Can I Get a WHOOP! WHOOP!

So this July has brought us our first bout with whooping cough. The night I got the call that our 2-yr. old son had tested positive for his pertussis test, I drank a humongous green coffee drink and fretted the night away.

I was really worried. And really caffeinated. And maybe that's the same thing, really.

But then the morning came. We doled out the antibiotics to everyone, noted that the 3-mo. old still had no symptoms, and stocked up on juice, popsicles, humidifiers, and yogurt.

Gideon is the only one who has developed the distinctive "Whoop! Whoop!" and he handles it like a real soldier. He pushes through the coughing fit, rests for a bit, then continues tormenting his 4-yr. old brother.

It really has only marginally slowed the mayhem down. Almost indistinguishably, really.

I've limited my online time, only getting on for emergencies ("Am I supposed to roast the garlic first?") before about 8 PM. The minutes after 8:00 have been spent researching whooping cough, the pertussis vaccine, and recipes (always). Short story: whooping cough is currently an epidemic, the vaccine may actually make things worse (at least, it doesn't help: 80% of people who get whooping cough have been fully vaccinated), and I seem to be inexplicably drawn to recipes to which you can add salsa, sour cream, and cheese.  

But also this July brought us Independence Day. I like those pictures better, so I'm sticking those in here.

For the Fourth of July, we visited the Frontier Culture Museum, ate bratwurst and watermelon, read the Declaration of Independence, and found singalong patriotic songs on YouTube.

And right now, we're busy drinking drinking drinking, filling humidifiers, bleaching towels, reading books, and trying to sort out our homeschool schedule.

Happy July.

Jiggity Jig

Home again, home again ... and all that.

Because, for the first time in a long time, we are in a home. And for the first time ever, we are in our home.

There are boxes and clothes and diapers piled everywhere, but it's all here and we're sorting through them. The job will get done. I have to say the work has not been hastened by the presence of two nursing babies. But the breaks are welcome, and the newest twins are really starting to be a lot of fun. They're five months old now, and they control their hands and fingers, roll all over the floor, and eat everything in sight ... siblings' elbows included.

We are outside city limits. This means we avoid the high taxes but have to get cable for Internet (which we did ... today!). And we also live in the part of the country where our cable guy's dad works at the Christian radio station with the deacon-in-training at our church. You find this stuff out when he asks your husband, "So what do you do?"

Questions like that bring out all kinds of relationships here.

I love it. The views are beautiful. The church is five minutes away. The children are still exploring the house and romping all over the back yard. We are unpacking treasures, some of them things we haven't seen in a couple of years. I found Ben's math book!!!

We celebrated Independence Day around town on the third. It was fun, albeit hot (what else?). We went to the Frontier Culture Musueum (free!) and then cooled off with frozen fruit slushes and frozen lemonades from our favorite drive-by coffee stop. Abraham (5) had us quite puzzled when he woke up asking, "When will we see Joseph Elias?"

We know no Joseph Elias.

We kept questioning and pondering and banging our heads against the wall until Lily said, "So the Fourth of July is tomorrow?"

"See!" Abraham shouted. "Lily said, 'Joseph Elias'!"

Fourth of July is. Joseph Elias. They sound ... um ... nothing alike.

But he was convinced, and I am sure we will celebrate Joseph Elias day again next year.


I'd best get back to unpacking and nursing and rounding up dinner. And THEN I'm going to make some iced coffee and smile big.

Six of the children enjoying the fireworks and dessert:





Enjoying a nearby dam:





Just hangin' out: