Fiona's First Pretties

Well I did it. I got Fiona's ears pierced. Deacon and I had decided a few years back that if we had another girl we would get her some earrings as an infant. I am sure some people would object and others just wouldn't do it to their own daughter that young. I had my ears pierced at three and so did Madeline. Here on the second day, I would say it is much easier when they are babies and pretty darn cute.

Raging Disease

On Friday I ran from destination to destination of both obligations and unexpected events. Sometimes I feel like I am spinning! One of the unexpected was a trip to see Dr. Grauke. I thought Ivan might have chicken pox, but it ended up being Impetigo. Unfortunately, I knew nothing about this that might help us. I have since learned that, "It is very contagious, " is somewhat of an understatement. I immediately instituted a DON'T TOUCH THE BABY rule. Shortly after that it had to change to DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING rule. Madeline showed up with four spots that mostly went away after 2 antibiotic treatments and Fiona Grace has two spots. Unfortunately for her, one on her face and one on her thumb-sucking hand. So...the baby is wearing little baby mittens and searching for alternatives to thumb sucking (like mitten covered fist sucking). Bodies are completely covered and we are doing the rotating of antibacterial baths and benedryl with 5 doses of antibiotic in between to the older kids. I tend to be overboard in the area of germs, so I am not sure how this snuck in, but I think it is on its way out again. Thank the Lord for doctors, washers, and bleach.

Ivan is the most cheerful sick kid in the world and pretty much refuses to be told he is sick. Notice his gloved hand. I like to call him the Rogue Master. He just wishes he were called Spiderman.

We all stayed home from church this morning. To make the atmosphere cheery we had Madeline make some special Menus. We had a 4-course breakfast including carrot-apple juice, fruit platter, fancy eggs and sausage, blueberry scones and tea or coffee. Deacon and I cooked together, which is always fun to me. He is the better breakfast cook (he made some awesome scones). After breakfast, we read some Narnia and headed back to bed. Even sick days can be good times to remember.

The Only Critter Left

Deacon's project lately has been to demolish the massive overgrown gardens in our yard. It started as my ambition, but ended quickly. I quit! I am not a fan of spiders, but have learned to breathe a little less heavy at their sight and put them in their place since I have little ones watching. However, I have not mastered the self composure that I would like to have someday at thousands of spiders. That is literally what we had in our yard. To add to the problem, they were Hobo Spiders that were mating. I am happy to say that my wonderful husband relieved me of this bother and has removed all of their homes, poisoned them to oblivion, and then fogged the crawl space and garage just to catch any stragglers. I think it is safe to say that we are well on our way to starting over in the area of gardens. There is little place to hide now in our dirt. We did find one little critter left.

If you look to the left of Deacon, you will notice no plants. Hallelujah! By the way, Ivan was not really as scared as he looks. He even touched it.

A Transformed Hallway

Here is an update on how things are moving along in the house. I never thought I could stare down a hallway in such delight. All the white paint makes me so happy.

The Biggest Show

For Labor day we trucked the kiddos up to St. Maries to see the biggest and best fireworks show ever. Deacon's uncle Russ is the one that heads up the show, so we always hear just how much bigger it will be every year. Last year we drove the hour and a half trip to the fair and arrived just before the fireworks. We ended up staying about 1 minute into the show. The kids lost it. This year, we prepared and had a fantastic time. We cuddled under some blankets with bellies full of funnel cake and greasy fries. I guess that is what the fair is all about. Somehow, Madeline and Ivan convinced Uncle Skyler to get them glow necklaces and even a snow cone. This year was a good memory!