I CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS!!!

I don't normally post to the blog while we are out of town, but will make an exception.  Bear with me here, becuase I need to vent.  Last Wed. J had a playdate with a buddy down the street she sees at least a couple times/week.  That afternoon J came down with a 102.7 degree fever.  By Thurs. afternoon she was pretty lethargic and not eating, but by Friday mroning the fever had broke and she was fine.  Nevertheless we steered clear of others all day Thurs. and Fri. 

Sat. we had a birthday party where said buddy and both sets of older siblings were there.  Sometime on Sat. J's buddy puked, we know not when.  Fast forward to Tues.  Buddy's mom and I decide to drive 5 hours round trip to a 'local' amusement park that everyone raves is great for the age range of our kids.  Everyone had a great time...but J's buddy had some odd rash all around his mouth all day and we couldn't figure out what it was.  This is also when I learned about his illness on Sat. and apparently he also had a fever at some point in the last week just like J's.

Today is Wed.  J was kind of cranky today, didn't eat anything all day and would barely drink.  We had Cookie over all morning while I packed the car and as we are driving down the street to head out on a long trip to Wisconsin, I realize I have a voicemail from J's buddy's mom saying that both boys have strep and also J's buddy has a staph infection.  The peds got us the next apointment and we barely got to the office in time.  Both my kids present with all the classic symptoms, red throats, swollen glands, J with a slight fever, Ed none and all and of course J not eating.  Yet the rapid strep came back negative.  ugh.  Almost would have been easier if it came back positive because anti-biotics could be started and away we'd go. 

Doctor suspects it's a virus, but was surprised they both came back negative, saying that if one was positive and one was negative, then both would have been put on anti-biotics.  He said they should be over the virus by Friday, but that he would call us Friday morning with the grown culture results that take 2 days to show results.  If it is strep, 24 hours of anti-biotics and they should be no longer contagious.

Den and I with the car loaded, told the kids we weren't going to be able to leave town.  To say they freaked out would be an understatement, and Den and I were plenty disappointed.  So, we decided to leave town and instead of staying with g'parents Ohio, head to another part of the state, we only got about 3 hours out of town, but the kids are excited to be in a hotel.  Tomorrow, we will head to Indy and then depending on the results of the tests and how the kids are doing, we will either finally bunk with relatives, or continue the hotel for one more night.  Eddie's rash is back, which is stressing me out and now this. 

Why is it that EVERY SINGLE TIME we have gone on vacation in the last year, someone in our family has either been sick, or become sick.  I even commented to my friend yesterday that I really can't handle having the kids sick on another trip and I really hope they can just stay healthy...

at least the Doctor seemed calm and assured me that even if we gave them another rapid strep test on Friday it wouldn't be any different because the kids were already showing signs that if they had step, it would show up in the test. 

On the drive, we passed through a couple mountain passes where the road had cut right through the mountain.  Eddie got to asking questions about if the earth was hurt and Den explained that only if they aren't careful would the earth be damaged.  That word opened up a whole line of questioning that J couldn't resist and she just cracked herself up saying DAMage, DAMage.  Den and I desparate for a laugh apparently, couldn't stop laughing either, reminding the kids to emphasize the letter 'g' in their pronounciation.

Here we are in West Virginia, a new state for the kids and crossing our fingers that no major fevers erupt and that their throats calm down in the next day or so. 

I really want to take a vacation where no one is sick prior, during or immediately after.  We take enough trips, statistically, isn't that possible?

This Weekend

I had been trying to get Den to take an overnight trip somewhere sometime in August, but our 16 hour driving trip looms and we decided to hang out at home.

The top photo is not from this weekend, but it might as well be. The kids love the hammock and I love this shot. They are reading Eddie's current favorite book, Oceans. Actually everyone in the family likes it. It's a couple hundred pages broken in to 2 page spreads with bullet points about every possible thing related to the ocean. He is forever asking how long it would take to read the whole book and we assure him it would consume an entire day. Den and I feel like we are learning something too.

Eddie loves gymnastics, but the current gym we belong to does not have many classes to choose from and because we are not County residents, we get last dibs, so I'm on the hunt for a new place for him. We tested out another gym, twice as far away and it was okay. I liked the class, but the facility was pretty wretched. We then went straight to an ice skating birthday party. To her credit, Josie did one loop around the ice rink before she decided she'd had enough. Eddie and Den stayed long after we left.

Eddie rash came back this weekend, pretty bad too, to the point we were talking about another doctor's apointment tomorrow, but we think we can keep it under control as it seemed to respond to the medicene we tried. Ugh.

The kids swing as high as they can in the hammock and play all sorts of cute games, like synchronized swimmers, they hide in the hammock and stick up an arm or a leg or a finger at the same time. This was one of the least blurry ones, and I laid on the ground, so I could get Josie in the shot too.

Saturday afternoon, we broke out the slip n slide! The box does say it's for ages 5 and up. True to that, Eddie has it down pat, but Josie is still trying to figure out how to make it work. Eddie agreed to pull her down the slip n slide, and they thought that was the funniest thing ever.

Today was a bit less family focused, as Den watched the kids, whilst I spent 3 hours pulling up the carpet, carpet tacks, and nails from the basement steps. After what we guess is at least 35 years, the carpet is wearing thin and the tacks were starting to poke through. I'm proud to say I did 95% of the job myself (needed Den for a couple brute force parts). Now I'll prime it, paint it and then put in some stair treads until we figure out what to do. Somehow I got 5 loads of laundry done today. Getting all the laundry done by the end of the weekend is only second to having all the ironing finished before it's time to start the next round of laundry. I was also reminded why I do not grocery shop on the weekends. Holy cow!

The State of our Household

Den is visiting the area of Florida where I grew up (sort of).  He is there for work and if Eddie didn't have kprep, we would be too.  Thus begins the rule of the school calendar over our lives. 

Eddie seems to be enjoying himself.  I don't get a lot out of him, it's more in the relation of a shared experience that he tells me about something at school.  I've got to learn how to ask questions...I know I'm not supposed to ask questions that elicit one-word answers, but aside from straping a recording device to him, I can't figure out how to get even a single line report.

Eddie has started testing his boundaries.  He does/doesn't do things just to see what will happen.  This phase (I hope) is why they say parenting is not for the faint of heart.

I keep repeating the words 'positive intent' and 'do not let your anger show'.  Some days are more sucessful than others.  For me, it involves kind words when examples of those words are the farthest from my mind.

Eddie is also at this magical age where things are starting to click.  I can talk to him about things and he probes further to learn more.  We played a game called Labyrinyth when I was home on Monday and I could watch him form his strategy even while I had to help him figure out how to implement.  Part of me can't wait for Josie to be at the age where she can enjoy these games too, but then that will mean they are older....

Josie is a hoot.  Eddie is talkative once he gets to know you, but Josie will talk to people more openly and willingly than Eddie.  I sincerely hope they are as close as adults as they are now.  It's so fun to watch.  Not so much fun when they've had enough of each other.

My kids are so gender stereotypical it kind of bugs me a bit, yet I try and indulge and embrace because who knows how long before they move onto other things. 

Josie is also pretty sly and a bit of a ham.  She always has been, but she is getting more creative in hiding the lid to the vitimin jar and delights in saying ordinary words and then laughing hysterically as she has uttered them. 

She is also going through a 'I don't want to walk' phase, which I dearly hope is a phase, because our family likes to walk/hike. 

She just got her class list for preschool and has the same teachers Eddie did when he was in the 3s class.  There are only 4 girls in her class and in each of the other 3s classes, there are only 3 girls.  She will know the other 3 in her class.  I was kind of looking forward to her meeting new kids in class, so am a bit disappointed. 

I am exhausted after a 1am wake up to a slightly damp bed in Ed's room, 3am roll call to J's room because she wanted someone to lay with her, and a 6:30 call to Eddie because he wanted me to get him dressed (despite the fact that he has gotten himself dressed the previous 6 days of kprep prior to coming downstairs).  Off to bed....

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday was beautiful. For any time of year, but especially for an August day after a June and July that saw more days above 90 than not. It was in the mid 80s with low humidity. Today was cool, humid and rainy. So happy we were able to work about 7 hours on our back yard. We hired one of the guys who helped build out addition to come work for 5 hours and it was because of his help we were able to get almost 40% done.

We really like how it turned out under the steps. In front of the steps, the landing turned out about the way we expected. In an ideal world, we'd rip out the handy-man special steps the previous owner installed and put in a nice retaining wall and steps, but there are other things I'd like to do, so we deal with the goofy layout and if the landing looks a little askew, it's because of those handyman special steps.

I have lusted after these edging stones ever since I saw them in a neighbors yard several years ago. Just as they were selling their home, I tried to inquire where they had purchased them, but they had already moved out. I've seem similar in other places, but never the exact thing, so I was thrilled to have found them when we went to select our materials. You can't see them well, but they are these small rectangle shaped things in the very edges of the pictures. I'd better like them because they cost 1/3 of all the materials, which included 3 1/4 tons of 2" washed gravel, 37 stepping stones, 1 ton of stone dust and 110 of these pavers/edges weighing in at just over a ton.

Den was itching to do some more work today (and for all you sarcastic types, and you know who you are), I brought all but 4 of the 37 stepping stones to the back, brought 1/2 of the edging stones, moved 2 wheelbarrows of stone dust, 4-5 of dirt, laid almost half the stones and also managed the 7 tree guys who descended on our house the same day to remove 11 trees. All of 2 of the 11 were either dead, on their way out, or damaged so badly from the snowstorms this past winter that they weren't going to make it. If you had never been to our house, you'd never really know, but it's a pretty dramatic change. We figure we'll replant this fall when we are more likely to have cooler than 90 degree weather.

Today it rained, or threatened to rain all day. We had the kids out in it much of the day. Eddie is starting to hang out with the 'older' kids in the hood, which is nice, they are 6, 7, and 8 and for the most part a good group of kids.

Kinder Orientation

Eddie started Kindergarden orientation this week (it lasts 2 weeks) and we did too. Everyone has always said you have to be an advocate for your child in the public school system, but we are learning first hand how many moving parts there are for a school aged kid (and this is just orientation). I can only imagine familes who do not have preschool experience.


These pictures are from today, Wednesday, 2 days after the start of kprep, when they were able to finally get him on a bus route. We're in a gray area where we could walk him to school as it's just over a mile, but they provide a bus and the neighborhood kids all like to ride the bus...they sent a letter the end of July saying bus routes were being finalized. I called last week because we hadn't heard anything about what time to be at the bus stop. Come to find out there was a mailing earlier in July that we never received that you had to opt in for transportation. The school said I was out of luck, so I called the transportation division of the school system and they said it would be no problem to work Eddie into the route, but that it would be Wednesday before he could ride the bus. The school had to offically request it though. Needless to say, the secretary and I have not started out on a good foot.


I figure I'm not in as bad of shape with the staff as my neighbor who is in the same boat with regard to not getting the bus transport form, but who got so frustrated with the school that she put her husband on the phone, and he escalated it to the principal.



There are 6 classes with what appears to be just under 18 kids/class. This is about what it will be like during the school year, with closer to 20 kids (the orientation is optional). His buddy down the street, Jake is in a different class, so it's been interesting to see on the first day Jake was sent home with a folder containing a welcome letter and a form to fill out. Eddie had nothing, except that they put an 's' on the end of his name, so it read 'Edwards'. The teacher said she'd correct it for the next day.


Tuesday came and she now spelled his name 'Eddy'. Eddie pointed out to her that this was not the correct spelling and she said she'd fix it. He came home yesterday with a worksheet he'd done where he was to cut out 3 squares, paste them in the windows of the bus and color the bus. He also had a popsicle stick with "Eddy" spelled on it that he said he was supposed to give the teacher to fix. My favorite though was the brochure from the school about how we could get him on the meal plan so he could buy food. It referenced an enclosed form which was of course not enclosed. They are serving breakfast and lunch during this program. Based on the menu, I'm not sure I want him buying the school food:
Monday's breakfast: trix, animal crackers, fruit juice and chocolate milk (apparently animal crackers count as a 'bread'). Today's breakfast is a breakfast bun plus, I can only imagine what that is going to be like. The lunches at least seem a little bit better. Jake came home on Tuesday with a letter inviting his mom to a mom sponsored meet n greet on Friday afternoon. Our folder didn't have that, so we'll see if it was only for Jake's class...


On Monday and Tuesday we walked Jake and Eddie to school. The first day took 30 minutes just to get them dropped off and settled in. We and the boys were fine, but we had to wait in line for 15 mintues for them to place a nametag on the kids, tell us what room to take him to and introduce him to the teacher. To be fair they also had to sort out all the kids getting off the buses, but wow. Plus, there was no security whatsoever. Considering the school is locked down like Fort Knox the rest of the school year, I found this interesting.


The bus was running late this morning, so we waited 20 minutes for it to come. There seems to have been a rash of kindergarden kids getting put on the wrong buses and then getting dropped off at the wrong place over the last year even though policies are supposed to be in place to prevent this. So, I made a low-key big fuss to Eddie that he needed to make sure he got on the bus #1 (displayed in several places) with this same driver, that he made sure his friend Jake was also on the bus. He is supposed to arrive home at 1:37. I will remain calm until about 1:45. My neighbor and I are hopeful we get the correct children back this afternoon because as Eddie got on the bus this morning and he got a 'bus #1' sticker, the driver cheerfully asked, 'Jake [last name]'. I corrected him and told him Jake was at the next stop. Come to find out at Jake's stop, the driver thought Jake was Eddie, so we'll see how this works out.



The two days we were 'walkers', Eddie kept saying he wanted me to drive him. He wondered if I would be able to get on the bus with him and ride to school with him. This morning he asked how long he would have to get to his seat before the bus started moving and I told him that it would wait until he was in his seat. He was definitely a little nervous (who could blame him), but there were no tears (from him), and he hopped right on the bus without hesitation. I still to this day remember getting on the bus for my first day of kindergarden and the bus driver, Mr. Jackson, commenting on me being so little, he wondered how I would climb the step to get on the bus. It was definitely a big first step, but it got easier each day.

I blacked out the name on the bus and the school name in the last picture, that is not grafitti on the bus.

The last couple weeks...

I've grown tired of looking at the picture of zuchinni every time I bring up my blog and bet you are too.  When we finally settled in at home mid July, the weeds in our garden had taken over the plants we wanted produce from.  Don't know if you can tell, but outside the wooden border are all weeds!  Some produce has managed to survive and we'll still have a healthy crop of tomatos, but yikes!


Because of Eddie's rash, we had to cancel our original quickie trip to Ohio and instead go the following weekend.  Den and I were just so beat from travel that wasn't relaxing and the stress of a child who is not feeling well that we just wanted to sit and do nothing...except visit Swenson's of course.  Eddie is so proud to be helping to carry the leaf for the kitchen table.  We were in Ohio just over 24 hours and in that time must have experienced 3 intense t-storms.  The last one, which ultimately nailed our hometown, was so intense, it was like a blizzard--you literately couldn't see out the window the rain was coming so hard.  Somehow the kids slept through each one!  I am happy to report that Eddie is feeling much better and we have learned that he has some seriously sensitive skin that needs pampering. 

Back from Ohio and Den and I were off for our first ever full weekend away from both kids.  To state the record correctly, I had been away from Eddie one time at 17 months and then Den and I had an overnight or two before our 'big' 4/5 night trip to Puerto Rico the January before Josie was born.  Since she was born, we had been away 2 or 3 times for 1 night, or about 12 hours away and I went away once for 2 nights of scrapbooking.  So it was with great excitment that we looked forward to 2 whole mornings to sleep in as we attended the wedding of a friend.  Cookie stayed with the kids and they literately never once asked when we were coming home.  I'm used to them not wanting to talk with Den when he calls from out of town, so I wasn't bothered that they didn't want to talk to us, only amused that Cookie was so surprised at how well they did.  We were pressed for time in Philly between the weekend's schedule, but were so excited all the same to be kid free and get back to the hotel at 11 each night.  On the way home we made plans to bring the kids back...
I had been unable to decide which dress to wear and so brought shoes for each of the dresses, plus bought a new pair while we were there.  Den and I were amused with how much we managed to pack for what should have been a light packing trip.  He had 3 pair of shoes, which is highly unusual for him. I was torn between wanting to wear cute shoes and wanting to wear comfortable, 'I can walk a mile' shoes.  I hate packing so it is with dread that I prepare us to travel soon to a family reunion in Wisc.  It will be nice while we are there, but everything in between--ugh.  Not sure that even the kids will sit through 14-16 hours of videos after so many road trips this summer.  And there aren't enough stickers made to last that long.  I have got to come up with some other things to occupy their time in the car...any and all ideas welcome.  We usually pack a ton of books, and allow them to pick a couple things each they'd like to bring.