"My eye is pink & purple!"

Oh, ho ho.  I'm so funny.  "Tune in next time..."  And then I keep you waiting for 4 months!  Oh, I'm laughing so hard I can barely type.  That's funny, right?  And I totally kept you waiting on purpose to make the joke funny.  Not because I just didn't get around to creating a post.  Really.

 But now is not the time for more Wildcat excitement.  Now is the time for: 

Beautiful pictures of Katie's shiner!

So, she has never complained about it hurting (except for the initial screaming when it happened and a little more crying when she could feel them putting the stitches in) and has been pretty cheerful about the whole thing.  She really likes looking in the mirror now.  "Look, Mom.  My eye is purple."  Only, now it's, "My eye is pink & purple," and sometimes we notice together how it matches her shirt.

If you're curious how it happened, well, I'll tell you:  We were moments away from leaving Grandma/pa's house for the airport to return to Wisconsin.  We wanted to give ourselves plenty of time, so we were leaving about 2 1/2 hrs before our plane was supposed to leave (the drive takes about 1 hr 15 min).  I was making a last check of the basement to make sure we'd grabbed everything.  Tyce was taking bags outside.  Uncle Levi was with the kids in the backyard, telling them it was time to be done playing & head inside to leave.  So, from what I gather, Katie was obeying and heading towards the house.  Nathan was being sneaky and heading towards Uncle Levi with a foam sword.  Katie tripped over Uncle Levi.  Apparently at that precise moment, Nathan was making his move and swinging that foam sword with all his might at Uncle Levi.  That's what we know.  How that turned into a black eye is easy enough to conjecture.  How that turned into a black eye with three cuts--two deep enough to require three + two stitches--we're still trying to figure out.

So, Tyce was the first to Katie, sized up the situation, grabbed his mom & the insurance card, and headed out the door for the emergency room (no urgent care nearby).  Grandpa & I put the rest of the bags in the car, loaded up Nathan & Ivy and headed for the airport.  We stopped at the emergency room to see if Tyce thought they could make it or if we should call the airport instead to make other arrangements.  They were already working on Katie so he gave us the green light.  I checked Nathan, Ivy & myself in and waited a couple minutes to hear from them before we went through security.  The last I heard, they were well on their way and should make it by boarding time (well, before boarding would be completed).  I wasn't too worried.  Then our flight began pre-boarding.  Then by rows.  Then general boarding.  Then almost everyone had boarded.  I was watching & watching the entrance to the terminal.  I was praying.  I asked the lady when I handed her our tickets if she could check if my husband & daughter had checked in.  She checked.  Only 1 person who had checked in hadn't boarded.  I thought, "Fabulous.  I get to fly by myself with 2 kids with no idea when (or how much $ it'll cost) Tyce & Katie will catch a flight home."  Did I mention we were already on the last flight to Milwaukee for the day?  Just then, she got a phone call from the check-in desk.  They had a guy & daughter there who they'd been trying to check in for 15 minutes but the system wouldn't let them.  They'd finally printed boarding passes.  Please hold the plane.  So, they were the last ones on the plane & I got my first glimpse of Katie's shiner.  It's a beauty, right?