Pox, Day 3...It's ON!

Now, THIS.....is chicken pox! We still aren't sure what it was Jeffrey had two weeks ago, but now we know FOR SURE that Jeffrey has the chicken pox! He woke up this morning (after going to bed at 6:30 last night) and had a plethera of poxies!

For just $30 a month, you can sponsor this child.

Ok, maybe that was a bad joke, but I mean isn't that a perfectly pitiful picture??!! Look at that baby's ribs! Really, it's just 'cuz his arms are raised. I PROMISE I feed him!! And those sad eyes! It sooooo sad. He doesn't really feel THAT bad, he was just looking the part for the picture.

And his back.....

But guess what...school is IN session! One of the joys of homeschooling! :-) I remember when I had the pox I at least got a couple of weeks off of school. Not at Dagerath Academy, no sir. Thankfully, Jeffrey and Josiah are both in very good spirits. Showing real character and patience through the whole ordeal. We're very proud of them! Stay tuned for more in The Pox Journal....being at home more = blogging more! :-)

Pox, Day 2

Well, it appears that Josiah is getting the pox "right and proper" (as the Amish people say in all of Beverly Lewis's books). His spots are really coming out. I think today I'm going to start giving him the homeopathic remedy to help shorten the life of the virus. I just wanted to make sure he got a good enough case to spur that sweet immunity system on. I think we're there! Here's some photos. You can't see the pox very well, but they're there.... Here's his front...

his back....

He's got them on his neck, behind his ears, on his scalp....

even a couple in his mouth...poor baby!

Thankfully, they don't itch yet. And for the most part, he feels well.


And in the "Ummmm....what!!!???!!!"category...I have pox-like blisters on my arm...

and even one on my back. I mean good grief, I've had chicken pox...TWICE! Thankfully, all my "pox" are located in one little spot on my arm and even though they itch, it's not terrible. Nothing Aveeno can't knock out....
but then...last night after a day of feeling fever-ish and "blah" Jeffrey had NEW SPOTS!! "Ummm....what??!!" indeed! We thought we were done and had closed the book on Jeffrey's chicken pox era, but in all the same places (wierd, huh!) where he had a rash last week, he's got new spots, this time a lot more of them are blistery looking. Which begs the question...what did he have for the last two weeks??? Pre-pox? Beats me...

Here's his new spots. Two weeks ago this area was red and "whelp"-ish, but now it's covered in blisters. Sigh! Even spots that looked "pox"y two weeks ago, are back and red. It's a mystery for sure. We've just decided to treat the earlier "whatever" as a practice run and a heads up for the Big Dance. So, now, we're buckling down for the long haul. After all, if you gotta have a disease, might as well have a brother with them as well! :-)

Varicella Victim #2...aka "Another one bites the dust"

It's now official, Josiah is the second (and hopefully last!!) Dagerath to get the chicken pox. We are actually really glad the he went ahead and got it. I've wondered if I should feel guilty for the rejoicing that ensued when we saw the spots coming up on his tummy and back over the last 24 hours. After all, it IS a communicable disease! We've done so many things to make sure that we DON'T get those kinds of diseases (think H1N1, bird flu, stomach flus of all sorts, etc.) that it seems a little counterintuitive to be smiling and whooping at the thought of him getting this one. But, nevertheless, we are! We're just glad he'll get it and get it overwith. Julie's kiddos also look like they're taking the long and lovely journey to "the land of the pox"....and are going with equal rejoicing! :-) I mean, we couldn't have caught it from a nicer guy....thanks, Pop! :-)

And since all activities are back in swing this week, including orientation for spring sports at FEAST, basketball games and anorthodontic appt., I'm also very thankful for big boys who can babysit Josiah (in other words, play on the Wii with Josiah while mom and some other brothers go do things they are obligated to do!!) because Michael's out of town part of the week. All in all, I'm enjoying having some reasons to stay home and not do as much. I'm in the market for some good books to read if anyone has any suggestions! I seem to have a lot more down time lately....and will for the next couple of weeks looks like.

Wii-ing in the New Year

Since Jeffrey had chicken pox (and since we'd just gotten home and were tired!) on New Year's Eve, we stayed home and celebrated together as a family. After our traditional fare of tacos and fondue....(and how is it that it seems like EVERY year, I'm on a no-sugar plan on New Year's Eve??!! Poor planning on my part for sure!!)
we brought out the Wii that we got the boys for Christmas. Owning a Wii was certainly one of those things that I said I would NEVER do! Having friends who own Wiis is a good thing. Kinda like having friends with a swimming pool. All the fun, none of the responsibility. Now granted up-keep of the Wii is nothing like upkeep of a swimming pool, but it certainly requires more discipline and self-control to not get angry or consumed with the games. In fact, I'm on the brink of a Madden ban (it's a football game)...because Madden 10 has certainly made the boys "Mad in '10" waaaaayyyyy too many times. But over all, the Wii has been lots of fun. Yes, Michael, I know you told me so. I admit it. Part of my Wii-cave was negotiating a Wii Fit and EASports Active game with the Wii. And it is FUN, FUN, FUN!! Overall, I've been very surprised at the relative lack of "video funk" that has oozed from the Wii. It's been very fun and something we actually enjoy as a family. Shocker! So, anyway back to New Year's Eve....we spent time doing fun games together for what ended up being a couple of hours.

Don't let this couch shot fool you, Michael's a "play-a" for sure!

After a couple of hours, Jonathan and Jeremy went back to read.

We watched the ball drop in New York and had a time of talking about what our goals would be for 2010. Then Michael, Jeffrey, Josiah and I went to bed, but J&J stayed up to "read in" the New Year.

Jackson didn't make it to midnight! :-) BTW, yesterday was the anniversary of our adoption of Jackson. 5 years ago we made a REALLY GREAT choice at the Bartlett Animal Shelter!!!!

The gift of a lifetime....

For Christmas this year, Jeffrey got a special gift from Pop that he hadn't planned on....chicken pox! Pop had shingles (and NOT the kind from a roof...can you say OUCH!!!!) at the cabin which he *shared* with Jeffrey. Jeffrey has never had chicken pox, despite being exposed several times....even a couple of times on purpose. "Hey Jeffrey why don't you go play a long time with Billy Jo and Betty Sue? Sure they have chicken pox! Go have fun!" Well, looks like this time he caught it. He's been feeling really normal, which is suspicious a bit to me. However, the breakouts followed a very customary pattern, starting on his tummy and spreading all around over the next few days. His itching hasn't been too bad either, thankfully. We're still looking for Josiah to break out soon, but so far, no spots.

Can't really see the spots...but they are there! Thanks Pop for a gift that lasts a lifetime!

In light of Pop's gift, I've been thinking about 2010, and praying that our year as a family would be filled with "once in a lifetime" experiences!

A holiday highlight

Though it's hard to pick a #1 highlight of the fun Christmas holiday (we had great fun at the cabin, took a quick fun surprise trip over to Memphis for a couple of days, fun car rides, etc.), I think one of my tops happened on the 26th. It was the Biggest Loser:Sister's Edition 5K race. A little background....at the beginning of November, Julie and I put together The Biggsest Loser: Sister's Edition to help us reach goals to make better food choices and be consistent in exercising. We both LOVE The Biggest Loser, so it was a natural choice for a name. We'd thrown around the idea about running in a race and even had started a "Couch to 5K" training program, but there was no race around to run in. So, we made our own race track. We took Julie's van and drove on some roads in Beaver's Bend State Park and figured out where we would run to make a 5K. I'd even made t -shirts! Corny I know, but it was the motiviation that we needed to actually get it done! The race path was around a beautiful lake with even a playground for the kiddos. Michael and Mike made the kids come to cheer us on. It was so cool to hear them cheering and singing to us when we ran past! The weather was beautiful! And cool, about 40-45 degrees. Very refreshing. Stretching out...

Double tie those laces. Notice the super cute scarf! It was a super long, super soft one that Tony and Gin gave me for Christmas. It worked wonderfully because I could wrap it around my ears AND around my neck all at the same time!

Taking off!! We walked the first part to warm up and walked a little in the middle, but ran the rest of the way!

Here we are coming in halfway. See all the kiddos cheering us on!! At this point, Julie and I both took off sweatshirts, scarves and gloves. Not so cold any more!!


Then for the big finish!!!.....

Michael brought toilet paper from the cabin and a couple of the kids holding it for our finish line! We were so thrilled!! We'd set a goal to finish in less than 37 minutes and we did it in 35:25!

The victors!! We did it!

We've already got on the calendar plans to run a REAL 5K in College Station in March. And do it in less than 31:00. And then to celebrate our 40th birthday, a half marathon. Bring it on !!

Christmas cabin fun

We made it to the cabin! And not only that....we had a white Christmas! I think the county we were in was the ONLY county in Oklahoma that wasn't under severe winter weather alerts. Mike and Julie's house in Tulsa was due to get 5-8 inches of snow. The kids were a little bummed about no snow, but then on Christmas eve...voila...snow! Granted, it wasn't much, but it was some! And was still there in the morning so everyone could go out and get a little on their gloves!

Actually the day before it snowed, all it did was rain. So, we set up the Wii that Mike and Julie brought and had a great time. Michael says the Wii is a great age equalizer. He's right. Case in point....David was a definite "contenda" in almost all of the games we played. He even beat Pop in table tennis! It was so cute, he would just flap his arms back and forth and somehow managed to hit the balls!

Here's the crew engaged in a bowling (red pin bowling) contest.

After watching all the fun, Pop couldn't stand it...

He just had to get up and give it a try! See what I mean....age equalizer!!

What was a real hoot was hearing the under 6 crowd "coaching" the over 35 crowd as to how to bowl, bat, hit, etc.

Julie and I had a great time too playing on the Wii fit. The hula hoop game was a real blast...but NO CHANCE of photos on that one!! :-)