Sunday, May 31

THE WEEK THAT LIES AHEAD...

Today is a bright and sunny "hot" afternoon. I use the term "hot" loosely because in Illinois, it is rarely ever really "hot". So when I say "hot", I mean that it's not very comfortable outside. Too warm for my taste anyway.

It is Sunday. We returned this past Wednesday from our 2 week trip to Missouri and Oklahoma, to see my niece and nephew graduate from high school. We spent a very nice week in Branson, sightseeing, and some light days of schooling inter-mixed. We visited many relatives. Those we see regularly and those that I hadn't seen in 8+ years.

The drive home was nice, and the 6 hours passed quite quickly. I returned home at around 6 p.m. on Wednesday night. My husband, who had to work, and wasn't able to join me and the kids, was anxiously awaiting our return. I smiled at him as I walked through the door, so very glad to be home. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and I looked down, and saw that his left left leg looked very red and swollen. I asked him if he had gone to the doctor for that, and he said "not yet". I felt the red area, and it felt hot, so I told him that he should really go to the ER, because it looked infected. My biggest fear was that he might have a staff infection because he does work in a hospital, and he does deal with patients quite a lot, so I felt he better get it checked out right away. His entire leg from his knee to his ankle was red, so it spanned a pretty large area.

Now, the very last thing I wanted to do that night was sit in the ER with my husband. I just wanted to relax, but I hadn't seen him in 2 weeks, and I missed him. We dropped the kids off at his mom's and we went to the ER. It was a very busy night there, and by the time the doctor came in, ordered blood tests, and a sonogram was done, it was midnight. The prognosis is that Scott has cellulitis. He doesn't know how he got it, probably at work, but not sure. He is currently taking an antibiotic, and got a shot in the rear end while we were in the ER. The kids thought this was very funny.

Since that day, I have been unpacking, and cleaning. We did manage to get away Friday morning for our weekly homeschool playgroup at a local park, and we had a nice visit with a friend who stopped by yesterday afternoon.

Last night, Skaterboy had his best friend spend the night, and we had the chance to use our Christmas present from my mom and dad, for the first time. I only got it last week, that is why this was our first time using it. Parts of it were very breakable, so it couldn't be mailed. What was it, you ask? A Cold Stone Creamery set, so we could make our own Cold Stone Ice cream. If you've had this type of ice cream before, you will know that they hand-mix your choice of ice cream with mix-in's of your choice on a marble stone that has been chilled, with two paddles, to create a wonderful concoction of ice cream heaven. So our set included the marble stone, 2 paddles, a huge variety of mix-ins, 2 ice cream scoop, 5 cute ceramic ice cream bowls, and a gift card for ice cream. Cool present. No pun intended :)

So last night, we had fun making different concoctions, and the consensus was that this was the best ice cream that they had ever had. Even Skaterboy's friend agreed. I have to admit, that my vanilla, cashew, toffee, peanut, m&m, Andes mint, pretzel treat was out of this world "good"!

Today was rush, rush, rush, it seems. Rushing to get everyone up for church, rushing to get to church, rushing to finish our Sunday School lesson before church started, and then rushing to get home, before Scott had to leave for work.

I knew that I needed Scott to rototill a small patch by our shed for about 10 tomato plants that were given to us yesterday, and needed to get into the ground. So we hurried and ate lunch, then he tilled while I helped the boys clean their bedroom. This had to be done before they could go outside and play with friends. After he was done tilling, I ironed his shirt for work, and off he went. I went back to the kids' room, to finish up, and then decided to check my email. We are picking up our 12 organic chickens this Saturday, and I needed to see if she had sent me an email of what time to come get them. She did, and everything is set for Saturday, I just have to clean out my deep freeze so there is room for 12 chickens in there. I then decided to plant the tomato plants, which didn't take too long. I decided to put the tomato cages on them now, so I didn't have to do that later on. I then decided to clean up the front of the house, by aerating the mulch out front, and planting some new herbs in the planters on the porch, and on both sides of the glider. In the planters by the glider, I planted peppermint in one, and fennel in the other. In the two hanging pots, I planted jack in the pulpit in one, and chamomile in the other. I weeded out the irises, and pulled any dead tops off them. I then watered them all, and mulched around the purple cone flowers. I am pleased with how it looks.

I also sorted crayons. I know this sounds sort of strange, but my sister runs a daycare in her home, and while there, I saw the coolest thing. If anyone appreciates this tip, homeschooler's might. She had all her crayons divided into cups, with each cup being designated for that color only. So I spent time putting all the greens together, blues together, oranges together, etc. This may seem like an unimportant and tedious task, but when you have more than one child that might be coloring at the same time, and a huge tub a crayons, it is easier if there are plenty of that color to go around, let me tell you from experience. All the crayon cups fit nicely into a plastic tray, so they are kept together neatly.

I have a few more things on my list to complete for the day, and then I am calling it quits. I want to do a few relaxing things too. So as I type this, which should be a relaxing task, I am arguing with my 5 year old who is standing next to me in his underwear, wanting me to get him a new pair of shorts, because he no longer wants to wear the shorts he had on. There is nothing wrong with shorts he had on. It's a daily battle. He's currently in the change your clothes many times a day mode. I thought girls only did that.

I came home to what I think is a pregnant dog. She is a dachshund, and her girth is much wider than it was when we left. Her nipples are also swollen. I thought we had been told that she was fixed before we got her, but it may have been a misunderstanding, now that I think about it. My biggest concern is that her boyfriend appears to be a German Shepherd. We have seen him trying to mate with her before, but it's always been quite comical to watch, because he is so much larger than her, that it simply doesn't work, if you know what I mean. There are many other smaller dogs on the block too, and our neighbor actually has 2 male dogs that are out sometimes, that are about her size. One is a Yorkie, and the other is a Pug. I am hoping that one of them is the father. So what do you call a Dachshund/Yorkie mix? A Dorkie? How about a Dachshund/Pug mix? A Dug? or is it a Pachshund? Whatever they are, I am hoping that they are not half German Shepherd. I'm afraid the puppies might kill her. She has a long body, but she's pretty short to the ground. I wonder if her belly will drag the floor when she gets really big?? It shouldn't matter, all she seems to do these days is snore on the floor, like she is doing right now, next to me. I was also wondering, " Can a dog have sleep apnea?" She snores almost as loud as my husband used to before his c-pap machine. Do they make c-pap's for dogs? I wonder?

What lies ahead this coming week? To Bloomington tomorrow to the doctor for Scott's leg check-up, which I don't mind, because he and I will eat at Ming's, like we always do when we go to Bloomington, and that's a treat. They have the best sushi bar.

Wednesday we have our annual homeschool year end picnic, where we bring old homeschool materials we are no longer using, to exchange or give, and the kids bring squirt guns, and get soaked. We always have a good time. This time a new person to our community organized it, so this will be a neat treat, to meet her, and her family, while having a good time seeing everyone.

Thursday, I will probably be taking the kids to Night at the Museum 2, by myself, as Scott has to work, but they really want to see it while it's in town.

Saturday, is chicken pick-up day, and later that night I will be scrapbooking with friends.

Mornings will be filled with schoolwork. We are hitting it heavy the next two weeks so we can finish before Skaterboy starts driver's ed at the high school on the 10th. Our local high school allows homeschooled students to take driver's ed during the summer, if there is room. There was, so we signed him up. I want him to be done with school by then so he can concentrate solely on driver's ed. Both boys are close to being done. I have to say that I too am excited to start my summer vacation.

Hope you have a great week!

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