The Land of the Living

First things first....

WE WENT TO SCHOOL TODAY!!!

It felt so great to join the land of the living and get back to a routine today. Boy, did it feel good to get out of the house! Eli had a great day, but was wiped out afterward. We grabbed lunch and some new library books on our way home, but he was happy to curl up in bed with his blanket, Dog-Dog, and Baby. I am predicting a L_O_N_G_nap....though now that I said that, I'm sure he'll prove me wrong.

Tomorrow is the first day of October. WHAT? I know, I can hardly believe it. Where did September go? Seriously. I am thrilled that our first "cold" front of season has rolled in. I happily sipped a warm Pumpkin Spice Latte this morning in celebration of a healthy boy...and the beautiful fall weather.

Tomorrow is also the day that my new camera lens arrives. I am beyond excited. Back in June, when Eli and I were in Denver hangin' with cousin Asher and my sissies, there was an accident with my camera. It fell off of a table and landed on a wood floor. Initially, it was broken and wouldn't snap a picture, but after I toyed around with it a bit, I discovered that the lens (more specifically, the auto focus mechanism) was jammed. If I twisted it a buncha times, I could make it work. Overall, the camera is OK and still takes good pictures. The problem is that you never know when the lens feels like jamming. It will take pictures in some modes without jamming (...much), and in others (my preferred modes...) it jams constantly causing me to miss some great photo ops. I didn't want to fork over money for a new lens, but after a week of putting aside my tutoring money with a new lens in mind, I decided to make the order. I can't wait to have a fully-working camera back. So, for those of you who noticed a drop in the number of pictures I have been taking each month....now you know why.

I'll leave you with a LINK to this month's pictures and a few pictures...because all good posts have pictures, right? These are from our watermelon harvest. We only got 3 baby melons that were barely bigger than a softball. The fruit was super seedy and the rind was thick, but Eli enjoyed them. He isn't picky when it comes to melon and besides, these were from the garden that he helped plant and tend. Not bad for novice gardeners.

End in Sight

Eli and I have been home a full week now. An. entire. week. Can you tell that I haven't gotten out much? One trip to the doctor's office, a trip to Target, and today we went to pick up some lunch. That is it.

Daddy even got sent home from work on Friday. His office didn't want to risk germs spreading, so he has been working from home. But before coming home that afternoon, Daddy stopped to pick up some new train parts for the sickly one to play with.

Eli was pleased.

Fortunately Daddy and I have stayed healthy. Must have been all that Lysol and bleach I used around the house...and our super strong immune systems, of course.

We thought we were home free this weekend after two days fever-free, but it crept back up Sunday night...just in time to keep us from deciding to go back to school. Eli was incredibly puny all day yesterday.

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He even fell asleep on the couch watching a movie. That NEVER happens!

Today, the fever is down again. He is still a bit congested and tired, but overall, doing better. Hopefully this really is the end of the flu for our patient...for real this time. We are all ready to get back to our regular routines....and get out of the house!

Sad, but True

Eli has H1N1...better known as SWINE FLU.

His fever spiked higher last night and was still high this morning. He had too many flu symptoms at this point to NOT take him to the doctor...and she told us what we were hoping wasn't true...UGH!

Just spent the last couple of hours sanitizing and disinfecting the entire house in hopes that Mommy and Daddy don't get it too...although I'm feeling like it is inevitable. Maybe not. I do have a super-duper, teacher-strong immune system. Daddy's on the other hand....

Pray for us and our quarantined sanity! That trip to the doctor's office was Eli and I's first outing since Tuesday afternoon. And it doesn't look like we'll be getting out again anytime soon.

*sigh*

Not Too Blogworthy

Not much blogworthy going on around here lately. Unless you count the fact that Eli is sick....again! *sigh* He's been home from school for two days now...which means Mommy has been home from school for two days too.

I think he has the same thing he had over Labor Day. A day or so of a low-grade fever with a nasty cough and congestion that irritates his throat. I'm trying to be responsible and keep him home long enough that the germs won't be passed on and back around to him AGAIN!

Here's hoping he's better enough to go to school tomorrow. I don't know how many more kid shows/movies I can take....

He claims that he feels better already!

'Maters

Not much to say today, but I have been meaning to give you a peek at what we have been harvesting from our garden the past week or two.

'maters! Too bad Eli isn't as big a fan of eating tomatoes as he is planting, tending, and picking them.

I have tried them, and they are tasty! We have gotten 7 or 8 good ones so far, and there are several green ones still growing and ripening as we speak.

Sadly, our watermelon plants have not been thriving lately. We are not sure if they got a disease or if the heat got to them. We ended up with 3 medium sized melons that are still on the vines trying to ripen up. Hopefully they'll be ready to pick and taste soon. Unlike tomatoes...Eli LOVES watermelon.

Steel Trap

Eli's memory is kinda scary. Watch out what you let him listen to or watch...he's likely to remember it and repeat it....appropriate or not.

We were driving down the road one day last month, and a favorite song of mine by Matt Nathanson comes on the XM radio. I turn it up, and sing along....as usual. (In fact, you can often catch me singing the chorus of the catchy tune around the house after I've heard it...it gets stuck in my head!) Anyways, back to the car....I'm singing along and all of a sudden a little voice from the backseat starts singing with me during the chorus. His little head bobbing back and forth, grooving to the music:

So come on, get higher, loosen my lips
Faith and desire in the swing of your hips
Just pull me down hard
And drown me in love

Not really appropriate lyrics for a 2 year old to be singing. But hilarious at the same time. It probably doesn't help that I laugh at him, give him lots of attention, and turn it up when it comes on, "Hey buddy! You like this one!" The smirk on his face as he sings lets you know that he is proud of himself.

Then the other night, I decided I would start teaching him the "Our Father" to add to his bedtime prayers. I figured I'd go line by line and have him repeat it, only when I started with the first line, he immediately followed it with the second. We did the entire prayer taking turns saying alternating lines. It literally brought tears of joy to my eyes. The boy has been listening and learning in church!! I knew it! I had been thinking that he was picking up on much more than I was giving him credit for. By the following week, he was saying the entire prayer on his own.

Don't You Just Love It?

Don't you just love short work weeks? I know I do! Thanks to a lovely Labor Day weekend at the beach, we have only 2 days left this week. Ahhhh!

Today started out crazy with a phone call coming in from my dad that I let go to voice mail because I was teaching. He left a message, so I figured I needed to check it. Come to find out, my oldest sister, Kristen (a.k.a. Aunt Kristi) was in the hospital and needed to have her appendix removed. Thankfully, she had a quick and successful surgery and is already on the road to recovery! Thank you, Lord! Just when you think it is going to be a short, easy week, huh?

We did have an excellent weekend at the beach. It was supposed to rain quite a bit of the weekend, but we didn't see any storm clouds until Monday when we decided to slowly pack up and head home anyways. The only downside of the weekend was the little cold bug that Eli picked up from school...gotta love the "back-to-school germs." Boo! He/We tried hard not to let it ruin his fun and got him out in the sun, sand and surf as much as possible.

Saturday, Matt organized the 1st Annual Labor Day Cornhole Tournament that 6 teams of two competed in. It was a double elimination tournament with intense competition, not enough smack talk, and a lot of fun.

This is a shot from the championship game and sums it all up as Steve (of Team Kristen & Steve) sunk his 3rd consecutive beanbag in the hole. I love the sense of celebration and disappointment all at the same time. Team Kristen & Steve came out on top with full bragging rights for the year and Nick & Mona came in second. We plan to make it a yearly event and welcome any and all interested teams to join the tourney next year!

Later that evening, we settled in to listen to the Gators kick-off another football season. And even though we didn't get to see the game, it sure sounded impressive. I know we didn't play a powerhouse team, but still...

As usual, everyone is forced to relax and enjoy each others' company at the beach. With no TV, we only have each other, games, reading material, music, and of course...the beach....to keep us entertained. No one ever seems to complain.

Check out those sickly eyes...obviously didn't slow him down TOO much.
Lovin' the giant hole....He took many flying leaps into it.

I hope your Labor Day was as peaceful and pleasant as ours. Go Gators!

p.s. i know i have my blog settings for a widescreen display, so some of you may not see my sidebar. i have added some new eli-isms over there and have decided to date them from now on. scroll on down to find 'em if you want a little giggle. i wish i could remember and quote him more often! :)

It's Baaaack!

Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks are back!
(a little early since fall a far off desired season here in the south...)

Mama's tastebuds are very happy! I stopped in and treated myself to a non-fat (with whip!) :) PSL after surviving week 2 of school. I literally giggled as the tasty goodness hit my tongue. SO GOOD!

And oh yeah....football season is here too.

photo from Gatorzone

G O G A T O R S!

It is supposed to be a fabulous season as the Gators are returning their entire starting lineup on defense and of course many stars on offense, including....Tim Tebow. Gotta love it! Wore a new UF shirt to school today and painted my toes blue to celebrate the kick-off of College Football. Woohoo! It has been a long (and boring....) off season. We are glad you're back.