FINALLY!!!

Today has definitely been one of those "FINALLY!!!" days. I finally went to the doctor. I finally am going to get better. After much running around, I am finally getting my antibiotics. After days of fighting, the kids are FINALLY doing something together without biting each other's heads off. Hubby is finally seeing an end in sight of working out of state. This week is finally almost over. 

Can someone be "too happy" about it finally being Thursday night? Not even too happy about Friday, but just too happy about it being a few hours from Friday? Yeah, I am celebrating early, baby!

mad Lalaloopsy coloring craze

The doctor's appointment today was short and sweet. He didn't even run any tests... just looked in my ears and throat and put me on a z-pak. I am not one to take antibiotics for anything but this time, this time I will admit defeat. And I will begin looking for a probiotic that I can take too. So answers on what caused this razor-filled throat of mine other than it should be gone in five days. Five more days.... ugh! Finally being over... yay!

Getting the prescription filled was another matter. Seems like the doctor's office just couldn't quite figure out how to send the script to the right pharmacy. Either that or someone really didn't want me to feel any relief. Then our lovely insurance company AND the doctor's office couldn't get my birthday correct. Thankfully, my hubby is awesome and knows my special day better than his own.  Which all just means that a script that should have taken 30 minutes to fill ended up taking an entire day. What a waste.

Good news, I am finally on the pills and hoping to have some relief soon. A little bummed that Peanut got relief almost immediately when she was on the z-pak but I am feeling nothing yet. Ok, so my fever IS finally gone and appears to be staying gone but I still cannot swallow anything. At this point, if I even dream about food, I am liable to start crying. I miss food, I really do. More so than anyone would have ever imagined.

And its because of that (being worn out all week, not being able to eat, feeling like poo) that I am PRAYING for a snow day tomorrow. We are supposed to get some major storm (well, clipped by one) and I could really use a day off. A day with the whole family nearby... a day without alarm clocks and schedules... a day to rest and enjoy. Ack... who am I kidding... I just want to sleep in before all the fighting starts.

getting old now

Ugh!! I have been such a slug all day today. Yet another day, yet another fever (from me again), yet another day of not being able to eat.... This is maddening! Thankfully, I do have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and I am hoping to be on the mend. This has officially lasted now longer than SweetPea's or Porker's fever/illness and its beginning to take its toll on everyone in this house.

poster child for sick mamas everywhere

The mom NEVER gets sick.  Its against some written code of rules somewhere. Dads can come down with "man colds", the littles (or bigs) can all become bedridden with mysterious colds. But the mom of the house is not allowed to get sick. Ever. And I can see why... but am too achy and yucky to do anything about it.

The dishes are piling up... My kidlets had pizza for the second night in a row for dinner. No one is helping Peanut study for her spelling test. PorkChop has taken up residence inside a box with his "soft" and just sits there looking dejected. SweetPea has decided that she can be "the mom" of the house by running her mouth and then squealing like a stuck pig whenever someone doesn't jump to her commands. Punk and Pickle disappear for long periods of time, forsaking their chores and their own cleanliness. While I just lay on the couch and try to stay awake long enough to make sure that the house isn't going to burn down to the ground while hubby is at work.

This bites!

Which is why I am taking one for the team and seeing a doctor tomorrow. I don't care what they decide to do to me, it has to be better than this. Because I am miserable and I just don't have time for it.

my turn!!! my turn!!

Ugh!!! Why did I think that I could avoid the stupid illness that has been making the rounds here? Today is day 2 of me running a fever. Yep, me. Hubby has been awesome, taking over for me around the house, working major hours split between here and the road but I want to be able to do things for myself again. Mainly eat... I miss eating.... *sigh* Too bad my throat hurts too much to do much of that. In two days, I have had a bowl of cereal, three bread sticks with marinara sauce and um... yeah, that's it.

Since I haven't felt up to doing much, I have been sleeping and reading. And reading and sleeping. Allowing the kids WAY too much time on the television, not keeping the house up to par and taking more Motrin than I care to admit.

the view from here

But I have got to read.... I finished "Into the Wilderness" and started reading "American Legends: Sitting Bull". While I am waiting none so patiently for the newest tale of Jamie and Claire (Outlander), I am trying to keep my nose in the American wilderness. So far, American Legends is amazing. Its a  historical piece in the sense that its a shortened version of Sitting Bull's life but I wish that it was more. Not sure what I want more of but I want more.

Since SweetPea's fever lasted for two days, I am hoping that tomorrow, I will be better. I am tired of not being me. Especially since it means short blogging since the screen is making my head ache so much worse.

language of love

I got the best idea off of pinterest for Valentine's day this year. to give each child a heart a day with different reasons why I love them. Why they are special to me. An outstanding quality in them. Something that they can look forward to each day. At least, that was the plan...

Punk hated it. He got embarrassed by this heart on day 1 and ripped it down. Threw it away. And even though it was just a silly paper heart, it really hurt my feelings because it was a message from the heart. So him and Pickle will have to wait until Valentine's day to get anymore messages.... and then it will just be the standard one to go to the kitchen table to get their Valentine from me.

14 reasons why I love you

But the girls are loving their little messages. SweetPea wants me to read the new one, followed by all the older ones every morning. Peanut was so excited to receive her first message that she made me some Valentines too so I wouldn't be "left out". Porker, being all boy, has taken after his brothers and rips all his down.... but he tries to eat them when he has them in his little hand.

It seems to be helping attitudes around here though. Hearing what I love about the girls has meant less fighting on their parts, more thoughtfulness in their actions.... And while they are not angels by any means, it has been much more peaceful here. I am starting to think that even though Punk and Peanut got bored with it the last time, that I need to start the mama/child journals again.

Super Super Bowl Sunday

I have never been a big football fan. Being from the Mitten State, its not like we have anything awe-inspiring in the way of pigskin. As a result, I am not a Super Bowl watcher. I don't even care about the new commercials. I can come up with about 50 more things off the top of my head that I would rather be doing. But hubby asks to watch two games all year.... the Super Bowl and the UofM/OSU game. And I don't think that that's too much to ask. So Super Bowl Sunday was observed here.

our future Olympian swimmer

And while the lights went out in Georgia, the littles got their bath time in. I was a little worried about actually doing our Sunday night bath routine since SweetPea was still running a fever, but its PorkChop's favorite time (other than boobing... I think that that one ranks high on is hit list as well). And why not? It was a good way to pass the 40 minutes while we waited for the game to come back on.

Besides, after helping me "bake" chocolate marshmallow cupcakes this morning, having grilled chicken ka-bobs for dinner, getting overly excited about the Big Game and all the "normal" Sunday things, those two littles NEEDED their bath time. They needed it to get clean, to unwind, and to get some fun play in.

Usually though, to bathe Porker means that you are really bathing the entire bathroom. But hubby invented an awesome game to keep him occupied.... dumping cups of water on his head. Now, most babies (and all our other kids) hate having water on their face. PorkChop though, he LOVES it. And best yet, it saves the rest of our bathroom!

another one bites the dust

I have no idea what is going on around here. This morning was wonderful. SweetPea and PorkChop woke in good moods, we enjoyed our tandem nursing morning together snuggled in the blankets. I cleaned the rabbits' area this morning while the littles played Lalaloopsy together at the kitchen table. Breakfast was eaten by most (ok, so SweetPea DID pick at her meal but that is not uncommon) and then it was back to playing while I finished cleaning the kitchen and living area. SweetPea asked for some cartoons so I let her watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (her new love) while Porker and I had a rousing game of dinosaurs at the zoo.

Then it started.... I made SweetPea turn off the television because, in my opinion, it had ran enough. She threw a temper tantrum and then flopped down on the couch, telling me that no one loves her. And promptly fell asleep like that. PorkChop curled up in my lap and did the same. Since he was still recuperating from his long week, I wasn't worried about him. And since SweetPea had just had a pretty epic fit, I wasn't worried about her either.

They both woke after an hour, refreshed and ready for some lunch. SweetPea was agreeable to eating (she is always much better at lunch than at breakfast) and I promised her after my shower, I would make her grilled cheese. In the fifteen minutes it took me to shower, we went from happy Pea to this.....

another one down for the count

104.7 when there was no sign of a fever before. Poor girl ended up sleeping on and off all afternoon in my bed where she could snuggle down without fear of Porker pulling her hair. One dose of Motrin brought the fever right down to a more acceptable range of 101 where it stayed all day until the next dose was approaching. No symptoms of anything, just a nasty high fever. And this one was high for her. Where PorkChop has now hit in the 105's for the last three fevers, SweetPea normally stays around 102, maybe 103 (like when her eye area became infected twice from mosquito bites). She slept until she felt rested though and then was content to tear around the house as if everything was fine.

So now we wait. If she is not better by Monday, into the doc's she will go. If she is back to her normal spunky self, we will just chalk it up as one of those things. She says that nothing hurts, just that she is tired. And I couldn't agree more...  I am pretty tired of these dang fevers too!

a week in review... letter L

This has definitely been one of those trying weeks where I am really glad that we homeschool the littles. Not that they themselves were trying but trying to keep everything together under pressure hasn't been the easiest. Thankfully, this was one of those weeks where SweetPea just excelled in everything that we did. I am not sure if she just picked up on how much I needed an "easy" week or if we just fell into that rare, perfect rhythm again but it was a very blessed thing.

Because of our rather busy week, there were a few things that I didn't get to do that I wanted to. We didn't get time to make Mary's Little Lamb or to do a caterpillar finger paint (on a leaf, of course). But we did get to bake and I really thought that that wasn't going to happen. So I will just save those projects for another day and instead, smile at everything that her and I accomplished together.

For the letter L, we talked about things that we love. Like mama, and her Homie, best friend A, riding her bike, playing outside, cuddling with her daddy, wanting to marry Pickle, eating grilled cheese.... and we made sure to make a good portion of those things happen this week.

L is for Love

 I learned this week that while SweetPea professes to have a love of lemon, she really doesn't like the flavor. We made homemade lemonade cupcakes on Sunday and while she claimed to like the cake, she said the frosting wasn't her favorite. Unfortunately, lemon sugar cookies weren't a hit either and neither was the lemon pepper chicken that she helped me prepare for dinner. I wanted to try my hand at some coconut lime cookies but with Porker and his fever, it just didn't happen this time.

mmmm..... lemon cookies

 Instead, SweetPea got to snack on some lollipops so she could do her second art project of the week. Lollis are definitely high on her approval list so this was a fair trade off. In return, PorkChop and I got to eat all the lemon cookies that our stomachs could handle.

l is for lollipops

 For math this week, SweetPea and I worked on patterns (review) and measuring (new skill). I was SO very impressed when SweetPea could correctly identify the number 4 without help on Wednesday night. That was a first! She always stumbles on the 4 but not this time. We were so excited that we leaped for joy! She also began identifying F and H without fail. We now just need to strengthen her skills on I and J (she confuses I and Y, both being in her name and forgets J's name but knows the sound). Its those little break-throughs on tough days that really put a smile in your heart.

math isn't so bad when you can measure

 For sensory play this week, we actually had two things that they could choose from.... I made some scented play-dough on Sunday for the both of them, thinking it would keep PorkChop quiet during lessons. Little did I know that a fever would do that or that it would take him all week to warm up to the idea of the scented dough that he could mold. We also had a "bean box" filled with lima beans. SweetPea enjoyed filling and dumping for about ten minutes and then scurried back to the dough. PorkChop, on the other hand, spent a good deal of Friday dumping beans everywhere and then using the broom to sweep them back into another pile.

sensory box.... lima beans

Our nursery rhyme for the week was Mary Had a Little Lamb. I had a really cute craft all picked out (making a lamb from cotton balls) but it never happened. I think that I am going to save that one for March now so we can do "In like a Lion, Out like a Lamb". I wouldn't say that this was one of the better  rhymes that SweetPea has learned since, to be frank, she confuses parts of this one with Mary, Mary Quite Contrary. But its still one that now that she is more familiar with it, I can see us singing it a bit more often.