Nov. 3, 2009
Just moving along
|
We are still waiting and seeing on our flu. So far it isn't getting any worse. It isn't any better either, but I can deal with just moving along in slow motion. It would be fantastic if Brad dealt with the flu like Michael did... he just kept on going. Amanda went to recorder class today and there were only two kids there. The girls weren't there at all and the other boy had a sore throat and a fever (also known as Flu-like illness). I think this is just everywhere right now. I hope wherever you are you are doing well and either have had this or don't get it at all. |
Nov. 2, 2009
Flu update
|
I am much much better. No more fever. No more sore throat. No more runny nose. Still a cough but it is getting better with the sudafed. I think sudafed is the solution for this version of the flu. So if you are trying to get over the flu and have the sore throat, runny nose, cough going on... try sudafed. It really really helped me. Well, the five cups of peppermint tea helped some too. The other news is we think Brad is starting to come down with this too and this is NOT good. While none of the kids or I had any risk factors for problems, he does. And he is extremely reluctant to admit it. So now we wait to see if he really does get the flu and how hard it hits him. Thinking healthy thoughts! |
Nov. 2, 2009
Not making Park Day, and it's all MY fault
|
It is 12:00 on a Monday, the kids are all healthy, it is 82 degrees outside and beautiful, and we are not packing up to go to Park Day. Why? Because I am sick. Mostly likely with swine flu, the same stuff the kids had last week. I don't think anyone is happy with this. The kids are climbing the walls. (Actually, Amanda is climbing the tree!) They want to go play. They want to go run around with their friends. I want to talk to my friends. We would likely have spent the entire afternoon at the park, getting home tonight when the sun went down. It would have been great. And none of it is happening. Because Mom got sick. Not much school is happening either. When 100% of your teaching staff is out with the flu, not much teaching is going on. Recorder and one piano practice got done because my big kids can do that on their own. I hope to get Peter to do some piano later. So today I am sitting on the couch with my blankie and the the kids are mostly outside here at home and hopefully I will get better soon. The fever is already down. We are waiting on the cough and the exhaustion to ease. And maybe for the idea of food to sound good. Peppermint tea is great stuff but it isn't exactly a complete source of nutrition. |
Nov. 1, 2009
The Flu is back
|
The kids are fine. Amanda had a great time at her sleep over. However, Mom is not immune to viruses and has now caught the same flu-like illness that the kids had last week. Brad is back to being at home until our home is once again fever free for 24 hours. Hopefully he won't catch this and will be back to work later this week. (Flu-like illness is the official name for the flu that hasn't been tested in a hospital. They are not testing for HINI unless you get admitted. Too many sick folks. I probably do have HINI but we will likely never know officially.) |
Oct. 31, 2009
Halloween
|
Happy Halloween! Tonight we handed out most of seven Costco sized bags of candy. And I took two Jedi trick or treating. Amanda is at her first ever sleep over. I hope she has a good time and that she is comfortable staying all night. We have told her that if she decided she wants to come home we will go get her no matter what time it is, but I still hope she can stay. On the way to the sleep over she asked Brad, "Dad, what is a good moral code?" Eek! Nothing like asking a loaded question while someone is driving and limited in time. I imagine we are going to get the question again, if only because she ran out of time to ask more questions. |
Oct. 30, 2009
Pumpkin Carving
|
We went pumpkin carving tonight at the neighbor's house. I met the folks who live next door to us and the ones who live diagonally across too. It was nice. We found out that the neighbor can hear Amanda playing the recorder, but she likes it. They sometimes hear us playing outside, but it isn't a problem. And that everyone is pretty nice. We also told them we don't hear the dog or the exercise bike. All in all it was good. The kids did carve pumpkins, but I haven't the camera out to take pictures. I will try tomorrow. (And the cause of Amanda's grumpiness has been discovered. She has started THAT time of the month. Isn't a big surprise to anyone. I started about two months after I turned 11. She is starting right at 11. Well within normal. Both for our family and for girls in general. She is dealing with it alright, but is still grumpy. I hope it gets better soon!) |
Oct. 29, 2009
Math
|
Today I spent an hour teaching my older kids how to study for a math quiz. We talked about figuring out the important points in the lesson. We talked about how to do all three types of problems. We talked about the most likely issues that would come up. We talked about the fact that studying and making notes is NOT cheating. I truly hope that it works. We also used our water color crayons and made some beautiful art. I hope to have pictures of our pictures tomorrow. Stay tuned for a scarlet ibis (a type of bird), a lion, another bird and two frogs. They came out really nice. |
Oct. 28, 2009
Meltdown
|
Everyone is still healthy. No fevers. Tonight I found myself facing questions like, "Why am I here?", "Will the earth exist in 800 years?", "What should I do with my life?". Ugh! Then the ever popular, "What if something goes wrong?", "I can't do that I might offend someone.", and "But then they might not like me". Double ugh! I hate the movie Wall*E. It is again causing issues. I hate trying to be calm and not loose it. I hate trying to be confident and sure. I just hate this existential stuff. YUCK! |
Oct. 27, 2009
Happy Birthday!
|
Today my big kid is eleven. It is amazing that she has gotten so big so fast. The days are long but the years are short. She is a wonderful, intelligent, thoughtful girl. Today she wanted to understand how to figure out how much money is really worth. The concept of work = money is hard when everything you need is provided by Mom and Dad. I'll have to think about that. And now for a few pictures...          Happy Birthday Amanda! |
Oct. 27, 2009
No fevers!
|
As of about 9:00 this morning we are a fever free home. Wahoo! This means that Brad will go back to work tomorrow. The kids and I will be able to go to piano on Friday and things are really really getting better. I will do a birthday post for Amanda later today. I just needed to share the joy of no fever! |
Oct. 26, 2009
Better Again!
|
Finally it looks like we might be on the getting better end of the flu. Peter looked and sounded so awful this morning that I called the doctor and got him seen this afternoon. The good news, he is definitely doing much better than he was earlier today. I am not sure if it was finally getting him to eat or just time, but he is doing better. The bad news, he has the flu and is working on getting an ear infection. We are going to try sudafed and if that doesn't work, I have a script for amoxicillan if he says his ears hurt. And then the fun news.... my Mom sent the kids balloons and teddy bears. I guess that is what Grandmas do when the grandkids get sick and are a thousand miles away. Want to see?  |
Oct. 25, 2009
Make that three
|
We now have three kids who have the flu. It is really hard to watch them be so sick. Michael is still is holding out and not acting sick. But Peter is looking quite pitiful. And I can't get an accurate measure on the thermometer because he is tongue tied and can't keep the thermometer where it is supposed to be. I hate it when my kids are sick. |
Oct. 24, 2009
Number 2
|
I spoke too soon. Michael started acting tired today. I just took his temp and he is at 101.3. That means we aren't done yet. Flu take two, here we go. |
Oct. 24, 2009
Better!
|
The fever broke last night. While she isn't at 100% she is much improved. Her temp this morning was 101.3 without any tylenol in her system. And best of all she seems much happier. She is back to playing Neopets and eating real food. The cough is still there, but hopefully that will be better in a few days. So far no one else has caught whatever it is that she has. I would love to keep it that way.  A picture of happy kids at the aquarium! |
Oct. 23, 2009
Still Sick
|
Well, she is still sick. She spent most of today laying on the couch. She figured out at about 7:00 tonight that she wasn't going to make her Apple ipod event tomorrow. It isn't a question of if we will let her go, it is the fact that she not capable of standing for any length of time. She is totally zonked. We are keeping the fever at 101.x with the tylenol, but it goes up to 104.x after 4-5 hours. She commented today that this was the sickest she has ever been. It sure sounds like flu to me. It is an unforgetable experience and you definitely feel sick. So far no one else in our house has any symptoms of anything. This is good. Brad is home until everyone in the house is fever-free for 24 hours without medicine. His work has decided that all employees can work from home if there is flu around. I don't mind. It is nice to have back up. I am hoping to go grocery shopping tomorrow. We need more tylenol and something for folks who aren't sick to eat. |
Oct. 22, 2009
Resting
|
Amanda spent most of the day resting. She did perk up somewhat around 4:00 and watched a movie that we got from the library, but mostly she laid around and worked on getting better. So far no one else has a fever so that is good. Here are some more Aquarium pictures, we had a great time!     |
Oct. 21, 2009
Flu?
|
We may have flu in the house. Amanda has a fever (101.4) and a cough and a runny nose and is very tired. It sounds like flu to me. The good news is that she is in none of the high risk groups. The better news is that so far no one else has it. Actually maybe Peter and Michael and I did last week we had runny noses and a little cough, but nothing more. I wonder if we had the really mild cases I have heard about. I hope so. I also hope that Brad doesn't get this flu. Of all of us, he is the only one that is in a higher risk category. He has asthma. So we wait and hope that Amanda is better before Saturday so she can go the the Apple event. It looks hopeful. |
Oct. 20, 2009
Hedwig's Concerto
|
My oldest plays recorder. She plays for 30-45 minutes a day and really enjoys it. She says it helps her calm down and deal with life. This is a good thing. Last year we moved in December and I found her a recorder teacher. She had been doing a self study of recorder, one of those Mom buys the book and she does the rest things. This teacher usually teaches violin and viola but wanted to do recorders too. Anyway, Amanda just barely tolerated the class. It was SLLLLOOOOOWWWW. She said they never learned anything new and she was very frustrated. But there was an end of session concert and she got to play a solo. So over the summer we checked out recorder teachers, we did trial lessons with two of them, But anything beyond very beginner recorder is apparently hard to find. So we were faced with the prospect of going back to the same teacher again or her doing her own thing. I bought her a new book so she could go at her own speed and I thought she was going to do it alone again, but at the last minute (with assurances from the teacher that there would be new music to learn) we went back to her class. And there is new music to learn, specifically Hedwig's Theme, the owl from the Harry Potter books. She like it just fine. She was playing it after about a week and then playing it prettily after about two weeks. But her class has some totally newbies. And the newbies just couldn't play the piece. So today Amanda was told that she was going to play the piece with the violin and cellos, but without any of the other recorders. It will be Amanda's Concerto. The ultimate in solos. It is going to be amazing. It will also be sometime in January/February. I hope she will get a chance to practice with the string before the performance! I am so proud of all of her hard work. It is so cool when your children are successful! |
Oct. 19, 2009
A funny
|
A question from my five year old today, "Mom, is a fir tree furry?" |
Oct. 19, 2009
Aquarium Part 1
|
An update from today: It rained. We went to the park anyway. A few other people did too, but when the rain started really coming down everyone went home. So back to our exciting adventures over the weekend. First up we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium!  Outside while we were waiting to get in we met an octopus. A very cool very lifelike very stuffed octopus. Peter thought it was neat. So did I!  Next up, the anchovies going around in circles.  Then we saw the jellyfish. They are beautiful. They almost look like they could be space aliens. They are from a different world. An undersea world.  And comb jellyfish, these guys look like they have running lights. Super neat.  |