Spring Break: 2 Thumbs Down

Two weeks ago, we all survived the last week of school before spring break.  Caroline finished up all her quizzes and tests.   On our last day of school, Thursday, Henry stayed home with a very sore throat.  Not the start to his break that he was hoping for, especially when it turned into a high fever and throwing up.  He had the glassy eyes of someone that really did not feel well and he hunkered down on the couch for days and days.  

That Friday, Todd & I went to the Good Friday service at church and it was so, so good.  Our church's singers are unbelievably talented.  The music is amazing there.  The preaching is very good, too.  Josiah joined us for Easter morning service, but the other two stayed home.  We headed to the 7 a.m. service to avoid the later crowds.  It was a beautiful sunrise as we drove. 

We were supposed to visit Grandad and Nana for Easter, but Henry was down for the count, Caroline developed a sore throat of her own, and my throat was hurting as well.  I reluctantly cancelled our trip, but it turned out to be the right decision as Caroline continued to get worse.  I expected her to be on the same trajectory as Henry - sore throat for a few days, fever & throwing up for one day, then slowly recover.  Caroline did not get that memo.  Her fever and throwing up for one day turned into three with zero evidence of getting better.  She was up all night for two nights in a row.  On Wednesday afternoon, I took her to the doctor to see what was up.  She tested positive for Strep A and she had a lot of protein in her urine.  Enough that the doctor was going to send us to the lab for more of a workup.  (Plus elevated blood pressure and heart rate.)  She was given a very large shot of bicillin.  The nurse warned Caroline that she would not feel like walking after getting it.  She was right.  As our visit with the doctor continued, she stepped out and consulted a nephrologist.  She then sent us to the ER in Greenville because she was concerned it was post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis.  So we got in the car and headed north.  The ER was completely packed.  Overwhelmingly so.  Fortunately, they brought us over to the pediatric side and when they closed the doors behind us, we were in a much quieter area.  Only one other family was with us.  This was great.  We did the triage.  Very smooth and easy.  Then the nurse got up to bring us back and as we walked, she said, Sorry, we don't have any open rooms, you'll have to sit on a hallway bed.  And we did.  For the next six hours.  The ER doctors didn't think Caroline had post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, but she was clearly dehydrated.  She was given two bags of saline, Zofran, and pain medication.  Her kidney function came back normal, which was a relief.  Sitting in the hallway, we did get to see all the rooms across from us change over to new patients.  I would try to figure out why they were all there to pass the time.  We had a visit from four state troopers for car accident patients.  We were at the end of the hallway with the bathroom, so there was a never-ending stream of people walking by.  To be discharged, she needed to lower her blood pressure, heart rate, and she had to eat and drink without throwing up.  It didn't have to be a lot, but it had to stay down.  I don't know how many goldfish she ate, it wasn't many, but we did not see them again.  We could go home.  Early the next morning, we were back at the doctor's office for a blood pressure check.  Caroline had finally slept all night and her vitals reflected that she was on the road to recovery, albeit a slow one.  She really did not turn the corner and start feeling better until Saturday.  

Benson stayed with Caroline every step of the way.  When she was on the couch downstairs, he was right there laying next to her, but more often standing in front of her staring at her face.  Every time she used the trash can, he was there to sniff the contents and get right up in her face.  When she tried to sleep upstairs one night, Benson slept on his bed upstairs.  He's only been on that bed a handful of times, so he was really there because of her.  It was very sweet, but also made me wonder what he was sensing about her.

The neighborhood cat stopped by to check on her as well.  All of a sudden, it appeared in the window and started meowing.  Benson took notice and the cat quickly moved on.  

Henry had only started feeling better in time to head to the oral surgeon.  He needed two teeth extracted and his regular dentist would not do it.  This was a piece of cake for the oral surgeon, and everything went smoothly.  They did put him under and when they wheeled Henry to the car, he was all smiles.  He talked the whole drive home, which was fun, but also slightly nerve-wracking because I kept saying, Bite down on the gauze.  Henry remembers none of it.  He told me that his goal was to stay awake.  He remembers them giving him the medication and then he remembers being at home. He does not remember telling me that 'gauze' sounds like 'caw caw' and his conversation about crows on the drive home.  Bite down on the gauze!

He has been healing nicely.  The worst part for him was eating only soft foods because he could never feel full.  He sees the orthodontist this week to start closing those gaps.    

Laying down the rules

Meanwhile, Josiah tried to have a little fun for his spring break.  On his first day off, he went to see the Minecraft movie with a school friend.  The next day, he helped this same friend set up his new computer.  Another day they played hide and seek around our neighborhood.  Josiah was on a bike and they traveled.  It was no easy game.  By Thursday, Josiah was back to play rehearsal for five to six hours a day.  This coming week, he's in rehearsal til 9:00 each night.  Their performances start on Thursday.  One teacher told me that he was a natural at the practices and he can change his voice really well.  Oh?!  I didn't know he did that!  I am really looking forward to seeing the show.  They now rehearse at the performance hall at Anderson University.    

We finished out our last day of spring break with our Easter egg hunt at the house.  It took all week before everyone felt well enough to enjoy the hunt.  It was fun doing it in a new house with new spots to hide.  

A girl after my own organizing heart...

We have three and a half weeks left.  Only 19 more school days.  Henry said the school year has gone so fast so he thinks the summer may be the same.  We need to savor the time!

Sounds Like Prom

Last weekend, I was able to make it up to Virginia for the Celebration of Life for my friend, Fiona.  She passed away a few weeks ago from brain cancer.  Twelve years ago, when her son was 3 months old, she collapsed.  A group of us were meeting up to go walking that day and she never showed.  That began her cancer journey.  She was given only a year to live and she made it twelve and was able to see her son grow up.  She was one of the nicest, generous, and most joy-filled people I have ever met.  And she was Australian, so she was super fun to listen to.  I have the assurance I'll see her again in heaven one day.  

Henry and the set crew group are building benches and staining them.  He said they are turning out really well.  In the downtime, when they had to wait for a crew member to get back from Home Depot, he learned how to play poker.  Specifically Texas Hold 'em.  He had the whole family play on Saturday, but the ladies of the house did not have the stamina.  I'm more a blackjack girl.  Faster, with easier rules.  

I did not realize why Josiah's rehearsals were five hours long when the play is two hours.  He says they go through the play twice each day - once for the main person and once with the understudies.  Since Josiah's role does not have an understudy, he's in both groups.  He says it is a lot of downtime where he has to sit quietly.  Showbiz isn't all glamorous.  He is looking forward to practicing with the actual props and sets soon.  

Caroline's science class did a Genetics Lab this week.  The big mobile van comes twice a year for them to do labs.  Caroline said they found the DNA of a pea.  It was pretty fun, but she thought the van could use a little fresh air.  

This week ended with Field Day.  The kids are in Rountree House and despite doing well in the upper school games (1st in basketball & wiffle ball; 2nd in pickleball and volleyball), they came in 3rd place overall.  Josiah and Caroline said there was a kindergartener in their group that moved at his own pace.  He was enjoying himself a lot, but he moved so slow at the three-legged race that the other groups went three lengths to his one.  There were a few other games in which his performance was similar.  But he was having fun, which is really all that matters anyway.  Josiah and Caroline were paired up in the three-legged race.  Caroline said she used to crush this at Awana because she and her partner would count off their steps and they always won.  But with siblings, there was no counting.  Just a skinned knee...

At noontime, the whole school had Lunch on the Lawn.  A local restaurant supplied hot dogs and Josiah said they were quite good.  I had to order them about a month ago.  At that time, Henry said he didn't want any.  He would make his own lunch that day.  I wasn't believing that and ordered extra.  He proceeded to eat both of his and part of Caroline's.  He is very much in a growing phase and is always hungry.  My K3 class walked around to watch a few games, but they were turned off by the cool weather.  One more week of classes until Easter Break.  

Josiah headed to prom on Saturday.  When you have a small school, prom was open for 8th-12th graders.  Henry did not want to go.  Josiah's class took pictures together (still hoping they send those) and then went out to eat.  It was a fancier restaurant, so they rebranded Josiah's chicken tenders as 'chicken fried chicken'.  He even ate his goat cheese mashed potatoes and green beans.  Everything tastes better at a fancier place.  He enjoyed the prom and hung out with two friends the whole night.  The location was pretty, too.  I only saw it at night when I picked him up, but he got a few shots from earlier in the evening.  

While Josiah was out dancing, the rest of us played Charades.  We pull out the cards from Pictionary Jr. and use them to play Charades.  There were times when we could not figure out what Henry was acting out.  He would then switch gears and pull his ear for Sounds Like.  The first time he did it, he formed the letter E in ASL.  So, I proceeded to say bee, see, me, knee, etc.  We failed that round and when Henry told us the word, he exclaimed, Macaron-I.  Huh.  Another round, he said sounds like 'O'.  When we did not get that one and finally gave up, Henry loudly said, "Po-ta-TOE".  My bad.  I think we may have skipped "sounds like" in homeschooling.  

Since we moved here at the end of summer last year, we've been watching as all the spring flowers have bloomed.  Our front yard was flanked by white azaleas that all bloomed together.  It was a beautiful surprise.  The picture does not do them justice.  Azaleas are my favorite.  

Oh, and Henry ate a sandwich while Benson silently watched.  And drooled...

He is No Fool

April began and we had to celebrate the First.  I had to think fast because April always seems to come about quickly.  Paper towels were shoved in the toes of the kids shoes before we left for school.  Two of their lunches had a raw potato thrown in, while the third had a tin of anchovies.  When I got my purse to leave, a potato had been left in there as well.  But, when I got home from school mid-day, I spent the next hour carefully peeling a bag of Hershey chocolate eggs and then carefully wrapping them back up with an olive inside.  I left four real ones at the front to defer suspicion.  As soon as we got home, Henry and Caroline asked if they could have some.  Of course.  And they enjoyed their first two eggs.  

When Josiah came home that evening, he asked if he could have some as well.  There were no more real eggs left, so he went straight for the olive ones.  Happy he was not.  Josiah, however, had a prank of his own.  He wrote out a pop quiz to give in his Ancient Lit class.  He printed out one for each student and then asked the teacher ahead of time if he would distribute them during class.  And the teacher did.  So, Josiah's classmates were quite happy with him.  

Recitation:

1.     Who is Marcus Aurelius? When is Mediations written?

2.      Where do we see pietas on page 37? Why?

3.      What Homeric virtue do we see in book 2?

4.      What point is Marcus Aurelius making in book 6?

Henry's class pranked a few teachers as well.  The kids had a very good day at school because of all the fun.  

Play Rehearsals are coming along.  This week, Josiah was able to ride around and distribute posters to local businesses.  All the businesses agreed to hang them up, except one because it had to be city approved or something like that.  While Josiah was traveling the city, Henry's group was at Home Depot purchasing wood, nails, and gathering paint samples.  There are plans to build an epic bench.  Epic.  

This weekend, Henry was able to visit a classmate (Clay) in the hospital.  Henry has only one other boy in his class and he's been out for several weeks now with plans to be out at least three more.  Henry has missed his sole companion in a sea of girls.  They were able to play a few games of baseball (video games) and had a very nice time.  Meanwhile, Caroline, me, and the rest of their family hung out in the lobby playing Scattergories, which was very fun.  Clay's sister is in Caroline's class and she's been having a tough time with her brother being sick, so the girls in her class got together on Saturday and played pickleball and had a sleepover.  

Last week, Josiah's art class went to a pottery.  They were given two lumps of clay and Josiah turned the first one into a bowl.  He said it turned out pretty well.  The second one he tried to make into a cup.  Then he snickered at himself and said he tried.  They should be ready by Mother's Day.  He keeps telling me that he's been working on some projects in class, but he is very tight-lipped about what they are, so it'll be a mystery until May.  

Benson has been enjoying the warm weather by getting out and running a lot lately.  Stretching his winter legs in the warmer spring weather.  He always looks like he has a smile on his face when he runs.  Then he comes in all out of breath and he's so cute.  Caroline pretended to be me the other day.  She took Benson out and took a bunch of pictures of him, then came in and talked about how cute he was.  Yep.  That's what happens when my kids don't want to take pictures anymore.  I have to move on to the youngest child.  

The only pictures I can take of Caroline anymore are of her braid each morning.  She wants to make sure I braid it straight and there are no bumps sticking out.  She has the thickest hair and it is so long right now.  She is waiting until summer to get a trim.  

Two more weeks until Easter Break.