Fever, art work, night lights and near-death experiences...

Whew! Another week has passed and all members of The Ballard Household are accounted for! Truth be told, I'm just glad for that simple fact! Here's a bit of a recap of how we spent the last days of September and the first few of - - my favorite month of the whole year! - - October.





For the last month, we have all been passing around some sort of horrible cold/flu. As soon as it seems it's dying down, someone gets it again and the cycle continues. Luckily, for the most part, it does seem to be a lesser version of the same sickness every time it cycles around. So, we are headed for complete recovery soon! (knock on wood)


The exception would be poor Ben...this last week he was SO sick for a few days. What started as a mild fever and sluggishness Sunday afternoon turned into a very miserable high fever by Sunday evening. Over the next couple of days, he battled it out while I held him and did everything I could think of to keep him comfortable and help his little body fight it off. (I spent most of this time sweating myself, he was so very hot) I told my sister I felt like Anne when she nurses Diana's baby sister back to health . . . but anyway . . .

He got to feeling better, finally started eating again and, after a couple of days, let me put him down for a minute or two to rest my arms!! The older two were troopers, just like they were when I was so sick, being content with weeding through the day old piles of toys on the playroom floor, eating things that could be prepared with only one hand (other arm holding a curled-up, whimpering version of Ben)...by the way, those meals were also eaten on the playroom floor...and watching LOTS and LOTS of Blue's Clues, Jack's Big Music Show, Barney, Signing Time and Sesame Street. I used to stress a lot about not letting them watch too much TV, and perhaps I still do somewhat...but after this last month of everyone being sick on and off, it has become quite the tool in keeping everyone happy and entertained.

Here are Bethany and James, enjoying some time together, watching Sesame Street, while Mom is busy keeping Ben happy. They were so cute; Bethany kept saying, "Mommy, how's Ben doing now?" and James would just stare at Ben draped across my chest, whining and sniffling and say, "Ben not feel good, Mommy?"

After a couple of days, when he was back on his feet, but still quite sensitive and fussy, we tried to cheer him up with some dress up and dancing (um...we only have girl dress up clothes as of yet). He wasn't having it.
One night, after everyone was finally asleep and I was cleaning up in the playroom, I found something James had done to amuse himself...another animal on the time-out spot. This time, not the cat but a small plastic ostrich. I'm not sure what he did to deserve to be there, but I'm sure James was fair in his choice of discipline.

In the midst of all the sickness, and also because of just where I'm at in my general progress as a Mom, I'm focusing a lot lately on how we eat. I am happy to say that I have had the presence of mind to think and plan more for our meals and snacks and, as a result of that and much research, a lot less junk is going into our bodies these days! It's a good feeling...no, a GREAT feeling to know that I am trying to give my family the very best in order to take care of our bodies and set ourselves up for a healthy journey through this crazy world! Far from perfect, but we had a pretty good week in that regard. Makes me happy.

Here's James, enjoying a snack.

Bubbles makes everyone feel better. Especially half-naked.

...who said that?...
More restful time for everyone.
Once Ben had his appetite back, he REALLY had it back. Here he is, devouring part of a muffin. Just plopped down and went at it.
Then, with newfound energy, he decides to take the rest of it to go.And apparently expected me to clean up the mess he left behind . . .


...which he blamed on the cat.

At some point during the week, JC and I found ourselves both working on something or other in the office and after a few minutes, I decided I better check on the kids in the playroom.

Fantastic. Aren't they creative?

(Sometimes I think they color on things they know they're not supposed to on purpose because they actually enjoy the clean-up process. They each get their own little Magic Eraser and sing the clean-up song...hmm...sounds a bit more like a party than a punishment...well, for a two and three-year-old.)

One afternoon, in an attempt to reward the older kids for being so patient with Ben and I, I let them play with the coveted chalkboard/whiteboard easel. Bethany called me over and asked me what I thought she had drawn.

Hmm...it's very nice. I think it looks a bit heart-shaped.

No, Mom, look closely at the bottom where there is a little bit of a round thing.

Hmmm...give me a hint?

It's a hen laying an egg!

Wow...it sure is.

Later that evening, JC stepped out for a bit to help his mom out with one of the many exciting household projects she has going on right now. When the kids and I were downstairs getting pajamas on, Bethany came up to me and informed me that while I was dressing Ben, she and James had agreed to trade nightlights.

Since when do they...agree?

But, sure enough, upon entering her room, there was James' nightlight, shining away against her pink wall.
And hers was looking quite at home, lighting up her brother's room with the soft glow of flowers and buterflies.

Since when do they make arrangements like this without grownups involved? (Though, of course, this did warrant a stern talking-to about plugging or unplugging things. This actually would require a grownup's participation, but aside from that...I was quite amused.)

That evening, Bethany also came across a baby doll she had lost quite some time ago. I asked her if, now that she had found her, she would like to give her a name. (She has recently started naming her animals and dolls...most of them are named after my cousin, Emily.)

She thought for just a short minute...then her face lit up and, with a big smile, looked at me and said

"Donald!"

Donald it is.

James, sharing the excitement in the return of the baby now known as Donald.

Ben, making his presense very known. He was tired of me taking pictures of a baby doll.

Then, he was just...tired.

Now, for a REALLY fun story.

Friday morning I promised the kids we could play outside in the water after naptime. JC has a half-day at work on Fridays and it had been quite some time since we had all spent some outdoor time together. I thought it sounded nice and the kids were very excited since we had been especially dormant this week.

After naptime, we got everyone into some waterplay-worthy clothes and headed out front. The weather was decent, the grass was nice and long and soft...it was due to be cut the next morning...Saturday morning yardwork, JC's favorite thing. :) Anyway, we had noticed a wasp or two around our house during the summer and JC had always tried to get rid of them, and I tried to not accidentally let one into the house (failed). Well, this time, JC had had quite enough and went to investigate/kill when he saw one buzzing around the HUGE bush in our front yard. Exciting news! He notices a nest.

GREAT.

I herd the kids back inside, trying to explain to them why I am going back on my promise of playing outside right now. But, maybe we still can later.

Upon further investigation/killing, JC discovers there are TWO nests. And, as he's spraying them, counts over thirty wasps falling to our grass. Sorry kids, no front yard play time. Maybe later we can play in the backyard.

More wasps emerge. Fly away into the back yard.

NO water play today.

Crying kids.

More wasps.

Crying Mandy.

More wasps.

Calling pest control guy.

I still get shivers thinking about it all.

Here is our hero, the pest control guy, attacking our big bush in a bee suit, less than an hour later.

Here is a nest full of eggs that he pulled out. Apparently, the white is eggs and the non-white is...no longer eggs but live wasps living in our bush.

And, here is what was existing in our big bush. All summer.

I hate looking at these pictures. I can't stop itching. DEEsgusting.

So, after we got over the initial shock of "Oh my gosh, this was in our front yard, I can no longer live in this house" (Okay, that was just me), we moved on to "Oh my gosh, we are so lucky none of us stumbled into that bush and got stung" and then on to "Holy cow, we're lucky none of us got stung hundreds of times in succession and sent into cardiac arrest." Which THEN got us thinking about how JC had every intention of trimming back that bush the next morning. Which would have...not ended well. That realization went from being funny to downright anxiety-attack inducing within a few seconds and we spent the rest of the evening feeling very grateful that we are watched over.

P.S. The bush is coming out.

The next morning, JC went about yardwork, touching NO bushes in the process. After he mowed the lawn, I wandered onto the back balcony to take a picture of my garden. Well, so far it's just an empty corner and a compost tumbler. But, hey, baby steps, right? Someday my vision will come to life. For now...

My Compost Tumbler, finally getting used. We are just starting our composting in hopes of building up some rich soil by the time I am ready to start keeping up a garden. JC made fun of me for taking this picture.

"Are you seriously taking a picture to remember the first day we put something in the tumbler?"

"No."

Pause.

Stare.

Try to think of any other reason for taking a picture of the most desolate corner of our property...

JC's eyebrows go up, waiting.

"Yes."

(Come on, hon, are you really surprised? Don't we have like, half a roll of film from when I used my KitchenAid for the first time?)

Bethany being silly with a box of 101 cookie cutters I bought for fifteen dollars at Hobby Lobby. Notice there is no longer cookie cutters in the box. ALL over the kitchen floor. How else are the kids supposed to choose one to shape their sandwiches at lunchtime?

Saturday, we attempted some outside time at a greenbelt across the street from our house. Darby, Bethany's faithful canine friend joined us, as did James' Cat...you can see it down in the corner.

When some real live canine friends from the neighborhood stopped to say hello, Bethany got a little nervous about their excited barking and stood off in the distance, letting James take in all the yappy, slobbery attention.

Ben sure enjoyed himself...he was obviously not walking last time we had cool walk-to-the-greenbelt-and-play weather, so he has a lot of catching up to do this fall!

So...there's our week in a nutshell. And then, of course, there was conference this weekend. AND, for the first time in a long time, we actually got to hear some of it! Woohoo! I can't wait to read up on the parts we missed while changing diapers, settling disputes and all the many other things that don't allow for a completely peaceful conference weekend. But, that's what this phase of life is all about, right?
I'll take it.
Bugs and all.