M's turn to run away (Summer Vacation Week 5 part 2)

On Friday (July 10th) afternoon we were playing a game and M felt like things were unfair and he declared he was leaving the family.  He went upstairs and was up there a long time.  I went and checked on him and he was stuffing things in a little draw string backpack.  I told him that I didn't want him to leave and tried to defuse the situation.  I went back down to play the game with T and he eventually came down with the full bag and very slowly put on his tennis shoes.

M has LOTS of anxiety, so I was banking on that as I waited him out.  I didn't think he would really leave the area.  I did text Brandon and he told me to follow M and he would come home and be with T.  In the end M left through the front door and I stood and watched.  He didn't get to the end of our property before he turned around and ran back to the house and embraced me.  We hugged for a while and then he came inside just as Brandon came home.  We all had a good talk and Brandon went back to work.

Once M was calm he asked proudly if we wanted to see what he packed.  I was shocked as he emptied his bag.  He is apparently an expert packer, because the bag was like a clown car with more and more things that he emptied out.  I took a pic and then typed out everything he packed, because it is pretty impressive.

All the gear!

His bag contained: One hoodie, one zip up jacket, three T-shirts, four long sleeved shirts, three pants, three shorts, 4 boxer briefs, one pillow, two essential oil bottles (pine and sniffle stopper), three roller bottles (sniffle stopper, tummy all better, and growing pains), glasses with case and cloth, a bracelet, handcuffs, deodorant, pocket knife, bouncy ball (for protection he said), wallet with his money.  It all fit is the drawstring pack.

Sadly our kids seem to be in tricky season where they declare they are unwanted and unloved and need to run away.  I hope the running away stuff doesn't last too long.  It is so important to mix in the reality with the highlight reel on the blog.  Many people have expressed concern for us with the never ending fevers.  The concern feels strange, because the fevers are so easy to manage compared to the 7 years of trauma parenting we have done and daily continue to do.  Fevers, quarantine, and a pandemic do not make trauma parenting easier.  Each day God's mercies are new and His grace abounds for us all.

Summer Vacation Week 5 Part 1

Monday 7/6 - Another week of Summer vacation in the year of COVID.  Our family continued to battle our strange health issues, this week M, T, and I all ran fevers all week.  On Monday T was complaining that her legs were itchy.  I looked at them and they were full of bumps.  We have no idea what she got into or if these were a symptom of the fever/sickness. The picture doesn't fully show the rash.  There is one area (on the pic) that looks worse than the others.  Both legs looked like that area.  I had already put on calamine lotion when the picture was taken. 

Very hard to get a good pic, but this is sort of what they looked like.  

T spent a lot of time in the basement creating this amazing doll house castle while I puzzled.

The inside view

The proud builder with her creation. 

Tuesday 7/7 - We were feeling the sickness and the weariness in a major way. 

Cozy time with the kids. 

Brandon had a meeting that night and it started to rain.  I told the kids that it can be fun to watch the rain while being outside, so we headed to the front porch and watched.  It was really pouring and a memory maker. The kids didn't last too long, but they can now say they sat outside in the rain.

Pouring outside.

Nice and dryish on the patio.

T spent more time creating castles in the basement while M and I continued to work on the same very hard puzzle.

Check out the updated entrance. 

Wednesday 7/8 - Today's biggest highlight was hanging the new TV in the family room.  M really wanted to help and enjoyed using the drill. 

M: This is so cool!

M: I really had to focus (I just couldn't choose which picture so chose both).

M: I liked being part of the project. 

Even though the TV was hung 2.5 weeks ago, Our living room still looks like this... with three TV's.  Our new TV is on the wall.  The old one will eventually move to the basement, and the one on the floor will go back to church.  A funny sight for a family who doesn't really do TV!

The finished product.  As you can see, the new TV is a bit of an upgrade. 

Thursday 7/9 - On Thursday afternoon Charissa invited us to come and play in the pool for a bit.  We only stayed about an hour because very dark clouds were rolling in, but it was fun to be together.  The big boys didn't get wet, and just stuck with jungle gym.  We have a tradition of taking pics of the two boys each summer when they are both the same age.  We decided it was the perfect day for the 10 year pics.  The boys wanted to hold up fingers.  L wanted to hold up 2 since there are 2 boys and M wanted to hold up 10 since they are both 10.  I asked if we could do an additional one without hands up.  

Two 10 year olds. 

They usually have their arms around each other, but this year we have some social distancing happening. 

It is very hard to keep the kids distanced, but we stayed outside and I don't think they actually touched each other so that has to count for something.

T: J and A and I had fun in the pool!

Buttercup is so incredibly loyal to M and he always lays on M's little sleeping bag.  On this particular night he put his paw on M's leg and M insisted we take a pic.

Best buddies!

Friday 7/10 - 

On Friday I harvested my radishes.  It wasn't the most impressive harvest, esp because the big one on the upper left was rotten inside. 

The entire harvest!

We had Mexican pulled chicken in tortillas with guacamole for dinner on Thursday. M didn't want to try them that night, but the next day for lunch he couldn't stop eating them.  He thought they were great. I needed to take a picture so he will be willing to try them again sometime.

M: Sometimes I forget what a good cook my mom is. (He might not have said that)

After lunch I attempted a favorite recipe from my childhood, Oatmeal Candy Cookies.  Brandon and I loved them.  They turned out so well that I have made another recipe since.  I am not sure how great they are for us, but oats and almond butter are not horrible.  They are basically like energy bars, right?

So much yum! 

On Friday afternoon we had quite an experience with M... see next post. 

4 of July weekend COVID style (Summer Vacation week 4 part 3)

Friday 7/3 - For many years we have gone to MO for 4th of July weekend.  Our weekend this year was very nice, but there was a sense of sadness in it all as we reflected on how different it was than years past.  

Brandon and I were both up early on the 3rd.  He was so excited about the opening day of Hamilton (on Disney+) that he felt like a kid on Christmas morning!  It was sweet to see him giddy in anticipation.  

In the morning he mowed the church and home properties and I showed the kids some of the TV features.  We ended up finding a princess movie that they checked out years ago from the library and hadn't been able to find since.  They convinced me to let them watch it that morning and I agreed.  

We started Hamilton in the early afternoon.  We did take an intermission to move around and make coffee and popcorn and gather snacks.  I purchased Junior Mints and Swedish Fish for the occasion.  We all loved the show.  Brandon declared it the best thing he has ever seen on a TV screen.  The level of perfection of Broadway stars is pretty mind blowing.  Brandon said that the new TV was worth it for Hamilton alone.  

The show (2hrs 40min) and intermission ended up taking up most of the afternoon.  Brandon has watched parts/all of it many times since the first viewing. 

This is the "room where it happens!"  We are about to begin the show!

The TV upgrade ready to go! 

Saturday 7/4 - Our 4th started off pretty normally.  I went for a walk and the kids did some tricks in the basement.  I also printed off some 4th of July word searches and crosswords etc.  They enjoy doing those kind of things. 

I love seeing their joy!

One more because... those faces!

M: Do I look like the strongest man alive? 

After lunch a great friend and her kiddos walked over a pool.  It had a leak in it which they had repaired.  They gave it to us and we were very thankful.  We were also thankful to have a lovely chat with them.  T was so excited to fill up the pool, but shocked by how cold the water was.

T: It feels like ice coming out of the hose. 

At first the kids just played around in the pool.  Then Brandon came out and they did some games with squirting the balls across the pool using the water squirters.

Summer fun!

After a little while of doing that, they did an all out water fight.  Sometimes they use umbrellas for protection.  It was very fun watching them play and get soaked.

Take cover kids!

Take cover Brandon!

How cute are they? 

In honor of 4th of July we grilled steaks and hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner.  They are all meats we would have had in MO so it just seemed like the right thing to do.

Sunday, 7/5 - Sunday was hot.  We did the typical online church and outdoor service. We were roasting so the kids were eager to have more water fights.  As you can see from the photos below, our gifted pool doesn't hold air very well.  Thankfully one of the three rings holds air very well and that is enough to provide some lasting pool benefits. 

Another day, another water fight!

The  attack!

The counter attack!

The many rounds of water fights some how led to about 8 pairs of wet swim clothes and a dozen wet towels.  I did many loads of laundry and declared certain towels pool towels to be used all week when playing with water.  The new system is working much better.  

After all that sun and water, we had a very tired girl and a sleeping buddy who couldn't wait for a mid-day cuddle and snooze.

They both look pretty relaxed!

Later on Sunday afternoon we did a family zoom call with those we would have seen in MO.  It was fun to connect with them for a bit.  It was a very different weekend than the past years, but we made the most of it and created some great memories!

Family, school, and COVID update in real time

I just published an early July photo post below.  I should have the 4th of July weekend post up soon.  I realized I haven't done a COVID update since June 29th.  Our area, like many in the US has a growing number of cases this month.  Our immediate area is also growing very rapidly.  This has me feeling very concerned about school options for the fall.  I am sure many of you are wondering our our family is doing health wise as well.  I thought I would do a real time update.

Health:
M is on day 58 (not a typo) of fever.  T is on day 47.  I had a fever for a couple of weeks, but am happy to report I have not had one now for 3 or 4 days.  This is great news.  It gives me some hope.  The infectious disease Dr at Children's is pretty stumped.  We are moving on to other departments so new Dr's can try to figure things out, while still consulting with the ID Dr and continuing to run labs about twice a month to watch blood counts etc.  We had the house tested for molds and learned we do have them.  We are waiting for a couple of companies (hopefully in the next few days) to give us estimates so we can move towards mold removal.  Mold generally doesn't cause fevers or the symptoms the kids have, but you never know what can cause something strange. T has very little symptoms, just some rashes and bloody noses.  M has lots of swollen glands/lymph nodes, general aches, headaches, weariness etc. T feels well almost all the time.  Every once in a while she will feel sick in some way.  M feels well some of the time, but gets tired, weary and cranky pretty quickly.  We try to get outside and bike, roller blade, hike, swing, play basketball... something every day.  Sometimes there is eagerness to play, other times it is forced.  There are so many people struggling so much more than we are.  We have all we need and excellent Dr's so we are very blessed.  Overall, I feel a lot of peace as we wait for answers, even though of course I would love to know what is going on.

School:
The school district voted on the school reopening plans this week.  Plan A if cases are low: The plan is for elementary students through 4th grade to go the other 4 days a week.  The middle school and high school will be divided in half so they will do 3 days of virtual and 2 days in person. The entire school district will have a cleaning day on Wednesday so all levels will be virtual. Plan B if cases are elevated: All levels will do two days in person and 3 days virtual.  Plan C if cases are high: All virtual for all ages.  The plan seems simple, but of course there are 1,000 questions without answers that every parent and teacher is asking.  I do know there will be a virtual track for families who choose to do all virtual.  Cases in our county are very high right now, so we don't know what the start of the year will actually look like. We are going to wait until the final day of registration to make a decision for our family.  If the kids still have fevers we will choose virtual, as it would be a huge headache for teachers to give us assignments each day.  Apparently, you can make decisions each quarter.  This means if the kids are feeling better we could opt in for in person school in 2nd quarter.  My feelings about school stuff are constantly changing so by the time someone reads this post my thoughts could have changed.  Having immunocompromised kids does influence my feelings of course.

COVID - 19

On June 29th (3 weeks and 3 days ago) Our state had 27,743 cases and 777 deaths.  The US had 2,564,163 cases and 125,928 deaths.  The world had 10,199,798 cases and 502,947 deaths.  Now for the real time results... Our state currently has 45,899 cases and 878 deaths.  The US currently has 4,026,288 cases and 144,032 deaths.  The world currently has 15,356,780 cases and 626,357 deaths.  The numbers increases are crazy.  The flattened curve is rising and we are really feeling it locally.  

Last time I updated the cases in our area were going up so slowly.  This is no longer the trend. On June 29th our county had cases 223 and our community had  29 cases.  Today, three weeks and three days later we have 440 cases in our county and 77 cases in our small town.  This means our local cases have more than doubled in the last three weeks.  Actually, it has been less than that, because they didn't really start to increase this rapidly until the last two weeks.

It is hard for me to see these numbers and not be concerned.  Quarantine fatigue is real. We are all feeling it, but our family is doing our best to avoid tricky situations.  We wear our masks.  There is still currently no mask mandate in our state, though many chain stores have mandated masks.  It will be interesting to see what happens with our area in the coming weeks. Our school year isn't set to begin until September 1st.  A lot can change in 5 weeks so we could be in a much safer spot than we are today or an even scarier one.  2020 sure is an interesting year!

T in the Tree, a new TV and other Thursday adventures (Summer Vacation Week 4 Part 2)

Thursday - 7/2

It was a beautiful day and the kids were eager to get outside.  I was still eating breakfast when T announced she was going to climb the tree in the front yard.  I decided to eat outside while I watched her climb.  She and M worked very hard to get her up into the tree. 

Her time in the tree started so sweetly.  She asked me to get her an American Girl Wellie Wishers book which I think might have someone who likes to climb trees or lives in the trees or something.  Anyway, she was happy and reading and even put some stickers on her tree fort.  

T: It was a great place to read a book.

I thought about taking a nap up in the tree. 

After a few minutes she wasn't having enough of an adventure and decided that she needed to climb higher.  I kept cautioning her and asked her to stop, but I was totally powerless from the bottom of the tree.

T: I wanted to climb higher. 

T: It was really cool to be up so high!

T: And then suddenly I was TOO HIGH!

She was up a lot higher than she expected and started to panic.  She decided to climb down, but couldn't figure out how to do it or how she got up there in the first place.  I finally called Brandon and asked him to come home.  T was asking if we would have to call a fire department, you know like every good storyline about the cat in the tree... but we told her we thought we could get her down.

T: First daddy tried to tell me how to get down from the bottom of the tree. 

Soon it became obvious that we were not exactly sure how she got up in the tree, and we didn't have a safe way to get her out of the tree.  We decided the best thing to do was to get out a ladder and have Brandon climb the tree and help her down.

T: Daddy came up to rescue me. 

T: As soon as I saw him in the tree I felt a bit safer. 

Smiles for Brandon because she was safely coming down. 

T: I was so happy to be out of the tree. 

She has not asked to climb the tree since that day.  I think T learns fear only through scary experiences! I am so thankful that Brandon was next door and available to help.  Whew, she keeps us on our toes.

The temps warmed up that afternoon so we set up our brand new slip and slide.  It was the only one available when I went to order them.  It is smaller than M would like, but T did have some smiles and fun.

T: I went pretty fast a few times. 

After the kids time sliding I stayed outside to enjoy the sun.  T decided to pamper me with a bit of a spa experience.  She gave me an umbrella for shade and water with a fancy straw and homemade umbrella, she sprayed me with sunscreen and fanned me.  Sometimes she surprises me with her incredible thoughtfulness and I just drank it in!

Such a thoughtful girl!

That evening we had a very eventful evening.  We cut the kids a deal and everyone wound up happy.  Brandon and I had been talking about getting Disney+ starting July 3rd so that Brandon could watch Hamilton on opening day.  He was thinking of bringing over a TV from church and we talked about it and decided to tell the kids if they were willing to surrender Park for the summer, we would get a new 55inch TV and Disney + for at least the summer.  It is important to note that our biggest TV was a 25inch box TV from the 1990's. They could not believe we were serious and took the deal with eagerness.  They have deeply enjoyed the rewards of their deal and M has only mentioned Park once.  This is a huge change from the first days of limbo when he complained every minute. I fight hard to limit screen time for my kids and I essentially bribed them to say no to hours and hours of play outdoors and choose a screen.  2020 is the year of doing everything differently than you ever would before.  It was a good thing we did back out when we did as the kids still have fevers and the daily sadness would have taken a huge toll as they would have missed the first four weeks (out of 7) so far. 

Since we didn't have a lot of time to spare, Brandon went to Walmart 10 minutes later and purchased a TV.  When our family does something we do it all the way!!!!  That night I stayed up way too late learning about Roku TV and all the different stations.  I didn't watch a single thing... just looked at all the things I could watch in amazement.  Interestingly, in the almost month we have had the TV and all the channels, I have not watched any shows on it apart from family watching in the evening. Apparently there are enough current events to read about that I am not too tempted by the TV. Of course there is the constant overtired bit too. 

Summer Vacation Week 4 (Part 1)

Monday -6/29   This was the day we had been waiting for, the first day of Park.  Sadly, we knew that our kids would not be at Park for the start of things.  M was still pretty passionate about going eventually so they remained signed up and M desperately hoped his fever would disappear.  There were lots of emotions about Park.  

T had OT in the morning and her amazing OT taught both kids some origami projects.  It was fun for everyone.  I did the very hard puzzle while they did origami.  

T: I love learning new origami designs. 

After an early lunch we headed to an eye dr follow up for Brandon.  His light sensitivity wasn't going away and it just seemed like his healing was off.  The appointment was LONG, but thankfully we had several games and snacks with us to keep us going in the car.  We were also able to listen to Adventures in Odyssey which is interesting for all of us. Brandon learned that his eye had very high pressure and inflammation and he was prescribed a few new drops.  I am happy to report that the drops worked very well and his eye pressure was much better at the next appointment.  

After the appointment we dropped Brandon off and decided to drive past the Park.  This caused lots of emotion and big feelings.  We came home and had some snacks and TV time to try to soothe our sadness. 

Tuesday- 6/30

Today we had a pretty typical day.  The afternoon bike ride was the most eventual part of the day.  We biked past the park... again.  M had a very hard time and biked back towards the park 3 times and refused to move a couple of times.  It was then that I realized we can NOT do this again.  I also started feeling like we needed to officially say no to Park so that we could move on with our summer.  I knew we needed to figure out an exciting plan B in order to make this happen.  On top of the blow of (most likely) not going to Park, the kids learned that we would not be going to MO for our annual 4th of July road trip.  This was very hard news for them to hear. 

M's amazing creation, a bright spot in the day! 

Wednesday - 7/1

A new month!  My brain still struggles to believe it is July (even though it is now the 18th as I type).  It still feels like March to my body.  I continue to enjoy my morning walks.  I have a new buddy who greets me some mornings as I walk past a cemetery.  This fawn will get very close to me and follow me along the fence line.  So sweet.  The picture is a bit zoomed in, but he/she was just a couple of feet from me as I walked.  Of course when I moved to take a picture he backed up a bit. 

My deer friend. 

An exciting thing came in the mail today!  I ordered some new rings for T for the swing set and she was able to use them in the basement first.  She has lots of wild skills and loved them!

T: I wish we would have had these months ago!

T: I can swing well with these!

Stay tuned for the next post and see the progression of T getting stuck in a tree!  Things are always interesting at our house!