All is Well

Thank goodness we had a beautifully calm morning today. I needed a bit of calm after yesterday...

It seems that emergency room visits are becoming more common for my family. I went 30 years without seeing the interior of an ER, and now I've had two visits in the past two years. I spent the day after Thanksgiving 2007 in the ER and several hours in the ER yesterday with my son. He's fine and all is well, except for perhaps my stress levels.

We were at school in a 4-H meeting. My son, and another four year-old*, after just being asked to get off of a table because it wasn't safe to climb on them, climbed up on another table and managed to flip it over. Unfortunately the table landed on my son.

I heard the "crash" of the table landing, turned around, and ran over to him. He immediately started wailing about his hand. It looked OK and he could move all of his fingers, so I immediately felt a sense of relief. That's when I saw his forehead. Dear Lord! He had a goose egg (a hematoma according to my EMT hubby) the size of a golf ball with a inch and a half horizontal cut (contusion) right across the middle. That sucker was the biggest bump I had ever seen. That's when I got worried.

I scooped him up, got him into his coat and snow pants, hopped on a friend's snowmobile , and rushed to the Medical Center; working hard not to freak out the entire way. (Which luckily was only about a half a mile.) School had called so the doctor and nurse were expecting us and had ice packs ready. S was still crying when they took him in for X-rays, so the X-ray technician asked me to sit him on my lap and hold him and then assured him, "If you can hold your hand really still so we can take some pictures, you can have a sucker."

That's all it took; he was able to calm down, and they got three good images of his hand. (Silly me forgot to take pictures of the X-rays - guess I was preoccupied.) I was so relieved when she told us nothing was broken. The doctor kept us at the ER for a while so she could be sure he didn't have a head injury, and then she sent us home with instructions to wake him up every two to three hours all night long. If we couldn't wake him or he couldn't answer simple questions like, "What is your sister's name?" we were to call 911.

My wonderful husband took that job. Probably because he knew I would stress out and overreact about something and end up waking him up to double-check anyway. Apart from two big purple bruises, S seems no worse for wear. He tells me, "Tables can tip over and hurt," so I am hopeful he learned a valuable lesson yesterday. I'm also hopeful that I won't be in another emergency room any time soon despite the doctor's warning; "As the mother of a son, this is most likely not your last visit to the emergency room with him." I can hope though, can't I?

* T had a small bump on the back of his head and is also just fine.

Bristle Bots

My husband is quite handy. While he may not be the world's best carpenter or plumber (though he can definitely hold his own) he is amazing when it comes to electronics. The man can fix anything! Plus he is always building handy things - like the TiVo-like computer we use to record and edit out the commercials from all of our TV. When he found a tutorial on how to make little vibrating robots he knew he had to make them.

We had friends up earlier this winter and the group of eight kids seemed like the perfect time to make these little guys.

It was so much fun watching the kids (ages four to fourteen) helping each other build them and then race them around the table. While the older kids were ensconced in adjusting the location of their motors and batteries (to shift the weight and alter how the bots moved,) the little ones just giggled as they squirmed on the top of the dining room table. Plus, it was a great little lesson in electric circuits. (You've got to get both of those wires touching the motor to get it to run you know.)

If you would like to make your own, here are the directions. Even if you don't want to make one, it is fun to see how the little guys race around the table. They move a lot faster than you would think. One more thing. Don't buy the Schoolastic Bristle Bot book! It is a total rip-off. The guys at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories came up with the idea and were not credited in Schoolastic's book. Bad bad Schoolastic...

Foamy Fun

What do you do when you've got some free time in the afternoon and want to do something new and fun with the kids? Why squirt shaving cream all over the kitchen counter top and let the kids finger paint, of course. We used Edge Gel because I happened to have a free sample, but any kind of shaving cream should work. My daughter loved how the gel changed from blue to white when she first started squishing it between her fingers.

They loved it! Both the two year-old and four year-old were up to their elbows in foamy fun (literally) for almost an hour. I loved that my son practiced writing some of his letters and that the shaving cream was a snap to clean up.

Though, if you do try this at home, I highly suggest this as a pre-bath time activity. By the time we were done, baths were a must. For the record, my son dutifully asked if it was OK before he slathered the stuff all over his face and arms. Since I knew we were off to the bath immediately afterward, I said yes. You should have seen the smile on his face...

We Heart Books

The interior of our Public Library is my last photo for Emily's Green Week...

We are a book loving family. All four of us read every day. Well, the adults read while the little ones listen, though they do often "read" to themselves and to the Sea Monkeys. The Public Library is one of my son's favorite places. Once a week my friend J takes both of our boys to the library. My son has grown quite fond of the library's large collection of Disney stories - The Little Mermaid being his absolute favorite. (Ariel comes home with him at least once a month.) My children love books and I love that they see the magic within them.

Other current favorites around our place include:

My daughter's favorite.

Also a great song on the Really Rosie soundtrack.

A wonderful read aloud. Grab it if you see it for sale because it's out of print.

What are the favorites in your house?

Green: Day Five

I love this house. I can't imagine maintaining it or how much it must cost to paint it, but I love it. There's just something romantic about a turret on a house, don't you think? Like some secret love story unfolded behind those stained glass windows. And despite the fact that they are long since gone, the couple lives on, eternally young, sitting in that room within the frame of an old sepia photograph. Usually I end up imaging a photograph of my grandparents when they were in their 20s. Hokey, I know...

I'm not in school today; instead my husband and I are off to the eye doctor and podiatrist. When you live on an island one appointment usually requires an entire day off, given the time required to get on and off the island and then drive to and from the doctor's office. So, whenever possible, we try to schedule multiple appointments on the same day. Today's schedule includes ice crossing, four appointments, grocery shopping, and a lunch date.

Enjoy your weekend. I plan to get busy in my craft room. How about you?

Speaking of Snowmobiles

I guarantee snowmobiling is not just a way to get from one place to another to the guy who owns this baby. I bet he has a matching jacket and helmet, too. I know, it's a "guy thing." They, care about things like engine size, gear ratios, and acceleration - well, lots of them do anyway. Me, I'm just happy that my old girl (circa 1996) starts for me every morning. Which, thank goodness, she does quite reliably.
While I was taking this picture people walked out of the bar and decided amongst themselves that I must work for the local newspaper. Because, who in their right mind would take a picture of a snowmobile ski!

Green: Day Three

Grand Hotel has been using this snow fence for years now, but I can remember a time when they didn't put it around the golf course during the winter. You see, we get lazy after a winter of riding snowmobiles. Some of us get so lazy that we are quite reluctant to give them up when spring arrives and go back to riding bicycles. Back in the pre-fence days, the die-hards would ride their snowmobiles on the golf course to get to town in the spring. Since the roads get plowed and have a thinner layer of snow than everything else, they melt first and become impossible to ride on. You can imagine how the hotel felt about that. So now, thanks to the snow fence, when spring arrives there are no muddy tracks across the course where the snowmobiles have chewed up the grass.

I for one, while I am sad to see my machine put away, am always thrilled to get back onto my bike. I hate the smell of the exhaust for one, and I'm usually just ready for a change. Plus, getting back on my bike means that spring has sprung and I can start looking forward to warmer weather.

Missing Porter

There's not much luggage being hauled to or from the boat docks this time of year. This green cart, from the Iroquois Hotel, doesn't have much longer to wait though. The dock porters will be back on the island and working in no time at all. OK, they won't be back until May, but it hit me today that May is really only eight weeks away.)

Green Makes Me Smile

This little splash of green makes me smile every time I see it. It may be a hand-me-down but it is one of my daughter's favorite things. Some days it is her "die-saur hat," some days it magically turns her into a "draaa-gon," and other days it instantly turns her into "Die-saur Neil" (a mild-mannered paleontologist who accidentally eats some dinosaur DNA and grows into a gigantic dinosaur who terrorizes "The City" in an episode of The Tick. (If you are a total geek, like me, you'll appreciate The Tick, trust me - it's hilarious.) Some nights, when she is wearing her dinosaur pajamas, she even wants to wear the hat to bed. Which just makes smile even more. What is making you smile today?

Yummy Sunday

This morning along with our smashed eggs (as the four year-old calls them) and omelet, we enjoyed a special treat - Monkey Bread. Before you start to think that I am ubermom and that I am so organized that I made the dough last night from scratch, let me share my super easy recipe with you.

Monkey Bread

One stick of butter

About 1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

a dash of cloves

2 tablespoons of water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup of pecans

2 tubes of Pillsbury French Bread (in the refrigerated isle)

Preheat the oven to 350. In a small pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is completely melted, add the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. (Leave out the water, pecans and vanilla.) Turn the heat up to high and stir constantly. As you stir you'll notice it looks like the butter and the sugar really aren't mixing together. Once the mixture starts to bubble, continue to cook it until it looks like butter and sugar have become one. Then pour in the water. Watch out it will really bubble and steam then. Take the mixture off the heat and add the vanilla.

Get out a Bundt style pan and spray the inside with Pam type spray. Drizzle some of the sauce in the bottom if the pan and sprinkle in some pecans. Open one of the tubes of dough. Using scissors cut off small chunks of dough, perhaps the size of the tip of your thumb and drop them in a layer around the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle on some pecans and drizzle on more sauce. Continue like this until you are out of dough. For me, two tubes of bread dough filled my pan about 3/4 of the way.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. When you remove the pan from the oven, immediately place a plate over it and invert it to remove the bread from the pan. Trust me if you don't, it will stick. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then start pulling off pieces of sweet simian goodness. Enjoy...

Spring?

Did we ever get hit with winter last night! Between about 9:00 pm last night and 7:00 am this morning we got between eight and 10 inches (about 20-25 cm) of wonderful fluffy snow. Driving a snowmobile to work in that much snow is easy, but I sure am glad I didn't have to dig out my car. Now it is beautiful, sunny, and cold - the wind chill is - 4 (about -20 C.)

For me, spring is a long way off. We won't see spring in these parts until April so I am thinking of joining in Shining Egg's Green Week again. All the pictures I see of people's daffodils coming up have me longing for a little more green in my life...

Enjoy your weekend.

I've Been Avoiding You

It's true and I'm sorry. It's Wednesday, and I've put this off long enough. It is almost like if I didn't write about it I wouldn't really be true. Even though all the flags on the island are at half staff, I just didn't want it to believe it.

Here, let me explain...

We haven't lost anyone to the ice in a long time - perhaps 13 or 14 years, until Saturday night. The U.S. Coast Guard found an islander, George Wellington Jr, dead from hypothermia early Sunday morning. He went through the ice on Saturday night and didn't make it to help in time. The worst part is, they found him just a matter of feet from the Coast Guard Station - he had almost made it.

I didn't really know George. I mean, I knew who he was and had ridden on his taxi lots of time, but I didn't really know him. Those who did know him say he was a great guy who will be sorely missed. What I do know is that George pushed the limit on the ice and paid the ultimate price for it. He had been drinking, he was crossing after dark, and was alone and in a snowstorm with poor visibility. The police are still investigating, but they think he got disorientated and drove right into the Coast Guard cutter channel (a path kept open for ships.) They think he and his snowmobile went into the water, but somehow he managed to climb out and walk to shore before he died of exposure. My heart breaks for his mother. Of her four children, she's lost three; one son died in a car accident, another son died in a boating accident, and now she lost her third son out on the ice. Thank goodness she still has her husband and her daughter to help her get through this.

This is the second ice accident we've had in the past two weeks. A family who regularly visits the island in the winter also went through the ice. They were slowly driving along, parallel to a pressure crack, and drove onto the edge of a large piece of ice that had broken off and was just floating. The weight of their snowmobile caused that end of the piece to go down into the water. Luckily, they were pulling a cutter (a cart on skis) behind them which got caught and kept them and the machine from going down into the 100+ feet of water. They got wet but got out just fine. Driving along side a spot where the ice is already broken is not a good idea - I'm just glad they were O.K.

All of us who travel on that ice need to take heed - it isn't really safe, we just think it is. Every time we choose to venture out there, we are taking a risk. We need to be careful and treat the ice with the respect it deserves.

Moving: Mackinac Style

A few weeks ago my friend, Wendy, moved into a new apartment. On Mackinac Island moving everything you own means you have to order a dray. A dray is a sort of like a horse-drawn pick -up truck bed, only considerably larger. Both sides fold of the dray down and the back is removable. The City Council does issue vehicle permits for jobs requiring a motorized vehicle, but if the job can be done by horse power they understandably will not issue a permit. For a move like this, hiring the dray costs about $65.00.

The Service Company dropped off the dray the night before so we could start loading early.

It took two full loads to move everything the two blocks to Wendy's new place. We could have moved everything behind our snowmobiles instead, but it would have taken much longer.

Some of the roads and paths on the island are quite narrow since they were designed for bikes and snowmobiles rather than cars. This narrow path caused the one issue we had during the move; a leaning tree pulled a shelf and an antique drop-leaf table off the side of the dray. The shelf hit a tree and met an untimely death, but luckily the table landed in the soft snow and lived to serve another meal. Wendy has everything in her new place, now she just needs to unpack...

Yellow: Day Five

Today I was inspired by the sunny skies after school to take my camera outdoors in search of yellow. I didn't have to go very far before I found:

a friend's bicycle patiently waiting for spring,

a warning (keep your snowmobile out of the playground),

and a cheery door; one I'd never noticed before.

I found myself thinking, "How could I have missed that?" But then it hit me. In the summer time, when I am often downtown, it is always during business hours. And during business hours that door is always open. Then I didn't feel like such a complete blockhead.

I hope you have a lovely weekend. Mine is sure to include The Empire Strikes Back, playdough, dressing-up, pancakes or waffles (I can't decide), grading math tests and quizzes, at least 5 loads of laundry and quite possibly some sledding - although not necessarily in that order...

Yellow: Day Four

This plant brings a smile to my face almost every day. It a Crown of Thorns; grown from a piece that broke off of a plant my husband brought into the house when we got married 13 years ago. It may be covered with thorns but the top is also covered with these little flowers all the time. The best part is the Crown of Thorns is a desert plant, so it appreciates my "benign neglect" plant care strategy.

As you can see, if I want to enjoy flowers this time of year in Northern Michigan, I have to look indoors. The only green outside is evergreen...

Several people have asked what camera I use. I have a Pentax K100D Super. I use my 18-55mm lens all the time. My husband bought it for me last Valentine's Day, since he knew I wanted a DSLR but wouldn't spend that kind of money on myself. He chose the Pentax because it got great reviews and he already had a couple Pentax lenses that fit his 35mm film Pentax SLR. All Pentax lenses fit all of their cameras, so it just made sense to choose that brand. Since I can use his, I also have a 50mm and 80-200mm Macro Zoom lens. Though to be honest, I've been having so much fun learning and playing with mine that I haven't even tried them yet.

How about you... What kind of camera do you use?

Yellow: Day Three

I've been "oohing" and "aahing" at all the amazing yellow photos everyone is posting on Flickr this week. I am completely impressed by all of them. So I set out today, with camera in hand, looking for inspiration. I found it at work.

In the pre-school crayon basket,

my classroom,

and in the art room.

By the end of the day I actually had teachers pulling yellow things out of their cupboards and bringing them down to my room. "How about this?" they'd say. Thanks ladies; all that yellowy goodness brought a smile to my face. There's nothing like a little yellow to brighten up an otherwise gray day. Not that I'm complaining about the gray, mind you. We needed snow and those gray skies brought six inches or so of the white stuff with them.

Yellow: Day Two

I pass by this sign every day, but it had faded into the background and I stopped noticing it years ago. It's tucked away in an empty lot behind a fence, which seems like an odd place for a sign like this. In the summer it is barely visible behind the fence and unruly bushes, but this time of year you can see it - if you take the time to notice. Funny how a little challenge can help you notice something you see every day. Thanks Erin for opening my eyes...

Yellow: Day One

Erin over at house on hill road is currently hosting yellow week; encouraging us all to find the bright spots in our day. My bright spot today was my son's snowmobile helmet. He loves it! A friend of mine had it in her basement and since her youngest son is in eighth grade now, she didn't need it and offered it to me. How could I refuse, it's a perfect fit. Plus, now I can find him anywhere...

Winter Wonderland

The island always looks beautiful under a blanket of snow. I trudged through knee deep snow to get that first picture. It's been so warm this past week that scenes like these are all but gone. I can't believe how much snow we've lost! I won't bore you with pictures of the mud, instead I'll leave you with this scene from last week - before the thaw. Have a great weekend...

Before and After

It's been warm and windy here lately. Two things that are not good for the ice bridge. This was the scene of the harbor and the passage between Mackinac Island and Round Island last week:

This was the same scene yesterday:

See the difference? Open water - yikes! Mother nature is a fickle mistress; -10 one day and 38 the next. Luckily the ice bridge is on the other side of the island and still locked in. At least for now, though a large pressure crack has formed. I'm off to grandma's this weekend - wonder if I'll have to fly...