Health update

Just a quickie, in case you're wondering about our sicknesses. Sarah hasn't had a fever all day. She ate a good lunch and took a very long nap, but her cough came back this afternoon and she's just sort of puny. I left for 20 minutes to take dinner to Debbie's family (they're remodeling their kitchen - how exciting!), and when I got back she was crying for me. She's definitely not herself yet. I'm still not sure if she'll go to school tomorrow. Her teacher told me that once of the kindergarten classes was missing 1/2 of its students today due to the stomach virus!
Perry feels puny too but so far his symptoms aren't too bad. Which is good, because I haven't been very nurturing today!

Sick AGAIN

Poor Sarah is sick again this week. Fever and sore throat. I took her in for a swab, because there have been 4 cases of strep on our street in the past week, plus one case of pneumonia. Once again, it's viral. This afternoon she developed a barking cough, so I asked the doctor to call in some cough medicine to help me her sleep. Having a sick child home from school is exhausting, and I'm sure she'll be home again tomorrow. To top it off, Perry just told me that he has chills and thinks his throat is sore. Great. Just great.
Ooh - I just read that and realized how bitter and unsympathetic I sound! I don't mean to sound that way, really I don't. I'm sorry. I'll work on it!

Q: Why was Ginger's face pink?

A: Because Sarah opened the fingernail polish while holding Ginger, and the brush got on Gingey. Crisis? Definitely. Crisis averted? Of course! A little polish remover, a few well-hidden scissor snips, and a bit of soap to mask the smell, and Ginger was (almost) as good as new. For those of you who don't know, Ginger is Sarah's one and only stuffed animal friend. Her bed partner, her comfort on a bad day, her security blanket when something is scary. So fingernail polish on Ginger was bad...very, very bad. I didn't even have the heart to scold Sarah for opening the polish without me, because I knew it was a lesson she had learned the hard way. I wish I'd taken a picture, but I immediately went into emergency management mode when I saw the problem, and didn't think of the camera until much later. Trust me though...she was pink.

Scarecrows in the Garden

Perry had a conference today, so the girls and I took a picnic to Aldridge Gardens to see the Scarecrows in the Gardens. A funny story about the duck statue - Sarah asked me what the ducks' names were in the duck book. I said "Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Oack, Pack, and Quack." She said, "I'm going to give them my own names: Buck, Cuck, Duck, F-" Well, you get the idea. Funny.
It was a gorgeous day - we walked around and found their teachers' scarecrows. Sarah's class did Head Over Heels for Kindergarten - so cute with the upside-down scarecrow and all the little scarecrow kids. Abby's class did Pinocchio - adorable! Then we found a nice shady spot for our picnic. After we ate, we finished looking at the scarecrows then the girls decided we should take a little hike around the lake. Abby found a side trail up into the woods, and we all enjoyed the exercise. We topped it all off with a trip to Ben & Jerry's.

Forgive me for yet another slideshow. It was just a great photo-op day.

Cultural Pursuits

Art, music, and theatre, oh my! Perry and I took the girls to the Bluff Park Art Festival this morning. We walked around and looked at the art, some of which was really awesome (if I still had my Vegas condo, I definitely would have bought something today). Then we listened to some great jazz performed by my smart and talented nephews, Logan and Justin (and the rest of the kids in their bands, too!). They both play saxophones, just like their Aunt Janet. Logan plays the tenor, and Justin plays bari sax in the jazz band but alto in symphonic and marching (he actually plays MY sax, which makes me so proud). They sounded great and it made me wish I hadn't quit playing.

This afternoon, Carrie and I took our 3 girls to the Birmingham Children's Theatre (downtown) to see Rapunzel. It was a good show - not spectacular, but a good performance. There were only 6 actors, and I think it's a complicated story (there was a lot of dialogue about why she was locked in the tower, and why she's named Rapunzel, etc., all of which went way over the girls' heads), but the actor playing Igor stole the show. He was hilarious. After the show the actors were available for autographs and pictures, but only Abby would get near them, and she would only see Rapunzel.

A Gazillion Great Pics

Like I said, I took a lot of pics at the farm. Over 200, I think. But here are some of the highlights (less than 50!)

Old Baker Farm

Today we went on a field trip to Old Baker Farm in Harpersville. It was fun, hot, dirty, and exhausting! The farm has been in the Baker family for over 200 years, and they grow cotton, pumpkins, and Christmas trees, plus they have lots of animals. I have a gazillion great pics, so I'll have to do a slide show, but for now I'll just post this one really great pic. This is Mr. Baker, one of 14 siblings, the grandfather of the farm now, who will be 100 in January. He's a little hard of hearing, and he's using a walker right now because he hurt his knee in the fields last week, but other than that he's still going strong. The kids loved him, and I think he loves the kids.

When your bottom touches...

Today I helped at school. I was in Abby's classroom waiting for time to go to the computer lab (somehow I've been labeled the computer expert, which really cracks me up, but so far I've been able to handle the technological needs of the kindergarten teachers!), and all the kids were on the rug. Some of them were talking, and Mrs. S said "When your bottom touches, your mouth hushes." It took everything I had to stifle my laugh - she is such a hoot! Her other favorite saying is "Lips and hips, y'all, lips and hips," which means a finger on your mouth and your other hand on your hip to walk through the halls quietly. But you have to have the right Southern drawl when you say it.

Girls

Perry's mom, sister Faith, sister Holly, and niece Emma Faith are here for the weekend - Perry and Bailey are feeling very outnumbered! We are having a wonderful time hanging out and getting to know Emma Faith. I wish I could post a hundred pictures - she's so beautiful and happy. Sarah, especially, is in love with her. (I think Abby would be more enchanted with her if she felt better, but she has lost her voice and feels a bit puny). Sarah is attached to Emma and holds her, shakes her rattle, helps get her dressed, feeds her a bottle, and wants to know if she can get a baby sister for Christmas! (uh...that would be a no). Even Bailey loves this baby, and he doesn't jump on her or try to get in her face.




We went to Build-a-Bear today because Auntie Holly had given the girls gift certificates for their birthdays and we'd been waiting to use them. Sarah built a High School Musical bear and named her "Musically," while Abby built a sparkly purple bear and named her "Princess." After the bears were built and dressed, Perry posed with his favorite girls (minus me, of course, because I was holding the camera!) I thought this was such a cute pic - too bad you can't see Emma Faith!

The Bus

Everyone acts surprised that I let my girls ride the bus. I guess that's because I'm a bit of a control freak (especially about my girls), and that darn bus is just outside my comfort zone. But I've let them ride it home every day, even the very first day. We have about 15 kids who get off at our stop, and they all look out for S&A, so that gives me some comfort. Until today. At 3:00 my phone rang, and it was their school. Sarah had missed the bus. But don't worry, they said, she's fine, she's not upset, and there's another bus that goes right by our stop so they just put her on that bus instead. They told me to just wait a minute after Abby got off, and Sarah's bus should be right behind her. Well, I knew that wasn't exactly right. Obsessive mom that I am, I've looked at the bus routes. There is another neighborhood bus, but it doesn't turn off the main road and pass our street. So I needed to walk up a block to catch it. In the meantime, Abby's teacher called to let me know that she had taken Sarah to the second bus and even offered to ride with her, but Sarah was fine. It all worked out, despite the confusion. Sarah was a little upset once she saw me, but I was so proud of her for the way she handled it and held herself together. It turns out that Sarah had a substitute today, and she didn't let them go early enough. Sarah went to get Abby (like she does everyday, sweet girl), but Abby was already gone (and I doubt that it even occurred to Abby that she should look for Sarah). So by the time Sarah finally decided to go to the bus without Abby, it was too late.
I'll try to let them ride on Monday, ... but no promises.