Bloody Sunday

I love Sundays, but I hope I don't have another one like this again any time soon.  Church went fine until the last half-hour, when the nursery people brought Matthew to me.  He had put up with not having "Momma Harris" and Katie there for long enough, and finally had a meltdown.  He was done with nursery for the day.

We then went home, to Grandma's house for dinner, then back to church for tithing settlement.  Joey's tooth was hanging by a thread, so thankfully Brother Draayer (a dentist) pulled it out for us.  It bled for a little bit, but stopped very quickly.  Unfortunately, that was not the end for us.  Joey and Matthew went into the coat closet to see Matt's shoes light up.  Then Matt shut the door (which I told him not to do), and kept the lights off.  I heard a bang a few moments later, but thought they were just kicking the wall.  I went in there to tell them to get out, and Matt was standing there by a chair, covered -- and I mean COVERED -- in blood.  So was the chair.  He was just wiping it off as it soaked his entire face.  But he wasn't crying.  He didn't even look bothered at all.  He was just mad that I grabbed him and marched him to the bathroom.  He wanted me to quit touching him, but that thing would not stop gushing.  I had to have Haley come in and help clean up the sink (which turned from solid white to solid red) while I tried to stop the bleeding.  I completely soaked half a roll of toilet paper, plus some napkins.  We grabbed a bunch of toilet paper, and went back out into the foyer, where our dentist (Dr. Haslam -- yes, we have lots of dentists in our ward) was waiting.  He helped us get the bleeding under control, and just before his nose finally stopped bleeding, a gigantic blood clot came out.  It was like nothing I've ever seen before.

I don't think Matt has as many pain sensors as a normal human.  He NEVER cries when he gets hurt, unless he whines because he thinks someone did something mean.  I have a feeling we're going to be known at the ER very well.

Christmas Break Volume 2

Christmas was a success!  We prepared by bathing the children.  They were stinky.  First was this little character.  I just had to get a picture of him while he patiently waited to be dressed.  I love my little kids fresh out of the bath, covered in a towel!

On Christmas Eve, we had my parents and brother over for dinner.  We did this because Grandma Jane's gift for the boys was huge, and couldn't be wrapped.  We deliberated on how to give it to them, and decided to bring it over to our house, lock them in their rooms while it was brought in and assembled (thank you, Eric -- we had no idea how to do that), and then bring them down to see what it was.  They had been discussing the possibilities.  All they knew was that it was big and expensive.  They thought it might be a big wheels, gaming system, a club house, or a horse.  They were wrong, and Joey was not exceptionally excited for what it really was.  But by the end of the night, we couldn't keep him off of them.  It was a full, real drum set!  I was having some second thoughts about it (and still am), but we'll see how it goes.  They start lessons on Tuesday, and I think it will be more fun once they know how to play them.  But they've got some good practice in already.  So has Matt and Grace.

Other gifts received were Lego Indiana Jones 2 for the Wii (from Uncle Eric -- they've been asking for that one for a long time), a Hannah Montana guitar that plugs into the TV, puzzles and ABC laptops, and boots and a REAL laptop for Haley.

Later that night, we went on our traditional city tour of Christmas lights.  We were so happy to catch Santa taking a break in one of his favorite neighborhoods.  He came to the window, talked to the kids, and gave everybody a candy cane.  That's my very favorite part of Christmas Eve.  The kids were begging to go to bed at 7:30, thanks to Ben's ingenious idea of waking them up very early for a breakfast out and shopping.  It works every time.

Early the next morning, we were lucky enough to capture Santa's bounteous gifts he left before the kids got downstairs.  Haley got an official Time Bandit sweatshirt and cap, Andrew got a guitar, Grace and Joey got ukuleles, and Matthew got his garbage truck (complete with the most important part -- a garbage can that can be dumped).

The rest of the presents were awesome, too.  The kids played all morning with each other, and they're still going strong.  Some of the more popular gifts were lego Star Wars things, Zoobles and a house for them, pajamas, and light sabers.

I finally had time to take a shower before we went over to the Manley's for lunch.  As I was getting myself ready, I could feel the floor vibrating, and hear the drums being lovingly used.  I figured it must be the boys, but I went to the kitchen and saw them playing in there.  So I went downstairs to investigate, and found these two having a jam session.  Matthew was playing the symbols with his foot while singing the ABC's, and Grace was busy keeping the beat.  Classic.