Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you've probably noticed that my posts over the summer have been pretty sporadic and at times almost non-existent.  The reason for that was just simply that it was summer.  I told myself that I was not going to waste away the time I had with both of my kids home sitting in from of the computer all day, and I didn't.

We really had a fun summer.  We visited family in Louisiana, we read lots of books and went to fun children's programs at the library nearly every week, had a steady stream of visitors from home, and did a lot of splashing in the back yard pool.   We also enjoyed my husband having a whole entire month of not having to work 2 jobs.  It was such a blessing having him home.  For some reason, when he is home we all get pretty laid back.  It's a good thing to be at times, but we were all getting a little too comfortable with being slackers around here.

The week before school started (3 weeks ago), I decided it was high time I whipped this family back into shape.   We hung up chore charts, cleaned, got everything ready and planned out for school to start, cleaned some more, filled the freezer with some breakfasts and lunches, cleaned a little more, and started counting down the days until school began.  My oldest was going to first grade and she was beyond excited to go back.

The night we met the teacher came, and my oldest began running a fever.   This was Friday.  School started Monday.   She was still running a fever all day Saturday, and my three year old got one that day, too.  She was sooooooo worried she was going to have to miss the first day of school.   She went so far as to ask me if she could just hold an ice pack to her head and cool it off so she could still go.   Most kids are wanting to fake sick, and mine is trying to fake well!

Well thankfully Sunday morning her fever had broken and she felt fine all day.   Her little sister did not.  She still had her fever, and she said her stomach hurt and hardly touched any food all day.  That evening as I picked her up and put her in her chair at the dinner table, she begin throwing up.   The poor baby threw up 7 times within about 3 hours.

In the middle of her being sick, we got a call from my husband's cousin who lives in the New Orleans area.  She was planning to evacuate before Isaac hit and wanted to come to our house.   I didn't mind a bit, but she  has three kids (7, 3 and 9 months) and I was worried they would get sick with whatever was going around here (they didn't!).   My husbands parents were also coming up (they'd planned their trip a month ago, and it just so happened to coincide with when they should have been leaving anyhow!)

So, school started Monday, and Tuesday his cousin arrived, and Wednesday his parents arrived.   We had 6 extra people and 2 extra dogs in the house, but we all had a wonderful time.   I'm actually very glad for the time our kids got to spend together, as they have never really gotten a chance to get to know these distant cousins, and they all had a blast playing together.

The cousins left on Saturday when their power was finally restored, and the grandparents stayed through Friday since his job still had no power, and I needed a sitter on Thursday while I went to a dental appointment, so it was perfect!

So, after a full 11 days of houseguests, things are finally back to normal around here.   Now I'm not complaining about having guests  AT ALL.  We actually love having family and friends visit.   It's just that we love it so much we just spend all of our time visiting and not doing much else.   Today is a lovely, cool Saturday, and we've been hard at work around here trying to whip the house back into shape.

So now its time to get back into some of our normal school year routines, and I'm hoping that means that I can be a bit more consistent with my posting on here.   I've got some ideas, and I'm working on a plan for how to carry them out, and once I've got that all squared away I will let you all know about it.

Thank you for bearing with me during this busy season of life as a parent and of being a native Louisianian.  Rest assured that I am still around and will still be posting as I am able as I get back into the swing of school year life.  It's been a pretty unusual first two weeks of school and the kids are still missing their visitors and playmates.  Getting them back into their routine and daily schedule is going to be a task, but I know it's what they both need at the moment, as do I.  So, wish me luck, and hang in there with me.   I'll be back on a normal posting schedule hopefully within the week!