Yuck!

Well, a stomach bug hit our house this weekend and it was not fun!  Friday night Tyler woke in the middle of the night vomiting everywhere and Katie was oblivious in her top bunk.  Poor Tyler really hated the whole episode - I have never seen him so upset and he just kept saying that "I do NOT like throwing up" while screaming angrily in between and proclaiming all of it to be gross and disgusting (I wholeheartedly agree).  We attributed it to the ear infection that we discovered last week that he had (Doc told us not to give antibiotics unless it continued painfully through the weekend because new research says that antibiotics are not necessary to make them go away) and that he is still (at least a month now) very congested and snotty and has the allergy eyes.  We let him go to a birthday party and a really fun afternoon at the Bowie Park nature fest with some preschool friends, because all seemed to be fine and he acted like he felt great and was eating, and never had a fever, etc.  Well, Saturday was without incident and we thought all was fine, but Sunday night Katie woke up puking as well.  Her episode was more prolonged (and involved the top bunk over a sleeping the whole time Tyler) with it continuing off and on for a few hours.  She is home today and still not eating, but seems to feel fine otherwise.  I have to assume they both had the same thing, but "luckily" it seems to get a whole lot better after the vomiting starts and stops.

Poor Katie was very upset that she had to miss school today and kept telling me "I wish I was at school right now."  She had a library book to return (the highlight of school for both of them so far), Book Fair starts this week, and they have a much anticipated field trip to Gentry Farm coming up, not to mention all of the prep for the Hound Dog Run that is the talk of the school.  The Run is the big fundraiser sponsored by the PTO at their school and includes the kids trying to raise money and do the actual running, a dinner the night after the run, t-shirts, silent auctions and much more.  It was all kicked off by a pep rally last week (and the kids got to wear mixed up clothes that were not uniforms) that they thoroughly enjoyed that whole day.  Katie told me all about the "real" cheerleaders who were there, and Tyler was impressed that the older kids sang songs on stage.  Should be a fun few weeks ahead, capped off by their two week Fall Break.  We enjoyed some Fall like weather this weekend, and I managed to go through some of their clothes to see what they will have to wear when it gets a little cooler.  Tyler wanted to wear a jacket and pants last Friday when it was 70 degrees, so the request for warmer clothes may come sooner than I think!  Luckily, Katie is pretty squared away - we can use her dresses and skirts that she wears now and just pair them with some tights and maybe a long sleeve shirt underneath and she should be good to go.  Tyler can do the layered shirt thing, too, but we'll need to get him some pants.  I still think we are doing size 4 - I bought him some size 4 shorts recently that are pretty big and I feel like even if he does grow they will fit throughout the year.  I love this uniform thing even though right now it seems like we are spending more than usual because we have to get new things for each season, it is just so much easier in the mornings, so much easier to shop for, and really we would have had to buy new things anyway since they grew just enough for things from last year not to fit!

The kids are still absolutely exhausted each day when they get home.  They have started whining and picking at each other more, and I hope they will get adjusted soon.  It is, honestly, taking me quite a while to adjust too!  Homework to do, papers to fill out, money to remember to send in for this, that and the other (which doesn't sound difficult but becomes so when you forget that you don't have cash EVER, and don't have checks and have to make a last minute run to the store at 11:00 at night), tests to prepare for, etc., etc.  Plus, the kids are becoming masters at giving me guilt trips for not being at things like the pep rally, or field trips and that makes me overcompensate and feel really bad when I drop the ball or am late getting something in (like the request for each parent to solicit silent auction items that I still haven't gotten to).  I definitely see now why they say that life just gets busier when school starts, and my two aren't even in sports or extracurricular activities yet!  Although, next time it is available we are going to sign the kids up for soccer and possibly dance, or gymnastics for my little cheerleaders wannabe.  I have been talking to Lance about trying to sell the house and downsize and maybe be able to have a more part-time job - but that is just a pipe dream, with a lot of work burn-out thrown in.  We really do love the school they are at and they wouldn't go if we moved - and realistically our next move will probably be more lateral in nature since we think we are going to try to move just 5 minutes away over the county line in a school district that is better for middle and high school.  That doesn't need to happen until 5th grade, though, so we have some time  :)!  I think the combo of stress at work, being a slight (OK - a lot more than slight probably) perfectionist, and being envious of all of the stay-at-home moms that seems to be the norm around us, are just getting to me - but I hope all of that can be tempered with the not too far away vacay!