Steven, the Mad Scientist

One of Steven's chemistry units in his science class through Arizona Virtual Academy (AZVA) showed how to decompose water into oxegyn and helium gasses.

First he drilled holes for two long nails through the bottom of a gatorade bottle and sealed them in with caulking. Then he filled the bottle a little more than half full of water and added salt to help conduct electricity.

When he touched the 9-volt battery to the heads of the nails, the electricity split the water into its separate parts. It was fun to watch the tiny bubbles; it just looks cloudy in the picture.

We think the green band at the top of the liquid indicates that the nails had copper in them that reacted to the separated oxegyn molecules.

In another version of this lab project (yes, we had several versions over several weeks), he got enough hydrogen to partially fill a balloon.

Hey, Yeah! She's a Track Star!

I was hoping to get better pictures from Kylie's first season running track, but I didn't make it to any of her races. Mike took these.

Kylie ran the 800m and the 4x800m -- just like her mom did in High School. She's already begun summer training for Cross Country in the fall.

This is the medal her team won in the 4x800m at an invitational meet. She was thrilled her coach had included her, and I think they took 2nd place over all. (Yeah, I know, she needs a haircut).

My Honor Student

I just thought I'd brag, just a little -- Kylie was recognized as an Honor Student for having a GPA over 3.5. These are pics from the Academic Awards presentation. I was 2/3's of the way back in the auditorium and it was dark so they're not the best pics but they work well enough for me.

This is Kylie with her friend, Lorenzo, who would not look at me for a picture (goofy boy!).

The View From Signal Peak

Earlier this year, Mike and Steven hiked up Signal Peak, near the Central Arizona College (CAC) campus in Coolidge. Here is the campus below, as seen from the top.

Mike, Steven and Archie.

Talk About Going Through the Roof!

On Saturday, May 16th, Mike and Steven participated in a service project to replace the roof for one of the families in our ward. After several hours they decided to call it a day and were discussing getting some lunch. Mike finished the task he had started and stood up to put his tools away. He thinks he stood up to fast and got dizzy, but doesn't remember exactly -- or what happened next.

Evidently, he'd stepped through a soft spot in the original roof, catching his knee on a rafter; flipped forward, clipping the side of his face on another rafter. He would have continued face-first, feet in the air to the patio below if it hadn't been for our quick-thinking Elder's Quorum president, Adam, who pinned his torso to the rafter in-between. Steven said he hung there, upside down, while they pulled him back up.

Mike has a faint impression of them helping him walk across the roof to a safer spot, but the first thing he actually remembers is them handing him something for his face. They helped him down, drove him home, and I took him to Urgent Care first.

He walked in on his own and handed them his ID and insurance card. It wasn't until we were walking down the hallway to the exam room for the doc to get a look at his face that his knees faltered. He was coherent and responsive, albeit slow (almost groggy) with his replies. When the doc asked him what today's date was, Steven and I looked at each other and told the doc that he doesn't know today's date on a regular basis, so that wouldn't help. Mike did, however, know it was Saturday, so that appeased the doc enough to transport him to ER.

Fortunately the Urgent Care doc called ahead to the ER, because by the time Steven wheeled him inside and I'd parked the car they had him back in a room already, leaving the paperwork for me. One of the questions the admittance form asked was whether the patient had fallen in the last three months. I couldn't help chuckling, "Uh, yeah, he fell through the roof, that's why we're here!"

I had to call one of our neighbors to come pick Steven up before I could go back (they wouldn't allow him because he was under 18 unless he was the actual patient). When I got to his room, this is the first thing I saw:


It's a little bit disconcerting to see the love of your life in a neck brace on the stretcher, all dirty and blood-spattered, even when you are reasonably confident he'll be ok.

You can see on his right side where Adam held him against the rafters.

And the inside of his right knee where he hit the first rafter.

But his face took the brunt of his fall. He got 4 stitches just off the corner of his eye, and his face was all puffy and bruised. They took CAT scans of his head and face, which were both clear (for the most part -- the head scan showed what they assumed to be the damage to his brain from his car accident way back in '84; the face scan showed that he had a sinus infection, which we already knew).

Mike's mom said to tell him to take better care of his face. You can see the scars along his jaw line from the accident in '84. I guess he can add one more to his collection.

The ER doc didn't give him any pain meds becasue he did have a concussion. The nurse said to take Ibuprofin, but the recommended dose does very little for him. So all he had to curb the pain for the first few days was a couple of ice packs.

After a few days, the bruising settled down into his eyelids. We got more than one comments referring to "domestic abuse," even from people who have no idea I have a Black Belt. His regular doctor took the stitches out that Thursday, and he's been putting aloe straight from the plant on it to keep it from scarring too much. His face is still sore, and he still has a red streak from the corner of his eye to his iris, where blood leaked into his eye.

The whole inside of his thigh bruised and is still pretty sore.

Days later, we can still see fairly clearly where Adam pinned him against the rafter.

This bruise reminds us how lucky he is -- if Adam hadn't acted as quickly as he did, he would have gone face-first to the patio (seriously, how do you properly thank a guy for saving your husband's life?). I'm not the only one who has suggested that his work on this earth isn't finished yet; there is obviously something more he needs to do. I don't know how much that thought has affected him, though.

I do know that we are definitely happy to still have him around; I'm not prepared to be a widow quite yet. Hopefully he'll stay off the roof from now on.

This is For the Bees

Last fall, we discovered that bees had made a home in our water meter box. It was a small hive, but kinda cool to see.
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We realized, however, that the water guy probably wouldn't appreciate them as much as we do, and that we'd probably better take care of them before anybode came to read the meter. Mike used a water meter cover from one of the vacant houses as a guide and built a box of about the same size and shape.

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Since the hive was attached to the inside of the water meter cover, he just lifted the whole thing up (after dark, of course) and set it on top of the new box he'd made for them. They caught as many of the strays as they could in a bug catcher, which they set over the new box. Sadly, the bees that remained in the water meter box didn't make it through the night -- or the monsoon that hit a day or two later, completely flooding what had been their home.
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This spring, we realized that they had filled up the box Mike had made for them -- honey and bees oozed out of every crack and corner. Steven spent two full days planning, measuring, cutting, and building a bigger box for them. He drilled holes on the sides for them to come in and go out, and even devised a smoking system to harvest honey at some point in the future.
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All they did was lift up the old box and set it down inside the new one. The bees didnt exactly appreciate all the commotion! Mike had to set it on its side, though, since the opening to the original box was on the top, so the lid didn't fit on. Steven went back this week and added another row under the lid.

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When it came time to move the bees, Mike and Steven got all dressed up for the occasion: Steven had his long pants tucked into his socks, a hat under his hood (which he pulled so tight only his glasses showed through) and his sweater tucked into his snow gloves. Mike had on his snow boots and pants, the leather jacket he wears when he rides his motorcycle, his helmet and his winter riding gloves.

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Unfortunately, he had an opening where the collar of his jacket didn't quite meet the chin of his helmet, and the bees were able to get in. He got 3 or 4 stings that night plus another 6 or 8 the next day when he tried to move their box a little bit further behind one of the bushes. I was walking through the living room when I caught sight of through the window running back and forth, flapping his arms and waving his shirt at them.

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We haven't had any other problems with them; they are tucked back behind some of the bushes in the front by the sidewalk. Steven says random people walking by will stop and look at them. Hopefully this new house he built them will keep them happy this summer so they help us grow more yummy tomatoes, apples, nectarines, etc.

Swine Flu Drama

As if being sick on her birthday isn't enough, the first weekend in May Kylie complained that her ears were hurting her. On Monday her regular doctor couldn't fit her in so I took her to urgent care. I told them I was fairly certain she had the flu but if they could please check her ears, I'd appreciate it.

Well, they did a throat culture (to rule out strep throat) and a nose swab (to check for influenza) and checked her ears (all clear), nose and throat. Score one for Dr. Mom, she tested positive for Influenza A.

I asked the Doc if he was able to determine the exact strain of influenza that had gotten her (translation: Does she have the Swine Flu?). The Doc said no, at this point, the CDC is so inundated with samples and cases that they don't really even care whether it really is Swine Flu; they are recommending that everyone who tests positive for Influenza A in general stay home for a week. A WEEK!

So I called the school to excuse her for the whole week and request homework for her to do so she didn't get too far behind. About 10 minutes later, the school nurse called in a total panic -- She needed the Doc's name and number, she had to file paperwork with the CDC, they were going to close the school because Kylie tested positive for SWINE FLU!

I told her no, Kylie does NOT have the Swine Flu as far as we know, she has Influenza A, end of story. Really, the Swine Flu isn't any worse than the regular seasonal flu; it's just a new strain and nobody knew what to expect or how bad it would be. The Doc put her on Tamiflu with orders to stay home for a week to be on the safe side. It took 3 calls from the school nurse before everyone had calmed down again. Sheesh!

I'm sure at some point her culture will go to the CDC to determine if it actually was Swine Flu; they'll eventually want some kind of count. But even if it is Swine Flu we'll never know -- she'll just be a statistic. And it doesn't really matter, anyway. She wasn't even all that sick! She had the fever, headache and body aches Saturday and Sunday; after that it was just the congestion and the coughing.

If it hadn't been for the ears, I wouldn't have taken her in at all. I would have kept her home Monday, but she would have gone back to school on Tuesday. Yes, she was a little congested and coughed and sneezed slightly more than normal (she has asthma and allergies) but no fever, headache or body aches since Sunday. It made me crazy to keep her home the full week.

First, there are only 3 weeks of school left in the year, and she missed one of them.

Second, she was selected to run in two events in the regional track meet -- the 800m on Friday and the 4 x 800m on Wednesday. Coach wasn't too happy that she missed both meets. Kylie told me lots of people run anyway when they are sick. I told her that feeling like she's going to puke while she runs is one thing, not being able to breathe is completely different. She's run without her inhaler before and didn't do so well; this would be a whole lot worse.

I had to take Steven in to urgent care on Thursday to check his ears too, since he was congested and complained that his one ear in particular was very painful. I told them I was fairly certain he had sinusitis that was causing his headache and earache, but if they could please check his ears, I'd appreciate it.

Well, they did a throat culture (to rule out strep throat) and a nose swab (to check for influenza) and checked his ears (all clear), nose and throat. Score another one for Dr. Mom, he did indeed have a sinus infection, and he tested negative for Influenza A.

The Doc remembered me from Monday and asked about Kylie. I told him it was making me crazy to keep her home, since she wasn't really all that sick. He amended his previous orders for her -- since she'd been on Tamiflu since Monday, had no fever or other sever flu symptoms, and most importantly had not given it to her brother, he said she could return to school on Friday if she wanted to.

Oh, I was so excited I called Kylie on her cell phone as we left the office.

"Good news, Kylie! The Doc said you could go to school tomorrow if you want to! Isn't that great!?"

Silence on the other end.

Steven asked how she responded to that. I told him she hadn't yet, I was still waiting. Then I wondered if maybe one of us had lost our reception and checked my phone screen. The call is still open. Uh ... "Kylie, are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here." She just didn't know how to respond to my "good" news! And no, she didn't go to school that Friday -- though she did go on a Girls' Camp retreat and spoke in church on Sunday for Mothers' Day, then went back to school on Monday.