Sick Days

Ryan started back to work a week ago Tuesday and, as his luck would have it, he got sick and had to leave early his second day back (Wednesday). He stayed home the next day, then finished off the week working a 12 hour day Friday.

Our internet was having problems for most of last Friday and Saturday, so I got a few things done around the house and tried not to stress about not being able to work. Mid-week my friend Kathy called and asked me to teach Relief Society on Sunday so I agreed and added that to my list of things to do. I read through the lesson a few times but I was still nervous about presenting it as I have NEVER taught RS before. As the internet was down Saturday I had a little more time to concentrate on preparing my lesson, though I kept getting frustrated that I couldn't look up any references, etc.. (I really need to have a better back-up plan for when this happens.) By afternoon/evening we were all ready to get out of the house for a little bit so we piled in the van and went to pick plums at Em & Nate's place. Emily made the kids an offer of a penny per plum picked up off the ground and Austyn earned over a dollar this way, as the other kids were more interested in picking plums off the tree. We came home with several bags of plums, though most still needed some ripening in a box for a few days. The internet was finally back up, so after the kids got to bed I got to work and finished up my work before midnight.

Sunday morning was not as peaceful as I had hoped, as I was finishing up my lesson preparations, getting the kids bathed and making a flyer for our upcoming ward ice cream social. We all managed to get to sacrament meeting on time, though I had to leave mid meeting with Adalyn as she was ready for lunch and was not going to wait another minute. Everything went well with my RS lesson, in fact the time was up before I ran out of things to say :-) Sunday evening was much more relaxing as I had accomplished everything I needed to that day.

Alexia has been having more problems with asthma type symptoms over this past couple months, possibly because the summer air is so bad. We have found that if she takes an allergy pill before bed and sleeps with the air purifier blowing in her room then she can sleep through the night without waking up coughing. We have a nebulizer and medication to give her if she gets to the point that she is having difficulty breathing, but we don't have anything really portable to have with us when we are away from home. As her difficulties have been more frequent I finally took her to the doctor yesterday and got a prescription for a preventative as well as a rescue inhaler so we could have something on hand wherever we are.

I noticed yesterday afternoon that Adalyn was feeling pretty warm and had been more sleepy through the day and found that she had a bit of a fever. She did fine through the night after some Tylenol but today she is feeling pretty hot to touch. Her fever is higher and she seems achy, as she fusses whenever her position is changed. I've given her Tylenol again this morning, so we will see how she does today. I thought she may be getting a little of what Ryan had last week, but she doesn't have symptoms other than the fever and aches. Ryan's illness was more of a cough and congestion, cold like. I think I got a little of what Ryan had, so I have been trying to get some extra sleep so it doesn't get bad. I am feeling better today, so hopefully I will continue to do well.

Austyn is home during the day right now until his preschool starts in another two weeks. He really enjoys playing with the kids next door, Logan and Kenley, and they are all back and forth between here and there almost everyday. He has been having a hard time the last few days since their family has been out of town. They finally got back last night, so he is excited to play with them today. A funny thing the other day, Austyn was leaving to go play, almost had the front door shut, then opened it back up and said to me "Oh . . . did you want a kiss?". I said yes and he came and gave me a kiss, then went back to the door and said "bye mom". What a sweet kid! He really enjoys being a big brother to Adalyn and brings her toys and tries to make her laugh.

Andrew is in 6th grade this year and I think it is more stressful for me than it is for him. Especially right now while he is in football and has practices for two hours almost everyday. It has been stressful for me to make sure he remembers to work on his daily homework, long term projects, reading time, piano, and not stay up too late. I can't imagine what next year is going to be like when he starts junior high!

Well, I better get working on some housework before things get too crazy around here. I want to at least get the dishes done and the kitchen in order before lunch time, so I better hurry.