Spring Fever

I'm not sure if it should be called "Winter Fever" or "Spring Fever," but it seemed that both our girls spent half of February and March battling sickness.  In between their viruses, fevers, and rashes, they did a great job carrying on with their regularly scheduled activities.

Emma's class kicked off February by performing the story of Esther in chapel. Emma was a narrator and had several speaking parts while her classmates enacted the story.

Hallie was invited to a classmate's birthday party at Funville, an indoor playground. Emma joined the fun, also, and they both had a blast playing with their friends. Hallie was even brave enough to fly off this slide a few times!

Unfortunately, she got a small, deep cut on her elbow at Funville, which didn't get washed well until we got home hours later.  (Major mom fail!!) Fast forward several days later, and she had contracted strep throat and a horrible rash on her elbow. The doctor wasn't sure if the rash was caused by the germs at Funville, or if she had scratched her cut after she contracted strep throat. Apparently, you can easily transmit strep to an open wound.

I have never wanted to be a nurse because I don't want to see things like this. 

Hallie took a strong course of antibiotics to help her heal, but we had to bandage and clean these pus-filled sores for a while. And wash everything she touched with hot water. We're still traumatized by The Diseased Elbow of 2024!  

We celebrated Valentine's Day with the girls, and they received their traditional chocolate roses and cards. 

They exchanged Valentine's treats with their classmates and came home with a ton of loot! Their school also had "Valentine Grams" that were available for parents to purchase for their students. Emma and Hallie both received teddy bears and heart-shaped balloons from us. While the Valentine Grams are optional in theory, you don't want your kid crying at school on Valentine's Day because everyone else's parents loved them more than you love your child. Heh!

Just as Hallie began to recover from strep and her elbow infection, Emma came down with a virus that kept her out of school for a couple of days. 

While both girls were sick, they decided they needed a spa day. They soaked their feet in warm water filled with Orbeez (gel spheres that swell in water).

  

Hallie and Emma made homemade spa soaps and scrubs from kits they received for Christmas.

Hallie, soaking her feet and sipping juice at the spa.

Unfortunately, Emma still had a fever on StoneBridge School's Liberty Day. Each year, they honor students' relatives who serve or have served in the military.  My dad is a Vietnam War Army veteran, and he always walks with the girls during the Liberty Day ceremony.  This year, he and Hallie carried the torch on their own.

Although Emma hadn't quite recovered, she needed to make a presentation for her final President project. She dressed as Sarah Polk, James K. Polk's first lady.  I took her to school for a couple of hours just to give her speech, and she wasn't the only kid on stage who sounded sick.

A photo of her beautiful hair, which I forced her to endure until the presentation was finished. 

Each 5th grader dressed as a different President or First Lady, and presented facts that they learned. Fun fact, we're related to James K. Polk through my dad's side! Apparently Emma's (many times) great grandmother was Polk's cousin, and she attended his Presidential inauguration.  

Thankfully, both Emma and Hallie were feeling well enough to enjoy a sleepover with their cousins, Naomi and Miriam, the following Saturday.  They had tons of fun jumping on the trampoline, making up games and songs, and playing with water balloons even though it was too cold for that!

The day after their sleepover, Hallie developed a rough, red, itchy rash all over her torso and legs. We think it may have been scarlet fever, which can be a side effect of strep, but it was strange that it occurred after a full course of antibiotics.  

Oh, I thought you said you wanted to see another weird rash. Sorry.

We kept an eye on it, and it seemed to gradually get better with topical ointments, so we didn't go back to the doctor. 

Through all of her sicknesses, Hallie still qualified to perform in her school speech meet. 

She recited John 14:1-6, and she received first place! We're so proud of her!

Hallie's class read the novel, "Heidi," this year, and celebrated with Heidi Day.

All the kids dressed up as characters from the story. 

Hallie was an adorable goat. 

I volunteered to help at one of the Heidi Day craft stations. We painted flowerpots, and each child received a bag of soil with seeds for them to plant.

Hallie's pretty rainbow flowerpot.  The kids also learned to speak German, made a goat craft, cut paper snowflakes, made paper mâché flowers, and tasted Swiss chocolate and goat's milk.

Hallie was invited to another student's birthday party at an obstacle course gym. The kids tackled the obstacles and played "The Floor is Lava."

I attended a big field trip with Emma and her classmates. The 5th graders took a charter bus to Mount Vernon, George Washington's home and plantation.

I was one of the parents who rode the charter bus with the students and teachers. It was about a three-hour ride, and they played movies on the way which helped the kids enjoy the ride.

We finally arrived at beautiful Mount Vernon. It was a little chilly in the morning, but it warmed up and was a gorgeous day later on.

Emma standing in front of the Mount Vernon model.

With her best friends, Remy and Diana.

The 5th graders seemed to really enjoy our tour through the house and grounds. They worked so hard this year learning about the Presidents, and it made their research come alive.

The students got to present a wreath at George and Martha Washington's tomb site.

We ended the month of March by celebrating our nephews, Aaron and Josiah's birthdays!

Josiah with his cousin crew. 

Happy New Year!

One of our New Year's resolutions this year was to address the disaster in the girls' room. They've accumulated so many toys, and they're unwilling to part with older ones to make space for new toys. They've also accumulated more clothing than their dresser can hold.  With only one overstuffed clothes dresser and a small shelf unit in their closet, most of their toys ended up in large piles in the floor, where they could never find anything.  

Before: Giant piles of toys in the floor next to each girl's bed. We made them keep a walkway clear from their beds to the door, so they wouldn't injure themselves if they woke up at night to use the restroom.

The closet situation. The dollhouses on top of the shelf were normally covered by a packed row of dresses and costumes that hung from the closet bar.

Our solution was a trip to IKEA, which the girls loved!  We let them explore all the rooms and little "houses," but we already knew what we planned to buy. 

We purchased multiple square shelving units and let the girls choose their own cloth box colors. We've had this type of unit in their closet for years, and we've been impressed by the volume the boxes hold, and how well they've held up.  We bought each of the girls a unit for their toys, and replaced their dresser with another unit. 

Emma's side of the room.

Hallie's side of the room.

The closet - fewer hanging clothes, and more storage cubes.

We also bought this fun carpet. It's super soft and fluffy and the girls wanted to live on it!

One issue we didn't foresee was that all our new shelving units covered every electrical outlet in the room.  The girls used to have a wall plug-in nightlight, but that was no longer an option. Instead, they each got to choose their own tabletop nightlights to add to the decor.

Hallie wanted an adorable nightlight

Emma wanted a nightlight with a clock, so she could see what time it was if she woke up too early.

We put the girls' old clothing dresser out on the curb and Hallie made a sign for it that said "Free Dresser" with pictures of shirts, pants, socks, and underwear. Someone picked it up the next day!

We received a free recumbent bike from a couple at our church in January!  We had one in the past and loved it, so we're excited to have a new one. It's wedged between couches in our TV room, so we can watch something while we exercise.

Dan also bought a used inversion table to help stretch out his back. He hangs like a bat once or twice a day, and says it feels great!

Hallie's 2nd grade class presented a puppet show during chapel in January. She's standing on the far right, and she had two solo speaking parts.

The kids all made homemade sock puppets for the show. Hallie's has long red hair, a fancy, decorated dress, and she's holding a trumpet in a special instrument case. 

One evening, Emma accidentally landed with her full weight on Hallie's fingers. Hallie was in lots of pain and wouldn't bend her fingers at all that night. She was still complaining the next morning, so Dan took her to urgent care to get an x-ray. 

It turns out that her hand and fingers were fine, and they felt better as the day went on. But while they were at urgent care, Dan asked them about the consistent stomach pain that Hallie's been experiencing. She often wakes up and goes to bed with stomach pain, and sometimes feels nauseous after she eats. We've been concerned that she may have an allergy or an underlying digestive issue. 

The mystery was solved when they x-rayed her abdomen. She was just extremely constipated and full of gas. Dan was pretty sure that he saw fruit snacks stuck in there, too. The doctor sent home a healthy diet plan that was Hallie's worst nightmare. We cut her sugar consumption way back, made her eat more fruits and veggies, and gave her Miralax and extra fiber in her food for a while to get her un-constipated. It took a couple of weeks, but her stomachaches have mostly gone away, and she's doing much better now that we're monitoring her food choices more carefully.

Speaking of digestive health, I scheduled my first colonoscopy in January. I had heard all about the horrors of prepping the day before, but nothing prepares you for the actual experience.  I started drinking the fluid they prescribe the evening before, and then I had to wake up the middle of the night to drink more since my appointment was early the next morning. I think I got two hours of sleep and spent the rest of the night traveling to and from the toilet. 

I'm smiling because they're about to knock me out with anesthesia and I'll finally get some sleep! Thankfully, they didn't see any areas of concern and recommended that I do it again in 10 years! Whew!

Hallie was invited to her friend, Fiona's, ice skating birthday party. 

Our whole family joined in the fun and enjoyed ice skating together. They have plastic walkers for the kids to push along, and I was wondering where they keep the adult-sized ones!  It made the experience less stressful for our girls, who have only been ice skating once or twice before, years ago.

Near the end of the month, we celebrated my birthday with the extended family. 

Emma and Hallie gave me a sweet giraffe stuffed animal for my birthday, since it's my favorite animal. I put it on display at work next to the two prettiest girls I know!