Free at Last

Hopefully this will not give us bad luck, but I am an optimist, so I am going forth!

Thursday and Friday of Week before last, Miller was doing better and was back in school.  Friday night as we were putting Jackson to bed, he had a fever.  Darn!  So he had the fever on Saturday and we sat around the house…again. 

By Sunday afternoon he was much better so  were cautiously optimistic.  Monday morning he was fine, so off he went to school.  Monday afternoon he told me he had a headache and thinking he was hot and dehydrated, I gave him Gatorade.  He threw it up.

He stayed home on Tuesday and by Wednesday he seemed good to go.  Off he went to school.

He was home in the bed by 10 a.m. 

He would get a low fever every 18 hours or so and then vomit once every day or every other day .  The only symptom that was consistent was the headache.

His symptoms were a little less severe than Miller’s, but I was also more aware this time how vicious this virus was.  After conferring with our doctor via email I settled in to wait it out.

Finally Saturday morning dawned without a headache or fever! 

He was thrilled to be able to go to soccer and catch up with his friends that he had been missing all week!

Hopefully, we have seen the last of this nasty virus!

Flashback Friday

Three years ago this is what our house looked like.


I was in quite a state those days.  It was CrAzY!  Remember?

Now I wonder about all. that. stuff!  Most of it is in storage.  Besides the furniture, what else is in there?  I have no idea!
I guess we will find out in a year or two!

What the Heck? Wednesday!

Warning: Adults only.  My children ride by this one every day, but even though they are both reading, thankfully they haven’t been able to read the whole thing yet!

This What the Heck? Wednesday sign has taken me a while to get a picture of.  It is on a busy street but at an intersection.  If you slow down, you’ll get run over.  Parking and getting out in this area may be dangerous too.  I pulled into the driveway and took the picture and then realized my mistake.  I’d have to back out into an intersection.  Sweet Jesus!  I made it by acting like a local… pretending that I wasn’t a bit nervous pulling some crazy driving maneuver and making everyone else come to a stop to accommodate me.  Been here 3 years now.  I can drive like a local!

It was for you my readers.  Here is this week’s gem!

It says,

“GIVE IT TIME TO RIPE

You’re still young.

Have fun!

Get to know each other.

Hang out in groups.

Abstain.”

Those are all good advice, things I might say myself if my boys were older, but the next part, I might choose to phrase a little differently.  What do you think?

“Slide one on before you slide it in.  Lubricate.  Condoms save lives; wear one every time.”

Brought to you by the National HIV/AIDS Programme/Ministry of Health

They take these signs seriously!  Remember this one?

Camp In

The boys think it would be lots of fun to go on a camp out.  I love camping, but camping here would be a pretty interesting adventure.  You would need to plan it just right for sure.  Otherwise you may end up sleeping in a pool of sweat or with a mosquito sleeping bag.

So I had an idea to have an indoor camp out.  I think I planned it just right.  Allen and I slept in our own bed and the boys slept on an air mattress in our room.  Pretty sweet, right?

In anticipation of a real camp out, Allen bought them each their own flashlight and a headlamp.  They were in hog heaven!  Jackson had to sleep with his on.

Pretty soon I won’t be able to convince them that this was just as good as a real camp out, but I’m happy that it works for now!

Missing?

Yesterday was the first full day of Fall!  I love Fall.  You really wouldn’t know it is Fall here though.  It is still hot, sunny and humid as all get out!  This time of year when the rest of the world is beginning to talk about chilly weather, leaves, pumpkins and all the other lovely things associated with Fall, I feel a little like I am missing out.  Mind you I love it here and know that missing a few seasons is a small price to pay for living here, it’s just that I really love fall!

The other evening we were out on the dock feeding the fish and as I turned around to go inside this is what I saw.

It’s certainly not fall, but makes me remember that this is a time in our life.  During this time, we are living life to the fullest and are enjoying things many people never get to do.

We can feed our “pet” grouper left over spaghetti.  How cool is that?  We have angelfish that live in our backyard.  We can paddleboard IN our neighborhood.  That is amazing.

We aren’t really missing Fall per se, we are gaining.  It isn’t just experiences  that we are gaining perspective too.  I love that.

Speaking of Fall have you noticed how early it is getting dark?  Last night it was pitch black at 7:30. 

Thankful

Last Thursday I got a call from the school that Miller was in the office with a fever.  He had a low fever on Thursday and a little on Friday.  We had a nice quiet day at home.  I’m so thankful that I can stay home and not worry about missing work or childcare.  My boys may not need me as much as they used to, but they do still need me.

Saturday morning we woke up to see a rash all over his body.  Strange.

He was fine though. I emailed a picture to our wonderful family doctor and he said that the fever and resulting rash sounded and looked viral and to just monitor him for 24-48 hours. I wasn’t feeling so hot myself so we stayed home all day.

Sunday we were feeling good, so we went to the pool in the afternoon.  After a little while Miller told us he was cold and wanted to go home.  Dun, dun duuuuuuuuuun!

By that evening he had a low fever and didn’t want anything to eat for dinner.  He slept that night, but we could hear him on the monitor having some wild dreams.

The next day, Monday, he still had the fever and couldn’t keep anything down.  He slept off and on all morning, but by the afternoon when he still couldn’t keep anything down we headed into the doctor’s office. 

The doctor gave him a very thorough exam and said he needed and IV drip of fluids, and anti nausea meds and also a full blood workup.

My first thought was, “He’s weak now, but he is still going to fight like an animal when they put the line in his arm.”  However, the doctor is terrific and did it as gently as possible {for inserting a small piece of plastic into a vein.  Miller did pretty awesome too.

The blood work showed that he was suffering from a virus of some kind.  As the meds got into his system he dozed off and slept through the next hour or so.

Bless him!

He was still pretty puny that night and the next day.

Jackson read to him and that was a bright spot in a long row of dreary days.

When Miller asks to go to bed at 4 p.m. times are tough!

Finally, on Wednesday he was mostly fever free and able to keep down a little bread and water.  But by that night when I was threatening to spank his bottom, I knew he was all better!

Today he is at school and hopefully feels well enough to drive his teacher crazy!

I’m so thankful for modern medicine and and a doctor who is adept AND caring.  I’m most thankful for this little boys who is strong enough to recover from whatever nasty viruses he had and come our better than ever!

What the Heck? Wednesday

This is the newest beverage vendor on the island.  They are advertising quite a bit too!

What do you think?

Silhouettes

I’ve always loved silhouettes.  It is such a charming art form that captures the essence of the child and some details that may be missed in the blur of day to day life.

When the boys were two {ish}  I had their silhouette portraits made.  I found the silhouette artist on Etsy and was pleased to find out that she was from my hometown of Greenville, SC.  It is so important to find a skilled artist.  I know because Patti Rishforth was not our first silhouette artist.

When I found out that she was moving to another state and that she was just a skip, hop and jump away from my mom’s house, I decided to make an appointment.

They capture the sweet aspects of the boys at this age.  They are more spicy than sweet most of the time, so it is special to see this facet of them.

Thanks Patti!

Bed Head

What do you think these guys were dreaming about?

I’d like to think they were dreaming of sweet frolicking in the grass, but something tells me it was a little more X Games than nursery rhymes!

Don’t you love it

Don’t you love it when you figure something out?  I may pay for my blonde locks, but in this case I feel like I am a true blonde!

When we moved here we bought a Costco set of Vanity Fair paper napkins and over the almost 3 years we have been here, we still have a few packs left.  Paper products on this island are crazy expensive.  A 4 pack of toilet paper runs about $6.  We were wisely counseled to pack as much paper products as we could with our household goods.

At the beginning of the year I decided to try moving the paper towel holder under the sink and seeing how few paper towels we could use.  We were already good at using rags for spills etc, but I wanted to see what we could do.  We cut paper towel use down to about a roll a month.  Not too shabby.  So could we drastically cut out already minimal paper napkin usage?

For as long as I can remember I have preferred using cloth napkins.  They just feel special.  This was way before it was cool to be green.  My hubby even came into the marriage with some cloth napkins.  {Before you try to take away his “man card”, his family uses mostly cloth napkins and his brother worked at Williams-Sonoma}.  We just like them.  When I do use paper napkins they need to be the good ones.  It’s just yucky to wipe your fingers on a disintegrating piece of paper.

There have been times where it is not practical to use cloth napkins, {when the boys were very young and I just could not bear to wash one more thing comes to mind!}  but we always come back to cloth napkins.  It’s just that paper napkins can be awfully  convenient.  It is the siren’s call of easy and disposable.  That call is a tempting call. Like a Hot Now sign.  Almost.

I’ve tried keeping my everyday cloth napkins in a few different spots, but I couldn’t figure out a spot that was as easy as the basket that held paper napkins.  That basket of paper napkins being out is just so convenient.  My cloth napkins were too long to fit into the basket.

The other day we were out of paper napkins and I was headed upstairs to get another pack, when I got sidetracked by a load of laundry that needed to be folded.  That load had dish towels and cloth napkins.  It was then and there that inspiration struck.  could I fold my cloth napkins in such a way that they would fit in the disposable napkin basket?

Why yes, yes they could!

I present to you the one thing that has made me happier than a bird with a french fry!

Now that we have to go upstairs to get a paper napkin, I bet we will still have a few napkins left when we leave this island.  Either that or we will start using more paper towels!

Today

Instead of a What the heck Wednesday, please take a moment to pay your respects to those who gave their lives on September 11, 2001.  Please also say a prayer for those who were first responders and are still dealing with a very difficult aftermath of that day.

Shopping List

I’m a firm believer in making lists.  I have them everywhere.

I loved it when I read my grocery list recently.

Guess who got popsicles?

Every Day Should Feel This Good

Saturday morning I sat down at the computer to write some blog posts.  I had nothing.  The boys have been in school, swimming in the afternoons and then it’s homework, dinner and bed.  Boring.  It’s good stuff, but nothing new, you know?

Saturday was our good friend Scott’s birthday and we had talked about doing something…it was just uncertain as to what.  The weather was yucky.  So when Scott called and asked if we wanted to take his boat to Blue Lagoon Island, I thought “it’s thundering.”  What came out of my mouth was, “how soon?”

It takes a special kind of crazy to go out in a thunderstorm.  You know the joke.  A friend will bail you out of jail.  A good friend is right beside you.  That’s us apparently.

We had a blast!  We got away from the rain, and the kids love the inflatables in the water!

They think they are on the show Wipeout.

They couldn’t get enough of the slide.

Just getting to the top is a chore.  You have to climb up the slippery back.

Miller was just a little short to get up the  first step, but after he got up there, he was fine with the rest of the steps.

They also loved this jungle gym thing

So they could jump off the top!

Eventually, they talked the dads into going down the slide.

The Grand Finale!

It looks like they’re holding hands!  Phew!  They’re not!

The real grand finale is  not shown in pictures.  {After we went back to sit down I left my camera on and the battery died.}  Scott’s friend is a manager at Blue Lagoon and he let us stay after hours.  We had the whole place to ourselves.  No tourists or lifeguards.  Just us.  Awesome, right?

The Dads went on a tour of the island with Scott’s friend and the boys and I stayed and played.  At one point they decided it was just too far to swim back around and climb back up the slide, so they should just slide down the back.  Yes they are crazy!  Yes, I let them.  I know!

 

This is the only picture I have  of the back, but they climbed up to the top {about 20 feet} and pushed off and then bumped and bounced all the way down until they landed at the bottom.  Usually in some crazy fashion!  Jackson had some wild landings, but no permanent damage done.

OH!  MY! GOODNESS! It was hilarious!  When the guys came back and saw what the boys were up to, 1)they couldn’t believe I let them 2)Allen had to try it and 3) Scott ran to get his phone to video it!  Of course I do not have the video—yet, but it is coming!

No way was I going to try it.  Just bouncing on the water trampoline thing with 4 boys was enough for me.  That thing would have had me in traction for a month!  As it is, my ribs are killing me from laughing so hard!

We ended the day with a gorgeous sunset on the boat, a yummy steak dinner and home made coconut ice cream.

As Vineyard Vines says

Tubin’ Beys

These boys can’t get enough!  They beg to go out of the “quake” {which is their word for wake}!

They look like little bobble head figures in there, but they love every bump.

Back to School

Every single time, I can’t believe it!  Monday the boys went back to school.  Jackson is in 2nd grade and Miller is in Kindergarten.

They really were so excited to start school! 

They are not flashing gang signs….That is a K and a 2!

Of course, Michele was here for the first day

Here’s to a great year!