5).  We did not check the hive again until this split.  The ants had taken over the entire top of the hive (even laying eggs along the inner cover of the hive!).  We were really worried that the ants had gotten deep into the hive!  However, we do have a strong hive and the bees had kept them out of the inner depths of the hive.  We were able to sprinkle the area around the hive with cinnamon and Diatomaceous earth.  This seems to be helping and is not harmful to the bees.

After all was done, we were free of stings and walking away from the hive.  Dan started removing his suit and ended up with a bee sting on his forehead!  I felt so bad, but he seemed to be okay with it all.  He took his split and headed home!

All is well in our little apiary in the city!  We are looking forward to a good harvest in July.

May the Fourth Be With You!

In spite of our crazy night at the ER...we still got up this morning with the full intention of paying tribute to the Star Wars movie.

We decided this year was all about food!  We started out with Princess Leia buns, which were drizzling in peanut butter honey sauce.  Along with this we had blue milk, which for those of you who do not know the story well is what Luke was drinking in the meal with his aunt and uncle (Episode 4).

Then we had a light lunch when we returned from Mass.  A Boba Feta Salad with strawberries and star fruit (we have always wanted to try this exotic fruit and this seemed like a good opportunity...not bad!)  This was followed by Light Saber ice pops.  The boys could not resist having a dual with their sabers before heading outside to eat them!

While they played out their favorite Star Wars scenes, Michael and I made dinner.  We had Hans-burgers (for us this meant meatball sliders in a yummy sauce I created that were served on Hawaiian sweet rolls), "Vader Potaders," and Yoda Ears (edamame in their cases).

Then I surprised the entire family with a ice cream (root beer float mix) in the shape of Hans Solo in his carbonite tomb!  It was an awesome recipe and so easy!  I will use this recipe again throughout the summer.

We really should be having a Star Wars marathon to end the day but we only have the VCR tapes and we would probably crash if we sat still for too long today!

It was a fun day and I hope it becomes a long lasting tradition in our house!

Boys vs Girls

Well, I have not posted in a while...with the move and a new computer...and just life being busy with six children (I will try to do another post to fill in the gap this week) I just have not had time.  But, I started looking at fixing the computer issues that kept me from posting this week.  Just in time to write this post!

Yesterday was a prime example of how different life is with girls and boys.  The top seven differences between girls and boys:

NUMBER 7:

Girls get excited about going to art museums....boys go because girls are excited!  I heard about a museum that was having their 90th birthday in downtown San Antonio.  There were going to be lots of fun children activities so I thought it would be fun.  We arrived and walking around viewing art from all over the world!  It was great but then we made an important discovery...which led to the next revelation about boys and girls.

NUMBER 6:

Girls get excited about going to a SECOND art museum in the same day....boys go because they hear there is free food!  We found out we were at the WRONG museum and so we went to the other side of downtown to find the right one.  The celebration was fully underway and we had a great time.  We did have a great lunch and went around to the various arts and crafts booths.

NUMBER 5:

We arrived home and the boys went off to play.  If you did not realize it, the difference between boys and girls does not change as we get older!  Michael is working the night shift right now (His last day on that shift was last night...woo hoo!)  and this means he needs to sleep during the day.  He still thinks he needs 7+ hours of sleep to make it through the day (crazy thought!).  While he is on this shift, Zaira has been struggling with her own night time sleep schedule...staying up until all hours of the night.  I rarely get more than 3-4 hours of sleep.  Both of us were exhausted from the full day of walking and keeping up with children in art museums!!  So when we got back, we told the children to play quietly and we were going to get some rest before doing something fun in the evening (We thought we were going to go swimming!)  Michael (adult BOY!) actually slept for two hours!  I, on the other hand, fought with two-year-old so I could close my eyes for thirty minutes before making dinner!

NUMBER 4:

I had also asked the boys to clean up the house (basically do their chores) so we could do something fun after dinner.  The boys decided this meant play on their computer.  Zaira helped me clean the kitchen, so we could make dinner!


NUMBER 3:

Dinner was a simple and light meal....BLTs.  One of the biggest differences between boys and girls is FOOD!  I am perfectly happy with a slice or two of bacon...I add avocado to my sandwich to make it more filling.  Zaira is right there with me...keep it simple and light!  But the boys think a BLT should be BBBBBBlt....heavy on the BACON and forget the rest!

NUMBER 2:

So...we finished dinner...Michael checked out the the rooms the boys were supposed to clean and it was a mess, so we did not go swimming as planned.  One of the other things I did instead of sleep was look into geocaching (We are planning a road trip and I thought this would be fun thing to do along the way!).  There is an app for the phone and I found that there were caches right by our house.  As a girl, I saw this as a way to see if we could have fun finding coordinates and we would have the dog walked for the evening (dual purposing!); however, I also thought about all the dangers involved in going into an unknown area digging around tall grass and trees....police stopping us for trespass, snakes, wild animals, pointy cactus, etc.  The boys saw this as an exciting adventure...hunting for lost treasure and without a care in the world!  They did find the treasure and we headed home for the evening.


NUMBER 1:

AND...that trip back home is what brings us to the biggest difference between boys and girls.  I back track a little in the day to say that I spent about $100 on clothes for Zaira so she would look adorably cute for the summer.  This is not hard to do because first of all I think she is always adorably cute, but also because it is so easy to find adorably cute clothes for little girls!  The boys could care less about cute clothes and would have them completely dirty before a picture could be taken even if I tried.  Zaira put on a little fashion show in her cute new outfits.  Just to prove my point, the fun of the evening ended with a trip to the ER for Edward smashing his fingers into the massive hinged gate of our community...taking off the tips of two (almost three!) of his fingers.  There was blood all over him and the house (Do you remember the old Family Circus cartoons?)  Instead of spending $100 on cute clothes for him, we spent the money for his ER trip!  Thankfully after a four hour stint at the emergency room, as well as 7 shots...3 x-rays...and 16 stitches...he will keep his fingers and will need to see a surgeon this week to fix the breaks. What a crazy night!  Funny to think I worried about all the dangers of walking through the woods and he was hurt 5 steps from our front door! Life is funny sometimes!

And so you can see that there is a difference between raising boys and girls.  Thank God I love these little rascals!  Because they make my heart stop in more ways than one most days!

BONUS DIFFERENCE:

If a girl gets hurt she runs straight to Mom (or Dad) to tell them they are hurt and want the hurt fixed!  When a boy gets hurt, he tries to hide the accident as long as possible hoping he does not get in trouble for whatever he was doing wrong at the time of injury!  Also, he will go out of his way to not walk in a straight path from one destination to the another even to save his life (In this case to get from the front door of the house to the sink to "wash away the blood," Edward did a Billy trail (from Family Circus cartoon) to get there causing blood drips all over our living room and kitchen!  We are still finding drip spots after three days!

UPDATE:  Edward was out of the little finger splints in two weeks.  We now call his fingers "Frankenstein fingers" because you can see the stitch marks along the cuts.  He will have scars to remember it by but I think he will be OK.

The Good Stuff

I was looking back over my blog posts for this year and thought I would try to change things up a bit.  It seems I have been writing a lot of serious and even sad posts this year!  So, in spite of the fact that we are not well in the house (we are getting better!), I thought I should write about some of the fun things that we have been doing around here.

Since the last of 2013 and into this new year, I have taken on a project that I have wanted to do for some time...I am creating cookbooks!  It is an idea I had many years ago and created in one LARGE book for my family back in 1995 for Christmas.  The concept was to have meals that went with the seasons and holidays using recipes that were family favorites.  The idea was good but toward the end we were in a hurry to get it done in time and it was also just printed on my home printer and then photocopies at a local print shop.

Brendan choosing the meal for the day from our new cookbook!

I wanted to redo this idea and add some new favorites.  I also wanted to create a book for each month so it would be easier to use.  I have the recipes set up in a monthly menu at the front of the book (including leftover nights!) and then take the recipes along with bonus recipes for each day of the month.  The recipes for  each month are based on seasonal foods and family traditions.  I add pictures to each page that are related to the recipe or to the family traditions.  It has been fun to complete these books because I love to plan menus and create the recipes my family loves, but also because I am going back to old family photos and taking new ones to add to the books.  I have already been asked if I would print a book for others.  My thought is that this book is unique to my family and it would better serve a person create their own family cookbooks with this concept in mind.  Maybe it is a business idea once I complete my own.  What do you think?

In the middle of writing the fourth cookbook, I stopped this project to make a book about chores!  The book is called "Toddling Through the Chores" and is a step by step look at the chores for our family.  I decided to have a little fun and show how the little ones in our house can do the chores to show that if they can do it anyone else in the house can too!  Brendan and Zaira had a lot of fun!  And you know what?  I found out that they CAN do a lot of the chores!
 

I had a birthday, which was celebrated with family.  I was given the gift of side steps for my van.  That might not seem like a big deal or not birthday quality gift...HOWEVER...this is what I wanted as I want to be able to get in and out of my tall van without killing myself!  SO...Michael ordered the kit and put them on himself!  I really appreciate this gift and it will be remembered every time I use the van...so it is the kind of gift that keeps on giving!  I love it!  Add to that a new dryer and I had a blessed day!  (Technically the dryer was not a birthday gift but it does seem like the old one bit the dust at the most opportune time to let me go pick out a new one at that time!  YAY...for me as the old one was a real pain!)

SIDE STORY:  When I went to pick out a new dryer, I thought it would a good idea to get a matching pair...so we were going to buy a new washer also.  We really did not need a new washer as we had just bought one about two years ago.  But, we have not had a matching set for a long time!  When I went to the store, I picked the set I liked and then found out the store only had the dryer.  We would need to go to a different store for the matching washer because the set I chose was going out of style.  So, we drove all the way across town to set up the washer purchase.  We took the dryer home immediately because it was needed but the washer was going to be delivered later in the week.  We got home and started setting up the dryer...I looked at the dryer and the washer in place and LAUGHED!  I bought the matching dryer for the old washer!  I could not believe it!  Thankfully, we were able to call and cancel the washer purchase.  Am I the only one who could be so silly?

Brendan eating meal worms!

Later in the month, we had fun with insects on two occasions...the boys went to a 4H entomology meeting and then we volunteered at an entomology convention.  I will let Sean tell about this experience on his blog.  I will link to it when he had this completed.

The other big project we have going is making this house a home...one of the first things we do in a new home is take out carpet.  I HATE carpet!  So, we have pulled the carpet out of the boys room, play room, and the hallway.  We have had a few set backs (not related to flooring) but hope to have these areas done by the end of the week.  Then we will continue this process in the other two bedrooms down stairs.  The upstairs will be wood floors so it will take a little more effort or possibly a professional...We will also add bookcases to the schoolroom upstairs for this part of the project.  We are hoping to have it done by the time children are running around in swimsuits!

One thing we have really missed is our favorite museums.  So, we found a new one to love here!  The Witte museum is so amazing!  I think I posted about our fun for Brendan's birthday last month.  This month they opened a new exhibit about aliens!  The boys enjoyed this adventure...I really considered this an exhibit about science fiction characters rather than aliens, as most of the pictures and talk amongst the boys was about robots.  However, they had fun and that is the important thing.  Maybe we will find a way to volunteer at this museum soon!

We are still looking for activities for the boys.  4H has lost some of its appeal for us in the urban setting.  Sean will continue with the entomology project and all of the boys like to be in photography.  However, the hardest part is finding a club that meets our needs that is not too far away.  So, the search is on for a photography club for youth and a nature club.  Also, we would love to find a LEGO club.  So it looks like the next few weeks will be spent on this search!  Wish us well as we find our place in this city life!

Prayers Needed

It seems like I have been writing a lot of blog posts this year for family and friends who need prayers.  This trend continues as I ask for another round of prayers of healing.

This last week I have been told about several family and friends who are sick and in the hospital.  Here is the list of them all and I ask that you pray for them and the doctors who are helping them, as well as the family members closest to them.

A dear friend from our 4H days has been in the hospital for over a week and will continue to heal for at least another week.  Joseph started out with the flu and after being admitted to the hospital also found himself with an infection that ran down his leg and into foot.  He was taken to a larger hospital and seems to be doing better.  Please pray for him to have a speedy recovery so he can tell more jokes and give witty remarks in response to his family and friends!

Also, please pray for a young man who is always in our continued thoughts and prayers.  He is heavily addicted to drugs and is hurting himself and family members.  I will not divulge his name but God knows him and his needs.  Also pray for his family who struggle so much with worry and not knowing what to do to help him.  This week he was admitted into the hospital in another state due to withdrawal symptoms.  We pray that this will be the turn around that is needed in his life.

Just after we returned from East Texas, we received a letter from one of the Sisters at the Monastery letting us know about our friend Lyn.  She was in the hospital due to an illness that might possibly be her end to this world.  Frantic with worry...and shame for not listening to the quiet whispers of the Holy Spirit earlier in the week to call her...I began my hunt for someone who knew more details.  After many calls, I decided to make my way back to East Texas.  I was able to visit Lyn and found out that she most likely fell sometime in the last two weeks causing severe internal bleeding.  The doctors even suspect she had a stroke.  She is now in a rehab and struggling.  I am so glad I was able to visit her when she is still aware of her surroundings.  I pray for God's will in her life and that she will be healed physically and spiritually.  She is a strong Christian and has said many times that she is prepared to meet the Lord in the next phase of life.  May she stay strong in her faith to the end as she is truly a good and faithful servant!

At this same time, another friend emailed that her mother was also admitted into the hospital for a head injury.  She was able to have surgery to relieve the pressure on her brain.  Helen is doing better but will need to remain in the hospital to heal.  She is a strong woman and I know she will fight this battle with courage.  Please pray that she gains her strength back soon.

Then, I got the call from my brother's wife...Nathan is now in the hospital due to congestive heart failure!  He is going thorough many tests to determine the next step in his recovery.  We do not have a lot of details but just pray that the right doctors are at his disposal to help find the best solution for recovery!

Believe it or not...Nathan's niece was admitted to the SAME hospital because she fell of her horse and was stepped on.  I am not sure about the details but I am sure Stephanie could use the prayers as well.

And finally, I ask that you pray for my family...over the weekend we have now had four children come down with a virus...Amanda, Henry, Zaira, and Sean have been very sick.  The good news is that it does not last long...the bad news is that it comes out of no where and is quite violent in nature!  It seems to travel through the family every two days so we are not through this battle yet!  We could use the prayers to keep the nasty germs away from the rest of us!

I continue to pray for all above and the many others who are suffering.  May God bless them all and any others I have forgotten or do not know about at this time!

Ninja Warrior Cleaning

After a long bout with the flu, we are hoping at least the worst of this is over.  So, yesterday I decided we need a cleaning frenzy to rid ourselves of any germs left around!

I sat everyone down before serving the noon meal (Smart, right?  Getting them to agree to help BEFORE serving the food!) and told them my master plan!

Everybody would take a small part of the job to rid our house of the germs.  I told the boys that they were ninja warriors who each had a mission to fight the bad germs throughout our house!

Brendan
(AKA Little Warrior with a Punch!)
would clean all of the door knobs throughout the house!

Edward
(AKA Master with a Kick)
would take on the task of light switches!

Henry
(AKA Quiet Guru)
had the epic job of cleaning all the sinks and tubs!

Sean
(AKA Mile full of Smile)
cleaned all of the toilets...inside and out!

Zaira
(AKA Wise and Proud)
could not be outdone and took on everyone's task!

Amanda and Katy
(AKA Twin Action Duo)
cleaned all of their upstairs area and orchestrated all the sheets being washed!

Me!  Well, I cleaned all the appliances, counters and kept Dad in bed so he would not contaminated the areas that were being cleaned since he was still sick enough to stay home from work!

We completed the job in less than an hour!

Now...if only we could tackle our school day like this!  We could rule the world!