2018-2019 Week 4: Sick and Surgery Tomorrow

Dragon fruit

I left off last week sick and that was really how I spent the week, slowly working through my summer cold. Monday I felt pretty miserable but we carried on anyway. There was a new week of school work to do. Yes, it was labor day, but we planned to take Friday off instead (surgery day for Mason), so our morning was school work. Just before lunch we headed down the street to watch the Labor Day parade in the heat. The kids enjoyed it and that is what matters, right? In the evening we tried a new fruit - dragon fruit. None of us had eaten it before. We cut it open, spooned some out to eat, then blended some up in a green smoothie to try it that way. The texture is reminiscent of kiwifruit.

Tuesday: A normal school day, mommy feeling a smidge better, piano lessons. I got on the phone today and made 13 medical appointments, including eye checkups for 9. I still have 9 dental cleanings to schedule. It truly is never-ending.

This Week's School Books

Wednesday I'm still having headaches (sinus pressure). It poses a bit of a challenge when listening to child after child after child telling me things, asking me questions, or reading to me because it simply makes the headache worse. Reading aloud is also a bit challenging. We made it through school anyway, because routines carry us through. The only modification today was I paired Joseph and Emma to read aloud to each other instead of reading with me.

The bins that keep each child's school

work organized. Total sanity saver!

Thursday was our Friday for school. Kids diligently worked through each subject. There was a failed science experiment with Joseph and Emma (twice!) and a successful one with Makayla. There were math lessons and reading aloud and grammar and spelling and on and on. It was wonderful!

Rebekah turned 7 months old today. She's crawling all over and into all the things. She sits herself up and plays and if she gets too excited still falls. She's tried sweet potatoes and liked them.

We got the official surgery time for Mason tomorrow and it is in the afternoon. This is good and bad. Good because we get to sleep instead of leaving at 4:30am to drive to the hospital (our usual for an early morning surgery time). Bad because Mason will be awake for hours and hours without being allowed to eat while surrounded by kids who are able to eat. We head to the hospital an hour before lunch. I don't know yet how many hours the double surgery will take.

The rest of our Thursday will be packing for the hospital, meal prep for those left at home, and family time.