Is this April 1st?!?

It is snowing - really and truly. I wish it was an April fool - maybe it is?!?!

Light, little flakes are falling from the sky. I am sure the mountains are getting a nice, new covering of the fluffy stuff. And this won't stick or accumulate. But really, snow on March 31st?

The daffodils are blooming and the hyacinths just opened yesterday.

Snow today?

This is one gardener that has cabin fever and wants to play in the soil!

4 ears later

Okay, so I am whining a bit more......

We are blessed to have a Physician Assistant, one of my sisters, in the family to help with convenient diagnosis.

She game me her otoscope from her school days at Duke so I have been using it to watch J's ears. I skipped telling you that his ear drum did rupture on Tuesday. None of the antibiotics over the past month have cured his ear or his non-stop runny nose.

Sunday night Auntie P.A. came to re-check, his ear was very infected and he had a fever. This just 3 days after finishing Augmentin! So I bought fresh garlic and mashed it into olive oil, added in some Melaleuca oil and treated him 3x a day starting on Sunday. I don't think it would have made a difference if we had tried another round of antibiotics. The kid didn't even have any reaction or recognition that his ear drum had ruptured.

I just checked him before bedtime and there was a tear. I had A confirm I was seeing the right thing. We were pretty freaked out, this has never happened with any of the other kids.

So we talked to to Auntie P.A. and were reassured to just keep on and keep water out of his ear.

Today, Friday, we were able to connect with her and have her look at his ears. I have had lots of pressure between my sinuses and ears so I joined in as a patient. She was quite impressed with J's torn ear drum and confirmed that the other ear was right near infection. I also have an infected ear and the other is on its way. So J and I are sporting the stylish cotton balls in our "four ears." I feel so pathetic, I just want to stay in bed and get well! But we are trying to guard A's precious paid-time-off for the baby's birth. So we are just doing the best that we can. Please keep us in your prayers!

Back to some thankfullness - my dear sister loaded the dishwasher and I got it ran. So the kitchen is more to running order. I am mostly caught up on washing/drying laundry - but yes it is sitting in the baskets. A came home on his lunch and ran to get us 3 more movies to keep us occupied while he is at his conference all weekend. The weather is beautiful outside, but I did determine that I have a huge spring allergy reaction with this virus/infection stuff. So I am pushing the kids outside to play. While I hide indoors with the sneezes, watery and itchy eyes, nose, etc.

March Comments

Life hasn't been very exciting around here. The kids and husband all got the Norovirus and that wiped out a week of our lives. That was two weeks ago. Poor little J is on his 3rd ear infection in 4 weeks. And Tuesday night a virus snuck in and gradually took me out during the next day.

So March has been a month of misery, as far as nasty viruses.

However the first daffodils opened their sunny faces this week.

We have the soil tilled for our garden - and it looks beeeeeyoootiful! Need to get my bare root strawberries into the ground, peas, lettuce and spinach. Oh yeah, after I get over this virus. But we took lots of pictures so I will be posting those when I am really out of bed again.

The weather is improving, we have had some very lovely sunny, warm days with a few cold mixed in between. I love warm spring days!

We have had some really great playdate Tuesdays with a fun family.

We have been extremely blessed by friends and family that have brought us meals, prayers and help during these bouts of illness.

We have watched Bolt a new movie, and Beethoven an old movie new to us and lots of PBS.

I can type and wipe my nose. But I am not answering the phone it just makes it complicated to wipe, breathe, sneeze and speak.

This too shall pass. Meanwhile, leave me some comments - it has been a long while since anyone has left me a note in the comments!

Turning 9

The pre-birthday, freebie birthday dinner at Red Robin

The birthday girl was DELIGHTED that she has a "White Birthday"

Crepes were the request for breakfast

This girl requested a "quality drill set" for a gift - how could we not oblige?

Doll clothes from the brothers

Half dollars make a girl smile

Riding lessons later that day - this is Lacey her pony at class.

This is practicing games

And I made minicupcakes to share after class.

Then we came home and had a tea party with the aunties

A super duper surprise that arrived just in time - a new baby and clothes!

Bits of March

Here are some bits and pieces of what we have been doing:

Here is our little miss with her tool collection - each child's tools are now color-coded with spray paint. Such a plan was dad's to ease the pain as they lose or break those tools

Remember those pallets? Well, the builders have been busy on their new home, er fort.

This was an earlier shot.

Conversing about strategy and methodology of home structures. Getting a roof on was a big priority - they want to be able to sit on all the possible surfaces. The roof must be sturdy!

This has been Mr C's plan and vision to build a fort. They think that they might want to live out here. Would cut back on the dirt that I sweep up in the house, but I think that they would get a bit cramped in that space. However, this is certainly a great building experience!

It's spring! We're shedding!

Actually, we've shedded. (is that a word?) We did shed. What's the past tense of shed..? Shet?

Anyway. (ah-hem)

It's still not *quite* done. Needs a door. But otherwise we're watertight and loading it up with stuff.