A Glimpse of our Week...

We started our week in a bit of a downward spiral. Remember our Day-O-Fun? Well it ended very late Friday night with all three kids piled into my bed. Daddy was away for 7 days.

That is 7 consecutive, 24-hour periods without a Daddy. No husband. My deadbolt checking, trash-takin' (not talkin'....most days), car-pool drivin', hard-workin', best friend person who lives here. He was gone and last Friday night was our first night flying solo.

So the kids and I consoled one another in the big bed until....ummm..about 3:30 a.m.

That was when Samuel began to whine and kick violently about how hungry he was and how he wanted some milk.

Now you might think that this problem could have been solved swiftly with a cold glass of milk and a pat on the back. But I am wise.

I am wise to the ways of my four-year old boy and his need for MIIIILLLKKK in the middle of the night. It means one thing and only one thing.

The "Fro-ups" are on their way.

I prayed. I whimpered. I curled up in a ball and pretended everything would be okay while he tossed and turned and begged for liquid.

I gave him a tiny drink of water, prayed for the best, but prepared for the worst.

Just about the time I was dreaming about some far-off rumbling in the forest, I realized that the rumble was coming from my son and was followed by a loud belch.

And here's where I put my many years of "Fro-up" experience to work....

Grab boy. Carry him by the waist (body facing outward). Swing him round and round my bedroom in the dark because at the very moment someone begins to throw-up I lose all sense of direction.

WHERE IS MY BATHROOM????

Okay. Figured that out. Managed to contain most (most is not all) in the bathroom or in my hands (again...only the experts can handle this kind of multi-tasking) and I shouted to the girls (who were in a coma) to GET OUT MY ROOM, SANITIZE YOUR HANDS, AND GO BACK TO BED.

Samuel and I spent the rest of the wee morning hours waiting for the next episode of the "Fro-ups" but mercifully it only came once more. The most difficult part of that session was trying to convince him to actually wake-up during the process because it made the whole situation much less messy.

Who sleeps while they are throwing up?

Here is my recipe for killing the stomach virus. It may not work for everybody, but I am telling you that our track record is quite astounding. No virus has every stayed in this house (in one body) for more than 12-24 hours.

I starved him for a solid 5-6 hours (most of that was sleeping time). No liquid whatsoever and then a tablespoon of Sprite (or pear concentrate juice from the can) once every 20 minutes. After a few doses and no spewing I introduce one salty cracker.

Oh, the joy from that one little cracker.

Remember, not two crackers. Just one. I continue the Sprite but in very small increments (like 1/4 cup) and I space it out by about 20 minutes adding a saltine here and there. After two hours of this kind of torture I am hopeful that the child will be exhausted and be ready for a nap. That buys a couple of more hours of stomach rest and by the time they wake up I can usually introduce a small glass of sprite with a couple of crackers and based on all that scientific evidence I decide whether the child can actually have food or not.

If any Fro-ups occur during this process, I start the whole thing over.

Samuel was eating and back to normal by the end of the day.

Thank you Jesus.

We stayed home from church Sunday morning just to be sure, because the "Fro-up" disclosure is a big deal around my circle of friends and we just don't take chances like that.

When another child sits next mine and says, "Oh, yeah and pray for me cause I threw up this morning at breakfast!"

Well...it does not evoke the love of Christ in my heart, I'll tell you that much.

O.K., so we were better and able to gather together for our Fall Fellowship at Kelly's house and had a wonderful time! Hay rides, apple bobbing, horseback riding, pumpkin painting and food.

Food. Like chicken & dumplings. Hello? Is it my birthday?

I LOVE CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS.

Needless to say the evening was perfection. Basically, if I could have sat in a hole somewhere with the crockpot of chicken & dumplings it would have been perfection but I suppose the added bonus of fellowship didn't hurt.











We missed Daddy a bunch, but we continued on with our studies and activities. We completed our experiment on chemical reaction and made a salt-dough map of Upper & Lower Egypt.










We are in the process of having an addition built-on to our house. We made this decision after a long period of weighing the pros and cons of moving. We couldn't really justify needing more bedrooms (for the cost) because our children spend the majority of their time downstairs (especially when they are small) so we opted for this extra space. It will serve as a playroom/guestroom and will include a full bath totaling about 500 square feet. It opens up off of the homeschool room so I can stir both pots at one time. We are excited about the prospect of more room but right now the idea of a toilet in our front yard has proven to be exciting all by itself.

Samuel swears it smells like candy. He is going to be mighty disappointed once he takes a gander at what is actually inside. (he doesn't actually swear)


We went for a very long stretch without rain here in Virginia (almost two months) and wouldn't you know that the very day construction began it started to rain buckets....for days. This did not deter Samuel Mr. Incredible from trying to advance the job himself.





After a long weekend of soppy wetness, the workers showed up yesterday morning with equipment!









Oh...and Daddy is back. (big sigh)