Sickness Reigns

Well, I don't think you really want any pictures of this past week. Neil was out of town for the annual pastor's conference and of course I tried to rise to the occasion and act like it really doesn't matter that he's not around. :) I managed OK until my emotional meltdown on Wednesday morning because I couldn't find something. Well, on Thursday I awoke feeling a little strange. I was nauseated just cooking the kids bacon for breakfast - it was ISTEP week so I was doing the dutiful mother thing of a good breakfast before testing. Anyway, with Neil being out of town and Colbey's school time changed because of a field trip, I went from working out 6 days last week to none so far this week. I was determined to make it to this class on Thursday morning. I go. I make it thru, barely. I feel worse and worse as the day wears on. By the time Neil returns home from his conference at about 2:30 pm, I am crying and in bed because I ache so badly. I take some medicine and a nap and wake up feeling I can somewhat conquer this especially since I have back up. By 9 pm I am in extreme pain again, crying and feeling bad that I can't help comfort my son, Wesley, who is now vomiting. I take more medicine, cry as I explain my pain to Neil and settle in to watch Lost. I feel much better Friday morning but not complete. By Saturday Wesley and I are both feeling better and I'm ready to get out of the house. We have a nice day, go to the museum, mow the grass, go watch the Bulls/Celtics game at a friends and head to bed. Today, Sunday, was pretty typical. Now, Sunday night, Wesley has awoken and is having diarrhea. I'm a little frustrated. I'm suppose to have my regular babysitting job tomorrow (the Pittman girls) and 2 extras (the Garrison boys). Now I will most likely be making phone calls at 7 am to warn them of the illness level in our house. So, sickness has reigned - and I hope for not much longer. You can feel free to say a little prayer for us. And especially me who does not like my routine or plans to be boggled up with these sort of normal interruptions. :) PS I don't think I mentioned that it all started with Colbey last Sunday. Of course, he acted so "normal" in between his bouts of sickness that I sent him to school all week. Please don't crucify me. It's my nature to keep plugging away and make others around me do the same. I pray he didn't infect anyone with whom he came in contact - thus the much more cautious approach with Wesley. :)

Where it all started

Well, this is our back porch. Empty of all my crap. I personally enjoyed the warm living space but Neil felt it was a little crowded and a few too many design themes going on at once. Before you crucify him, I chose to empty it. I went willingly but I don't know how long it may take to get it redecorated. The big problem will probably be getting neil and I to agree. So, here's the long story. We were going to tear into our basement and finish the demolition that I started a year ago. WEll, my dad's truck was in the shop getting the transmission fixed. Therefore, we were unable to tear into the basement and start the demolition. So, we went on other errands. WE ended up at the attic window and Neil saw a barber chair he liked. Despite what Neil may have thought, I didn't think it would fit in with my decorating. I thought what if we change the entire theme. We started out with gusto and ended with this (the picture). Who knows where it will all end.

The Demolished Basement

Well, this weekend the weather was good so we borrowed someone's truck and dug into finishing the demolition that I started a year ago. Evidently the spring is a dangerous place in our house- if we get bored or have some extra time on our hands -watch out! We didn't realize the dump closed at noon on Saturday so we had to park all the junk in the garage for a couple days. On Monday Neil and I took the stuff to the dump and pulled another load out of the basement and took it. I told Neil if I ever want to go shopping - just take me to the dump. It just seems unreal the amount of crap we have, doesn't it? So, here is our basement now. Who knows how long it will stay this way but Neil felt it got us one step closer to fixing it and I'm used to living in transition. I lived in a house for over 15 years while my dad was remodeling it. We'll see how long it takes us to finish our basement.

Ended in a Mountain of Laundry

This is how it all ended. Because the basement was such a mess and all torn up, I couldn't do laundry. I usually do it on Sunday or Monday. I've gotten into a bad habit of doing it only once a week. This is a week's worth of our family's laundry and I think I still had 2 more loads to do. :)

The Never Ending Pet

You may or may not know that Neil is allergic to cats. Well, around Thanksgiving my parents were given a kitten to take out to their farm. Neil and Taylor happened to stop by my parent's place of business the day mom received the cat. Taylor convinced Neil to take the cat to our house- just overnight. We were going to take it out to my parents the next day when we went to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. Well, the cat disappeared within 10 minutes of being at our house. The kids were absolutely distraught! They thought their grandma would be so upset with them. The cat did not come back for 2 days. Well, the cat was so small and cute we were afraid it wouldn't survive on my parents' farm thru the winter so we decided to keep it on our back porch. Well, it is now Spring and Neil is more than tired of the cat - especially when he wakes up almost every morning to find it exploring our house. Taylor lets the cat in in the morning when she's getting ready for school. He feels no one cares about his asthma and extreme allergies to cats. Today we decided it was time for it to go to my parents' farm. Well. . . the best laid plans of mice and men . . . We trapped the cat last night, went to church this morning, came home to get the cat and bam - the cat had escaped. This may be our cat forever. I don't know. But for now our plans are foiled. We'll see how long the cat lasts - or outlasts us.

This is coloring Easter eggs at B's house in Indianapolis. In case you're not familiar with the name B - that is what my children and my niece and nephew call Neil's mom. The kids and I went down to Indy on Friday since we had the day off from school. It was a great time and of courser we continued our long time tradition of coloring easter eggs. Another of the traditions is coloring a brown egg for Neil - because that's what he does when he's involved in the coloring. Colbey's hands we quite colored as well. Wesley said this is the greatest lunch ever and he could eat it every day. B is very accommodating with the children which is wonderful. We had hot dogs, chips, veggies and dip, fruit salad and macaroni and cheese. Who could resist that? Kid or adult? We had a nice Easter.

Mom's Flowers

These are flowers from our backyard. On Thursday evening, Dad and I picked these flowers for Mom. Aren't they beautiful! Mom is so blessed to have us in her family! She loved them. She'll probably keep them forever. Even when they're dead!

Posted by Taylor :)