The good and the bad.

Today was a really nice day. For the most part. Leia was excited to wear her new Sunday shoes and church was good. After church I was able to get a nap (I had been having a few braxton hicks contractions), and then I cooked dinner. After dinner, the witching hour took full effect. The kids started spinning around in the living room making themselves really dizzy. It was a very chilly day so we had had the fire on for several hours. It's gas and closed in by a glass panel which gets very hot. Before I could even think about what was going on, Spencer spun out of control and fell against the glass. It was a brief contact but he burned his elbow. Some skin was off and some more was blistering after we ran his arm under the cold water and then dressed it. Of course as any of you who've had a burn know, it hurts like crazy. Spencer was really crying or should I say screaming and it was upsetting Nathan especially. He kept repeating over and over "Spencer's screaming" and the look on his face was concern bordering on mild panic. Leia took charge and took him into another room, closed the door and they said a prayer together. I didn't know about this until later. Fairly soon after that he calmed down and Leia felt that her prayer for Spencer had been answered. He's now asleep holding his football again, like he did last night.

1. I am thankful for quick thinking. We had Spencer's arm under the cold water immediately and I don't think that it's going to look too bad in the morning. I also hope since he was able to get to sleep fairly easily the pain will be shortlived.

2. I am thankful for Leia's intuition with Nathan and that the first thing she wanted to do was say a prayer for Spencer. Her childlike faith is a good example to me.

3. I am thankful for modern medicine. This was something to be dealt with at home but it just reminds me how grateful I am for good affordable health insurance and a hospital a few minutes from the house. Had we needed to, we could have had Spencer to the emergency room and treated immediately.

4. I am thankful that a football can comfort my son.

5. I am thankful that it is Thanksgiving break next week. I'm looking forward to having all my children close to me for the week. They spend so much time at school away from me and I only have a vague idea of how they spend their days. It will be nice to talk to them, play with them and celebrate Thanksgiving. I can see Leia and me cooking while the parade is on TV. Gary taking the boys to the park for football. Lots of laughing. Of course I am realistic enough to know that we'll all be ready for our regular routine at the end of the week. But that's what makes holiday time special. It's because we can't do it every day.