This Is What Lice Looks Like

It's been a crazy week.  Let's just start with that.  Last weekend everyone enjoyed time away from home- Kari with Grammy Pammy and Dale and Bryce with Gran and Beep.  Everyone came home on Sunday with Kari driven to our front doorstep via Dale.  Our house was to be a stopover on her way to Lexington.  We all had a nice dinner at MCL and recounted our weekend adventures.  Kari got a special trip to The American Girl Doll store for dinner and shopping.  Bryce went to a fall festival and then a Cirque du Soleil in conjunction with the Indianapolis Symphony.  What a treat!

And then Monday morning rolled around.  We'll call that Zero Hour and Bryce, Patient Zero.  I knew we were in trouble the minute he sat up and started scratching his head with both hands.  I contemplated my jam-packed schedule at work for less than five minutes before calling in and saying I'd be staying home to attack these little buggers before it got out of hand.  Poor Dale couldn't get on the road fast enough!  Later in the day I had the unenviable task of calling Gran and telling her the good news.  Since neither of us had any personal experience with lice, I had no advice for her other than to wash the sheets and put them in the dryer on high.

As soon as Kari was loaded on the bus and out of harm's lice's way, Bryce and I headed over to speak to our trusty grocery pharmacist.  Armed with some education, an armful of isopropyl alcohol and shower caps, we made our way over to get his head shaved.  (It should be noted, though, Indiana state law does not allow salons to cut hair with active lice.)  We had the two best ladies who were very generous with their time and tools to help us out in our dire time of need.

That darling moppy curly hair... gone.  He looks so much older now!

And because I instantly started feeling itchy as soon as we came home, I treated myself to a head treatment, too, just for kicks.  But don't feel too badly for this little guy.  I let him eat straight out of a family sized box of Frosted Flakes and watch cartoons all day.  From his point of view, life couldn't have gotten much better.

For what it's worth, I was able to contain the lice just to Bryce (see, that's funny!  Lice-Bryce.  No, actually, it's not funny at all.  Ever.)  I've done more laundry this past week than what I normally do in an entire month.  But the real winner of the day was Marcie the lovely pharmacist who told me not to bother with that OTC RidX stuff and instead go hardcore with the rubbing alcohol.  Who knew!  The cheaper alternative would be the Gold Star answer.

If you are ever so unfortunate to come in contact with these little monsters, give me a call.  I've got the method and technique down.  I'm your gal and I'm happy to help.

First Chimes Performance

Kari had her first handbell performance this past weekend.  I love that she's loving it.  She was asked under a no-pressure invitation by Heidi, and after a little convincing from Gran, reluctantly agreed to give it a try.  They practice each Sunday afternoon for an hour and then have a variety of performances about once a month.  Kari is also very fortunate that Mrs. Lind usually stands right next to her during practice and the performances to ensure she's hitting each note since she's learning to read music again.  Pro tip: Probably not the best idea to introduce a pre-kindergartener to music when they many not be fully ready to commit and enjoy the experience.

Amazing Grace was the first song, and the second was Spirit of the Living God, Fall Afresh on Me.

Cousins!