The Rest of the Story

Here are the decorated pie pumpkins from our feverish week. Aaron's is on the left, and he named it Rainbow. Kaleb's is in the middle; he named it Spooky. Braylen named his Nostril. Silly boys!

A highlight of the week that I forgot to mention--Braylen and Kaleb served me breakfast in bed! They were feeling much better by Thursday morning, and fixed me two pieces of buttered toast, grapes, and a glass of water. As he handed me the plate, Braylen said he wanted to thank me for taking such good care of him this week. Awww! Being a mom sure is hard. I give so much of myself to them every day. But in that moment, my boys took care of me. They showed their love with their actions and their words. A simple breakfast. An everyday morning made extraordinary!

Feeling Feverish

It took a week--an entire week--but I think I can say we are on our way to wellness around here. Last Saturday, Kaleb started running a 102 temp. By Monday he was back in school, and it was Braylen's turn to be sick. Braylen didn't get better in 2 days like his brother. *sigh* 104.1 degrees at times, and his fever hung on for 5 days. 5 very long days. I knew it was bad when at 2am I listened to him complain that Adam and Eve brought sin into the world and this was why he was sick. I can't fix that!! Tuesday night Aaron joined the fever party, and his illness mirrored Braylen's. *sigh*

Things could have been worse. We only had one puke episode. Derek and I didn't get sick. No visits to the doctor's office. Nothing major on the calendar, so why not be sick? Still, after 7 days of passing out tylenol and ibuprofen and taking temps in my sleep...I was done. All of us wanted to be done. Braylen was bored out of his gourd. Too sick for video games and tv. Too sick to read. And when Braylen and Aaron get sick, they do not sleep. They lay around and bemoan the fact that they're sick. (they are men-in-training you know!) Kaleb passes out in his bed--maybe that's why he recovered so much quicker?! Anyway, I'm not sure if we had H1N1 or some other virus, but whatever it was, our flu shot that we got 2 weeks ago didn't help with this at all. It kicked us in the shorts, as my husband likes to say. Lysol wipes, lysol spray, open windows--I'm trying it all in hopes that it leaves and never returns!

Some good things happened this week too. Kaleb, our only healthy one on Thursday, was invited to a friend's house for a play date. My mother-in-law went to the store for me and brought us some groceries and extra goodies. The kids spent Friday afternoon decorating and painting their pie pumpkins from Grandma, sticking window clings on my kitchen windows, and (shocker!) laughing. :) I took a picture of these pumpkins and they are a riot--but my camera is not here for me to download it. Next post! One day after Kaleb came home from school, Braylen said, "It's happier with Kaleb here." Awww. When they felt up to it, we ate lunches on the couch and watched vintage episodes of "The Dukes of Hazzard." I read "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" to Braylen for part of his schoolwork. I never get to read to him anymore, so that was a treat. Walking the dog was heavenly for me--fresh air and no temps to check! :)

This morning when I checked temperatures, God showed me His sense of humor. Everyone's temp was 98.6. Woo-hoo!

Just Camping With Dad

The title of this post can also be "Camping with JUST Dad!" Being the youngest, Aaron doesn't get much one-on-one time with Derek. Braylen and Kaleb can hunt with Dad, target-shoot with Dad, and share Cub Scout outings with Dad. But one thing Aaron and Daddy can do together is go camping. :)

This is our spot

Put the tent right here Daddy!

Friday afternoon, Derek loaded up the Suburban and away they went. Stopping only for fish bait and donuts, they made it to their camp site in time to build a campfire for a hot dog roast. Derek was amazed at how truly helpful Aaron was. He listened and followed directions...something his older brothers have forgotten how to do. ;) While setting up the tent, he snapped the poles together as high as he could reach. When gathering firewood, he carried all that his little arms could carry. Derek delighted in Aaron, even learning to live in Aaron's pace of life. While walking to the bathrooms, Aaron stopped to kick every single leaf along the way. At first, Derek told him to keep moving. Then he thought to himself, "What for?" So he walked beside Aaron as they zig-zagged their way to the bathrooms.

The hot dog roast

Aaron wanted only one marshmallow--Daddy wanted lots more!

One of the things they did a lot of on their camping trip was bike riding. Derek had his odometer to keep track of how long they rode. Can you believe they rode 8 miles together? Aaron's quite the bike rider! Every now and then he'd wipe out for no reason--he'd be riding along just fine and then wham! Down he went. That is SO Aaron. :) His funniest wipe-out came down a small hill where he fell off his bike and the bike crashed into the fire pit! Fishing was another thing they enjoyed together. Aaron managed to hook Derek's ear with a jitterbug, and he drowned the worms while telling them, "That's what you get for not catching me any fish!"

Our littlest fisherman

Sleeping in the tent was another big hit. Aaron woke Daddy up to hear the owls. I'm sure Daddy was sound asleep anyway. :) Snuggled in their sleeping bags, Aaron did lots of talking while Daddy did lots of listening.

Our Cookie Monster staying warm :)

What a special time for Derek and our precious youngest son, who reminds us every day that he's not that young anymore...

Mid-September

Beautiful Ginger is growing up

Another week gone by. More running for Braylen, lots of allergies for Kaleb and Aaron, plenty of job security for Derek, and 5 schedules for me to master. Really, I don't remember the allergy season ever being this bad. Kaleb gets red puffy bags underneath his eyes while his nose runs like a faucet. Aaron sneezes and sneezes...I've started to think of him as my dwarf named Sneezy. I wonder when I give in and test them for allergies? Round after round of allergy shots does not appeal to me, and there's no guarantee they would work anyway. So instead, the Zyrtec flows like water over here. Just like their noses. I keep hoping it will work?

Aaron wants to make a pinewood derby car (he calls it dervy)

Derek's kept his hours pretty normal, but the work he's doing during those hours is anything but routine. Thankfully the weekend is here. I can hope and pray he gets 2 full days of it without any callouts.

With all of Braylen's running at school and running at sports practices, I was beginning to wonder if it's time for deodorant. No more wondering. One more small step towards growing up. :)

Aaron's enjoying a special weekend with Daddy...more of that to come in my next post. Until then, here are his latest funnies. :)

A conversation with Daddy at bedtime...

Aaron: Braylen's supposed to be moved out of the house by now cuz he's 8 or older.

Derek: Umm, do you mean 18?

Aaron: Ah, I'm not good at keeping counting straight...

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A conversation with Mommy and Daddy at bedtime...

Aaron: The evil people believe there's lots of gods, but we know there's only one God to believe in.

Derek: How do you know that Aaron?

Aaron: Dad, I'm 5 years old--I've been learning these things all my life!

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When seeing reflectors reflecting light at the side of the road, Aaron says, "Look! Lighter-uppers!"

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Mommy: Aaron, we need to go to Grandma's house and use her sewing machine.

Aaron: You have a sewing machine Mommy--we don't need to use Grandma's.

Mommy: I don't have a sewing machine.

Aaron: Oh, we just have a sticky machine, right?

Mommy: Umm, do you mean an iron?

Aaron: Yeah! An iron!

Okay, so my son thinks my iron is my sewing machine. Can you tell I only use my iron to put patches on his Cubbie vest? He's never seen what an iron is actually for. Ha!