Homecoming Week 2011

 Somewhere, is a picture of Jackson and Sammi on Pajama day---can't find that camera---so let's imagine them in pajamas----done.  Now, let's pretend that homecoming week isn't the craziest, busiest most tiring week ever.  And because it's not so tiring let's pretend I didn't somehow miss taking their picture on Color War day.  O.K. now let's imagine Jackson in purple and Sammi in yellow----done.

Nerds from left to right are;  Becca, Jax, and Sammi.

Friday, spirit day-at school Sammi got Jacob Lee's jersey and wore it all day and to the football game.  The girls all try to wrangle jersey's from the football players.  The girls are successful at it.  The boys never try to wrangle the girls volleyball uniforms--phew.

Becca and Jackson's shirts for the homecoming dance.

The injured leg and the non-injured leg see if you can tell which is which.

Sunday it wasn't swollen.  Monday it is, of course.  A nice HARD swelling, why?  Did they miss a broken bone?  The boy can hardly stand to put any weight on it.  I wonder how he will get around the High School tomorrow??

#15 Friday night at the Football game--it is always easy to find Jax on the Varsity sidelines, because he is never more than 3 steps away from Coach Allred.  He still remembers Michael telling him in Jr. High to stay  close to the coach in case they need to throw someone in the game you want to be the first someone they see--I bet Wiley would like to deck Michael for that life lesson.

Circus day, in case your confuzzed Sammi is a tight rope walker, or trapeze artist, you pick.

Someone has a camera that is worse than mine--Jackson.  A picture of the two of them on their Homecoming date.  First date for both.  Ahhhhh so sweet!

Becca at the restaurant (I'm guessing here as ole' busted leg has gone to bed).

The "group" on their date.  Becca Lee, Jackson, Amelia Roylance, Zachary Christensen, Katie Ellis, and Carter Christensen.  First they went golfing, then out to dinner, then to the dance, then out to Allred's pond where a projector was set up outside for them to watch a movie.  The decorated dinner table, hot chocolate and treats and movie were all the brain child of Carter's mom, Katie---she made the boys look good! 

So did you notice the pictures of Jackson's right leg in all the homecoming splendour??  You did--I bet you want an explanation (Michael my love STOP reading now!!)

Soooo Saturday was a long day.  Wedding in Moses Lake helping Jax look like a stud for his homecoming date, going to the restaurant to decorate the table, setting up outdoor movies, making lots of hot chocolate and waiting up to make sure we didn't have to nail him on curfew!  Sunday was General Conference.  Sierra and Sammi had been trying to get sick since Saturday, not too long.  However, Michael was leaving for Texas Monday morning, to be gone until Friday,  I had to Sub Monday, Carter and Zoe had Soccer games Monday, Jax had a football game Monday night in Wahluke, and Tuesday I was working again and Jax had to have his arm re-examined and re-xray'd from the break, and we would get home from the Doctor just barely in time for Sammi's volleyball game.  Then on Wednesday I had to leave at 7 am to drive Jackson to Seattle Children's Hospital for Endocrinology, Oncology and MRI appointments.  As they coughed their way through morning session Michael and I were debating---are they going to get over it, is it just a cold, will they get worse, do we wait till Thursday until one of their flaky parents has time to go to the Doctor.  Zoe has a sinus infection, do they?  Sierra gets pneumonia so easy....yada, yada, yada so it was decided Michael would drive to Moses Lake and take the girls to the walk-in clinic.  So Michael and all his daughters left (Zoe claimed she was going to miss her Dad and she wanted to be with him---I think she was tired of church on t.v.!).  I was watching the afternoon session with my sons when I noticed the frog Zoe had gotten from Allred's pond in August was finally dead (yippee!!).  So when the first song break came on I asked Jax to take the whole 10 gallon glass tank out to the garbage and just throw it all away, so Zoe wouldn't know.  He obeyed, but as he was throwing the tank away the frog hopped up (guess it wasn't dead, just holding really still!) and startled him.  He dropped the 10 gallon glass tank on his leg and foot.  The next thing I heard was Jackson yelling from the front door for Carter to bring him a towel that he could get blood on.  So I got up, sighing the whole way, grabbed a hand towel and started walking up to the front door.  That's when I saw Jackson standing in a huge pool of blood.  I could see a chunk of the shin was cut and pouring out blood.  So I took the towel and put pressure on the shin and blood started squirting out the top of his foot, which shocked me.  When I looked at the top of his foot I felt ill, I thought I could see bone.  I did the best I could putting pressure on both spots with my two hands and started yelling to Carter to bring the phone.  Poor Carter, he did  good following my instructions to dial Grandma's house even though he was scared and feeling sick.  He was white lipped and sweaty and scared to see all that blood.  He told me he thought he was going to be sick from the blood so I told him to give the phone to Jackson.  Jackson was talking to Grandma in his usual slow, easy going, draw.  I thought, good grief--so I started yelling at the phone, "Jackson tell Grandma to get over here, fast, tell her you are bleeding badly and I need help".  Within seconds Mom's car could be heard tearing up the road to our house.  Mom, Dad, Matt and Courtney all came.  Mom grabbed another towel, Matt was elevating Jackson's leg and I was shaking like a leaf.  It was such a relief not to be there alone anymore.  Matt and Mom were both worried about the foot cut too--everyone time you tried to stop pressure it just spouted again and they thought they could see bone too.  We pressed gauze in the major 3 cuts and Mom and Matt wrapped it tightly with an ace bandage.  Dad started cleaning up glass and blood that was everywhere and Courtney was trying to get some color back in Carter when she realized all her kids were alone at Mom and Dad's and all of the adults were at my house!  Oops.  We put Jax in the car and elevated his leg, I sat with him and Courtney drove with Mom up front with her.  We called Michael who was at this time in the Exam room with the girls and the Doctor.  I had him ask the Doctor if we should go to the E.R. or the walk in.  He said "Just tell them to come here and I'll give your family the group rate".  At the risk of making Michael pass out I said, "let him know we think we can see bone in one spot---the Doctor asked is their any blood that squirts up without pressure?  I told Michael yes and the Doctor said 'we don't want him here, tell them to go to the E.R.".  By just saying that, we had, I know made Michael ill.  By the time we got to the E.R. he and the girls were there waiting for us.  We got Jax in and sat down but they had to bring us a chuck and garbage bag because he was bleeding through our gauze and ace bandage.  The E.R. doc. said the foot wasn't cut to the bone but the white we were seeing were his tendons.  They x-rayed for glass fragments and then checked his tendons which seem fine.  Then finally stitched him 2 hours later.  Big gappy stitches not close together---is this the "new stitching method"??  Honestly, I don't know because before now the only one of our kids to have stitches from an injury was Carter---and he had ONE stitch in his eyebrow.  Jax had 5 in the shin, 6 on top of the foot and 2 on the back of the heel.  Even Mom thought it looked strange you could fit several stitches in between his every stitch.  His ankle is hard and swollen today, and so painful to walk on---this will be a long 8 days for him I'm sure.  He did say more than once that he was glad it didn't happen before his big date!  So today Michael went to Texas, Zoe, Carter, and I went to school and we left the sick and afflicted at home!