The Cahill's

Thursday morning a week ago, I was just finishing chore check when a child comes in the house crying in a way I don’t often hear. I rush to meet the child, expecting to see blood or something but it’s Iris holding her wrist, crying how it hurts! One look and I know it’s broken. I call out to Brian, and I guess the others hear something new in my voice as well – everyone comes crowding in to see what is going on. She tells us she fell off the monkey bars and hurt her arm. The next bit is a bit of a blur of stabilizing, grabbing pain meds, her body responding with a little bit of shock, each kid grabbing supplies as I give direction, Brian calling to figure out where to take her and gathering items for a trip to the ER!

Flora rode along with us to keep Iris company and help her while I drove. The meds had kicked in enough by this time so while she was still hurting, it was bearable.

Once at the ER we were shown a room fairly quickly. A Dr. examined the wrist and ordered x-rays. Here the technician explains what she is about to do to a somewhat worried patient. Fortunately, x-rays don’t hurt – except for the part where you have to hold your hand a certain way.

Sure enough, a broken radius.

A good local deadening and the Dr. set the bone with minimal pain for the brave patient. Nurse helped with wrapping and splinting.

Then I read aloud to Iris while she was in traction for about 30 minutes. The local pain block helped so much that she was fairly chipper as we left so we picked up some more tylenol, some lunch and a movie from the library before heading home. She was welcomed by her siblings as a hero and played happily the rest of the afternoon.

After waiting a week for the swelling to go down, we went to the bone Dr. and got her hard cast. Bless those cast companies that make dressings in different colors – what fun! Iris chose her favorite color. The nurse was super kind and encouraging, but also lay down the law – no trampoline for the next month!

We had to make a special stop on the way home to pick up a paint marker so siblings, cousins and friends could sign her cast. This had been highly anticipated all week.

Say hello to the new arm for the next month!

We just finished up the fall semester for our co-op! I was in charge of history class and we covered ancient Greece. For part of our class, we worked on drama presentations and were able to perform them for the parents on our celebration night.

Ivy coached the 6-9 year old class in several of Aesop’s fables. Click on the link if you want to watch a particular production.

The Dogs and the Hide

The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

The Lion, the Bear and the Fox

The Boy who Cried Wolf

The older class did a Greek drama of the myth “Pandora’s Box” from Drama notebook.

We made theater masks – a tradition started by the Greeks – to represent the emotion of each character.

Zeus tells Epimethius and Prometheus that fire is only for the gods.

Hope, the last to escape the box, gives comfort to the distraught Pandora.

The entire cast! Enjoy the production here.

Ah summer, a break in the pace of life, a time for family, fun, independence and of course, library reading programs! Here’s a random assortment of big moments and small ones from July:

Independence Day was celebrated with cousins on my side of the family and a puzzle working competition with all the US puzzles we could find.

After BBQ and swimming, Uncle Brian provided lasting memories with a home fireworks show.

We enjoyed more family time the next weekend with Cahill cousins

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We spent a lot of time in the pool! Ryder (4) worked on learning to swim. He is very methodical about the whole process and it’s quiet enjoyable to assist him in reaching his personal goals

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A family fun night for Father’s day gave us the idea for playing minute-to-win-it water games. We split into teams of all ages, mixing up the families.

Each team member could participate or sit out a round, depending on the game.

Very flexible and lots of fun! The heat keeps us inside most of the day but we venture out as the sun goes down, often staying out until dark

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Several new rabbits left us needing more cage space. Ivy and I spent many of those evenings working on this double decker hutch.

A slanted roof panel under the top cages protect the bottom pens and deposit waste at the back. I got this idea from our visit to The Ark Encounter.

A cool breeze inspired kite flying one evening. I was able to stop and watch for a while, enjoying their exuberance.

The current litter of kittens make for evening entertainment as well.  The simple pleasures in life.

Two community events provided a change of pace during our days and were enjoyed by all.

The Chemistry Road Show was hosted by the library reading program and included about 30 different experiments!

A fundraiser for foster work included a hosing down by the fire engine – what a great idea!

I really think the firemen had just as much fun as the kids! Happy July!