Swine Flu!

On Tuesday night I went to check on the kids before bed just like every night and found Sara burning a fever. So I took her temp, which I rarely do unless it feels super hot and she was almost a 104. It just kept going up and up and I was loading her up with Tylenol and Motrin like there was no tomorrow. I stuck her in the bath, which she did not enjoy one bit at midnight!

The next morning she was still burning a fever but it was staying around 101 with medicine, so I wasn't super concerned. Gabe and Sophie had both been sick about week ago, so I knew it was just the same bug they had. But Heidi convinced me to take her in, after she heard that one of her co-workers grandchildren had the same symptoms with Swine Flu. So I did and yep, tested positive for H1N1! Luckily, Gabe and Sophie got over it without any need for Tami Flu, but the doctor decided he would prescribe it for Sara since she is so little still and maybe to help prevent it from spreading. Then he couldn't find it anywhere! He had to call 6 different pharmacies, just to get a hold of some. The whole situation is quite disturbing actually.

Mary still hasn't shown any symptoms and the doctor thinks that maybe she won't since she just finished some antibiotics for an abscess on her tonsil. Who knows, so we are just waiting and watching her! I have already come down with it, but am feeling a little better today. So hopefully I will be able to get over it too without a visit to the doctor and no searching this town for a prescription!

Stephen isn't sick yet either, because he just got back from St. Louis for some drag line training for work. He had a good time and it sounds like he learned a little anyways :) But it was a long week for both of us. He was ready to be home, and believe me I was more then ready for him to be home! So here is pic he took of the arches on driving through St. Louis!\

Mary, Mary quite contrary!

Well, Miss Mary as some of you might know can actually be quite contrary at times. She is so incredibly stubborn but at the same time she is so honest it really just cracks me up! You never know what is going to come out of her mouth at any given moment.

On Friday when I picked her up from pre school, the teacher pulled me aside and said, "I need to talk to you for just a minute." The most dreaded words a parent can hear from a teacher.....

Apparently, Mary stuck her tongue out at one of her "friends" at school. The little boy was asked to tell Mary that it hurt his feelings and then Mary was asked if she was sorry. She promptly gave a very frank, "no!" Then the teacher asked if she would like to apologize and again the answer was, "no!"

Ugh. I went and made her apologize and on the way home from school as we were talking about how important it is to be nice to all of her friends and not make faces she says, " Mom I was just teasing him, I think he needed to just dry up!" Meaning of course that he was acting like a baby. Oh yes, she is her fathers daughter!

Today at the ranch she was playing outside and when she came in I noticed that her pants were muddy. It is actually pretty dry here at the moment so I asked her where she found the mud. She told me and then I asked her if she was supposed to play in mud. "No," she says, "but mom mud makes me happy." As I am looking at her innocent blue eyes, I am thinking to myself, well fair enough and at least I only have one child with muddy shoes and not four!

This morning we took Stephen to the airport for his trip to St. Louis. After he got in line for security me and kids headed up to the observation deck so that they could watch the plane take off. As we are waiting, and waiting and waiting, Sophie observes that this it "taking too long" (actually true for once) and Mary pipes up in a really loud voice, "Ya I bet daddy is getting crabby, he probably needs a cigarette!" Once again very honest, yet not really crucial information at that moment for the whole room to hear!

Crossing my fingers that nothing too embarrassing comes out of her mouth tomorrow!

Just a quick update!

Not much new here other then the tons of rain/snow we have been getting. The kids are enjoying Awana's and we have started attending the church in town that the kids go to. We love our church in Powder River, but the kids are getting old enough that they need more then our little country church can provide. So far we have really enjoyed it and the congregation has been very welcoming!
Sophie is going to be 6 on Friday! Every time one of the kids has a birthday, it always amazes me how fast time goes by! We aren't planning on do much, Stephen is on nights, the weather is icky and school keeps us buys. She assures me that she is ok with not having a party as long as Heidi and I will take her to get her nails painted. I suppose I can swing that!
Stephen and I are busy planning our trip to El Paso TX/Mexico to get some of my teeth fixed. My head is starting to spin, with all the details that I need to keep track of on our end and then of course stressing out about leaving the kids for over a week. I know that my mom and Heidi will take excellent care of them, I am more worried about their stress level then the kids :)
I guess that's all for now, here's a few random shots of the last few weeks.
Mary and Sara actually being nice!

Gabe and Sophie waiting for the bus....