Fever Land

We are still firmly ensconced in the land of fever. I think Kelton is reaching his limit on how much his body can take and still keep going at his regular pace of frenzied activities. I left the kids in the care of Dakota this morning to I could attend the IEP meeting for Kelton's speech therapy and then have an hour to myself. When I met up with them I heard tales of doing arts and crafts and playing games on the Wii. Ever since arriving home though Kelton has been curled up in a lump on the couch. I think he is hitting his wall.

(Look where I went! Ok - I was only there for about 15 minutes before I went to run a few errands but still....)

His fever? Oh yeah - still there and hanging out at 100.5 this morning. That is higher than it was yesterday morning at the same time. *sigh*

You gotta feel for him. This has to be so hard on his little 7 year old body.

We were able to get Kaylen in her for first of two H1N1 immunizations. Because it won't hurt them to get the shot if they have already had H1N1 and because without testing there is no way to know for sure if that is what she had two weeks ago, we opted to have her immunized. I know people come down on both sides of the debate on whether to do it or not (and I admit I went back and forth lately) but in the end, we decided it was worth it for us. She'll need her second dose the first week of December. Hopefully, when Kelton is finally well, there will be vaccine available for him.

And on that note, I will leave you with some really great photos I took in the backyard yesterday.


I hope you are enjoying the splendor of autumn!

Rain Walk

I have no idea what day this took place - I think Monday but I can't be sure. Looking back the days blur one into the other. Whichever day it was the rain was pouring and, thanks to the fall leaves clogging the storm drains, puddles were everywhere. We were all going a bit stir crazy from being in the house for days on end (Kaylen and I two days longer than Dakota and Kelton) and Kaylen, who bounced back from being sick Saturday, was begging to go somewhere. Dakota hit upon the idea of a rainwalk for all of us. Dogs included.

We bundled up in raincoats and boots and headed out into the storm. Jordan, our 12 year old Dalmatian, was less than amused by the rain but the love of a walk soon won out and we were on our way.

Around the neighborhood we went - the kids stomping and splashing in every single puddle while Dakota, the dogs and I tried to avoid being hit with splooshes of water.



About 3/4 of the way around we came upon a section that was amazing! The storm drain clearly was clogged as the puddled stretched a good 1/3 of the way across the road and the depth was the height of the kids boots. Oh the fun!






They splashed and splooshed and laughed.

Finally, we worked on locating the storm strain and Kelton, Dakota and I took turns clearing out the enormous pile of of leaves. Once we had broken through the drain took on a tornado effect (or flushing toilet, as Kelton called it) and before long the street was cleared of the massive puddle.


Once we arrived home the kids dumped out their boots and we all laughed at the amount of water that they had acquired. Kaylen, at one point, said "Mom! I have a swimming pool in my boots!" She was not kidding. :)



It was a fun walk and it was really great to breathe some fresh air. Once at home we tossed the frozen children into a warm tub and then settled in to watch movies. It was a fun adventure but it left three of the four of us wiped out and ready for a nap.

Autumn Fun

It was one of those moments that you just can't say no to. We had experienced some really heavy rains on Saturday which caused many, many leaves to fall to the ground. On Sunday, the lawn was covered in fall leaves and the kids were really wanting to play in them. It would have been a grand idea except for the small fact that the leaves were soaking wet.

On our way to the car I told them we would have to see but it might take a few days before they were dry enough to play in (I skipped the part about rain expected for the next week). When we arrived home late in the afternoon no one was more surprised than me to see that the leaves, while still wet here and there, were perfect for playing.

The sun was shining brightly, too brightly as you can tell from the squinting going on in the photos of Dakota with the kids. (Poor Kaylen looked like she was in need of anti wrinkle cream from all her squinting!)


It was a perfect time for a romp in the leaves!
Enjoy!

Autumn Photos

Last night I pulled out a few dresses and skirts that I had put away for Kaylen to grow into and she completely fell in love with one outfit that I had bought from a friend when her daughter outgrew it a couple of years ago. She pranced around in it last night and then this morning, when it was time to get dressed, it was the only consideration.

I have to say - she is pretty darn cute in it. :) And no one is more surprised than me that she even wore the tights! She hit on the idea of having her picture taken and since we were heading to the mall anyway we decided to go ahead with her plan. And no surprise here but the tights were ditched shortly thereafter. :)

She's cute, don'tcha think?

This is my favorite one!

Love this one, too!

Love her smile so much but the leaves on her head? Hmmm.....! This was Kaylen's favorite though she we got it just for her.

This is really great too. I was standing to the side letting leaves fall on her. I think it would have been so much better without the falling leaves but it's great just the same. :)

Zooooooooooooooooom!

That's how fast I feel like today has gone. It's just been a whirlwind and I'm not even sure what was done. This morning I volunteered in Kelton's room and since Grandma was out of town, I took Kaylen with me. It wasn't as bad as I feared but it wasn't as great as I hoped. Somewhere in between. Well, to be fair, she did really, really well. She was just a distraction for Kelton and at the end of the hour (I cut back from two hours to only one today because I know my daughter and what time limit she needs in order to succeed) she was ready to stop being so quiet and self-contained.

The really great thing about today was that the sun was shining - it even got near 70 degrees today which was unreal after the temps in the 40's and the downpours we've been having. But hey - who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth? I loved every second of it. Kaylen and I played in the yard for a bit this afternoon and then the kids wanted to take a bike ride around the neighborhood. We had a really great time out and about - it felt so summer-y and yet the colors of autumn were so vibrant. Amazing.

Once we got back home we decided to hang out in the front yard and play in the leaves. I grabbed my camera and took photos. Not ideal outfits for photos (notice Kelton is wearing a Christmas shirt. He found it in his closet today. *sigh*) but fun just the same.

After that we spent some time helping the neighbor rake his yard and then it was time for dinner and all the chaos that goes with the evening routine (which also included a 40 minute call to Dish Network to help sort out a problem that my button pushing 2 year old created with the TV. *sigh* It wouldn't have taken so long but after waiting on hold for a long, long time the phone system dumped the call and I had to start all over. In the end though, the issue was solved and my kids happily watched Dora before bathtime. Yay!!)

Here are some photos from today. Enjoy!

PS....be sure to look for the post about the pumpkin patch below. :)

The Pumpkin Patch

The rain had stopped falling finally so we decided that time was now to head to the pumpkin patch for our annual family trip. I love our pumpkin patch - it has so much to do. A hay pyramid to climb, a hay maze to run through, animals to pet and feed, free hot beverages, rope making, face painting, hay rides and, of course, pumpkins.

Since it had been raining for days on end the place was a muddy, muddy, slippery mess and yet we still had a great time! With our three trips to pumpkin patches this year we are well stocked for pumpkins and the really funny thing is, we only carve one. The rest I think I will let the kids paint. Kelton has a pumpkin contest at school that he would like to enter so maybe one will be used for that, too. Still....we have six pumpkins. I think that's more than we've ever had before (and that isn't counting the one that already had to be tossed because we carved it at my brother's last weekend of the one that we left at my brothers. No siree - my kids are not hurting for pumpkins! LOL!)

Take a few minutes and enjoy the day with us. :)

Pitter Patter - or is that Drip Drip Drench?

A little bit of Pacific Northwest Autumn to share with you. Enjoy! :)

Something to make me happy

And because I hate leaving my blog on a downer post, I'll share some pictures I took yesterday and today. Aren't they cool?






(I took this last one tonight during a huge rain storm. I love the way the water is bouncing.)

Frankly, the only thing cooler than my own front yard this time of year would be staying in a Vermont bed and breakfast for the weekend and experiencing the "changing of the leaves" there. Have I mentioned I love this time of year? :)

Welcome to Autumn!

It's August 27th but autumn has arrived. The signs are all over my house. There are bright red and orange leaves across the fireplace mantle and the china hutch. There are autumn (fake) flowers in vases and scarecrow (or hair-crows, as Kelton has always called them) here and there. Yes - autumn has arrived. I've had to crush their dreams though of putting up the halloween decorations. I'm just not ready to go that far into autumn!

Dakota started school today. This semester she has a morning class three days a week in addition to her evening class load. Two late nights (not arriving home until 10) and three early nights (home around 8:30 two nights and around 5pm on one night). The kids will have to adjust to not seeing their other mom five days out of each week for the next 16 weeks. Ugh. The stress from today is palpable from all of us. I know we will adjust within a week or two (and once all the fall schedules are in place with school for Kelton, etc.) but the kids are both having a hard time today and keep asking when mom will be home. I feel for them - I know it's a hard change on *me* so I can only imagine how hard it is for them. For these kids, the sun sets and rises on Dakota - a very mutual feeling.

Two years down. Two years to go. We're at the half-way point. Amazing.

Kelton was upset last night that mom starting school would mean the end of fun for us so after I assured him that we would be ok and that we were used to mom not being home during the day we focused on making a plan for today. He wanted to go to the mall to look around and play. So - we were there when the doors opened and spent about two hours just roaming around. We hit the play area, Starbucks, wandered through the pet store, rode some of the rides, walked all over the mall and just soaked in everything.

Things fell apart again after getting home and I just have to keep reminding myself that they will adjust. Without day camp (which he is missing a lot) and now with Dakota being gone he is feeling lonely. I feel bad for him (and I admit that I'm feeling lonely already, too) but I know that he will adjust. We all will.

Autumn has definitely arrived for us.