Such a busy month

 This has been such a busy couple of weeks.  I'll start with this week and work backwards. 

For our Zoom YW's meeting, we did salt paintings.  That was such a fun activity.  This is the symbol for this year's YW's program.  We just painted it with food coloring.  This one was Ada's.  I think it's neat.  It's a thumb print.  Each of us are individuals and loved by God, but we all have a good work to do.

This was yesterday about 10 am.  I so wished I had a real camera, not just my phone...

Getting ready for zoom church this last Sunday.  These guys were waiting patiently.  The zoom connection wasn't working so we missed the first half, but finally got on for the second half.  It was Sam's first time passing the sacrament.  I love that we got to have him serve us in our home as a priesthood holder.  He's growing up.

Last Thursday, Seth was playing hide and seek with the kids and climbed up on our guest room bunk bed, slipped and fell.  He hit his head hard on a chair next to the bed. He came out crying and I thought he was fine.  Then I saw him bleeding and rushed him upstairs.  I washed him up in the sink and put a rag on his head.  I knew he'd need stitches, but Jer was giving blood at the blood bank and I had daycare for 10 more minutes.  I just held Seth's head while daycare kids left, then we took off for our after hours pediatricians office.  He was scared and asked if Sam could come.  Sam doesn't handle blood and pain very well, so he asked if he could bring the Nintendo Switch and play games with Seth on it.  He kept him happy in the van and while we waited for the doctor.  They don't do anesthesia at the office apparently, but he needed 8 staples.  He was so brave and held still even though he cried and screamed.  I don't know if I could have done that as a 6 year old.  We kept a clean gauze on it with a bandana for a couple of days, so he looked like he'd just come out of the 80's.  He got the staples out today.  He cried again, but held still and it only took a couple of minutes.  I asked if it hurt more to get them in or out.  He said that it was worse to put them in.

I will tell you that we haven't been to the pediatrician's office since the pandemic started.  That was a different experience to say the least.

We've also decided that pickleball is our favorite outdoor and socially distanced activity right now.  The park next to us put in 4 courts a year ago.  We've been making good use of them this month.  And it's nice that they have 4 courts.... that's enough room for all of us if we're all playing.  I'm so slow now though!  I used to run 3 miles almost every day and now my brain tells my body to run two or three steps and my body jerks that way but doesn't move so well.  Sheesh.

Warning: Gross picture.

So Sam gets super high stress when it comes to physical pain.  He gets that wild animal, uncontrollable expression and won't listen to anything you have to say.  He does mildly better if you explain step by step what is going to happen and there are no surprises.  The instacare doctor not only straight up lied several times, but she wasn't very good at stitches either.  She kept saying she wouldn't give him a shot, and then gave him 4.  Then she said it wouldn't hurt when of course it did.  We ended up having Jer pin his top, I pin his leg and I'd narrate what was happening while Jer had him singing Primary songs.  Taking the stitches out today went better, but man he does not handle surprises like that well.  I felt a little like my emergency preparedness grandma and mom.  When he cut it, we were a little way away from our emergency kit in the van, so I pulled a pad out of my camera case, wrapped it around his ankle and put a sock over it to keep some pressure.... Then Jer and Uncle James took turns carrying him down the path and to the car.