Spring Time

Spring has been a fickle character around here.  One week she shows up with beautiful temps in the 80s and gets us all outdoors soaking up some vitamin D.  The next week she creeps in with damp foggy skies and barely reaches above 60 and forces us into our jackets.  For Easter she is treating us to some drizzly wet yuck!
We love the warm weather, of course!  I love the chance to put the ipod on the back patio and dance with the kids, get my hands in some dirt and create lovely little planters for my front porch.
So, I thought now that it is gray outside it would be nice to share some of the gorgeous colors that would greet you at my front door!
Happy Spring and Happy Easter!

Welcome!

I love to collect enamel ware.  This piece works perfectly as a planter.

Hello Mr. Ladybug.

Love the bright colors of these pots.

String of pearls hanging in a pitcher.

Mr. Toad is hiding from the sun.

I just love the color orange right now.

Love the ruffles of this mum!

I got blogged about!

Well, I have mentioned her here before, but I must say that Tara Whitney is one special photographer.  Not only can she take amazing photos but she writes so beautifully!  I remember reading her essays in our high school honors classes and just knowing that she had IT.  That special way to capture her readers and draw them in.  If you read her comments you can see that she can still do it, every other one says that tears were involved.  I am often wiping my eyes or my nose after reading her blog!
Today, we were her topic of choice!  I love being her topic of choice!  It is like being a celebrity just because I am featured on her blog.  I mean, Tara has gone to other continents to do her photography!  She has been a guest speaker for her photography.  Back before she was a world renowned photographer she was being published in scrapbook mags for her scrapbooking.  Before that?  Well, she was my high school friend and we rode to prom in a limo with a Jacuzzi in the back.  Ha!  We were something else back then.
Tara is just someone amazing because she is just so grounded.  I am just blessed to be someone that knows her and was photographed by her.
Go look for yourself!

Farther into the darkness

So, in my last post I asked if there was light at the end of the tunnel.  The answer...a giant resounding NO.  We are now a week and a half into illness.  Diva is still suffering from some minor effects of the stomach virus.  We are still doing daily loads of her laundry.  More surprising is the Professor.  He spent this morning hooked to an IV being re-hydrated.  My poor son couldn't take in any fluid yesterday.  He wouldn't even talk to us.  He was hit hard by the stomach virus but also suffered from a double ear infection!  Of course, we didn't know that until today.  Fortunately, Diva already had a doctor's appointment today for her kindergarten registration and I decided to try to get Professor in for a "same day".  I went with my "mommy's instinct".  Last night as I was drifting off to sleep with all of my anxiety, I had an image of Professor hooked to an IV.  So, I think that somewhere deep inside of me, I knew we were into something deep.  I was lucky to get an appointment time just before Diva's so they were seen together.  Hubs was going to pass on the IV re-hydration and see how we could do with an ounce of fluid per hour on our own.  I couldn't sit there without speaking up.  I knew that we needed to do something quicker for Professor.  The doctor told me later that it was the look on my face during that discussion that made him decide to go ahead with the IV.  It was my "mommy's instinct" taking over.  Within 15 minutes Professor began to stir and he pinked up.  By the end he was asking for food and water.  I still want to cry when I think about how brave he was.  He didn't even cry when they put the IV in.  There was quite a bit of blood on his hand and it didn't phase him at all!   The doctor said that both of the kids are way too underweight and need to start gaining some weight.  We are just trying to get the food to stay in them!  I am just thrilled that Professor is talking to us again and moving!  I don't know when we will see the other end of this tunnel.  I asked Hubs what he thinks God is trying to teach us.  Why is this happening to us?   Why are my kids suffering for so long?  Hubs thinks that God is teaching me patience.  I think that God is trying to get my attention regarding our family's diet.  How we can improve our diet and make our diet healthier and fatten our kids up.  I also think that He is teaching me to be thankful for everyday that we are healthy and to stop thinking ahead so much.   I tend to get bogged down in the things to come or in my own health issues and forget to thank God for the health we do have.  Trust me...I am getting the message. 

Is There Light?

As my readers know, haaaa haaaa, "my readers", I crack myself up!  Hi there girls.  Oh and hey, Sue, thanks for the comment...really felt the love!
Anyway, as you know sometimes I use this blog as my outlet for the times when being a stay at home mom gets the best of me.
So this is going to be on of those posts.  A "cleansing" post if I may be so free with that word right now.

Is there light at the end of this tunnel?  Will my kids actually go back to school?  They are pretty much going to miss the entire week.  I had to sit myself down and come to terms with the fact that I could not rush them into health.  I could not Clorox their immune systems clean.  Just when things were looking good the Virus would come up behind me and smack me on the head with a new symptom.
For the last two nights Diva has awaken at 2am to christen her bed with vomit.  Her and I then end up downstairs on the couch.  I would find myself jumping at every noise she made, ready with the basin if she needed me.  Well, last night I awoke at 3am all on my own and rejoiced that Diva was still asleep.  But that is where I cursed myself, because then I was up.  My mind was running and I wasn't going back to sleep.  So, night three...no sleep...equals...MIGRAINE! 
*Poor Hubs, I actually cried on his shoulder this morning that I wanted a Starbucks coffee to be delivered to my doorstep.  I may have been delirious at that point.  Mind you, I have not seen the light of day since Saturday!  Sweet man that he is, he went and bought me a big giant cup of Starbucks before he went to work.
If only the day had gotten better from there!  But alas, the coffee was my high point.  It bolstered my energy and stamina for what came next.  Did you know that a child that lies flat on her back and vomits water looks very much like a geyser?  That was my brief observation before said geyser hit me in the face and chest.  So, after two showers, a Bissell Spotbot treatment for the couch and floor and a good long nap for the Diva, we are doing much better.  The couch cushions are sunning themselves dry in the beautiful weather outside.  The kids are playing a bit.  My migraine is gone although I still have hideous dark circles under my eyes.
Oma and Papa were sweet enough to drop off the Rapunzel doll and DVD for Diva and some trucks for Professor.  Of course, they could only talk to the kids through the window because I refuse to share the Virus with anyone! 
I really hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel!  Next week is our spring break!  I need to get out of here!

*Update* My dear friend, M, who doesn't even read this blog, did drop off a Starbucks coffee for me this afternoon!  I opened my door to find Professor's makeup school work and a coffee for me sitting next to my hyacinths!  She is one special lady!

If I Still Had Face Book....

If I still had FB these would be some of my status updates:

What ever happened to the 24 hour stomach flu that I suffered from as a kid?  Why do my kids get a 5 day stomach flu?

Thank God, my washing machine has a "sanitize" setting on it.  It has been very useful.

Does my child have an internal vomit setting that goes off at 2:30am every morning?

At least I got to go to the Salvation Army Thrift before all hell broke loose!  I found some nice crockery bowls too.

Now I really want to find a "flour sack" table runner to set the bowls on.

You know, Yogi Ginger Tea taste like black pepper.  But if it settles my tummy then I will suffer through.

Why do my kids get sick when I have plans for  Mommy Time?

Hmmm, my cats have learned to let themselves out the screen door.  They are supposed to be indoor cats.

Hey Cats, go scratch a tree, not my couches!

Mmmm, I love the smell of Hyacinths.  I have them all over the house and front porch.  I am ready for Spring!

I miss my friends.  One moved 3 hours away and we never said goodbye.  Another works and we just don't make time.  And the others, well we are friends because of our kids and we still don't find the time to hang out.

There is this friend that I met through our kids and she is the most generous lady.  She brought us a care package yesterday.  It had a book for me, a magazine for me, silly bands for the kids, a card game for the kids and two cans of soup.  She also picked up the Professor's make up work and homework packet.  I really like her!

I am going to really "hate" Scooby Doo shows by the time the kids go back to school!!!!  I don't want to hum the theme song in my sleep anymore!

So, you see, I am seriously bored and may need to get back onto FB just so I can write nonsense and believe people find me entertaining because they comment on it.

Now, off to wash some pillows.

Quarantined

I told my friend this morning that if she drives by and sees a black flag flying in front of our house it means we have been quarantined.  I think that the stench of Clorox will permanently be burned into my nostrils.  No amount of glove wearing or hand washing will remove the faint bleachy smell from my hands either.  I am almost tempted to bathe my kids in too.
Why? 
Well, we have been hit hard this year!  Hit by every ugly, icky, nasty bug that is out there.  They attach themselves to one of us and then spread through the family at an alarming rate!  We have missed birthday parties, dance practices, after school play times, days and days of school and yard sales due to these nasty bugs.  But let me tell you...this one is bad!  It involves the tummy and...well, I don't want to gross anyone out so I will just stopped there and say that we are doing lots of laundry.
Diva got it and shared it with Daddy and then Daddy shared it with the Professor and now Momma has it!  How am I supposed to take care of cleaning up after all the sick kiddos when I am sick.  Well, with lots and lots of Clorox spray and gloves.  In fact Hubs is picking up more gloves and Clorox at the grocery store as we speak.
I was thinking of a picture to add but...really...what kind of picture do you put with this post?
I think I might go wrap some crime tape around my front porch now.  I don't want anyone near my house.  This virus is wild and crazy and looking for a new host!

Sweet Treat

Sometimes a girl deserves a little sweet treat!

Diva had her first day at a new preschool today.

Following tradition, we had an ice cream treat after school.

She mixed "Hawaiian Delight" with "Cookies and Cream"

and topped it with sour worms, white chocolate chips and

regular chocolate chips.

Whatever her little girl heart desires!

Forgive the wonky photos.  They were taken with my phone.