Recovering

My baby girl is slowly, but surely recovering from this nasty H1N1 flu.  It's been the pits for her...but this morning, in spite of some coughing, she seemed VERY much herself!  She was bouncing all over the place and I knew that it would be tough to keep her down on this, the first sunshiny day in WEEKS!  It's nice and brisk and cool outside today...not cold...just refreshing.  And the sky is so so blue and most importantly, overflowing with sunshine!  And so, after I exercised, she and I headed out for an adventure...the first time she's left the house in a week!  We headed over to Bear Creek Park in Keller where we found an AWESOME playground and a huge park with all sorts of wonderful walking trails and a creek and there is a huge pasture with long horn cattle along the trail.  It was really neat.  We took some pictures, Clara got to swing for a few minutes....but it was apparent that her energy level was a fleeting phenomenon.  The child has pretty not moved too much except from her bed to the couch and the couch to her bed for a whole week.  She was tuckered and coughing a good bit by the time we made it back to the car.  At that point, we proceeded to find some lunch.  I asked her what sounded good and pretty much told her she could have ANYTHING she wanted.  She's eaten practically nothing this week.  She decided she wanted some steak.  And so we headed into the Sawgrass Steakhouse.  We ordered her up a little steak and when it came....she dug right in.  And NEARLY finished it.  She ate steak and steak fries, and part of my salad.  I think she ate more food today, in that one meal, than she has eaten all week combined!  It was a bit pricey as far as lunch goes....but it was worth every penny to see her eat with such gusto and enjoy her food...for once!  After we finished up our lunch, we drove into Grapevine.  It's on the way home.  I wanted to check out just a few more things there.  We jumped out by the railroad tracks where there are some really cool, metal buildings.  I got some great shots of my princess.  She was SO exhausted by the time we headed home.  Total time out...just over two hours.  But it was more than enough for her.  She was barely able to stay awake on the way home and has been VERY quiet since we got home.  She realizes now why she was not allowed to go back to school today.  SHE may be ready....but her body is still recovering.  Next week....she'll be right back in the thick of things!  Here are some shots of my recovering angel!  

Update

Well, as Thursday draws to a close, it has been a long week.  Clara has been battling swine flu and I think FINALLY turned the corner today.  Yesterday she was just plain cranky and trying every nerve I had.  NOTHING made her happy.  She was achy and restless and tired (but refused to sleep), and coughing nonstop.  Her fever was down...but that was the only good news.  I was dreading today, but as the morning progressed, I saw more and more smiles coming from our little princess.  She has been MOST talkative...a clue that her throat is feeling OH so much better.  Though I have to say that I find myself longing for just a little peace and quiet by this point in the day.  We laid around today.  It wasn't too hard for me to just chill out and lay down with her today because my head has been splitting since last night.  And moving around a lot does NOT help it at all.  So we have just chilled out together...Clara chatting incessantly.  Around 2:30 this afternoon she decided that I am NOT good enough company and not a good conversationalist (did I mention that my whole FACE hurts?) and she headed upstairs to her playroom.  A short time later I heard music drifting down the stairs and when I looked in on her she was smack in the middle of her own little dance party!  She was dancing and singing and twirling and just busting out a lively boogie right there in the middle of the floor.  She is OBVIOUSLY feeling better!  And that's music to my ears.  Of course...she's also thinking she's going to school tomorrow...and that ain't going to happen.  While she may be feeling better...she's still got a ways to go to build up her strength.  She needs to find her appetite and EAT something.  And she needs to be able to tolerate a full schedule of activity...not just an hour or two.  And so...she will be with ME tomororow.  As a peace offering....IF the sun comes out....I'm thinking about taking her to lunch and over to check out a lake and park someone told me about.  My little social butterfly has had about all of the house bound activity she can handle.  On the bright side, she's done some awesome scrapbooking this week and also learned to stitch quite nicely.  Nothing fancy....but at age 7...it's fairly impressive.  She stitched a tea towel that has a tea pot and a tea cup on it and it's really pretty cool looking.  She's VERY proud of herself and is thinking of starting a stitching business now.  That's my Clara!  

What else?  Well....taking care of Clara yesterday, I managed to walk right into the leg of the chair in the family room...effectively smashing the heck out of the toes on my left foot.  The 3rd and 4th toes on that foot are VERY purple today and hurt like a booger.  Walking on the treadmill was more than a little bit of a challenge this morning.  I got it done...but only got a little over 3 miles in in the same amount of time I usually do 5.  But it was better than nothing!

Both boys seem to have dodged the swine flu....so far.  Ben was home yesterday with a terrible cough...but no other symptoms and it seems some better today.  Max...as usual....catches nothing!  That kid has one amazing immune system.  

Jim and Jackie are coming out in just two short weeks.  The kids are over the moon excited.  They have asked and asked when they are coming and I keep telling them....but they just keep asking no matter what.  I think they are just really excited to know they are coming and to have them around again for a bit.  Their room is ready and we are excited to pick them up and show them our new town!  I only hope they like it as much as we do!  

I got my new business cards today.  I rather like them.  They are totally different than anything I've had before and are kind of pearly finished.  VERY pretty and fancy-ish!  Now....at least I have them if I decide to go forward with rebuilding some business here in Texas!  

And on that note....my dinner is ready and my hubby is home!  So it's time to gather the troops and feed our little army!  Life is good in Texas!

Swine Flu

That is the official diagnosis for our little princess tonight.  We headed to Urgent Care around dinner time this evening as Clara became increasingly more feverish and her cough continued to escalate to a most unhealthy seal bark.  They tested her for flu, along with strep, since her throat is much more swollen than you would typically see in a flu case.  Her strep was negative, but her flu was very, VERY positive.  Bless her heart...she is beyond miserable.  Her fever keeps bouncing around 103...her throat is screaming.  She hardly eats...hardly drinks and just kind of whimpers every few minutes that she's awake.  Which is most of the time as she is too miserable to sleep!  The doctor sent her home with Tamiflu, something with codeine to help her sleep and phenigrin (sp?) for the pain, and a steroid to help with the swelling in her throat.  Plus motrin for the fever.  It has been a rough, rough day for her and I am so praying for a peaceful nights sleep for her.  I wouldn't mind one myself either.  In light of Clara's diagnosis, the boys are certain that they too get to stay home from school.  EARLY in the year a letter was sent home that stated that if one child in your family was diagnosed with swine flu, then ALL children in the household were to stay home for at least 5 days after the diagnosis.   The boys are counting on that holding true tomorrow morning when I call into the school to find out.  I on the other hand....am SO hoping that is NOT the case.  That the school will welcome them with open arms just as they always do!  I guess we shall see tomorrow morning!  It's time to go up and wake up Clara for her midnight dose of motrin now.  Until tomorrow!

Remember the Weed Torch?

Do you remember when Chris got that crazy weed torch and started torching the heck out of everything in our yard in Arizona?  INCLUDING the un-torchables....namely two of my favorite bulbine plants?  You can walk down memory lane at  http://arizonahighlights.blogspot.com/2008/03/if-you-want-something-done-rightgrrrrrr.html.  This weekend was somewhat like that.  What did he torch you ask?  Well...nothing...because he's not ALLOWED to touch the weed torch...EVER.  HOWEVER.  He was working on taking "a couple of branches" down in the front yard on Saturday morning.  See...we've had some vermin in the attic the last couple of weeks.  Some squirrels have literally gnawed their way right through the wood trim and into our attic area.  And they rather like making the walls of our house their nice dry, warm playground.  So we've had the vermin patrol out and they identified said vermin and mentioned that said vermin were using the crepe myrtles growing up along the corners of the house as a ladder to get up to their hidey hole entrance.  So Chris said he was going to trim those branches this weekend to help limit their access.  I glanced out at the front yard as I was getting ready to mow and noted that Chris was, indeed, working on those trees with the trimmer and the trimmer was hooked up to a long orange extension cord running across the yard.  So I made the decision to start in the BACK yard, so as not to disturb his trimming rhythm.  And THAT was my first mistake.  I very MUCH should have disturbed him because the little tree trimming led to the big tree trimming, which then led to the hacking to death of my holly shrub, followed by the hacking to death of the box shrub, and the TOTAL hacking of the big giant shrub thing....and in the end there was MUCH carnage.  Yes...I definitely should have interrupted his rhythm of destruction.  By the time I finished mowing the backyard there was a most definite new look to the front yard.  I nearly broke down in tears.  I could not BELIEVE what I was seeing.  Chris was quick to comfort and reassure me that it was all merely a "trim" and that it would grow back in a couple of weeks.  UNTIL....I pointed out the shrub I had already somewhat severely trimmed FOUR WEEKS AGO....though NOWHERE NEAR as severely as he had just done...and pointed out how it had so NOT even thought about growing back yet.  No....that hedge will not be back with us for some time now.  There is utter and complete ghetto gardening going on here at my house.  The entire street front from my driveway at one corner of my property, to the mailbox at the other corner of my property....covered with brush and trees.  And bush.  And goodness knows what else.  And that's BEFORE we even set out our trash.  As I looked at it and took it all in, I thought...."oh dear....what MUST the neighbors think?"  But more importantly....what must the poor garbage men think?  I think they must surely hate the Roberts family.  We've probably put out more trash and garbage in the 6 weeks we have lived here than the whole neighborhood has combined!  The garbage men are in for an extra special surprise this week.   In addition to our ghetto gardening and landscaping....we also did a MAJOR clean out on the garage.  And...as you might have guessed....there was MUCH garbage that surfaced in that process.  I can just imagine the look on the waste management faces tomorrow morning.  And so....without further ado....pictures from the weekend warriors.  LOL!  

Not much left when it was all said and done.  Needless to say...all powertool priviledges are, for the time being....SUSPENDED!

On another note....once Chris was finished hacking the yard to death, he moved on into the garage and we tackled the last of the garage organization.  This is always the last of the last and the worst of the worst I think.  I mean....he and I both HATE the garage and all the stuff that goes

 with organizing it!  We've put it off  to the very last of the last.  This weekend we bought a track system and all the fun hooks and Chris installed it.  The transformation was truly amazing and I am thrilled beyond belief with the results.  I'm tempted to forbid the kids from walking in there...EVER!  As they seem to be significant contributors to the garage disarray.  Shoot....they are significant contributors to ALL the disarray in our house....period!  But anyway.  The system is UP an it looks FANTASTIC!  Chris did a GREAT job on getting the shelves up and installed and the tracks and the hooks.  It was awesome and his hard work in THAT room is SO appreciated!!!!  It makes all the difference in the world.   Here...see for yourself.  

Before and after..,

And more before and after...

Happiness is clean garage and knowing the very last box FINALLY really and truly is UNPACKED!!!  It may be overrun with vermin and bit challenged in the landscaping department....but it's home sweet home to us....and we love it!  

Sunday

What an amazing day!!!!  Best Sunday ever...in like 5 years!  Totally!  Our weekend ended up a bit topsy turvy with several changes of plan...but worked out so nicely in the end.  On Friday afternoon....literally MOMENTS before I jumped into the car to run up to the Rainbow dealer and purchase a $2000 plus swingset for Clara, I happened to have a conversation with one of our neighbors and found out that her husband's coworker had a really nice Rainbow playset for sale.  I got the information about it but did not get overly excited as Chris and I had already called about a couple of them and they were sold before we ever could even get there to look at them.  But this one was still for sale when I called, so Clara and I dashed over there to take a look and it was AWESOME!  AND it was only $1000 as opposed to the double that that I was about to spend.  And so....Saturday morning became a day of disassembling the play structure in their yard and carting it over to ours.  It went remarkably fast and we had it all home by shortly after lunch time.  We were SUPPOSED to have our family pictures made in the stunningly gorgeous Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens Saturday afternoon....but we got rained out.  The sky started looking darker and darker and darker.  So I called our photographer friend and asked how the weather was looking in her area and she said it was dark and had just started to rain.  So we ended up rescheduling on account of the rains!  So Chris and I headed home and proceeded to assemble the hardest part of the playset IN THE POURING RAIN!  It would rain quite hard, then drizzle, then stop for about  minutes....then rain hard again and so on and so forth.  Despite the rain and being soaked completely to the bone, we did manage to get the major huge platform assembled.  Then we had to quit because it was just too cold and wet to do any more.  We came in, took hot showers and then Chris headed out to pick up some hot take out food for us.  Soon after that, as I sat in my PJ' s with wet hair and no makeup, my photographer friend sent me a message on Facebook suggesting I meet her at the movies in like...oh....20 minutes for a movie.  So after about a minute of deliberation, I jumped up, dried my hair, threw on some jeans and was out the door!  We saw "The Perfect Proposal" I THINK it was called with Sandra Bullock.  SO cute and funny!  LOVED it!  It was a nice and fun sporadic night out that I enjoyed IMMENSELY!  Then I slipped into bed and slept like a dream.  This morning we got dressed and headed out to church....back to First Euless for the third week.  And what a morning it was!  WHAT a message God had for me this morning.  Instead of Sunday School there was a big group meeting in the chapel and a presentation called Parenting with Purpose.  WOW!  Such insights and wisdom there.  It was as if God had designed it just for me to hear today.  I walked out of there seeing things differently as far as my children are concerned and seeing MYSELF differently as far as how I interact with them.  It was a GREAT time and I was SO blessed to be a part of it.   Then, just when I did not think I could possibly BE any more blessed, I went to worship.  The same couple who spoke to us about parenting with purpose were speaking in the worship service.  They talked about how we can leave either Blessings for our children or baggage.  We can create a heritage of blessing or a lifetime of baggage.  It was SO neat and so dead on and SO appropriate for where we are in our life right now with our kids.  I walked out of that service a new person with a new perspective and new insights and a new love of Jesus and a deep appreciation and fondness for this new church we have been so blessed to be a part of.  It's like this deep, deep hole is being filled right now...I feel so a part of God's family again and feel like there really is a church family there for us.  Best of all, the pastor does not cry.  The people are so nice.  There are classes and activities for all of our kids while WE are in OUR classes.  And I get to see my kids excited about hiding God's words in their hearts again.  We have had three AMAZING and blessed Sundays there so far.  

What else?  Well....I can hardly believe the weekend is over already.  It seems like just yesterday I was telling the kids....tomorrow is Friday...only one more day until we get a WHOLE WEEKEND off!!!  It seemed like SUCH a long break when we were coming up on it.  But in real life time...it was merely a blink and it's over.  We have plenty to show for the weekend.  The swingset got completed this afternoon after church.  Chris and I worked another couple of hours and then it was good to go.  It was such fun to watch Clara move from station to station and swing to swing...playing with it all.  I loved seeing the smile on her face when she got a big push on her swing and how proud and excited she was when was able to pull herself up and over the trapeze bar while hanging upside down.  She is SO happy to have her swing...finally.  The boys even jumped in on the play action and had a ball just spinning on the tire swing and swinging and climbing all over.  It's been so much fun to watch our kids just be kids and just PLAY outside in the grass.  I love to just sit and watch them run and skip and chase the dog and roll around and act like kids should act.  I love this state of Texas.  Totally.

The week ahead will be another busy one.  I am hoping to get back into the gym tomorrow morning.  This bursitis in the hip is making me nuts....along with a nasty rib flareup this week.  I have been more than a little bit out of commission!  I hope to be back at it this week.  Like first thing tomorrow morning!  I have to go back to the chiropractor on Wednesday....but hope to get a release back to "as needed" status after this one!  Here's hoping?!  I think Chris has to put in an appearance in Arizona and I'm sure the kids will be off and running homework and project wise as tomorrow is the first day of the new six weeks.  I have come to the conclusion that I will only Max the same amount of reminders and assistance that I give the other two kids.  It's more than enough really.  And if he fails....then he fails.  If I continue to hand hold him and bail him out, he will never learn to stand on his own two feet and take responsibility for his grades.  And this cycle will just go on and on and on and I have NO desire to spend the next 4 years of high school after this year babying and hand holding and begging and pleading to get Max through school.  I feel like maybe Max just isn't doing his part.  He refused to make his grades a priority.  And so, therefore, I cannot make them a priority either.  He HAS to do this on his own.  He HAS to learn to get organized and how to take control and charge of his responsibilities.  He has just refused to do it thus far.  I can't MAKE him do it.  He has to see it, and understand it and design and follow his OWN plan for making himself a success.  It may well mean that he does not go back to the beach with us this summer, because he has to stay and do summer school.  It may mean that when all of his friends move on to the high school next year...he doesn't.  I have no idea really what it all will mean.  It's a scary road for sure....but one we absolutely MUST take.  Max is the captain of this ship.  It may sink.  Or it may sail.  Only time will tell for sure!  Wish us luck and be praying for us as we navigate these stormy waters.  It so hard to know that you are stepping back and that your child probably WILL fall and fail when you do so.  But as hard as it is...I realize that it is completely necessary if we are to move on into life and if he is ever to be successful under his own guidance and desire.  Tough times ahead no doubt!  All aboard!

And THAT wraps up our weekend.  Next weekend....we're relaxing....for sure! 

A Shameless Addiction

My name is Tonya Roberts, and I am shamelessly addicted to Farmville on Facebook.  I mean...it's bad.  I find myself calculating and scheduling where I might be when my crops come due and am careful not to plant things that I'm not positive that I will be home to harvest.  Because I can't bear the thought of something wilting in my fields.  I find myself giddy when I get new animals.  I got my first goat today and I hardly knew what to do with myself I was so overjoyed.  Oh...and I also got my first little piggy!  I just LOVE that game.  I would truly be embarrassed to tell you just how many times a day I actually check in on my farm.

In OTHER news...I am thrilled that it's coming up on Friday.  I love the nothingness of our weekends....and the kids do too.  This week has gone really, really FAST!  It's been a bit of a tough week.  So thank goodness it's flown by!  My hip has been bothering me since this summer at the beach.  And when we got back to Tucson, I did see the chiropractor and he DID fix it....twice.  But then we moved and it was hurting...but then got better...then hurt...then got better...then hurt and hurt and hurt.  Finally, on Monday I had had enough and made an appointment.  I ADORED the new chiropractor the second that I met her.  VERY very nice...but then...aren't most people here in Texas just so crazy nice?!  She was SO thorough and it was just a great visit.  HOWEVER...on Tuesday, my muscles spasmed in response to the adjustment and I was in quite a state.  My fingers were tingling and threatening to go numb.  And so after a quick call and check in with the doc, I was right back in her office first thing Wednesday morning.  I was a mess!  Lots of spasm and swelling and pain.  I spent quite a long time in her office, then had to go back in again at 5 for one last check before the end of the day.  I was doing a lot better by then and got to take Thursday off.  I do have to be back in there at 8:30 tomorrow morning...but I'm feeling some better.  Not cured.  But definitely better than on Wednesday!  

Max continues to struggle in his classes.  Not because the work is hard, but because he's just not real motivated.  I have decided that, as I watch him, I am the ONLY one stressing over his grades and that Max is not really doing his part.  I decided that from here on out I will give him the same amount of guidance and reminders that I give the others.  But beyond that....he will be on his own.  I am releasing him into his own responsibility and if he fails....well...then he fails.  And HOPEFULLY, if and when he fails, he will find the proper motivation to do what needs to be done.  I think it would be different if I wondered  if he maybe had a learning disability or any processing problems....but I know he doesn't.  That kid is crazy crazy smart.  He's simply unmotivated and I cannot seem to motivate him...either through punishment OR reward.  And so it will HAVE to come from within Max himself.  If that means he flunks...then he flunks...and if he flunks enough....then he will be repeating the 8th grade.  Or doing summer school.  Which would really be a bummer.  Especially since.....

We made our reservations for a month in San Diego next summer.  It's going to be a heck of a drive to get there, but SOOOOo worth it in the end!  I can't wait!  We had SUCH a good time there last summer.  I am really REALLY glad we are doing it all over again.  The kids really love it.  It's so hot here in the summer...much like Arizona.  So it will be a great escape from the heat for our kids.  It would be sad for Max to have to stay behind and do summer school because he couldn't pull his act together.  But I guess that will be up to him.  I told him three times to go do his homework this afternoon.  Once he disappeared into the bathroom, the next time he headed off in the general direction of homework, but then got distracted before he got there.  And the last time I told him, I found him about 10 minutes later just laying in the floor...doing nothing.  I refuse to sit on the child and force him to do it.  At 13, he's too old for that he KNOWS what he needs to be doing.  If he refuses to take responsibility....so be it.  That will be his choice and he will have to take those consequences.  I am at peace with this plan of action.  I feel like it's just going to have to be this way.  I have fought against it for over a year now...but have come to realize that it just may take exactly this to reach Maxwell.  Wish us luck!

What else?  Clara's foot is all better this week.  Both Chris and I have had our flu shots.  Work is good.  Life is good.  Oh...and we are having our pictures made this weekend!  Woo hoo!  THAT should be fun!  I have everyone's outfits all ready for action.  Oh...and we will visit First Euless for the third time.  We had yet another visit from them last night.  The first time they came, they brought a nice little welcome and a gift bag with a cool coffee cup.  Then last night they came with another welcome, an invite to a different Sunday school class, and salsa for us.  They are some of the nicest people I have ever met...like ever!  We really enjoyed the Sunday school class we visited last week and are looking forward to visiting a new one this week.  I really, really like this church a lot.  And that's such a great feeling!  

Looking forward to this weekend!  And the cool weather that has been promised for it!  Stay tuned!