medical update!

yay~!
so we all packed up this morning at 7:30 and headed to the urgent care in watkinsville and were the first through the door and i am soooo pleased to say it was the best experience there we've had!
(we went there once just before josh and i were leaving for england and the kids got stuffy noses...it was a saturday and i so didn't want esme on a plane feeling badly so off we went....the doctor was so spacy and then said "well, it isn't that big of a deal, it is only a 3 hour plane trip from atlanta to london...if even that" i was like "um, ok" )
anywho...there was a nurse practitioner who took her time with all of us...
and here is the conclusion
what started as a cold/cough over a month ago, turned into sinusitis and an ear infection is esme
and that's it...no enlarged tonsils, no strep and yes we are all on antibiotics...accept jack who has just walked sick-free through this all

after we arrived home the kids wanted to play doctor on me...
and then we pulled out the couch and the kids jumped everywhere...it was a lovely day....

making pizza

after our pizza outing the kids and i wanted to try a little version of our own =)
and of course they ate this one too =)
not all of it but a good bit anyway!

my throat

o my goodness!
it is 3 am and i have been awake since midnight...
bc my throat hurts AGAIN!~
and bc i am worried about my little esme
she has been unusually cranky these past couple weeks...
but then has such enduring moments of her happy silly self that i feel like everything is alright again
here's the thing....she wakes up at 5 am on the dot,,,i bring her into bed and sometimes she falls back asleep
but when she does, i listen to her breathing and it is LABORED and she tosses and turns and wakes up to cough
during the day i dont' notice any of this...
so it is easy to put out of my mind
and then josh and i
literally for going on 9 weeks we have had this on and off cough, on and off sore throat, scratchy voice, congestion of unmentionable color....
but it gets somewhat better and we feel like we are through it all and then
bam!
yesterday i was stripped of energy and my throat started this close up feeling again...

anyway...all this to say....tomorrow is a holiday! ahhg!
but i can't wait any longer (why have i waited so long anyway???)
i think we shall go to the "doc in the box" immediate care and get all checked out
i have been sorely amazed at the advice we have twice received from this place but goodness, all i really want to know is:
1. do we have strep?
2. does esme have enlarged adenoids?
3.  will an antibiotic fix this?

so, i am grately relieved at the decision to go ....so, now i can't sleep bc i am ready to go NOW!
ha!
nighttime can be such a strange time for the emotions...
everything can seem to closed in and a bit scary
honestly i totally understand why kids aren't super fans of the dark (though at mine's ages they dont' mind it at all thank goodness)

i am sure esme will be fine and i'd honestly be relieved if they said she needed her tonsils out...i think bc it would feel like we could really do something...bc bless her heart, she has been so upset lately...and it is so hard to not get frustrated with her ...and to think it could be bc she doesn't feel good!

and this is just a broad "i am so sorry"
i feel like there have been SO many phone calls and emails and just people in my life who i want/need to call and contact and friends who are going through so many things and i so want to be there to help!  my energy has just been so low the past couple months....not low enough to totally shut down (maybe that would have better =)) but in that place where i can do my little world but very small amounts outside of it. 

wow, what a ramble! 
i suppose i could keep going as i am already rambling along =)

chattanooga has sent out references for josh to the guys he placed on his list which is a great sign we think ....the next step if they want it would be to call him for an interview.  if this were to happen, the whole process would be finished by august as they start an academy which new recruits would have to attend in sept.  we are excited about the possibility and just awaiting the word!
meanwhile, josh is studying studying studying and about to start some carpentry for our friend david.  josh took the first phase of his clinical tests this past saturday and did great...he has 3 more test dates leading up to his big national final on the 12th of june...then he will be emt intermediate certified! yay!  he will have certainly earned it!

jack seems totally unphased by his coughing sore throaty family =)  he is SUCH a happy and kind natured child it is tearful for me to think about....just so easy and interested.  we have started reading a fairy tale book alina sent us (thank you alina!) with few pictures but lots of good story and these old tales don't skirt around ideas like death and being pursued and evil...it is fascinating to me how much our literary culture and probably our culture in overall has changed.
jack and the beanstalk's ogre eats little boys after boiling them in a big pot for breakfast
the sly fox ties up the 2 little pigs and seeks the life of the 3rd only to be thwarted by being "scalded to death" himself in a pot of boiling water
it is just interesting how tame we have become....
i am not sure that is bad...or good...it is just interesting to me
i do know that jack is riveted to the stories and asks all sorts of questions

we have also juuuust begun a book called the "story of the world"
a children's history book starting from the beginning and working its way through the ancients ...
recommended by a classical education book i've been reading...which the title has totally slipped my mind!

ok...i should try and get a bit more sleep before little ezpants gets up in a little bit
night night!

ahhh,,,, cob

scooting around the internet looking at cob homes...
i just get so inspired...certainly there is just a part of me that thinks cob, dreams cob and wants to have my hands in mud every so often like a person longs for the ocean or the mountains...
here are a few transcendental ones =)
this dutch site lists many awesome ones
and another back here in the states
and yet still more fun homes here
and check out this lovely earthen floor
o what dreams!!!!

shucking and eating corn

2 of the kids new favorite pasttimes

pizza buffet

as kids we used to go to a pizza buffet complete with dessert pizza =)
and i have been eyeing this mama sids on the east side for ages..
yesterday we all went out for an early dinner and it was sooo fun!
we sat in the window per jack's request
and the kids eat for $1
and the buffet is $6 for adults but i ate only 3 pieces which was plenty so they charged me half bc i didn't eat a lot!
salads are $1.45
we felt like we were in the 90's somewhere!
complete with bon jovi (i went to his concert eons ago =)), deaf leopard and michael jackson on the radio..
it was such fun
and they just told us to let them know what kind of pizza we wanted up there...so i had spinach and pepper, mushroom and pineapple =)

bird medical supplies

my friend holly's daughter ryn broke her leg!
and loves birds...
so the kids and i made her a little fix it box...
the kids were just as white as the box when we were finished painting =)

watermelons!!!

we bought a great big watermelon today for $5
and came home and devoured half of it on the porch within minutes =)
jack then found his long lost hat and i just had to make sure it was off before he went to bed =)
and esme cleaned up in the sink while i cooked dinner which was a bunch of corn on the cob!

i remember so well, my friend jenny in college bringing a BUNCH of corn home from a trip to her south georgia hometown and she and i cooked i and literally ate about 10 ears a piece with butter and salt....
it is still one of my favorite meals to date that i can remember =)
i am so glad the kids like it too =)

sp for space helmet

little bear's space helmet

jack loves the stories of little bear
and a box came yesterday (thank you grace! our reliv is here!)
and jack said "hey, that looks like little bear's space helmet"
so this morning, we turned it into one!
and acted out the little story =)
esme also wanted a helmet and "gear"
so we put on old jackets which they were so proud of...and pretended to be floating in space =)

putting on a play

yesterday mallisa, jack and esme put on a play....
the dragon (jack) attached the stuffed animals (played by themselves) and then nurse esme and doctor mallisa came and tended the wounded.
we had paper casts on burt and ernie and checked the heart of pig =)
and poor minnie suffered a broken nose
but all was healed quickly at the mention of sugar cookies ready for munching =)

lyndon house

we stopped by the art museum in town but alas, they were switching our exhibits, we we just played in the magnolias for a while.
i remember in college, climbing way up in one on north campus and stowing a picnic
and then after class, asking my study partner to come for a picnic instead of studying =)
and we climbed up and ate while we watched everyone below....
those trees are SO easy to climb...i would love to have a great big fat one in the front yard for the kids

dough we can eat!

we made some sugar cookie "o's"
to make words =)
and then painted our moons and made a mobile =)
which i have never made one before and it was really not that easy to make the thing level!

salt dough

yesterday the kids and i talked about how "oo"says oooooooo
and focused on the moon =)
we mixed 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of water...
and made many moons =)
which really, we just played and played and then eventually made some round blobs and called them moons and i made some new moons =)
then we baked at 250 for 2 hours and painted them~
malissa, our neighbor was here by then so she joined in too

which is probably a story for another day....
she is truly such a sweet girl and i have such a big space in my heart for her...
but maybe doesn't have the same boundaries given to her...and so is here a lot....
and now that school is out....sometimes a lot a lot
the kids love her and they play well together...very much on jack's level...
but i definitely want to always be present while they play...so i drop whatever we are doing and mold it around an activity or like yesterday she could just paint with us....
anywho....i really need to figure this out....
i love being a safe place for her i just need a little more space....

i think this is the bottom line for me...
i can be "alone" with jack and esme....they are extensions of myself so even if i am tired or not feeling great or just full of stuff that needs to be accomplished...watering animals, laundry, dinner, cleaning pens...whatever...i can do it alongside them with most of the time ease
but throw in another person, and i feel the need to be entertaining, chatting, ....

hmmm....will think on this more...