April 2011

Finally nice weather has come our way. It's been hit and miss, but we've taken advantage of the good days and been outside. When we have been outside we've  mostly played chalk. This was the first time Kinley has played with chalk. She did a great job at mimicking her brother and learned quickly what to do. She ate it and sat in it, but none of that hurt her so it was fun to watch! On the bad days these two have been side by side! They have learned to love each other and play well together.

Also on the nicer days we've been out working on the yard/ flower beds/ garden. Mostly Patrick has been the one doing all the hard work, but on his day off after tax season we decided to make it a big family thing. When we first went out it was pretty chilly, but as the day went on it got warmer. We were pulling weeds with about a foot long roots! It was CRAZY! Our yard has been a lot of work! TONS and TONS of dandelions and you can see what our flower beds looked like before we got to them. That's what you get for buying a house that wasn't lived in for about a year. BUT YAY the sprinkler system is working GREAT! 
Oh and Porter even learned what Hop-Scotch is! Too cute!

Firework Shooting

Well this is what happens when you aren't careful with fireworks. Tonight we had a BBQ with our neighbors. Mind you this was the first time we had ever really hung out with our neighbors the Blacks. They invited us over for BBQ and Fireworks. I was thinking oh how fun! Even though I knew Porter would be afraid and not want to hold a sparkler or anything. I knew kinley would be pretty into watching the the fun flashing lights and such so I kept her up so she could see. 9:30 pm rolls around and it's dark enough to start. We did a couple sparklers and when I say we I mean Ronan did a few and then we did one big firework and then started onto the second. The second one started out kinda whimpy and then started to go crazy. All of a sudden a spark goes FLYING ZOOMING past PAtricks ear (right between he and I) Then I start thinking I should look out cuz another one might come flying this direction. Right as I thought that very thought I quickly decided to put my hand over Kinleys face. She was sitting on my lap facing forward and had her blanket covering her so she would stay warm and covered from the mosquitos. So my hand was on her face and my forearm was covering her body. Then immediatley another spark comes zooming our direction and sure enough it Slams into Kinleys Stomach. I felt the kick from it hitting her and I jumped up trying to get the spark to fall to the ground with hopes it wouldn't catch fire on her. Too late... She is crying mostly in fear, not because of pain (though there was a little pain in the sound) There was no bucket of water around us and so I didn't really know what to do. I almost put my hand over the fire to diffuse it and smother it out, but in the heat of the moment (no pun intended) I honestly didn't know what to do So I cradled her and pulled her in as close to my body as I could get her so she knew I was going to take care of her and make sure everything was alright and I RAN as fast as I could into our house to hopefully get everything ok, I ran into the kitchen laid her on the counter and threw her blanket off of her to check and see if she was still sorta on fire. By this time she had stopped crying and I noticed it was out and done so no need for spraying my daughter down with water! WHEW! Then I really looked to see where it got her and I saw the marks on her pajamas and rushed to take her PJs off so I could check her body out to make sure there were no burns. While undressing her I realized the marks were right where her diaper was. YAY! All was well! No burns! Nothing! WOOT! Then everyone comes running in to make sure we are ok. And patrick picks up kinleys blanket and says Whoa! Thank goodness you had this wrapped around her! I truely believe that it was because of that blanket that all was alright. That blanket kept the spark from hitting Kinleys skin. It added an extra layer AND it ,along with my cradling her, smothered out the flames.
So lesson learned #1: don't sit too close to fireworks, #2: Always keep a bucket of water nearby, and #3: If you catch fire... STOP DROP AND ROLL!
We are very blessed that Kinley and I aren't hurt and all is well. Just a few traumatized people is what resulted and a pretty beat up blanket. A few minutes after we pointed out kinleys blanket, she KNEW and kept crying "bittey!" which in her language means Blanky! She knew it was hurt and ruined. So she fell asleep on my chest tonight while I talked on the phone with my mom to see if she still had some of this material left over. YAY for grandma because she does have some and will be getting us a new blanket in a few days! THANK YOU!

ALL IS WELL and we are just fine! I'm keeping this blanket as a reminder and for any sort of talk or fireside that might come my way in years to come. We are also thinking we could call a news crew or the Fire department head chief! They would love something like this to show everyone to be careful! But... I don't want to be on TV for that reason... my daughter getting hit with a firework. I'd be known as the stupid mom who didn't sit far enough away!  Oh my pride my pride! haha