A Great Day for the Gospel...

So...the day hasn't really gone like I had planned. This morning MW came crawling into our bed at 4:30am...she felt a little warm. I took her temp a little before 8am...99.9 - which is technically not fever...and lest I digress, may I say something??? IF YOUR CHILD HAS THE FLU OR FLU LIKE SYMPTOMS OR FEVER OR BOTH... DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD BACK TO SCHOOL UNTIL THEY ARE OVER IT! 24 HOURS FEVER FREE...AND DON'T EXAGGERATE 24 HOURS...AND DON'T ADMINISTER TYLENOL TO HIDE THE FEVER! Needless to say, MW has been around a child who would fall into that category. Whether she did or did not get this fever from that child, I'll never know. I only know that it TICKS ME OFF when parents are not responsible and send their children to school with fever. That is wrong. Stop being selfish. I know it's hard when you have your day planned and something like a fever brings those plans to a screeching halt, but that is part of the responsibility of being a parent. Not only are you putting other kids at risk, but your child's immune system is down and you're putting your child at a greater risk of getting sick again...It's pretty simple, IF YOU HAVE FEVER, STAY HOME. PERIOD.

Ok...so the decision to keep MW home was made...99.9.

Forget the fact that she was excited about walking over to Mother's Day Out for an hour after school lets out...thus giving me an entire four hours of uninterrupted time to crank out year books...

So the little man will go on to MDO and MW will stay with me. I can set her up with some projects to keep her occupied. (I know, I sound terrible. To keep her "occupied.") So I wake the little guy about ten minutes after eight. His room is fairly dark and he keeps repeating the word "eye." We make it into a little light and I realize his eye is crusted shut. After a few wipes with a warm washcloth, I realize his eye is a little bloodshot and the lid and surrounding area is a little pink and puffy...Oh yeah, it looks like the little man has pink eye. Fabulous!

So...I felt tears stinging at my eyes. How will I ever accomplish all I need to accomplish...four more year books in six more days...without this precious four hours??? So I sat down and as the tears threatened to spill over I began to pray that God would change my heart...and my attitude...and He graciously began to do just that. He also brought to my mind a decision I needed to make: you know that old saying that life is 5% what happens to us and 95% what we make of it...or something like that...well...I had a decision to make...to throw down for a good pity party, or embrace the new order of things for the day. By the grace of God, He worked in my heart to embrace the new "plan" for the day...which meant caring for two sick little ones...

The tears stopped threatening to spill over...

And a little comfort food never hurts...not to mention the ride over would "contain" my children for thirty minutes...so we loaded up and I took them to get a donut (pretty smart...take your sick kid for a donut, huh?) ...they were slightly excited.

There is something about a donut with chocolate and sprinkles that makes the day seem a little more fun...so we each ate our donut and by the time we got home my outlook had improved greatly. (Now...how much of that was the Holy Spirit and how much of it was the chocolate on the donut?)

We spent the morning in the backyard playing.

The pollen is getting so thick it almost looks like snow. (Yeah, probably not too wise a move with two "sick" children.)

While we were playing my eyes fell on the turtle sandbox...the one about which I'd given T my word that I'd clean out...a few months ago..."the cat" (that T wants to shoot and Scout wants to eat - oh wait, that would be every cat) anyway, this particular cat...that isn't ours, but poops under our house and drives the dog crazy...also used the sandbox as a liter box...the lid blows off easily, which is how she gained access...so anyway...conviction began to grow in my heart because I nail T to the wall when he gives me his word he will do something and then doesn't follow through. Hmmm...a small log in my own eye??? So...I donned some beautiful rubber gloves, got a small shovel, and emptied that sandbox, plastic bag by plastic bag full...about 20 bags later, it was empty. Now it's soaking with clorox water. We'll have a new baby pool for the summer. No more sandbox for us...

Here's to healthy children and the hope that we'll be totally well a week from today when little Mary Thomas is expected to make her grand entry! I so want to be there to tell her "Happy Birthday!"