Both Russ and I had hectic weeks.  Just a bunch of rough meetings, finicky software builds, tools that decided to break, a fair amount of pressure with a full share of stress.  Packed all that in a four day week that felt like 10!

 

So we were all too relieved to see Friday morning come.  We piled in the van around 9:15 and headed up to see Kate and Rich in Berwyn, PA.  It had been a long time since we spent extra time with them, and we were looking forward to the visit.  Like the days before, the trip seemed to drag on.  Maybe I didn’t plan well enough, but it just seemed like we were stopping on the hour and getting no where.  We arrived at Kate’s around 2:30 that afternoon…. we were originally planning for noon.

 

We had a really nice afternoon.  Liam and Jax played well, and Liam told Kate all about the multitude of drawings he brought with him.  Jax was delighted to play Jedi with Uncle Rich.  We just took our time, talked about our vacations, shared pictures, laughed and enjoyed the sunshine. 

 

 

Since Titania is getting old, and it’s difficult for her to walk very far, Kate wanted to try out a few baby slings to use for carrying her.  This was an interesting experiment, but I was surprised at just how easy the transition from baby carrier to doggy carrier actually went! 

 

 

We hoped to grill outside, but just as dinner time approached, it started to rain.  No worries though – we just put everything in the oven, and it turned out just fine.  After dinner, we enjoyed strawberry shortcake!

 

Once we got the dishes cleaned up, I got the boys settled down for the night.  It’d been a long day for them, so I was happy they got to sleep quickly.  This allowed the rest of us to enjoy an old game I’d pulled from the farm house, called Password.  It took us forever to figure out the rules, but once we did we had a roaring good time playing.  It was so funny waiting for Rich to come up with clues, and it was hilarious when Kate and I came up with the wackiest answers.  Russ floored us all when he came up with “sarong” after only two clues!  I can’t wait to play it again!

 

 

After the game, we watched a bit of the Japanese Animated series, Avatar.  Rich thought the boys would like it, so we gave it a bit of a preview.  I didn’t last long, though, before I was nodding off, and we figured it was best to call it a night.

 

The next morning, we had a nice breakfast together, and a quick dog walk around the block before we departed.  It was a short visit, but we made every minute count.  We’ll definitely do it again, and stay longer.

 

After leaving Kate & Rich’s, we made a quick detour to Quakertown to pop in on our friends, Sue & Perry.  Their grandson, Brendan, was visiting, so it was nice to let the boys all have some play time together. 

 

 

Again, our visit was a short one because we planned to have lunch with Noah.  It’s rather sad that our visits with Noah are on the short side, these days, but he’s a working man now, so we’re just glad for the time we get.  Can’t fault him too much for that.  We had a really nice visit at Applebees, even though Jax decided to have a bit of a meltdown on the way out.  Noah’s starting an office cleaning business with his mother, and they are off to a good start.  No clients yet, but they’ve gotten all set up and sent out a bunch of advertising flyers, so our fingers are crossed that business will start flowing in for them.  Noah thought he might be able to come visit us in Maryland around Labor Day.  That would be nice.

 

After our nice lunch with Noah, we went to a local park for a few minutes just so the boys could stretch their legs a little before Noah had to go to work. 

 

 

Then we headed to the Montgomery Mall to do some school clothes shopping for Liam.  PA has no tax on clothes, so we took advantage.  He got several pairs of jeans, a few shirts and a nice back pack.  We got some GREAT deals at JC Penny.  He got the back pack at Gap Kids, and it’s pretty cool.  I like most that it’s not huge.  Liam’s on the small side, and it just seemed that most of the back packs you find are half the kids’ body size!

 

Once shopping was done, we headed for home.  The trip down wasn’t too bad and we got back home around 9:00pm.

 

Our PA visit was shorter than usual, but I’d been neglecting the house lately, so we really needed a day to just do routine cleaning.  Sunday was perfect.  We were all rested and in good spirits.  Jax and Liam played really well together in the basement.  I put some Jazz music on, and just made my way from the top of the house to the bottom.  It rained in the afternoon, and that too, seemed to freshen things up a little bit. 

 

Russ went to the grocery store and got a few things to get us through the week.  He also spent some time putting a Star Wars ship model together with Liam.  Models are a little like Legos and both Liam and Jax enjoy spending time with their dad putting them together.

 

 

It was a really nice weekend.  We did some visiting, some very important shopping, a bit of cleaning, and a reasonable amount of resting.  Can’t beat that.

 

We do have some sad news though, and I hate to end a blog entry with it, but our dear Ashy went to the Rainbow Bridge last night.  I’d been worried about him all week.  Last Monday, it seemed his breathing worsened.  I just couldn’t get him into the vet until last night.  I held out hope that Dr. Terry might have some alternate ideas on how to make him more comfortable.  However, she was pretty confident that since the antibiotics didn’t work, that he did, in fact, have a paralyzed larynx.  Surgery might have been an option for a younger dog, but would be an expensive and very risky choice for a 12 year old greyhound.  He had no options left, and I just couldn’t stand to see him struggle to breath any more.  I know it was the right decision, but I miss him terribly already.  He was a good dog.

It was nice for ALL of us to get in a full and healthy week. Liam’s elbows have broken out in an odd rash that got severe enough for us to call the Doctor for a possible visit this Monday. We tried to topicals, one fungal and one bacterial on each elbow. The bacterial seems to have stopped the rash. We have continued to apply it over the weekend. The redness is out of both elbows and the rashes have stopped. They are not gone but look better. We are wondering if it was whatever attacked his throat and caused the high fevers he had all the week before last.

 

We also watched a beautiful white shepherd named Luna for a co-worker of Erin’s while he returned for a visit to Kentucky. Cleo loved having the company and the two frolicked and played inside and out all week.

 

On Friday I met the family at Five Guys for dinner. Erin and the kids were picking up dog food. I swung into game spot and picked up a Star Wars game Liam had been ogling for a few months. His buddy Eric has it and he enjoyed playing it while visiting at Eric’s house. They were in Five Guys as I walked up to the window and showed Liam. To that he let out a yell that must have been pretty loud. Jax and I then went to the grocery to pick up a couple of items for dinner Saturday night. Liam and Erin then went to Lowe’s for another runner for the den.

 

After dinner we got home and got the kids tucked in and finished watching the Invasion Iowa series starring William Shatner from a few years back. We remembered Brain and Jo commenting on how hilarious it was and they were right. The premise was William Shatner and a group of actors invaded Riverside Iowa. They were going to film a sci-fi in the town. Well it was a horrible movie and some of the town people were enrolled in the movie. So actually it was a funny put in as the show was really about Shatner and the actor’s acting as quirky as possible and seeing if they could snow the town. They did all but one and he was let in on the gag. In the end the story actually was sweet after the hilarity and the town were awesome sports. We enjoyed the series a LOT more than we originally thought we would.

 

On Saturday Erin and I started in on the other shelves for the garage. Dad Day had made a great template with the first shelves. The project went well and I for the most part helped and let Erin direct. I concurrently worked on lining the crack that invites weeds between the concrete if the garage and the asphalt of the driveway. That went well and is finally done including the HUGE freaking mole hole between the driveway and garage. I hate them little sum bitches!! Next year we attack the grubs. The birds try and help. By the amount of them feeding in our yard we must have a lot of grub. I also tackled patching the old pot hole which I hate in the driveway. Eventually we will get the driveway repaved but with the new den floor will have to wait until next year or the next.

I ignored the fact that I should have used a degreasing agent (I was being cheap) and paid for it. Within a couple of hours my patch had cracks. Live and learn!  

 

After lunch we finished up the shelving and loaded it up. Both Erin and I were happy with the organization of the garage and appreciated Dads help and engineering as well as the shelving from Paul. The kids were pretty good but watched way too much TV while we tried to get some work done. It is hard with little ones to work on projects and keep them happy and occupied at the same time but somehow we get through it. It was a project Erin really wanted to finish this summer and I totally supported her. I am glad we do meet our own self-imposed deadlines most of the time. It keeps us focused.

 

We then got cleaned up for dinner. We had invited our friends Bill and Janet over. It had been a bit since we hung out but we always have a great time. Their daughter Rosalia goes to Daycare with Liam and Jax. Liam and her are big Star Wars buddies and Jax follows Ro around like a shadow. The boy has a definite crush.

 

Bill brought in this platter full of “Sushi” that was quite cool and colorful and a hit with the kids. Liam was still talking about it this morning.  I fired up our new little grill and threw some steaks on that were marinating from the day before. It was just breezy enough to have dinner outside although it got a bit buggy after a while outside. We enjoyed looking at their Maine vacation photos while the kids played all around the yard. It was nice to relax had we had been busy all day.

 

After a while the bugs won and we went in to get the kids settled. After a while and one brief visit downstairs by Liam and Ro they got settled. We looked at our vacation photo son the TV. We then started up on the Wii. All of us never have much time to play so when we get together we have a good time. We played playground. It was funny as they kind of had to drag me along to get the games but eventually I would catch on. We then went to Game Party and had some great games of darts. It reminded us of the REAL dart board downstairs.

 

We had a great time playing Darts downstairs and then sitting around the basement talking. Before we knew it it was almost two and Erin was getting sleepy. It was a wonderful visit and we always enjoy their company.

 

I was up around 9 and Erin had gone down to sleep a little more on the couch. Liam was still sacked out in our bed. I cooked up a quick breakfast and headed out to clean football equipment for the Pax River Raiders. The recent off-season of football has seen a lot of negative actions between the three leagues in the county and left parents VERY confused at times. We have and will stay loyal to the Raiders and most of all for Coach Billy who coached Liam last year. Us coaches cleaned pads and helmets for 90 minutes. We had such a good show of coaches we went through hundreds of uniforms in that short time. I filled out my background check. I will also attend training Tuesday night and be ready to assist Coach Billy the first week of August. All the negative politics aside I am really looking forward to helping Billy with the kids. We got a good group of young boys. It is all about teaching them the very basics such as listening and running the right directions while letting them have an awesome first teamwork experience. If we build this ground work then they will be ready and look forward when it comes time to wear pads.

 

I was back by early afternoon and Erin was working on the laundry albeit she was very tired from the late night. Jaxson needed a nap but he really wanted to go to Lowes and get crabs with me. It is neat how now he wants to pal up with Daddy and go to get stuff. Liam was busy playing Legos so he stayed home. Jax is a lot of fun to go to Lowe’s with. He is very inquisitive now about all the things he sees in the store. I needed patch asphalt to fix my cracking mistakes from the day before on the pothole. We then stopped by the grocery and watched the lobsters swim while we waited for the crab to cook.

 

When I got home Jax and Mommy took a good long nap. Liam and I watched a show on Tony Stewart I have on DVD (No races I needed something) and then caught a couple of Clone Wars episodes. After the boys were up Jaxson and I painted his little Blue Saleen Snap Tite model. He was very neat painting the seats , bottom of the car, and interior. The all black gives them painting confidence. Liam and I built his last week. While things were drying the family ate. I had already ate Crabs so I went and worked on my pot hole obsession. After dinner Jax helped me put the model together. I let him play with it a little bit. Next Sunday I will paint and build the shelf for his room while I repaint my desktop which needs it.

 

After baths we put the kids to bed. No fusses there. They were beat.  We started to watch Bewitched episodes of season 7 on DVD but Erin woke me at nine because I was snoring on the couch next to her. I guess I was pretty tired too. I went straight up to bed and Erin said she was right behind me and I was already asleep. It did me good I guess.

 

Tuesday I will get my training in for football. Wednesday Jaxson and Liam’s pictures will be ready. Next weekend we will go to Pennsylvania. We will shop for school clothes for Liam while up in tax free land. After that we will stay at Kate and Riches Friday night. We are looking forward to seeing them. On Saturday we are going to stop by and see Perry and Sue and drop off pictures and then have lunch with Noah. We were going to stay at my Mom’s but currently that isn’t a wise thing for us. Hopefully things will get better but I can’t count on that. I just know I want to do the best for my family and a little separation is sadly the best thing I can do for my own family. We will return home Saturday evening as I have a few projects I would like to finish before football season starts.

 

Aunt Dawn has booked her flights for her annual Halloween visit. We missed her last year and it is nice to know she missed the boys and us too. We are greatly looking forward to her visit and Liam already has a Star Wars theme in mind.

 

 

It had been a long week.  It wasn’t a good week either.  No doubt about it.  Later last Sunday, Liam just wasn’t himself.  He had a fever and said his eyes hurt.  Sure enough, Russ ended up staying home with him on Monday.  The Tylenol alternated with Ibuprophen would reduce the fever, but not eliminate it at all.  Monday night was a long night and more than once we thought we might need to go to the ER.  Tuesday morning there was no doubt that Liam needed to get to the doctor ASAP.  Jax’s antibiotics from his round the week before were kicking in, so he was fine and well enough to go to daycare.  I had to go to work because I was running short on leave time.  Russ took Liam to the doctor Tuesday morning.  Strep was ruled out, but his white blood cell count was about 26.  That was a significant alarm considering normal range is 4 - 10.  Needless to say, he stayed home with Russ. 

 

Unfortunately, at the same time, we’d had an unfavorable phone correspondence with Russ’s mom, so that wasn’t helping the stress level any. 

 

Wednesday morning, we both stayed home with Liam.  We took Jax to daycare, but the doctor wanted to see Liam again.  His WBC was still about 22, but since it had come down, it meant that the antibiotics were helping.  He was not allowed to go back to daycare and it was just as well. 

 

By this time, Russ and I had sore throats, and low fevers, so we got in to see the doctor too.  I got some antibiotics.  Russ got some stronger antibiotics and a lecture about getting back on track with his diabetes.  He’s mulling over the idea.

 

So, it did all of us good to just stay home and get the meds flowing.  I was glad to be home to actually tend to my sick little boy, although his dad had been taking good care of him.  Again, Liam spent most of the day on the couch.  I think I dozed off on it a couple times too.

 

Thursday I returned to work, but when Russ called to check in in the morning, he said that Liam was still running a low fever, so he was going to stay home with him one more day and just make up missed hours over the weekend.  Fortunately, but the afternoon, Liam’s temperature returned to normal, and he was back to swinging his lightsabre and making spaceships out of Legos. 

 

Thursday night, while I was getting the boys ready for bed, Russ started clearing out our den.  He moved a lot of the furniture into the guest room.  After the boys were in bed, I helped him move the TV.  All this moving was in preparation for the new laminate floor we were getting installed the next day.  Finally, the room was pretty clear other than a few big pieces they could just slide around as they put in the floor.  We watched TV upstairs, and Russ brought up his laptop.  It reminded us of the days when we were in the townhouse and the computer was in our bedroom. 

 

Friday finally arrived, and I was up early.  It was our normal CWS Friday, but Russ decided to go into work to make up some hours missed.  On the way, he dropped off both boys at daycare, and Liam’s teachers were glad to see him back.  I’ll tell you, he was better, but he was still pale, and I swear he dropped a few pounds.  I stayed home and waited for the flooring guys to come.  They were due to arrive around 8:30. 

 

 

So I waited.  I had some coffee and read the paper.  I sat outside, and cleaned up the kitchen.  I began to wonder if there was some problem developing with our floor installation.  It seems we never have good luck with these sorts of things.  Finally, at 9:45 I sat on my couch in my otherwise empty den, and made a call to Edinger’s Carpet.  “Hello,” I said, “My name is Erin Cole, and I’m suppose to have a laminate floor installed this morning, and I was just wondering what the status was because no one is here yet.”

 

“Ok, Mrs. Cole,” she said, “Let me see where they are.”  “Oh,” she said again, “I have here on the paperwork you signed that they aren’t coming until the 17^th.” 

 

“No!” I said bluntly, “We agreed on the TENTH!”  “I KNOW I said the TENTH!!!”  I further explained that I had moved all the furniture, and I was certain that Dave (the sales manager) and I had agreed on the tenth because that was a normal day off for me – NOT THE 17^TH!  So, she said she’d get a hold of Dave and have him call me back. 

 

I few minutes later, which seemed like an HOUR, he called me back and told me that we must have had some sort of miscommunication, but that he’d pull a crew off another house job, and send them over.  He hoped they’d be done today, but told me it might spill over until Saturday.  As far as I was concerned, that was fine. 

 

I’d consulted Mom and Dad and Russ (who’d been there when Dave came over to finalize the deal last Friday) and we think that he’d written “July 17^th” on the paperwork.  I signed it, not noticing, which was my fault.  However, before he left, Dave said, “So we’re all set for the 17^th.” 

 

To which I replied alarmingly, “NO, the 10^th – one week from today, the 10^th.”

 

“Right, the 10^th,” he said.  However, I think he neglected to change it on the paperwork.  From our first phone call, we’d planned for the 10^th, so I’m standing by that date. 

 

It was unfortunate that he had to pull guys off another job, and it was also unfortunate, they had to stay late (although they left at 5), but I am impressed that he didn’t just leave me sitting in an empty room for another week! 

 

While the floor was getting installed, I worked outside a great deal and finally got all the leaves raked up and burned. 

 

In the end, the floor is beautiful - simply beautiful.  It’s just perfect for a home with three dogs and two young boys.  It looks like hardwood, but is a bright oak color and is incredibly durable.  I’m very pleased.  It’ll be an expense for me to pay over the next year, but I’ll be working extra hard to get it paid off.  I have no interest or payments for 12 months, but I’m determined to have a zero balance by Christmas. 

 

 

That evening, we had dinner at Ruby Tuesdays, and the boys behaved very well.  Our dinner was delicious and we didn’t have to wait in a long line to get in.  Then we went over to Lowes.  Russ wanted to get some supplies for his driveway project, and I wanted to pick up a couple of rubber backed throw rugs to put around the coffee table.  At first, it didn’t look like Russ and I were going to agree on a pattern.  But then, out of nowhere, a couple of runners and small rugs just popped out at us.  We got two long runners to go on either side of the coffee table.  Then we got two smaller versions to go in front of the doors.  We bought all they had, but I wish they would have had one more so that I could put it in front of the door to the basement.  Oh well.  The pattern is perfect and seems to tie in all our décor.  Funny how things work out like that.

 

Saturday, Russ went in to work for about 4 hours.  Then he went to see the new movie called Dillinger, with Johnny Depp.  I wanted to see the movie too, but I can wait for it to come out on DVD.  Russ really wanted to see it on the big screen, and we really didn’t want to foot the expensive bill for a babysitter, so we decided it was best for him to just see it solo.  He said it was a good movie, but strayed a couple times from reality.  They seemed to have taken “Artistic Liberty” a little more than he’d expected, but he felt it was still a good movie, and probably the closest one to reality that has ever been made.

 

While Russ was gone, I kept the laundry going.  The boys played now that Liam was feeling better, but arguments were plentiful.  I think Liam is still recovering.  He’s better, but gets tired easily, and is rather irritable.  I put the new grill together that Russ had purchased at Lowe’s the night before.  We needed a new grill anyway, and I thought the propane might have been leaking up through it because we can frequently smell it.  We only need a little one, and he found one on sale so he grabbed it.  It was not the easiest thing to put together, but I set up the pool for the boys to wallow in while I worked on it out in the backyard. 

 

 

 

 I got it all done right about the time Russ got home.  I was pretty pleased with my masterpiece, but when we hooked up the propane, and pushed the ignitor switch, nothing happened.  So, we just left it thinking that the actual propane tank might be leaking.  We planned to get a new tank, as this one was about empty anyway.  Additionally, I figured if I went back to Lowe’s I could look over the one they had put together to make sure what I did matched.

 

Saturday night, we discovered that our Digital Cable was not working as it should.  We’d moved the TV for the floor, and for some reason, even though I’d plugged everything back in the same way, it was no longer giving us On Demand channels or anything above channel 100.  We called for service, but they couldn’t help us, and told us that they’d have to send someone out on Tuesday.  Neither Russ, nor I, had any leave we could take so we made the frustrated decision to just hope it worked itself out.

 

Sunday morning, I tried the cable again, and there was no change, so I called service again.  I didn’t want to make an appointment, but knew I’d just have to.  I guess God decided to cut us a little break because this time when I called, a nice lady told me she could send someone out that afternoon!!!  Awesome!

 

Sunday, Russ, again, went in to work for a few hours, so he made up two of the four days he missed.  I give him a lot of credit on that one, because it’s REALLY hard to go to work on the weekends.  The buildings are empty, and I find it difficult to stay focused, but he had a lot to catch up on, so it worked out well.  Additionally, on Sunday, he took Liam in with him for company.  I was reluctant to let him go just because I knew he needed to get in a good nap, but he promised he’d take his sleeping bag and rest after lunch, so I agreed. 

 

While they were gone Jax and I spent some quality time together.  Jax is also at the stage where he delights in just playing by himself for a little while.  I get a kick out of watching him play too.  He’s very loud and animated.  It’s clear he’s in his own little world – and it’s a good world.  The cable guy came, but didn’t stay long.  Turns out, I just hadn’t screwed in the cable from the wall all the way.  Boy did I feel stupid.  Oh well, why do they make those things so sensitive anyway??

 

By the time Sunday evening rolled around, the long stressful week, had caught up with us.  Russ had gotten some crabs, as he likes to enjoy those while he watches an Indy Race.  Liam wanted spaghetti, and since his appetite hasn’t been the best lately, I was all too pleased to make it for him.  So the boys and I had whole grain spaghetti (it’s even better than the regular!) while Russ finished up his crabs and watched the end of the race.  After dinner, Liam and Russ finished up the little snap model car they'd been working on.  They had a great time.  Liam loves little projects like that.  They're messy, but worth it.

 

 

 

Both boys went to bed without a struggle, and Russ and I stayed up to watch a show that Brian and Jo had recommended called Invasion Iowa.  It’s a reality show where William Shatner goes to a SMALL Iowa town, tells them he’s making a movie, casts a few locals in the movie, but then the REAL movie is about them making this ridiculous Sci-Fi movie, and dealing with the Hollywood stereotypes he’s also cast in the film.  It’s hilarious in a candid camera kind of way. 

 

It actually felt kind of good to get back to work on Monday.  We are eager to get our lives back to as normal as they ever are.  We’re most glad that Liam didn’t end up with something serious like Menengitis or something like that. 

Due to the family being sick I will keep it short and load up on the pics. We had a very nice visit from Erin’s parent down for Jaxsons birthday.

Wednesday we went to Lone Star and they treated Jaxson with a Sundae and sing for him on his birthday.  

On Thursday Mom and Dad Day arrived around noon. Erin left work a tad early to see them and I came along around five. We had a nice salmon dinner and after dinner we had cake and opened presents to celebrate Jaxson’s birthday. 

Melanie again made an awesome cake in one of Jaxson’s favorite things, motorcycles.  She also made it Gluten free which allowed a rare treat for Mom Day. She enjoyed it quite a bit and said it was the best she had.

On Friday we went to Leonardtown and went to the Good Earth Health food store and Mom Day found a couple of gluten free items including Graham Crackers for Smores later in the weekend.  We took Dad to the used book store in hopes for some hunting books like I had found before. No luck this visit but he found a Hemingway and Mom found a Grisham book they both started on during some quiet moments of the weekend.

We then went down to celebrate the fourth of July on the third at the River Concert Series. While getting some scallops and Bacon from Smokey Joe’s I saw a couple of my co-workers and we had nice talks while waiting in line. We got there early and were lucky. I have never seen the grounds so packed.

The theme of the night was 50s jazz and we all enjoyed the music including the boys who were confined in a tight space.  The guest vocalist was Hilary Kole and she had a style reminiscent of Ella.  Jeffrey Silberschlag   and  the Chesapeake Orchestra then went into the War of 1812 overture and the annual fireworks began.  Unfortunately a lot of the audience missed the fireworks which were blocked by trees. We got lucky on parking and left surprisingly quickly.

On Saturday I awoke not feeling well and ending up going back to bed in the mid morning. Dad and Erin went Lowes and got the needed supplies for the shelving project in the garage. Dad Day is very good at projects like this and was a big help to Erin getting the first set done. Erin and I have a good template to finish another. Mom spent some great time in the yard playing with the kids.

I felt better by dinner and got the steaks going.  The evening was pretty nice so we decided to eat outside. After dinner Dad had got the fire pit loaded with wood so we started the fire and had smores.  While that was going on I started to prep the fire works for a show.

To start the boys and I Made some powder snakes which they loved. Then Grandpa and I got the kids ding some snappers on the concrete. We then worked up to sparklers which the boys were a little apprehensive of at first.  

When darkness arrived we had lined up fireworks on the 4X4’s. We slowly built up to a finale that Erin and I both put on. We had a lot of fun but the kids in the Grands laps were pretty pooped. After the kids were in bed we channel surfed from the Washington DC fireworks, New York Harbor, and finally the Boston Pops.

On Sunday Mom and Dad headed home after breakfast and we rested in the morning since Liam had developed a low grade fever.  We watched a movie that was kinda girly but okay called 13 going on 30.

In the afternoon Erin played with Jaxson while Liam rested on the couch and watched the Watkins Glen Indy Car race with me.  By Sunday night we could tell Liam was not well at all. Erin and I watched a mocumentary with Woody Harrelson called The Grand about a World Series of Poker. It was okay.

On Monday I satyed home with the kids since Liam was running 101-102 fevers. On Monday night it hit 104.6 and we were ready to head out the door after midnight to the ER when a last minute dose of Tylenol got it under 103. It was a long night of major fever. On Tuesday Erin took Jaxson to Daycare and while I took Liam to the Doctor. The fevers continued all day and night but the Augmentin as he had a bacterial problem. They did blood work and the white blood cell count was 26 which is very high.

Today we ALL went to the Doctor’s as Erin and I have had very sore throats. We are all medicated now. I got Z Pack which should finally knock my lingering sore throat. Erin has a prescription Amoxicillin. Dr. Sheth showed us Liam’s throat and it was covered with white pustules.  We are STILL not out of the woods as of Wednesday afternoon. His count decreased to 22 but his fever jumped to 104 again until the Tylenol kicked in. It has been a long and stressful week after a great weekend. Both Erin and I have almost run dry of time off at work and we have 5 months to go UGH.

I hope things get better soon especially for our little Buckaroo, Liam.