Figurines for Sale

My neighbor Tiffany has found a way to use her talent for making clay figurines to help bring in some income for her family in these tough times. She makes bears, Easter bunnies, fairies, elves, dragons, dogs, pretty much anything you want. I already have a dragon and a fairy, and she made Mike a Redskins bear for Christmas. I'm having her make something different for each of my kids for Easter and I'd tell you but the kids do get on and read the blog from time to time. If you are interested, please call me or email me at utahallens@comcast.net and I will pass along your number to her. Here are some pictures of what she has on hand right now, and if you want something special and handmade for your children for Easter, or a figurine for the hubby in his profession or favorite sports team, the cost is really reasonable.

First Concussion

James got his first concussion yesterday. Unfortunately, it wasn't caused by a rough and lively game of soccer. During advisory class yesteday, his class was throwing around a football when James was blindsided by a friend and tackled. He went down and hit his head very hard on the ground. James called me about an hour later and said he felt sick and could I come get him. So, I picked him up and took him home. He immediately threw up after walking in the door, and I gave him a bit of sympathy, some Tylanol and went back to work. When I got home after work, he still wasn't feeling well but I had to run out the door again 5 minutes later to take Kaylie to soccer practice. It wasn't until I was driving Kaylie that it hit me that maybe he had a concussion. I immediately called Lia and talked to her and she confirmed that the few symptons he had were signs of a concussion. Now, in my defense of not realizing this 6 hours earlier, he barely even mentioned anything about getting tackled and hitting his head so I didn't put 2 and 2 together. After talking with Lia, a round of phone calls to the pediatrician, to Mike and PRYING WITH A CROWBAR, more information out of James, we confirmed it. Not only was he nausous with an extreme headache, he had also temporarily lost his peripheral vision in his right eye! I immediately pulled Kaylie from soccer practice, drove home, picked up James and drove to Jordan Valley ER where we spent the next 4 hours! (ER is a very lively place where 2 other boys with SEVERE concussions came in, heart attacks, and a man who looked like he almost severed some fingers came in.) With nothing to do but lay there waiting to be seen and chat, James was reminded of the time Nik got a concussion several years ago. Almost proudly, he said that he gave it to him at the beginning of soccer practice when he crossed the ball to Nik and it hit him in the head. (what are best friend for! :) Anyway, James got a clean bill of health, CAT scan was great, and the Doc was okay with him playing his game on Friday until I told him it was high school/competative soccer. Doc immediately changed and said NO SOCCER for 3 days. (Doc was thinking rec soccer...) James wasn't very happy about that, but initially the doctor said no soccer for 2 weeks so having it whittled down to 3 days wasn't so bad! James still has a headache this morning and I'm feeling very guilty, though extremely grateful, that nothing more serious happened during the time we didn't realize he had a concussion. Luckily, he will be fine!

A Visit with Uncle Mark

For those of you who are close to our family, you know about Mike's brother Mark. He has severe coronary artery disease and has been battling this for a few years now. Many times we thought we were going to lose him, but he is a living example of a miracle at work. We were lucky enough to have an evening, short as it was, with him as he was passing through town from Colorado back home to Arizona. Little Mark, (no longer can we call him Baby Mark) challenged Uncle Mark to a Wii bowling game and from there it was a Wii challenge night. All the kids challenged Uncle Mark to different games and Uncle Mark beat everyone! I think Mike especially enjoyed the few hours with his brother - I know we all did and we look forward to Thanksgiving time when we can head to Arizona and spend more time with Mark and the rest of the Arizona family.

OWWWW!

Hey out there - I need sympathy. I broke my toe Friday slamming it into the kitchen stool. Apparently I have trouble walking sometimes without running into things!

A Beautiful Morning

I am always in awe at how beautiful it looks around here after a snow storm. As I was drving James and Kaylie to school early this morning, the sun wasn't quite up yet, and everything was tinted blue and looked so serene. I love how the trees all look with snow on them. I love how I can look outside of any window in my home and see the mountains-how beautiful they are when covered in snow. I enjoyed the quiet ride back home thankful for the gorgeous morning that started my day!

Reflections Contest

Every year Kaylie has entered the Reflections contest at school and this year was no exception. She is now in 7th grade at Brockbank Jr. High and she entered a picture she drew and then painted in the contest. Kaylie's picture won and then went on to State, where her picture came in 2nd place! Kaylie has an artistic gift that I hope she will always indulge in. I know we always enjoy seeing her art projects, especially the ones she does in clay. Thanks, Kaylie for lighting up our home with your beautiful art!

Table Topics

So tonight as we were sitting around the table for dinner, enjoying a very yummy homemade chicken salad, we passed around the Table Topics. Mike picked the question "What strengths do you bring to your family and do you feel they are appreciated?" Well, James was in a humorous mood and before Mike could even answer, James blurted out an answer for Mike. He said "procrastination, and it's not very appreciated". If you know Mike at all, you know that procrastination is one of his personality traits! Needless to say, we laughed about this for a good ten minutes! Good thing Mike is such a good sport about this! After we all quit laughing, Mark, being the sweetie that he is, says Mike's strength is cooking. We ALL know that Mike is a great cook and it works for us that he even enjoys cooking dinner most nights. He brings alot more strengths to this family other than cooking and we love and appreciate him for everything!