Homeschool Notes for Week 26

It feels like everything at home is just holding it's breath, waiting for Miss Rebekah to come. We are not making any long term or concrete plans. Just waiting.

Saturday we picked Joseph up from a winter campout and Makayla up from a friend's house. We placed an online grocery order that we will pick up on Monday. We read books and played and watched some Studio C. Tobias was beginning a cold with a fever, cough, and runny nose, so I knew Sunday I would be home from church. I reread a favorite book, Seeking Persephone, and cried. My hormones are all over the place.

Sunday I helped Daddy get the other 8 kids ready and out the door for church. Tobias and I stayed home for a quiet sick day. He really wasn't interested in playing. We looked at a few books, then snuggled up and watched some Paw Patrol. He fell asleep on my lap before the rest of the family returned from church.

After lunch Makayla headed upstairs to do some scripture study for seminary, four of the boys played a game of Harry Potter Clue, a couple kids played Connect Four, and Emma and I baked chocolate chip butterscotch chip cookies. Yum!

Monday I was out the door to pick up groceries, get bloodwork, have a form notarized, and more by 7:30am. Daddy was home with kids for a while before he had two doctors appointments. The kids' morning consisted of wake up, breakfast, chores, and reading. Unfortunately there was also a hefty side of runny noses and coughing. Tobias is sicker today and several other kids are sounding like frogs, coughing, and just looking less than energetic. That means I'm formally calling a break for school. I'm due with this sweet baby #10 on Thursday, we're just going to start our baby break now. I need these children to get well as soon as possible so the order of the day is rest, fresh air (windows are open), and more rest.

Tuesday I took the two sickest kids to walk in hours at the pediatrician to check for flu. No flu (hooray) but the congestion has given Tobias an ear infection. The day was endless rounds of snuggling sick kids, getting them to sip water, and keeping them down and quiet. Five kids are sick for sure. I suspect a 6th but they're in denial.

The biggest happening on Tuesday was that Makayla got her driver's license. I'm officially old and tired and very pregnant and way too scared to hand over the keys and wave her on her merry way, but apparently it's legal to do just that now.

The second biggest happening on Tuesday was realizing that Tobias is allergic to penicillin. Hives all over his chest and abdomen after just one dose made it pretty clear that Daniel is no longer our only child with a penicillin allergy. I got rid of the medicine and put a call in to the pediatrician to let them know.

Wednesday I was still surrounded by sick kids. They're just everywhere right now. Some are needing breathing treatments with our nebulizer, others are holding their own in the breathing department. I'm basically playing nurse and trying to keep all my patients needs straight. I'm so grateful we homeschool because this week of illness doesn't affect the kids learning. Nobody is getting behind. There is no stress over homework, missed projects, or anything else. We just hunker down, take the time to heal, and life moves forward.

Thursday was my official pregnancy due date. Baby Rebekah has not made her appearance. I'm at the "I just might be pregnant forever" stage. I had a checkup with my obstetrician and you can read more about that here. All of my kids are sick now except one. Eight sick kids. The coughing and the snot are everywhere. I am doing my best to avoid joining the sick crowd. Today that meant taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon. Rest is good for the immune system, right?

Friday we kept things quiet with the sick kids, though the earliest to be sick are starting to have a bit of energy to play now. A roofer came over to check the slate on our roof after a big storm one night earlier this week. Everything looks pretty good, the slate in the grass between our house and the neighbor is from the neighbor's roof. Dinner is in the crock pot (meatballs to go with spaghetti).

I took a nap again today. So far I'm not sick, so maybe it's helping, but more than likely it's just getting this pregnant and overdue mama through the day. Right now I'm sitting adding today's notes to the blog post with Tobias sitting beside me coloring with colored pencils. He's adorable and wants me to color with him, so I'm off to do that.