New month?

So. Tomorrow's a new month, right? Does that mean we get to start over with all new healthy vibes reverberating throughout our house? Ugh. Seriously. I can't remember a time...EVER...that we've been sick like this. The boys are generally extremely healthy...I can count the number of doctor visits that weren't well checks or for Asher's varied injuries on one hand. For all three of them together. Really. Yet we've been to the doctor twice this past week. And neither time appears to have done us much good, except that the second visit was at least able to confirm that there really wasn't anything we could do about it but wait. Lovely. Really, though, I suppose it's a good reminder to me of how blessed I am that this is unusual. I know I'm lucky. Honest.

Okay, and actually, I can remember a time when I used to be sick like this...every December from 1994 to 1999 without fail. (Yes, including the year we got married in December.) I'd lose my voice. Just like it's lost today. I hate losing my voice. I haven't done that since just before I got pregnant with Noah. Had to go to the ER that time and have an IV due to dehydration. That wasn't fun. Bleh.

In any case, status report here...the past week has pretty much been not fun. Noah, amazingly, continues to be healthy and seems to have escaped, but is pretty dang irritated with all of us sickies and his inability to do "fun" things. :) (Come to think of it, I can't remember a time when more than a couple of us have been sick at the same time either, so having four of us out is a first.) Asher's finally talking again and is on the mend, but it took him about 4-5 days of misery. He's still not up to playing tag in the backyard with Noah, which, of course, to Noah, means that he's still sick. Micah, we thought, was going to be fine after the stridor left, but now he's lost his voice, too, and has spent much of today just lying in bed with me. We're quite the pair. :) Nathan made it back to work on Thursday (having been home Monday thru Wednesday) in time to help with a big deadline Friday night. Hopefully he's not contagious still because he's still coughing quite a bit and is definitely not 100%. Sigh.

But. It could be worse and I know it. So I'll just be happy that there seems to possibly be a light at the end of the tunnel...and that communicating via the internet doesn't require me to talk. ;)

Oh. And in our efforts to make it up to Noah for having to deal with us all this week, Nathan took Noah and Asher to our local Little Shop of Physics Open House today. They're awesome. We've been to their Open House a couple times and have had a more private viewing with our homeschool group a couple times. The boys love it. Today, both came home talking about the million volt Tesla coil and how they want a plasma ball. (To which, Micah immediately chimed in that he'd always wanted a plasma ball, too...not even knowing what they were talking about.)

And, while I'm at it, I have two more layouts that I don't think I shared before:

This first one features one of my favorite new lines that was introduced at CHA. It's the Actopus to Zelephant line by K&Co and I LOVE it! See those "A" and "Z" cards there? They're heavy flashcard like cards with notes on the back about the animal on front and are about 5x7. They come in a pack of the complete alphabet. I'm totally thinking about framing the individual initial letters for each of the boys just as they are, because they're so cool. (If I hadn't already used some of the letters, I can totally see making a simple ABC book by just binding these all up...perfect for a toddler learning his letters, but actually we're a bit past that, hence I used them on layouts, LOL!)

This next layout is one I had a lot of fun with:

Not only do the pictures here make me smile every time (as does just thinking about my new bike), but I'm pleased with myself for using this awesome Little Yellow Bicycle bag for the background. Yup, that background was part of a bag that Little Yellow Bicycle was giving out at CHA. (The bags are kinda like those bags you buy to bring to the grocery store with you so that you don't need the plastic bags...very nice really.) Totally perfect for this layout, don't you think? And, look, I managed to use my new Fiskars Upper Crest border punch a bit more, too!

Now. I've just realized that if tomorrow is a new month that means that today is the last day of the month. (Hey, give me a break...those decongestants have me all messed up, lol.) Which means that today is the last day of the February Month By Month Challenge. Hopefully some of you remembered that while I was distracted this week. :) If not, get cracking on March's challenge, okay?

More layouts...

First of all, thanks for all the healthy wishes! I'm happy to report that Noah continues amazingly to be healthy, Nathan has made it out of bed and back to work, and Asher may be on the mend. Maybe. Micah's hanging in there...not as bad as Asher but still not 100%. I've joined them and have a lovely little head cold going on now...but I'm still better than Asher, so that's something.

Meanwhile, here are three Lists of Me layouts I haven't shared yet. I'm behind by a week now thanks to this croup crud but will work on catching up...later. :)

I've, incidentally, thought of many more things I'd add to the above list since finishing this layout... ;)

Love the big frame things that I cut in half and used on the above layout. You can find them here. I was so proud of myself for using one right away and can't wait to use some of the other goodies I got from her shop!

Big thanks to my pal Jennifer Latham for the inspiration behind this last one! :)

Okay. Off to take some drugs now...happy Thursday everyone!

Croup sucks.

Yeah. Sorry I've been missing again. Asher appears to have brought home the croup virus over the weekend. Our best guess is that he got it at Options last Monday, as only 3 of the 12 kids in his class showed up yesterday I'm told. Poor kid is miserable. (Seriously, folks, the kid has been awake for only like 9 hours out of every 24 since Friday night. He barely spoke Saturday and Sunday. No congestion...just a very sore throat, fatigue and general all over achiness. Not usual for him at all.)

We went to the doctor (well, urgent care) on Sunday to test for strep...it was negative and they prescribed antibiotics, claiming it was likely some other bacterial infection. Got the antibiotics. Today he took his third dose...still no significant improvement. But. This morning, Micah woke up with a very stridor like cough...something we recognize (he's had croup before as an infant). Called the pediatrician. Had both boys looked at. She declared they both have croup and that would explain Asher's laryngitis-like symptoms (swollen throat) and why the antibiotics weren't helping (croup is viral). Glad to finally have a reasonable explanation, but irked that there's really nothing that can be done/taken to make Asher feel better faster. Joy. (On the plus side, Micah, though his glands and lungs and everything else sound and look worse than Asher's, doesn't appear to believe that he's sick. The kid is running around and acting totally fine...guessing, though, that nighttime will be another matter if history is anything to go by.)

Oh, and on top of that, Nathan's sick too...something different likely. I'm attributing at least part of it to getting too run-down stressing and working himself too much in the past month to get to the deadline they met Sunday night. So. He's been home for the last couple days (which, right there tells you how sick he is as he very rarely gets sick enough to be out of commission more than one day). He's pretty much been sleeping and trying to get some food/liquids down. He may well be home tomorrow, too. He's definitely still sick.

So. Noah and I are busy washing our hands and keeping our fingers crossed. :) We're pretty much laying low this week and staying home (other than runs to the store for meds and comfort foods). Bleh.

But. Even though I've been averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night (constant interruptions from boys needing meds or drinks or to refill the humidifiers), I know that I am blessed that this is an unusual occurrence for us. My heart goes out to those of you with kiddos who are sick more often than once a year or so and to single parents everywhere who do this alone every time.

And. I had a fabulous time on Saturday just cropping with some friends at my favorite local scrapbook store, The Treasure Box. I managed to get 14 layouts done, which is (sadly) perhaps more than I've finished all year. Many were layouts that had just been in my to do pile for ages, so even though they're nothing fancy, I'm thrilled to have them DONE. :) Wanna see some of them?

Loved using the Fiskars Upper Crest border punch on this one (above)!

(Yes, this is one I've done before for the Prism CHA booth...but I don't get to keep those so generally make duplicates. This one turned out slightly different, though.)

Okay, I have more to say and share but need to go distribute nighttime medicines now...:)

Overheard...

Earlier tonight...Micah (age 3.5) says to Nathan, "Who do you like better, David Cook or Carrie UnderWEAR?"!! I promise; that's what he said. Oh my goodness. That kid...cracks. me. up.

(Background: On Wednesday's American Idol results show, they had a clip of David Cook (all three boys' favorite singer ever...probably because he's one of the only singers they've ever seen on television, lol) singing alongside Carrie Underwood. Apparently, that five seconds made a huge impression because Noah, having never heard of Carrie Underwood until then, has been talking about how she's "about as good" as David Cook. I guess Micah was paying attention, LOL!)

Haiku anyone?

We were talking about medieval Japan, Korea and China again today during history, and wrapped it up by writing some haikus. Thought I'd share. :) Here they are (yes, I helped some, but the ideas and words were truly each boy's...I just helped with formatting):

SUMMER by Micah

The grass is so green
The sprinkler makes a rainbow
I love summertime.

WINTER by Asher

Snow means I can sled
falling snow is beautiful
it's soft for snowballs.

SPRING by Noah

Warmth with a small breeze
carries the smell of the trees
I like spring flowers.

I'm biased, obviously, but I think these turned out pretty dang well for first haiku attempts. :) I had each boy write his out and illustrate it also. Cool.

Oh. And in regard to the question of where I found that acrylic and metal album I use for my Weekly 2009 album...I'm almost positive I found mine on clearance at Office Depot and haven't seen them since. But, I found some for sale online at Office Max. Check here. Hope that helps!