Fun At The Farm

Noah was really sad that Daddy had to go to North Dakota on business last week. And, I really don't like staying by myself. (How did I cope for those 3 years of living solo?) Anyhow, I decided that Daddy's business trip made a perfect excuse for the munchkins and I to head to Grandma and Grandpa's farm.

Grandpa was off on Thursday, and Grandma took a vacation day on Friday, so we had lots of company and play time.

The munchkins were awake by 6:00 on Thursday morning, and we headed out the door by 8:00. Other than a brief stop in Joplin for coffee(for me) and a restroom break (for the munchkins) , it was a speedy trip over.

We had lunch with Grandpa and then Noah and Nathan took turns doing some schoolwork with me. Then, the munchkins all spent the early afternoon riding the four-wheeler with Grandpa. After that, it was off for a nature walk in "Grandpa's forest". We saw deer and raccoon tracks, caught a spotted salamander, collected wildflowers, learned about oak galls, found "real live poison ivy" which Rosie proceeded to stomp through, collected acorns and oak leaves and looked at the new trees that were coming up under the parent ones, gathered some turkey feathers, looked at some wood ants working, watched some spiders spinning webs, and brought back lots of "treasures".

Grandma was arriving home just as we got back to the house, and the farm was promptly invaded by wild Indians. Thanks to Grandpa's collection of turkey feathers and Grandma's collection of face paint, these wild Indians really were able to get into the spirit of things.

Such fun! And, such a mess! Grandpa gave the munchkins grape soda and ice cream, so Mommy figured that we had better go find something really active to do for a while to wear off the sugar. So, we took the wild Indians to the creek for a couple of hours. Then, it was back to the farm for a hot dog roast, baths, cartoons with Grandpa, and bed.

At bedtime, Noah was a little offended, because Nathan got to sleep in my bed. Noah had decided that with Daddy gone he needed to be "the man of the house". He kept saying, "But Daddy's not here, and you need a man in your bed". Oh my goodness! He couldn't understand why I was laughing so hard and my face turning so pink.

The next morning, Grandpa left for work, and Noah and I sat down to some schoolwork. Grandma decided that we needed to bake cookies for our picnic, so Nathan and Grandma made cookies. It is infinitely more fun to make cookies at Grandma's house, because when Grandma asks what kind of cookies everyone wants and Noah says sugar cookies and Nathan says Rice Krispy treats, Grandma says okay and makes both!

We had been planning on a field trip to the Springfield Zoo, but the munchkins REALLY wanted to go back to the creek instead. There was much pleading to go back to the water, so in the end, we packed a picnic and drove to one of the State Parks that has good access to the White River.

It was overcast but nice and warm, and we had a great time. Noah is just in awe of the bluffs around the river.

We picnicked, collected some shells from the beach area, looked at wildflowers, visited with the park ranger (Noah has decided that working as a park ranger might just be the best job ever), and then jumped into the water.

Last year Rosie threw a fit if you tried to get her in the creek, but she has a great time now!

I caught several crawdads, which Noah and Rosie were finally brave enough to touch. I couldn't convince any of the munchkins to hold it, although Noah spent a long time trying to convince Rosie that she should hold it!

As I mentioned, Rosie really enjoys playing in the river now! I did have to promise her that there were no alligators or crocodiles, though!

As it was just Grandma and I, we didn't take the munchkins out into the deep parts, but the water was still running at a pretty good pace. Once, Nathan didn't do a good job of listening and fell down out where I had told him not to go. The water was running pretty swiftly, and he got carried downstream until I jumped in and grabbed him. (Don't worry, it couldn't have carried him very far. Around the bend, it calmed right down and got really shallow and he would have stopped). But, it gave him a good scare, and was a good lesson for him. It also gave me a thoroughly soaked pair of clothes, but oh well.
After that, he did a much better job of staying up in the calm shallows or on the beach. He found some great rocks. In the end, I only allowed him to carry one shoe-box full of rocks home with him. If he had his way, there would be no rocks left in Missouri; they'd all be in my backyard.

Here he is with his "alligator rock". It actually does look a lot like an alligator, and we brought it home with promises to paint it this summer. It is currently living in the garage. He was a little put out with me, because I have refused to let him sleep with it.

We spent about 4 hours playing in the water, then drove back to the farm, grabbed a quick shower, and headed to town. We picked up a couple of pizzas and took them to have supper with Grandpa. The munchkins had a lot of fun with the EMT's and paramedics. Noah got to play a game of pool with Grandpa, and they got to go look inside the ambulances and turn on the lights.

And, between the nature walk, the exploring at the creek and river, and then a trip to the ambulance barn, I can book 3 field trips in my school calendar!

Long Time, No Blog

Just a quick note to say that we're all okay. Just busy. It seems that anytime I have a few spare minutes I'm on the computer, but now, instead of blogging or other such fun stuff, I'm studying and doing online course-work.

The kids' school is almost finished (3 weeks to go), so we are trying to stay dedicated to that and finish well. I am amazed at how much Noah has learned this year! Nathan is sooo close to just taking off and reading solo; I think the only thing stopping him is his thinking that he can't. Rosie-well, Rosie is Rosie. There hasn't been much book learning for her this Spring; we seem to spend most of our time focusing on behavior issues. But, at this stage, that is what is most important, and if we can iron out some of the obedience/listening/showing off issues, then she will be a much better student once we really need to start formal school.

Other than that, it has been vegetable gardening, flower gardening, Spring cleaning, ordering next years' curriculum (so excited about it!), trying to get Gareth to join me in some regular exercise, a night out with my bestest friends for a break, and now gearing up to cater our church's Senior Banquet next week-end. Definitely no time to be bored; barely enough time to breathe currently.

Gareth is out of town for the rest of the week on business, so the munchkins and I are going to pack up our schoolwork and head for Grandma and Grandpa's farm. I'll try to get some good pictures and have something to psot that you'll actually want to see when we get back.

Nathan Update

I've had e-mails from several of you, so thought I ought to post a quick Nathan update.

Spoke to the nurse from our Dr.s office yesterday. Nathan's bloodwork for tick-related illnesses all came back negative! These tests are not 100 % accurate, but it is a good start. Unfortunately, his lymph nodes haven't changed, and he still has pea-sized knots running down the left side of his neck. Thankfully, he doesn't have any other symptoms of illness. After a consult with the Dr., I was offered a round of amoxicillin to have a stab at treating whatever it is that Nathan's body is trying to fight. But, for now, I have turned it down. We have absolutely no idea if what he has is viral or bacterial, so no way to know if the amoxicillin would be effective. And, antibiotics are a great thing, but I don't like to use them unless absolutely necessary. So, for now, we will continue to watch him closely and give him another couple of weeks to see if the lymph nodes resolve themselves. With some viral illnesses, it isn't uncommon for lymph nodes to remain swollen for 3-4 weeks. And, as he has no other symptoms, his body must be doing a good job of fighting off whatever it is.

If the swelling hasn't resolved within a couple of weeks(or if he develops other symptoms), then it will be back to the Dr.s office for more bloodwork. But, for now, I'll just keep an eye on him; which he will be absolutely unthankful for! He is definitely sick of Mommy palpating his neck every evening.

A Message From Nathan

Setting the scene: While we were visiting the farm 2 weeks ago, Nathan got a small hard lump at the base of his skull. As he had been out playing in the woods and picked up several bug bites and a couple of tick bites, I wasn't too surprised, and have just been keeping an eye on it. At first, he just complained that it itched, but by last week-end he began to complain that it was sore. It developed into a sore spot, and yesterday another small lump began to form underneath it. By last night, Nathan had developed "pea-sized" knots running down the left side of his neck through his lymph nodes. Needless to say, Mommy was concerned and we visited the Doctor first thing this morning.

The Doctor had a good look and a poke around. He agreed that his lymph nodes were swollen and after checking found more lymph nodes throughout his body swollen up. Then, we agreed that it might be just a virus, but that as he had a couple of tick bites, we should have some bloodwork done to rule out Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Nathan was such a trooper! I told him that we needed to have some blood drawn and that it would hurt a little bit like when you get a shot, but that it wouldn't last for long and I would hold him while the phlebotomist took his blood. Nathan promptly assured me that the sore wasn't that sore and the peas in his neck didn't hurt, so we should probably just go home.

But, we didn't go home, and having assured him that this was really important, he said "okay" and crawled up into my lap for tickles. When they called his name, he took my hand, marched right into the lab, crawled up into my lap, let them have his arm, turned his head so he couldn't see the needle go in, and didn't even flinch when they stuck him. Then, he turned his head back and watched the blood going into the tubes with big eyes and open mouth. The phlebotomists and I were suitably impressed with his bravery, and so was he. He was feeling so brave and grown-up that he informed the phlebotomist that he didn't need a sticker afterwards.

Anyhow, all of that is just background, and this blog post is really supposed to be about a message that Nathan said I should put on the blog. So, without further ado, Nathan's message:

I was pretty brave, and I didn't even look. It was a little scary, but it didn't really hurt much. I just didn't even look. And, it's a good thing my blood wasn't green, cause that would have meant I was an alien. But it wasn't green; it was red. So, they know I'm not an alien, I'm a boy. And, I was really brave, so I got to have a drink at Sonic, and I'm going to get a pick out of Mommy's treasure chest. It doesn't really hurt now, not even a little bit. Okay, that's all.