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Category: dahlia

  • Capes made by grandma

    Capes made by grandma

    Each of the girls received a black cape to wear to the ballet in
    Chicago. Each cape had it’s own unique colored lining. The problem was
    that the temperature in Chicago was -3 before you considered the wind.
    We were all so chilled to the bone it was just simply hard to move.
    Long capes are a little more difficult to maneuver in and
    they can catch the wind very easily. Both Dahlia and Gwendolyn fell
    between the parking garage and the Auditorium Theater. Even with the
    problems I loved the image of three little girls in a row walking in
    their black capes with Mama following in her black cape. It was such
    a great dramatic effect.

  • Tea party

    Tea party

    The adults and Gabe were playing Apples to Apples while the smaller
    kids enjoyed a tea party at my mom’s house. This was the first bit of
    a smile we had seen from Dahlia since her accident at home.

  • Flight to Chicago

    Flight to Chicago

    After we were down at the ER we rushed to the airport and made our
    flight. Dahlia was given Tylenol with codeine on an empty stomach
    which made her sick. At about the halfway point of the flight Dahlia
    asked me how many times she had puked. The 11 year boy next to us
    piped up and said “It has been 4 times but really only two of them
    produced anything.”

  • Back at the ER

    Back at the ER

    Forty-five minutes before we had to head to the airport Dahlia came upstairs blood pouring out of her mouth. A sisterly spat took a turn for the worse and Dahlia fell into a table. We headed down to the ER for the 2nd time in a month where Dahlia received 3 stitches on the inside of her mouth and 3 stitches on the outside. Her tooth had gone all the way through to the outside below her lip. Once again Dahlia was made into a burrito using a sheet so that they could numb her mouth and stitch her up. She now knows all the tricks of the nurses and dreads everything. I was a little worried when the social worker came in to talk to us because Monti had told one of the nurses she slammed her sister into the table. The social worker swore he was just coming in to give Dahlia a Beanie Baby. Each child who visits the ER  gets a new stuffed animal but I don’t think it’s enough to make Dahlia want to go back. As usual they were great at the Swedish emergency room and they got us in and out quickly enough so we had a chance to make our flight. 

  • Sledding in our neighborhood

    Sledding in our neighborhood

    Our neighborhood is great for snow days. There are lots of kids and a
    endless amount of places to go sledding. Of course safe sledding
    places become more limited so supervision is important. Parents would
    take turns staying out with the kids who wanted to keep sledding all
    day long.

  • School cancelled

    School cancelled

    The threat of snow cancelled all the Issaquah and Seattle schools on
    Wednesday but Wednesday night we received a couple inches of snow
    which shut down all the school districts for the rest of the week.
    Living on a hill makes for a challenge with snow but Joe was able to
    make it out with the all wheel drive on his new Apple car.

  • Mounting mirrors in the playroom

    Mounting mirrors in the playroom

    We added mirrors to two of the walls in the kid’s playroom in the basement. Joe went to four Home Depots in the Seattle are to find the 7 large mirrors we needed. The kids enjoyed helping press the mirrors to the wall until the mastic stuck. This mirror slid slightly off square when we pressed it on which created quite a challenge to deal with when we mounted the 4th mirror onto this wall.

  • Playing games with Dad

    Playing games with Dad

    Joe loves playing games but in our house it is hard to find someone to
    join him. Dahlia decided to play with Dad but this game of Blokus
    consisted of the yellow pieces and the green pieces having
    conversations and setting up house.

  • Posing in their gowns

    Posing in their gowns

    After Dahlia’s trip to the emergency room the pediatrician nurse reminded me the girl’s were overdue for their well-check.  Once at the doctor’s office the girls did their best to make their gowns fashionable. The nurse checking us in had the same heart condition (SVT) as Dahlia does. Everyone checked out fine and no shots were required.

  • Trapeze

    Trapeze

    In addition to the swings we bought a trapeze for the garage. We have
    a large 6′ x 10′ – 8″ thick landing mat to go under the trapeze. I
    should have the girls ready for their Vegas act in no time. Monti has
    already created a song for their act called “Swing Girls.”