A day at the Marneys. With photos.

Yesterday started at 5:48 when George woke up.  Joe went to "play" with George (which, at least on my mornings, consists of trying to doze off in the recliner in George's room while he plays. George is rarely accommodating. and if he is, you better protect your face because you never know when he might bop you with a toy to get your attention).  Blessedly, the puppy didn't whimper to potty, so I fell back asleep for a while until he did.

 I think about 6:15, I got up, pottied the puppy and he stood by me while I made coffee. Mmmmmmm, coffee.

 Joe left for work and I drank my coffee, the kids watched a little morning TV.  And Adelle did this with my sweatshirt, which I found amusing.

 As I sipped my coffee, I admired what a beautiful morning it looked like outside.  But no, don't let it fool you.  It may look beautiful, but if I had stepped outside, a thousand winged bloodsuckers would have descended upon me to feast on my flesh. Fun times.

I then took a shower.  Since I am obviously not going to take a picture of that, I took the opportunity to finally take a picture of our vanity mirror and light fixture that we bought and installed this Spring.  Isn't it pretty?

 I then walked into George's room to get him some clothes out for the day and had guilt about the fact that there is still a suitcase in his room from last week.  Instead of actually doing anything about it, I grabbed some clean clothes out of it. I left Ewok to sniff it in disapproval of my procrastination.

 But I did do a load of towels, so I wasn't entirely unproductive.

 After going outside myself to test the mosquito situation, I deemed it somewhat safe as long as we put on bugspray.  There were footraces up and down the driveway.

 And bike races.

 And we discovered a caterpillar and observed it.  And tried not to squish it. Well, some of us tried not to squish it.

 Issy is doing some math this summer so we came inside and she worked on it while I prepared lunch.  One of the story problems was frustratingly difficult.  I instant messaged Joe and asked him if he would help Issy with her math this summer.  That is why when I homeschooled, our math curriculum came with an instructional DVD on how to teach it :P

Then it was naptime. Which is supposed to be a sweet respite in my day.  No, not this day. I tried to lay down but the puppy was being a bit of a turd and whimpering- he wanted to hang out with me, which is sweet and all, but no, I didn't want to play.  I was feeling slightly irrational anyways and I may have yelled. Or not.  I like to be evasive about my bad behavior.  About when the puppy finally chilled out, George woke up.  I felt like this:

 Sigh. Everyone was up and we had to get Isaac's medicine from the drugstore 10 miles away.  But I had forgotten to get the money from Joe, so first we had to drive to his work, in the other direction, to get some cash.

 I let the puppy ride in the car because I felt guilty about yelling (or not yelling) earlier.  I pet him and apologized and he forgave me for any indiscretions I may (or may not) have committed.  I promised to do better next time.

 When I was at the drugstore, I picked up two little pieces of chocolate because they were 2 for 99 cents and even though I worked in retail and I know how add-ons work, I folded to the well placed chocolate. It was delicious.  And I felt better about making up with the puppy. So by the time we got home I felt like this:

 The kids wanted to play in the sprinkler so I stood outside for a few minutes to test the mosquitoes.  Seemed okay so I let them put on swimsuits and get sprinkled.

George abstained from the sprinkler. He rode his trike instead. Clementine kept an eye on him.

 After 30 minutes of playing, all the mosquitoes in Necedah came out.  I got bit. Through my shirt.  And not just through my shirt, but through the mesh of the chair I was sitting on. Um, yeah. 

 The dogs stayed out to play, since they aren't wanderers and we came inside.  There was coloring and I did the dishes.  Joe had offered to take us out to eat, which was a nice treat.  So when he got home, we called the dogs inside and loaded up the car.  The puppy came right in, but Clementine was no where to be found.  

We called, we whistled (well, Joe whistled cause he can whistle much louder than me) and nothing.  I can't say that she never wanders but she always stays in ear shot. So I was concerned  We drove around our neighborhood and the neighborhood to the north, looking for her and nothing.  We came back and rechecked the house. Nope.  Joe suggested we drive around the school parking lot, to the south of us.  And lo and behold, there she was. It looked like she was trying to dig a hole to China.  Riiiight. 

 We brought her home and I gave her water.  Darn dog- we think she might have been after a rabbit or something, though she doesn't usually lose herself like that.  I hope she doesn't follow her nose again :P

 We went out to eat, which went about like you might expect eating out with five kids an hour past their dinnertime while having to wait forever because they must have needed to kill the cow for the burger to go.  But it was tasty and actually, in between George shrieks of glee and sometimes disgruntlement, we had a good family discussion about the mountains and maybe moving and homeschooling again someday.  We will see.  

We went home and there was kid's bedtime, adult chatting, knitting and half movie watching before the adults got tired and went to bed.  And then the puppy/ George got up at 5:15 this morning and the cycle starts again...

Journal: It's almost summer!

Out my window: 55 and overcast. I need some sunshine to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Clothing myself in: Cloud pajama pants, blue tank top. Grey hoodie to keep aforementioned mosquitoes from biting me while I pottied the puppy.

Around the house: Joe is really trucking on mudding and sanding. We picked out a basement color- neutral but lots of fun accent colors to coordinate. We have talked back and forth about the flooring and I think we finally decided to go ahead and do laminate- Joe (and I) can lay it ourselves, we can get endcap stuff at Home Depot fairly cheap and with kids, it will be easier to clean.  I am so excited to get the basement done!

While he worked on that on Saturday, I worked on organizing the storage room, which is about 1/3 full of tubs of kid's clothing. I got the other things organized and labeled better, then I started working on sorting the clothes.  I already have it semi-organized by kid but some if it just doesn't make sense for me to keep- stained or ripped stuff, stuff that is out of style.  I got that about halfway finished.  I do actually need to finish because the kid's clothing is currently strewn about the guest room and my sisters are coming to visit in a week (!). And they might like a place to sleep.

The toddler: Looks kinda rough right now. Between tumbles from playing outside and mosquito bites (who like to get him on the face :-/) he looks a bit like a scratched up leper.  Continuing to work on being soft, particularly with Adelle and Critter.  Talking up a storm.  His poo has been relatively normal, formed, non-horrible for the last two weeks (knock on wood). I have done nothing different, which I am not sure whether I should be happy or frustrated.

The kiddos: I am meeting with Issy's teacher today about her working on some Math over the summer- he thought it would be good for her to work on it since she started last year a little behind.

Isaac is doing well, for the most part.  He woke up late last week (Friday?) with more of a cough and his throat has bothered him more.  His toes and a little bit around his fingernails have started peeling and around the corners of his mouth have gotten worse so I am going to call the doctor again today.  I am fully aware that I might be being paranoid, but given the circumstances...

Liam has been having some listening issues lately. It definitely coincided with the end of the kid's school- more going on, more to get distracted. Trying to figure out the best way to approach it.

Delle had a good birthday, I think. She got a bike, which she asked for and likes, at least in theory.  She doesn't particularly like to pedal (she has a bit of a damsel in distress personality) and since other people can't ride the bike for her, she has gotten a little discouraged. She will come around.

In the kitchen: Spaghetti, Turkey and rice casserole, Bean/cheese/rice squares. Nothing inspired, but good, solid meals.

Crafting: Some knitting

Bringing me joy: This is gonna take some digging- I am not in a very good mood this morning. Hmmmm- sitting on the couch in the basement drinking a beer with my husband and discussing our basement finishing plans, imagining the increase in space for our family when we finally get it done, family bike ride, the way the air smells with the pines, Issy telling me that she finally knows where she belongs: here, because she is a country kind of girl, Home Depot smell, quiet rest time in the afternoon. Whew. That wasn't so hard.

Thinking about: Oh, still my Isaac.  Worry, worry, worry. When he sleeps in, I worry that he has had a heart attack in his sleep.  I watch him like a hawk and ask him how his is feeling, since he isn't always entirely up front about it.  I am still trying to figure out what would be appropriate in regards to letting the doctors that treated him the first time know about his misdiagnosis.  I don't want to sue them or anything, but I would be remiss to not let them know that they were off the mark significantly.

Pictures to share:

He was brushing her hair.

Sweet little four-year-old in her birthday dress.

 Ridiculously large turtle we saw on our bike ride.

Journal: Home again, home again...

Out my window: 65 and overcast. Maybe some more thunderstorms today.

Clothing myself in: Black T-shirt, cloud pajama pants.

Around the house: Joe worked a lot on the basement while I was gone- mudding and sanding. We are now in full vacation recovery mode- getting everything out of the car (I tend to leave nonessentials in the car... for months) and putting it all away.  Cleaning the house back up.  I have all the things and I am going to make my own laundry soap today or tomorrow.

The toddler: When we were in Wichita, oh my! such a language explosion.  He will repeat pretty much everything you ask him to now.  Except for Issy. If you ask him to say Issy he will say Liam and then chuckle. Trouble baby.  He does like to whisper "Wuv woo" when I lay him down to sleep which makes my heart all melty.

The kiddos: Issy had a good time at Totus Tuus camp and said she would like to do it again next year.  We happened to run into an old acquaintance of mine whose daughter was going when we went to the bus stop. Her daughter Anna introduced herself to Issy and asked if she would like to sit next to her on the bus. So I felt relieved that she made a buddy so quickly!

Liam was good- he lost one of his top teeth after some concerted effort at bedtime one night.

Adelle had her birthday party with Grammie and Grandpa since they won't be here.  Her actual birthday is tomorrow. I can't believe she is going to be four. It seems like just yesterday that she joined us quietly one evening.  She really is such a joy.

And my Isaac. If you have been following along on facebook, we have had quite the drama with him.  He was admitted last week to the hospital in Wichita for suspected Kawasaki disease.  He had started running a fever and got a rash on Monday the 27th and ran one into Tuesday.  Then it broke but he still was fatigued and his legs were hurting. His skin where the rash was started peeling. Then Sunday the 2nd, he started running a high fever, his legs were hurting so bad he couldn't walk. Over the next couple of days, I noticed the rash spread down to his upper leg, his tongue was strawberry red with spots, his eyes got red.

I took him into our old Wichita doctor on Wednesday who said he had Kawasaki and to take him to the hospital.  Everyone at the hospital agreed he looked like a classic case of Kawasaki and they were just waiting for Thursday, so that they could document his fifth day of fever and begin treatment. But his fever broke. And they weren't counting his fever the previous week, for whatever reason. So they began treatment for scarlet fever and sent him home.

(I wrote the rest of this in the evening)
I took him into our pediatrician yesterday, who had gotten the results of the scarlet fever titers, which were negative.  We saw the pediatric cardiologist today, who did some bloodwork and judging by his elevated liver enzymes and platelets said that he did indeed have Kawasaki.  His echo and EKG were good today, so he is on aspirin and we will followup in 2 and 6 weeks with more echocardiograms and to make sure his liver enzymes and platelets are going down.

I am just so relieved to finally have answers so we can treat him appropriately. And upset that they were so quick to dismiss Kawasaki at the hospital in Wichita- they didn't even mention that it could be an atypical presentation of Kawasaki.  And relieved that he is fine so far.  And really, really relieved that we pursued this even though our dismissal instructions were to follow up with our doctor in three weeks. If we had missed this diagnosis and something had happened, I just... yeah. We aren't out of the woods yet, which is why the followups are important, but out of the most critical period.

Crafting: Some knitting.

In the Kitchen: Jambalaya for my girl's birthday, chicken salad sandwiches.

Bringing me joy: Being home, a girl baby and a boy baby for two of my good friends.

Thinking about: My children's health.  Up to this point, I have very much taken for granted that they are generally healthy. I am in awe of parents who have children with chronic health issues, who take care of them, advocate for them and just do it.

He got sleepy on the way home from the tests today

 Swinging on Grammie and Grandpa's porch swing.

Lemur in Kansas