Summer bugs

Last week my kids came down with their first illnesses in quite a long time. Not sure what it was exactly, but Clover was totally wiped out for about a half a day. Catatonic. Not speaking a word. Not moving. Her nose was totally stopped up and she had a thick, barking cough, on top of a fever. So I hustled out to the vitamin store and got a bottle of oregano oil to try on her. Once we got back to the car with our stuff I slathered her feet and chest with that stuff, laid hands on that little girl and prayed for her, and then headed home.

 

I don't really know what happened between there and home, but by the time we pulled into our driveway she wanted to run out into the grass and play. Her coughing really improved too. By the next day her fever was gone and all that was left was a clear running nose and a post-nasal drip cough. I knew she was doing better when she had the energy to run away from me during morning dressing time.... That nose will not stop running though. Even now. Violet also started coming down with the bug after Clover, but not even close to as bad. I had already started dosing her with this and that, and she still has immunity from nursing, so she just got a stuffy nose.

The kids needed fresh air and were bouncing off the walls at home mid-week, even though they were still sick. The grass here is swarming with mosquitoes and gnats, and it's totally disgusting. My ankles are chewed to death, and the girls have bites all over the place. So to avoid the grass, I took the kids to the wildlife refuge (which is pretty hilarious being sandwiched between a grocery store and a toll road) down the road to run around. 

 

Violet is so funny. She has been wearing the Lorax mustache that came in the blu-ray we gave her for her birthday on her head. 

Clover is prepared. Snot rag. Dolly. Carrot. 

 

 We actually took two trips to the refuge last week since I couldn't take them to the library or to play with friends, and I figured the playgrounds would be filled with mosquitoes and kids who probably don't want our germs. On the first trip we took a long walk around it and saw some ducks, fish, and turtles. 

 

As soon as we got to the refuge the next day, Clover said she had to poop. There is no bathroom there, and I made her try to go before we left, so I just.....monitored the situation. Carefully. Then as we rounded a corner we saw a bench. Violet ran towards it and started yelling about poop. What sat there was very VERY reminiscent of human poop. For real. Then to put the cherry on top of the dung pie, Violet pooped in her diaper a couple of minutes later. The power of suggestion, I suppose. 

So we had to leave quicker than I had anticipated.  

Monday has started off to an uneven start, with Clover's attitude needing some redirecting several times and Violet severely grumpy from her stuffy nose robbing her of sleep. I do have a finished project to share though, and another in the works. Plus I'm almost done making a curtain for my neighbor. My first curtain! Of course I didn't really tell her that I had never made a curtain before, but I think it should turn out fine.....hopefully?