Looking Better

Owen looks much better this morning.  Another big chunk of his forehead peeled off and the lines around his eye are disappearing.  Hopefully in a couple of days he will be good as new.  Unfortunately he is going to have to miss this coming's week trip to the Country Springs water park that we were planning on.  I think just Liam and I will go as of now. 

Saturday night (2.20.10)

Sunday morning (2.21.10)

Owen - Continuing to Heal

We are in the stage where Owen looks a lot worse but the healing process is moving along.  Some of the skin on his head is beginning to peel off leaving some obvious pink spots of new skin.  The hardest part is keeping Owen from realizing that he can't be running ahead full speed and rolling on his face like he normally does.  Thanks to all the e-mails and obvious prayers that have been coming in.  I will try to keep everyone updated here.

Owen on Friday night (2.19.10) - Still Happy

Owen on Saturday morning (2.20.10) - Always Smiling

Owen Update

Owen got home from the hospital yesterday with an all clear and ready to go bill of health from the Docs.  A nurse came to the house today to take a look and help Cathy change the dressing of the burns and said he looked good.  One thing is for sure, Owie's spirit and energy haven't been damaged.  It is almost scarey watching him run around and not have any regard for his burns.

I was kind of shocked to see him today as he looks really rough and the pictures look a little bleak.  It should all heal fine though.  Amazing how the body works.  I've included a couple pictures below and they may not be for the squeemish.  He is shiny from the lotion that he has to keep on his face.  They all say he will be fine, but we are just praying that there is no scarring, especially on his face.  We will see, I will keep you updated.

Owen & ER Trip #4... and More

I was wondering what I was going to post in February because I've gone three years without a down month.  I didn't want to break my streak.  This, though, wasn't what I wanted to post although things seem to be working out OK and will be fine.

Owen the tank engine, decided yesterday at about 9 AM that it would be a good idea to pull a coffee pot of water off of the counter at Grandma's house.  The problem was that this pot of water happened to be filled with boiling water.  The water and the pot hit him in the left shoulder and splashed up onto the left side of his face.  Cathy said that she had never heard him scream like that.  She ripped off his shirt and put him under cold water in the bathtub and then they ran him to Children's Hospital. 

He spent the morning in the ER where they gave him something for the pain and put some medicine (Silver Nitrate I think) on his shoulder, which is the worst of the burns.  When I got there about noon they were just taking him up to his room to await a surgical procedure later that yesterday afternoon.

They took him into "surgery", and I use that term lightly.  Other than putting him under it really wasn't surgery.  The procedure involved scrubbing all of the skin off that was burnt to prevent infection and scarring and then apply a "bio brain".  Basically a biological bandage or skin that will stay on the burns and allow them to heal in a sterile environment.  There will be no scab because of it.

He seemed to sleep pretty well through the night I was told and will be able to come home today.  It will be about two weeks before the biological bandage comes off and he is back to new, hopefully with no scars.  I've included a few pictures below.

Right after he got to the emergency room...

Owen and Mommy...

Sleeping in the ER...

All bandaged up... waiting to go to his room.

After his surgical procedure, the patch on his cheek is the biological bandage...

Academic All-Star

We award a weekly Academic All-Star award to students at Risen Savior.  For months, Liam has been asking about it.  Before Christmas we even had tears because he wasn't getting it.  Well, today Liam won the lower grade Academic All-Star.  He was kind of stoic about it.  I thought I was going to have to peel the smile off of his face.

Winter Fun

The weather has been a little bit unseasonably warm - 35+ degrees for a couple days, nothing great.  So here are a couple pictures and videos from sledding between our house this past December...

Snow

So... I say this every year, but it is hard to believe that I have been able to keep this blog up for what is now the start of the 4th year.  It has been a little tough as of late but I think I'm going to be able to do it.

Well it has been snowing quite a bit lately and one of the bad things about leaving early and getting home late is that I don't have time to shovel.  When the first storm came in December Cathy out shoveling caused our neighbor to have pity on her and snow blow everything, but this time no such luck.  I got home last night and decided I shouldn't wait until Sat. morning.  And that is where the story begins...

I had started up the 1974 Toro Beast back in October and got it running so I wasn't real worried.  It was dark, I thought I had the key and choke ready to go so I started pulling.  Thanks to the Musgrave Small Engine Repair Shop the beast usually starts up in one pull.  After five minutes I was exhausted.  I went and got a flashlight and realized I had the key in the 'off' position.  DOH!  After another minute or two she hadn't started so I looked at the choke... oops!  It was in the low position.  Alright, I've got 'er.  Another several minutes of pulling and NOTHING!  So, I thought, "I wonder how much gas is in the tank?"  Well, NONE!!!!  DOH! DOH! DOH! 

It was amazing that with gas in the tank, the key in the 'on' position, and the choke open, guess what?  One pull and I'm off.

No one said I was the brightest bulb in the box.