Sending Their Love

I was at the Cincinnati Commandos playoff game last night and didn't get home until a little after 11:00 p.m. I texted Heather I was on my way and Livvi hijacked the phone to text me she wanted to show me something when I got home. She actually fell asleep before I got home, but Heather told me what happened:

About 9:45 p.m. last night, there was a knock at the front door. Wondering who in the world would be visiting at that hour, Heather answered the door, expecting to see one of the neighborhood kids. Instead, it was a few folks from church, more specifically, from the Vacation Bible School Livvi was in prior to the accident. Livvi came down wearing my t-shirt as a night gown (big arm holes). They gave her a big card they made wishing her well, telling her they are praying for her, and sending their love. Livvi had a huge smile on her face and twinkling eyes. Heather could tell she felt very special, almost like a superstar. It nearly brought me to tears to know how much our church family and friends love our Livvi. If you are one of those folks and are reading this, THANK YOU! We love you, too! God is good indeed!

Livvi is doing much better and has an appointment to see the doctor again on Wednesday.

Broken

I got a call from Heather in tears around lunch time today. She was sad because her little girl was broken. Livvi was jumping over her Wavemaster in the basement, which she's done quite a number of times. Well, this time she fell, landing on her left arm, breaking it. Heather took her to Children's in Clifton and they took good care of Liv. When I arrived, she had already had X-rays taken. This is what I saw when I entered the room:

Heather said that looked better than when she was at home. By the time I saw it (above) some of the swelling had gone down. The X-ray showed a break all the way through the radius and a buckle fracture in the ulna:

She had an IV put in so they could administer pain medication (which didn't help much). They also had to put her out in order to set the arm back in place. They pulled in back in place and placed her arm in a splint.

Our girl was a trooper! She never really cried, even when they did the IV. We were warned that when she comes out of her sleep-mode she would be extra affectionate, have none-then-double-then-blurry-then-normal vision, and be a little forgetful short term. All came true! She kept telling Heather, Joie, and I that she loved us and wanted to hug and kiss us (we soaked it all up!).

We are home now, resting. She's in some pain, but doing pretty well. I'm sure disappointment will set in tomorrow when she realizes she can't:

• test for her next belt tomorrow night
• participate in her board-breaking camp next week
• participate in a Tae Kwon Do tournament in Indy next weekend
• participate in her weapons camp the next week
• participate in much of anything for the next 2-3 weeks
• swim for the next 3 weeks
• etc.

We take her back on Wednesday to get more X-rays to make sure it is staying in place. If OK, they'll put her in a cast, but won't be able to get it wet. It will be at least 3 weeks before she gets a waterproofed cast.

While our heart breaks for our angel, we are so thankful and blessed. She's a healthy girl with a minor set back. We saw a baby less than a month old getting X-rays for some reason, a little boy who was bald (we assume from cancer treatments), etc. God is good and took care of Liv today. It could have been so much worse.

Stormy Weather

In addition to being space geeks, our family enjoys the changing weather, too. We've had our share of storms this spring, but thankfully, nothing too serious. Here are some photos and a video of recent storms:

A front moving in overhead while I was at work on June 2:

Here is a storm that came in pretty quickly later that same evening. The clouds were actually rolling underneath each other and at a rapid pace, so I took some pictures and video:

Video (warning: there's some screaming towards the end when the rain starts):

A cloud after the storm that looks like a dragon:

Finally, some cloud development the next day as well:

Quoting Joie

Josephine has been full of interesting quotes over the last few months. I need to do a better job of getting these on the blog. To start us off, Heather just emailed me Joie's quote from this morning:

"Sleeping makes me hungry so I want a drink"

Also, here is a string of texts from Heather on April 10 taking Joie home late one evening:

Text 1:
She's crying that she isn't tired & doesn't want to go to sleep.
I didn't even say anything about it. Now crying about fears - firefighters,
doctors, her mouth might start to hurt, doesn't want to wash her hands because
she loves her germs. Whew. I didn't bring anything up.

Text 2:
Said
she's crying because she's not tired. I didn't ask in the first place.

Text 3:
She doesn't love any of us because she's sad because she's
not tired.

Most of her greatest quotes are when "she's not tired." Never a dull moment...

Martial Arts Tournament

Livvi entered her second Tae Kwon Do tournament yesterday. It was a similar format with Livvi wanting to participate in all three events.

The first event was board-breaking. This time, Livvi was able to break all three boards and she did it convincingly! She got 3rd in this event, but we all feel she deserved higher.

The next event was forms, where she performed Do San (I think this is how you spell it). Livvi always does well with her forms and yesterday was no different. She got 2nd place in this event.

The last event was sparring. Livvi is a go-getter when it comes to sparring. Her opponents are usually backing away from her as she attacks. She was tough in her match, but she battled a taller girl and took quite a kick to her head (check out the 5:50 mark in the video). However, as the event is set up, she didn't get to spar again. They awarded her a tie for 3rd place.

Another great job, Livvi! Congratulations! You keep getting better and better!

Martial Arts Update

Late last year, Livvi was asked to be a part of the Cincinnati Martial Arts Club Demo Team. This team represents their club and demonstrates their martial art skills for other organizations (schools, charities, etc.). There is normally a lot of practice involved. She participated in her first demo on Feb 12 at a Cub Scout function at a local elementary school I used to attend 32 years ago (side note: the school looks a lot smaller now). While they had minimal practices due to all the snow we've been getting recently, the team did a decent job. In other martial art news, Livvi tested for her next belt on Feb 19. She did a great job and was awarded the orange belt. We are so proud of her accomplishments. She has come a long way in the last 3+ years. She really loves Tae Kwon Do as well as all of her instructors.

Video of Demo Team


Video of Orange Belt Test

New Life

On New Year's Eve, we went to church for a night of games, eating, visiting with friends, etc. We stayed much later than we had originally planned and didn't leave until about 11:15 p.m. Upon arriving home, we quickly got the kids ready for bed. By the time I got in to see Livvi, it was just past midnight. As I kissed her goodnight, her legs and feet were really fidgety (more than normal). I asked her what she as doing and she timidly said she apologized to God. I said "For what?". She said, "For my sins". WOW! It about made me speechless. I told her we'd talk more about it in the morning, but that I was very happy and God was, too!

I told Heather and the next day (technically later that same day), we asked her what happened that made her want to do that. She couldn't pinpoint anything or any person that said something to her. It was just something that has been on her mind/heart for more than a year. She is a hungry little girl, often wanting a Bible story before bed. She followed Jesus' command and example by being baptized on January 24.

A parent's primary responsibility, outside of devoting one's life to Christ, is making sure your kids get the same opportunity. I want to thank Jesus for saving my little girl (now my sister as well), for her junior church teacher (Gary), for Heather for her example and making many situations teachable ones, and for all who pray for our kids on a regular basis!