back to normal....

The daily walk. The weather has been overcast, drizzly, rainy, and cozy. Perfect for coming home from a big trip and settling back into homeschooling. (Kathryn took over for me last week:))

So...when I was gone, there was drama. Here's what happened. Jonathan had had an infected toe, an ingrown toenail. I will spare you the details, but yuck. Emily, who is a critical care nurse in a big hospital, had looked at it, and was advising him on how to take care of it, soaking, topical antibiotic, ect. She looked at the toe again right before we left for our trip, and it hadn't gotten any better. Time for a trip to the doctor. Paul had to make the appointment and take him in. The doctor prescribed an oral antibiotic. Emily told me, as we drove to New York City, how many patients she had over the years who had gone septic, and many who had died, from seemingly harmless infections. It gets into the bloodstream, and boom, story over. So when we were happily over in Norway and found out that Jonathan had a fever of 104, and hadn't gotten his prescription yet, we were more than concerned. He started on the medicine, and still had a high fever 24 hours later, so Emily advised Paul to take Jon to the hospital. She worried that Jon was going septic, and believe me, Em is not like me. She is calm. She doesn't panic. But she has seen things, and she knew this could be serious. Anyway. Paul took him to the hospital, they started I.V. antibiotics, and did a flu swab. He had the flu. The high fever could have been a combination of the toe, and the flu, but in any case, they gave him fluids for a while, and sent him home with another antibiotic. He was feeling better in a few days.

Being far far away when your child is sick is torture. The fact that he was in good hands (Jon has two other nurse/sisters, Mirielle and Mali, who also checked on him), is irrelevant to a mom. Mom needs to comfort when child is suffering. It's not that I didn't believe with all my heart that God knew what He was doing.

Fast forward to today. Camille came down with the flu over the weekend. She is much better now, it didn't last long, her fever didn't get so high. Yesterday morning, I was greeted by Charlotte Claire telling me she had gotten sick during the night. Over the railing of that top bunk, down to the carpet. I was so thankful they had just cleaned their room.

She has had a slight fever, but isn't feeling too terribly. She is doing her school work right now, and drinking green tea with honey.

The thing is, we are leaving the day after tomorrow, for Florida! I'm thinking that if Suzanne or Sonja get sick, they can just hang out in the hotel until they get better, so as to not pass it on to Grandma. Maybe they won't get it. Hopefully Paul nor I will get it. Time will tell, and in the meantime, we are packing to go to warm weather and sunshine.

Our trip will start Friday, we will drive 15+ hours to Georgia, then visit the Atlantic Ocean from there, spending one night. Sunday morning will bring us to our destination in Florida, where we will stay until the next Saturday. We have plans to visit the gulf coast, ahh, the beach....the weather forecast is glorious, I mean, 85 degrees and sunny, yes please. We are also going to Disney!!! Disney Hollywood Studios, because the kids are so obsessed with StarWars. I firmly believe that the pre-trip excitement is half the fun, so last evening we watched videos of the rides there (Tower of Terror, can't wait!).

The part I am NOT looking forward to is the car ride. I don't mind being a passenger, but I don't care to drive on busy highways. It's a long trip, so I will take my turn.

Here are other random things that have been going on:

1.
Miss Lydia visited yesterday!

We love her.

2.
Kitty is going to have kittens any day now. Jonathan has been researching the whole process, and can't wait for the big event.

3.
The princesses are getting too big too fast.

4. Mirielle is taking Kathryn and Evelyn to Washington D.C. this weekend. (only the five youngest are going to Florida with Paul and I). She reserved a hotel, and were all set to visit Samuel. But...he won't be there! He will be in Pennsylvania shooting a movie! He has a part in a documentary about World War I, which he is SO up his alley. They are going to D.C. anyway, to enjoy the weather and just be tourists.

5. Benjamin and Ashley bought a house out in Washington state. Honestly, my first reaction: NO! Too far away! But, it's their life, their decision, and they are happy and doing well, plus he is in a five year apprenticeship for HVAC, and has to stay at least through that. I miss them terribly. Ben has grown into such a fine young man, despite his rocky teenage years.

Jonathan is reading the 7th Harry Potter book, and the girls have moved on from their school work to their tablets, so this mama has to get back on track....