Damien's High Adventure

Yes, it was a mother's worst nightmare! Seeing her child in a dangerous situation and not being able to do anything except cry!

Yesterday afternoon, we had about 10 minutes before we were to leave for Sunday night services at church. The kids wanted to go outside and play, so we told them not to get dirty and just for a few minutes...

At 5:30, I called to the kids to come in, and we could not find Damien! I could hear him answering me and calling to me, but could not see him. He kept telling me he was in the tree, but I didn't see him...until I looked up...way up! He was over 30 feet in the air!!!

I sent his sister in to get Dad and told Damien to stay very still. Damien's response was that he could see everything up there...and there was a building that wasn't a house and wanted to know what it was. To punctuate his question, he pointed behind him to make sure I knew where the building was. Doing so, he let go of the trunk.

Earlier in the day we had went to the new Kroger in Loganville. We were having a baby shower at church after services for John and Susan and needed to take some finger foods. While there, a 'nice' lady gave the kids each a helium filled balloon. Damien had taken his outside and it had flown the coop. He decided to climb the tree, because it was the biggest thing in the backyard, to get his balloon. Unfortunately, the balloon blew around in the wind, so he couldn't get it...but as he said, God had the balloon and He would give it back to Damien.

Rex called our son Shawn to come over and see if he could climb up and help Damien down, but the branches and leaves were too thick, he could only get up about 10 feet. While Shawn was climbing up, the top of the tree swayed a bit and Damien got a little scared for the first time (didn't last very long) so Rex decided to call the fire department. While he told them no lights and sirens, they did indeed turn on the sirens, so Damien was able to hear them as they arrived.

Once the Fire department arrived and started setting up, I was able to breathe for the first time, and managed to think to get the camera and snap a couple of pictures. Strangely, Damien said the scariest time was coming down the ladder. He was afraid he would fall through the rungs of the ladder.

My sincere thanks to that brave young man that rescued Damien!

I think I will now call Damien's doctor and suggest that instead of changing Damien's meds for a fifth time in one month, that maybe it is time for ME to have some drugs for my nerves!!!

Have a great Memorial Day!

Alyssa's Big Day

Alyssa had her surgery yesterday. Scottish Rite Hospital is a great Children's Hospital and part of the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. It is the hospital that Damien went to for his rehab. That hospital will always have a special place in our hearts. The hospital did not disappoint us with Alyssa's Big Day.

The staff was professional and kept us informed every step of the way. They were prompt, caring and understanding. Alyssa's Doctor, Dr Stephanie Martin, was very pleased with the outcome of the surgery. Her toes are pink and warm, and the foot is perfectly flat. Everything we could have hoped for.

Unfortunately, an eight month old is incapable of telling us where it hurts. She has been in a great deal of pain. The pain meds were not doing their job, so she was kept heavily sedated. She did not have a very restful night, and is still getting pain meds every three hours. Unfortunately, she likes being held in a way that does not account for the fact that her foot should be elevated. It is very difficult to console a crying baby if you do not hold and coddle them in the way they like, so it was very difficult for both Mom and baby!

I took the time while waiting to finish burying knots and clipping tails on the QOV quilt I am working on. I have finally gotten that ready to ship off.

We are hoping that Alyssa will be able to come home today, but if not, by tomorrow. It all depends on when the pain is under control. Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts for her.

Busy Week!

This past week has been a very busy week, and the one coming up isn't going to be any less busy!

Damien had another doctor's appointment, where we are playing around with his medication again. Since Tuesday, we have made two more changes. Hopefully, this will lead us towards less meltdowns and more cooperative days!

I finished piecing the hand print quilt for Ms. Pat, and what a pain it was! I had forgotten how much I hate to do applique! I tried to use Brianna's machine, since it has all those nice embroidery stitches built in, and hated every second of it! It makes a noise that reminds me of metal grating on metal. It is almost like the arm is too low, but checking with the manufacturer, it is right. These machines just are noisy! The stitch was OK, but I was committed to finish all the hand prints with that stitch, and didn't particularly like the stitch after one hand... and the amount of thread it took!!!! I was using King Tut in both the top and the bobbin. I had to refill the bobbin after only 2/3 of each hand! I was going to use the same thread for the quilting, but now I realize I might better order another cone!

I got my first QOV!!! I can't begin to explain how excited I am about that! It scared me to death! I know I am in over my head, but I will never learn until I try! I am treating it like a customer quilt, and it is so stressful! The batting I had was too small, so I had to go to Joann's to get another bat, and used my 40% off coupon. I looked at it for ever before I decided what to do with it! I originally thought I'd do a panto, but after seeing the quilt I decided it would be better with a bit more of a custom look. I worked a couple of hours on Friday night and Rex even came up to the studio to look at the progress. He was slightly impressed with the quilting, so that made me feel a bit better! I haven't had a chance to get back to it because of the Mother's Day weekend.

We celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we drove around looking at houses, because that is what I LOVE to do. Shawn brought Alyssa over to make a handprint for her Mommy for her first Mother's Day. And yes, Tasha cried. It was rally cute!

On Sunday, Shawn and Tasha took me out to eat lunch after church, of course sweet Alyssa slept most of the meal, only waking up after we had finished eating to play with her aunt and uncle. I gave Tasha my gift to her, one of the Willow Works carvings, at least I think that is what they are called. Tasha gave me my first one a few years ago, and I have gotten hooked on them, so I got one for her first Mother's Day.

We came home to plant the two bushes we bought two weeks ago by my downstairs apartment door. We then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get the apartment set up for our classroom. This also involved getting it baby proofed as well, so it was a very busy day!

After evening services, Amanda and Korey took me out to dinner at Chilis. It was a great evening, I wish we could do it more often, maybe with all 5 kids...

This Friday Alyssa has the surgery on her foot. I am not looking forward to having my baby in pain, but I know it is necessary. I am going to try and be brave...

Alyssa is spending the day with her mom today, so I am working some more on the downstairs apartment. That bathroom was worse than I thought! I've got lots of ideas for decorating, but first things first...baby proofing!

Back to work!

Nini

Where is the quilt pictures?

I know what you are saying, how can this blog be about quilts when I don't have any pictures of quilts!!!!????!!!

Until and unless the Mother's Day Fairy brings me a new camera, I will have to vie for time on my husband's camera. Since I haven't figured out a way to be able to view and download my pictures without seeing his, this may be a problem. (he is a police officer and I really don't want to see the pictures he takes of crime scenes....)

I have just finished a new quilt, as well as been working on more feathers! They are almost to the point where I wouldn't mind having people see them. But I promise you won't see any pictures of that here! I re-used the same three yards of fabric, using different colors of thread. I don't think there is an inch of fabric that isn't covered in thread!

I have finished the quilt for John and Susan's baby shower on the 25th. It is really funny, I wanted to have something different for the quilting. It was a rail fence with lots of lines, so I wanted curves. I practiced a wave type pattern until I really liked it and loaded the blue quilt. Somehow the pattern changed with the very first pass and it became a much simpler wave. None of the curly cues I had worked on, almost a 'C'. I really like the way it turned out, but not sure how it evolved to this!

I did discover that if I sit in my office chair and kinda glide along the floor as I quilt, I have better control on my quilting. Actually the difference is that I can SEE what I am quilting! I also don't get headaches from looking over my glasses! If I ever get to upgrade to a different machine with bells and whistles, I will definitely have to get one that has an adjustable frame. I know that my frame is not at the best height for me...maybe I can get my son or son in law to look at it to see what we can do to raise it some!

My newest project is a hand print quilt for Ms. Pat. Ms. Pat is my daughter's Sunday School teacher. She is undergoing some rough chemo treatments right now, and they still don't have a good diagnosis on her. She is looking at a lot of uncertainty and pain, and takes it all with a smile. She almost ignores her own pain, and concerns herself with others' pain and misfortune. If you ever ask her how she feels, she is always 'fine'.

All the kids in her class have given me their hand prints and I will applique them on to a quilt so she can wrap herself in their love. I can't wait to get it finished, and hope to have it ready next Sunday.

I also have signed up for QOV. I've been contacted by my partner, but I won't be seeing the quilt until around the 14th. No problem, I will be working on Ms. Pat's quilt until then.

I promise to post pictures of the kids giving her the quilt!!!!

Keep on quilting!

Nini