Week 42 Around Here {2019}

Flashback Photo: Can we even believe how identical the twins look here?
I thought Logan was Jack until I looked at Jack.  Just wow.

Loving... the fall leaves on all the trees lately.  Carly and I stood quietly for a few moments at the twins school on Wednesday just staring as the wind shook leaves from the trees and they fluttered quietly to the ground.  It felt like magic.
Along with the fall, of course, comes some preparation for the colder temps- Josh and I had our sprinklers blown out and a few weeks ago he worked his tail off to make sure my van could fit in the garage, which is just the best!

Visiting... the pumpkin patch as a family on Friday after Josh got off work.  We had such a great time, as always, petting the animals at the petting zoo, playing cornhole and jumping on the new giant jumping pillow.  The kids all chose HUGE orange pumpkins and enjoyed the hayride.  We got a stranger (thank you, kindness!) to take our family picture which I will use on our Christmas card and hands down, the kids favorite was the four wheeler train ride. Carly was even big enough to ride in her own car this year.
My favorite part was petting a baby cow, which I have always wanted to do.  Josh has teased me about it relentlessly, assuring me that petting a cow is not as amazing as I think it is.  But oh, how amazing it was!!! Haha! I walked over to the corral where they were, and the smaller one, whose name was Milo (same as my nephew!) got up and came over to me.  I reached in and began petting him, and he nuzzled his little face into my hands, licking me gently and batting his sweet brown eyes at me. I was in love. Josh captured the whole thing, and it just made my weekend!

Nearly... turning around on the way to pumpkin patch because Wyatt's asthma was acting up so bad.  He was coughing and coughing and coughing and I was massively worried.  Luckily a few puffs on his inhaler had him feeling better and he made it two more hours before needing more.
He certainly wasn't in great shape, but at least he was able to enjoy the evening.

Keeping... Wyatt home from the land on Saturday even though it made him cry.
Josh took the twins with him out to his parents property with him, and normally he takes all three boys, but with how bad Wyatt's asthma has been the last few days, we knew it wouldn't be safe for him to go run around out there, that much further from the hospital and away from me all day. So we opted to keep him home with me and Carly.  They took a fun bath, with lots of toys, where Wyatt stacked as many cars as he could on the faucet; built a Magic Tracks track; and we watched a movie together during Carly's nap.  I feel so bad when asthma steals opportunities from him that I try to make up what I can where I can.

Rejoicing... that Josh's easy chair was finally delivered.  He's wanted one ever since we left Alaska (where the school district housing provided one) and now we finally have room.  Wyatt & Carly tried it out for him when it arrived since he wasn't here and gave it two thumbs up.  Josh is in love with it, and I'm so glad he has a place to come home and put up his feet after how hard he works for our family everyday.

Thankful... that my kids are as outgoing as I am as I pushed Logan out the door to run across the street and introduce himself to the neighbor boy who was shooting hoops out there last weekend.  They seemed to hit it off and played ball together for quite some time.  Neighbor kids can be a mother's saving grace and I can't wait for the kids to make some friends in our new neighborhood!

Decorating... the front porch with some simple pumpkins I got for $2 a piece at Safeway and loving the look.  The other decorations (the fall bunch of leaves and the Happy Halloween hanging) are things I've had for years and love pulling out each year.

Hosting... our first family sleepover on the new pullout couch after movie night.  It was a super fun night, with all four kids and myself sleeping sprawled out across the downstairs, on couches, the bed and Josh's new easy chair.  Carly especially thought it was fun, and I think it's something we will do again and again.
Not surprisingly, my favorite part was reading in bed before we fell asleep.

Making... homemade maple bars from scratch on Sunday morning to cross one thing off our Fall Bucket List from Enjoying The Small Things.  They were insane. Seriously, so delicious. It was funny because Logan couldn't remember ever having them before and was convinced they would be "way grosser" than store bought donuts.  I convinced him to try them, and let me tell you, after his first bite, he was changing his tune.  Haha!  So good!!!

Nebulizing... Wyatt over and over, morning and night, and often throughout the day, not to mention the times he had to use the inhaler because we were away from home.  This cold has knocked this kids lungs OUT. It's been really scary at times, like on Tuesday when he came home from school coughing and breathing really rapidly, and I had him nebulize, but it didn't seem to be helping, so I counted his breaths, and he was at 35 breaths per minute.  (Normal is 12-20 breaths per minute for his age) I was FREAKING OUT. I took him immediately in to urgent care with Carly, leaving the twins at home to meet Josh when he got home, and prayed that was the right decision.
The only reason I didn't go to the ER was that he was still able to talk to me and didn't seem sick otherwise.
By the time the doctor came to see us, Wyatt's breathing had calmed down to the mid twenties, still not great, but much improved, and I was relieved we were there anyway so the doctor could listen and make sure Wyatt's lungs weren't wheezing or crackling on the stethoscope.  Thankfully his lungs were clear and the doctor said we just needed to give the oral steroids I started at the end of last week a little more time to take hold.
So he sent us home to carry on.
It's so exhausting, I'm telling you.  Keeping my ears perked for every cough, wheeze and breath this kid takes.  Just when I think it's all good and we are fine, he'll throw me for a loop and get sick out of nowhere, or his respirations will tank.
I'm for sure praying the next few days of oral steroids provide some reprieve cause I could use it.

Reading... a book from my childhood, Good Night Mr. Tom and loving it so much.  I haven't enjoyed a book this much since Anne of Green Gables on audio.  It's about a young evacuee from London who is taken in by Mr. Tom in the country, and oh it's even better than I remember it.
A few of my favorite quotes:

"He snuggled down into the warm blankets.  He had never thought that he would ever come to love the rain, but he did now."

"How could anyone not want to live, thought Will, when there were so many things to live for? There were rainy nights and wind and the slap of the sea and the moon.  There were books to read and pictures to paint and music."

I am also working through Love Your Life, Not Theirs by Rachel Cruze and am listening to The Aviator's Wife about Anne Morrow Lindbergh.  That one has had some amazing quotes as well.

"I had done nothing worthy of such a gift other than sign permission slips and write out grocery lists and read trashy novels."   (This one made me giggle.)

"Motherhood has brought me down to earth with a thud and kept me there with tentacles made of diapers and tears and lullabies and phone calls and carpools... Would I ever be able to soar again? Would I ever have the courage? Did any woman? Or did we exist only as others saw us?"

Toward the end of this week I started Tuesdays with Morrie (my tenth book this month!!!).  I knew it was about an old professor meeting with his student and discussing dying, but I didn't know Morrie had ALS, and I didn't expect the book to be so uplifting.  I am loving it.

Grateful... that Ramona seems to be doing better after her recent bladder infection.  I am so glad because I sure love that kitty girl.

Feeling... emotional that my grandparents (and my dad) made the effort to come see me on their way home from North Dakota on Tuesday.  It was so lovely to hug them and visit and to show my grandma my house.  It warmed my heart when she said, "Well your house looks just like you," gesturing around us to the living room. I am just so, so blessed.

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Laughing at this:

#truth

Clinging to these:

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