Dropping Like Flies

Mary is on the mend but John succumbed to the illness this morning and is vomiting every ten minutes. I have felt sick since last night, but nothing acute has happened. I suspect Norovirus. I'm astonished at how much laundry an illness like this creates and my mind is reeling to think of what happens when this sweeps through a family with many children.

Learning to Spell

John spelled his first word today. I was informing him that he had to visit the potty and he was refusing, so we were going back and forth about it. He screamed at me, "N-O, no!!!

His first little spelled word! Makes a mother pleased . . . sort of.

You Know You're a Papist When

Overnight it snowed here, so John woke up to a little winter wonderland. He wanted to get out in the sled immediately, but we told him that he had to wait till we ate breakfast and got dressed. John replied thoughtfully, "The Pope says we should go in the snow in our pajamas."

"Joseph and Chico"

John pretending to read "Joseph and Chico," superimposing the story of the Israelites fleeing Pharaoh.





Lately I've been reading John some books in Spanish and I've caught him several times "reading" to himself, making up gobbledygook words, like he's reading a foreign language. So cute.

Ten Plagues?

Yesterday, having not even recovered from the cold we've had going on three weeks, some new bug landed me in bed, shivering, aching in all my joints, with a headache. Chris had to take the kids for hours.

Then overnight, Mary vomited seven times. Two times since waking.

I believe locusts are coming next because clearly our household is being visited by a supernatural series of plagues.

Home from the Ophthalmologist

We are home from seeing a pediatric ophthalmologist as I wanted to get to the bottom of this ridiculousness. The summary is that it is very likely we initially had bacterial conjunctivitis, that cleared up, and now we have viral conjunctivitis. In the first case, John got it first, then Mary, then me. Then John got the second round, Mary came down with it a few days later, and this morning I woke up with telltale sharp pain around my orbits, so I think I might be getting it too. The doctor could have done an eye culture, but did not consider it worth it. If this is viral, it can last two weeks (which would mean John has about a week left and Mary almost two weeks left).

Loads of fun!

Now let's just hope our horrible colds end soon.

Clothes Pins and Containers

This morning was supposed to be the first time I led a La Leche League meeting, but motherhood called me away and gave me another opportunity to choose my vocation. The kids and I are still sick, almost three weeks later. John's renewed conjunctivitis has not improved despite five days so far of antibiotics and now Mary's conjunctivitis is back after clearing completely following seven days of antibiotics. And we're all still sick with cold symptoms. Chris would have watched the kids for me this morning, but I decided to let my co-leaders fill in for me. My little satchel was packed with my reference books; handouts, agenda, and discussion topics were printed; my I'm-a-new-LLL-leader pin was ready; and brownies were baked to celebrate my and my co-leader's upcoming birthdays (which fall on the same day). Yes, I'm disappointed, but I think it was a good decision to stay home.

After all our holiday chaos, I've been trying to get back to doing some preschool activities for John. Now that John is in such a strong "I can do it all by myself!" phase, I understand more the aptness of the title of this Montessori book: "Teach Me To Do It Myself." Today we first did a little life skills activity with clothes pins. This teaches fine motor skills, strengthens finger muscles for writing, shows how springs works, and generally kids become absorbed in it. John loved it in all its simplicity and it occupied him for a good 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, I kept Mary busy by covering her clothing in pins, which she'd then yank off before I'd stick more on her.

John called this creation his "farm hat."

Our second life skills activity was opening and closing objects. This provided slight challenge for John so he didn't want me to take any photographs. It's really interesting to watch how he has performance anxiety, just like I did as a child (still do now). I spread out a bunch of containers with their lids separately arranged on the table, so John matched them correctly, then worked on learning how to put them together and to screw things righty tighty.

In another domestic matter for friends on the hunt for new recipes, Chris rates this new recipe I tried last night as "you could make that eight nights in a row and I'd be happy." I bought a huge pack of pork chops on sale at Costco and we usually have Granny Smith apples on the counter, so it's a meal that doesn't require much planning. I served it with simple egg noodles and a frozen green vegetable chosen at random from the freezer.

Lastly, but not least: Happy fourth wedding anniversary to Chris!

Child's Health Bread

For Christmas my dad bought me "Beard on Bread," a classic of bread baking. Yesterday I tried my first recipe from the book, a very unusual recipe called William Melville Child's Health Bread.

My first question for anyone in the know is about the yeast. The recipe called for "two packages" of yeast. I buy my yeast in a jar, not in the envelopes anymore, so I read on the jar that one envelope = 2-1/4 teaspoons of yeast. That meant I put 4-1/2 teaspoons of yeast into warm milk for this recipe and that seemed like a shockingly big amount. Indeed, the yeast foamed up like a science experiment, as seen above. I wondered if perhaps it needed so much yeast because the recipe calls for heavy ingredients, such as two cups of soaked oats and 3/4 cup molasses. Or maybe I misinterpreted the conversion.

Another unusual aspect of the recipe, if I read it right, was that it called for no first knead. Simply mix well, then let rise till doubled. My first rise seemed to go well. Then I kneaded the dough for ten minutes as directed, and split the dough into bread pans for the second rise. That's when I hit trouble and the rise didn't seem to take very well.

The ultimate product tastes good (very interesting, chewy, rich), but the loaves are so heavy and dense that they could be used to bludgeon into unconsciousness any burglars who try to bust into my kitchen. What went wrong? Any ideas bakers?

Mary Loves Her Brother

Today I let John take photos with the digital camera and I love this one he captured of Mary racing up to him, all grins for her beloved brother.

Handknit Sweaters

My Aunt Maureen sent the most beautiful sweaters she knitted for the children as Christmas gifts! I am beyond touched.

Here Mary was throwing a tantrum on the kitchen floor, so I paused to take a photo because one could see the sweater really well.

"Why" Begins

I believe that today is the first time ever John has asked why.

He was clamoring to get a magnetized measuring tape off of the refrigerator and I told him 'no'. He replied, "Because because because . . . why?"

I've been wondering so long when he'd begin saying why that I said, "Great question!" And then I explained why.

Let the fun begin! Anyone want to place bets on how soon John is pestering me with unending whys and I shriek, "Because, that's why!"?

Oh No

In the past two days, John has figured out how to open the latches on all our cupboards and drawers.

We do not know what to do.

It is only recently that I've begun trusting John to be playing on a different floor than me. (For those who think that's overly cautious, keep in mind that our home's traditional layout means I can't hear John if he's on one floor and I'm on another.) But now I'm utterly anxious that if he's out of my sight, he'll be getting into the steak knives, the dishwasher detergent, or the bug poison.

I know some mom-friends who are going to say to me, "Welcome to my world."

Gradual Changes

I find it amazing sometimes how children change so gradually that suddenly I realize my child has really reached a new level of development and I don't know when it happened. Yesterday we were at the Post Office to ship some packages. I went to the Post Office with both kids, dashing there when we had a free moment. I knew we'd be fine. We were fine. John held my hand in the parking lot, I wore Mary in the Ergo. John and I each carried a package. John stood next to me in line. He was quiet. We did our business and left.

And when we were done, I remembered a time that seems like just yesterday but must have been a year ago when Mary was an infant and John was just turned two. I had to mail some packages and going to the Post Office alone with both kids at those ages had me distressed with worry. John hated holding my hand and did everything he could to bolt in the parking lot, yanking his arm away from me and shrieking. For the first time I let him stand next to me in the line (instead of being confined in a stroller), but it took unceasing reminders that he had to stand right next to me, that means right next to me, no, you're too far away, no stand inside this square, see these lines? And I had to physically drag him back to me countless times as the line slowly advanced because he wouldn't respond to verbal commands. He was loud and shrieky and bothered other customers. Then it was scary walking him back through the busy parking lot to our car.

Somehow between that memorable visit and this one yesterday, slowly and gradually John has learned and grown to be pretty pleasant and easy on these outings. And Mary is still easy because she's still confined. I just find it so interesting to watch this development in little kids!

Lesson in Physics

We bought some more plastic bins and today I hurriedly placed them into the den, planning to organize more toys later. Empty bins turned out to provide a fantastic project for John, who subsequently put every toy he could find in bins, then stacked the bins, occupying himself alone for a good half an hour.

I was upstairs folding laundry when John came running, shrieking with excitement that I had to come see what he had made right now! I came downstairs and applauded his work. I spotted the problem right away, though, and did not say anything, wondering how soon John was going to learn a little lesson in physics.

This photo was taken seconds before the entire stack of bins crashed down on my boy who, thankfully, did not fall backwards off the table and onto the ground.

So then we had our physics lesson and stacked the bins in a more stable way.

Not a Compliment

Sometimes a little child makes a mother feel beautiful when perhaps he comments that she is the most beautiful mommy in the world or that he wants to marry her someday. Other times a little child makes a mom feel not so attractive.

This morning John peered closely into my makeup-free, splotchy face and asked, "What are all those moles on your face, mama?" (And, yes, they are moles.)

Sunday in Washington D.C.

We checked out of the hotel Sunday morning and headed to Mass.

We were able to attend the 9:00 a.m. Latin Mass at a historic parish in D.C.: St. Mary Mother of God. It is an exquisitely beautiful church that has been spared the "wreckavation" because of its historic status.

It occurred to me that I often hear other mothers say things, like "I attended Mass," and I have a vision of what that must mean. In that case, I'm envisioning the mother sitting quietly, focusing on the Mass, feeling so prayerful, her bounty of little children seated quietly and still in the pew--and then I feel like an incompetent mom in comparison. So I thought I'd take a moment and clarify what I mean by "I attended Mass" for any other mothers reading this who are perhaps in even earlier childbearing years than am I. Sunday's Mass experience was quite typical for me for the last six to eight months. Chris sat with John in the pews and, after much excellent training by Chris for the last year, John now does fantastically in Mass. I stood in the vestibule in back wearing Mary in my Ergo. She does not do well in Mass, nor can I sit down or she will scream bloody murder. She was tired and fussy, but not falling asleep, so I walked on the hard marble and rocked her all of Mass. There was no sound system in this old building, so I heard nothing of the beautiful Latin or what was surely a good homily. I could see almost nothing through the windows either. I heard the bells at the beginning, so I thought Mass was starting, and I waited and waited and waited to see the priest and altar boys. After about five minutes I thought it was really strange that Mass hadn't started yet. Only then did I realize that the priest was up there saying Mass but my view was obliterated by the many beautiful marble pillars and the small window through which I was looking. Anyway, Mary began screaming so loudly that I didn't even feel I could keep her in the vestibule with the other ten or so mothers with babies. I stepped out into the alley where it was cold and drizzling. Mary actually quite calmed down in the drizzle, so I decided to stay out there for a while. We came back inside and, in the last ten minutes of Mass, Mary fell asleep and I was finally able to sit down. I was not able to receive Communion. Then I got to step inside the church proper for the photo taken above, then we left. Of course, I felt nothing prayerful or focused whatsoever, and my only grace is that I've stopped feeling resentful about it, almost completely. That is what "attending Mass" means for this mom, has for many months, and will for many more months until I am (likely, God willing) pregnant again, too weak to handle Mary on my own, then Chris and I will switch, him taking over Mary for the next year while I sit with John until the newborn arrives and the cycle begins anew. Just thought I'd share that for other moms going through it!

After Mass we met one of Chris' college friends, her husband, and their toddler for a delicious brunch. We had hoped to visit Mount Vernon before driving home but we realized how foolish it would be, with the children ready to crash for a long nap. So we didn't get to see Mount Vernon at all and instead started the drive home. For a while I continued to worry that pod people had replaced my children, as they were so self-contented, but Mary screamed for the final two hours of the trip, so then I felt comforted that she was indeed my little daughter.

On our way home we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for dinner which was decorated with those Mexican/Aztec-style paintings all over the walls. John studied one and said, "That's like when the Israelites" (pronounced perfectly) "saw the horses coming" (referring to Pharaoh and the Egyptians) "and they crossed the water" (referring to the parting of the Red Sea). I love his reference points!

Home, sweet home!

Saturday in Washington D.C.

Saturday was a wonderful example of how parenthood reduces one's standards regarding productivity and sticking to one's well made plans. On Friday night, John's conjunctivitis returned after about four days of being clear; his eyes had already been clear when Mary and I went to the doctor, so he'd never been put on antibiotics. Here we were, stuck in D.C. on a weekend, so I decided to use the topical antibiotics for Mary and me on John, then take us all back to our family doctor on Monday. Meanwhile, we gave him steam baths to wipe off his eyes, used Purell on his hands often, and hoped for the best.

All this time, I'd been developing a sinus infection. I'd never had one before, so I kept thinking I was fighting one off. In retrospect, I already had a sinus infection before we even got to D.C. This is a miserable condition!

Our goals on Saturday were pretty modest and very achievable, we thought. We wanted to visit the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, walk up to the Washington Monument and the White House, let the kids nap in the hotel, then visit Mount Vernon.

John really enjoyed the Natural History Museum, but we were walking through only a couple of floors of it at breakneck speed: essentially at the speed of a three-year-old's attention span.

There are no restaurants around the Museum, it was lunchtime, and we were hungry, so we ate at the Museum cafe, where the food was good but shockingly expensive. Then we walked back to the car and just trying to switch parking spots and move around D.C. was its own comedy of errors. By the time we drove the short blocks to the Washington Monument, the kids were fast asleep, so we decided to let them nap in the car and we'd drive to Mount Vernon, tacking on some scenic driving time.

But when we got to the Mount Vernon parking lot and John woke up, his eyes were completely glued shut again and he was weeping with misery. We knew we couldn't keep dragging him around anymore and I remembered a recommendation I'd received for the CVS pharmacy Minute Clinics (thanks, Jamie!). We used my iPhone to search for one and found one seven miles away! We drove straight there and were seen within five minutes. John received a prescription of systemic antibiotics for his conjunctivitis and I received a prescription of systemic antibiotics for my sinus infection. We are such fans of the excellent service we received at the Minute Clinic!

We decided to drive the seven miles back to Mount Vernon to visit it while our prescriptions were being filled. We got there, unloaded the kids, walked up to the gate, and discovered it had closed at 4:00 instead of 5:30. So, we were out of luck. We drove back to the CVS, got our prescriptions, then began looking around for a restaurant for an early dinner. We had seen what looked like a really neat place right next to the CVS, but we decided to search for somewhere more in historic Alexandria. We were driving around, searching with the iPhone for family dining in Alexandria, and we kept reading good reviews of the very restaurant right next to the CVS!

So, back we drove to the CVS and ate dinner at the Greek restaurant next door (where John recognized the Parthenon).

We left the restaurant when the kids were melting down with fatigue, even though it was only about 6:00 p.m. Back at the hotel, the crying little ones went to sleep fast.

Chris and I really chuckled about how we got so few of our goals accomplished (seeing only the museum), the day was chaotic, and yet we thought it went "pretty well" and was fun. But just a couple of years ago, maybe even one year ago, such a thwarted day would have made both of us really upset and resentful. Parenthood is so good for developing virtues, even if the process is quite painful at times!

TV Teaches

Tonight we ate dinner at a delightful, family-friendly Greek restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. There was a painting on the wall of a crumbling Greek building. John asked us, "What's that building?" I explained very knowingly that it was a building in a country far, far away called Greece, and that the building was very old, but that I didn't know what it was called.

John answered matter-of-factly, "It's the Parthenon."

I asked, "What?"

"The Parthenon. It's the Parthenon."

Chris grabbed my iPhone and did an Internet search to confirm that the painting was indeed of the Parthenon!

We pondered where on earth he could have learned such a thing. On the drive home it occurred to me that John really enjoys the television show "The Wonder Pets" where the classroom critters travel to other countries to save animals in trouble. I asked John, "Honey, did the Wonder Pets ever travel to Greece?"

"Yes, to save an inch worm."

When we got back to the hotel room, I checked online and discovered, once again, that John was right: there was an episode (season 1, episode 3) of "The Wonder Pets" when they traveled to Greece and the Parthenon to save an inch worm!

I know these things are so small, but they're still amazing to us!

March for Life, Washington DC, 2010

Wild and crazy bunch that we are, our little family made the spontaneous decision to join the March for Life in Washington D.C. this year! Chris was inspired when he was able to participate in the March for Life Charlotte the week prior (while the kids and I had to stay home sick). He brought up the idea of his going to D.C. and then we realized that this was probably going to be a rare year of good timing for the whole family to go: We have only two kids, so we could keep track of them easily in a crowd of perhaps 200,000; both kids are young enough to be physically contained (in a stroller and my Ergo); and I'm not yet pregnant (and therefore too sick to travel). So, on Thursday morning, we hit the road!

I was worried about the six-hour car drive because the kids (especially the older) have never been good in the car (and, by that, I mean that he could scream for hours straight). However, I suspect that the pod people came and replaced my children because they were downright pleasant for what turned out to be an eight-hour journey to D.C. There were two short stretches when Mary fussed, but otherwise she played with toys and ate snacks while John mainly looked at books quietly to himself. As I said, pod people is the only explanation I can think of.

John loved the backpack we had bought him the night before. It is one of those harnesses ("leashes") that I used to think so undignified before I had children. I wouldn't use one regularly, but I'd rather use one in a massive crowd than lose my child. Anyway, John thought it was the best thing because we told him it was so that we could play "follow the leader" and he'd lead the way while mama or daddy trailed behind, holding the strap.

We stopped for an hour to eat lunch while Chris took a work conference call in the quiet car. John really enjoys playing the Cracker Barrel game of placing colorful golf tees in the holes.

He enjoys it so much that we discovered hours later that John had put all the golf tees (and crayons) into our binoculars' case to play with later.

There is a demolition site a block from our hotel and we parked next to it for quite a while to watch. In fact, there was another vehicle with a mom and her joyous little boys watching the demo work, and there was even a group of grown men standing around watching!

On Friday morning we tried to attend the Mass for North Carolina visitors at the National Shrine. However, it turned out to be a much bigger event than we realized, so when we got there just in time for the Mass to start (can you tell that we were first-timers?), we discovered the Shrine was overflowing with thousands of people (including many teen visitors sitting on the floor in the vestibule eating their lunches). I later learned that the Shrine has a seating capacity of 3,500 and the Mass was standing room only, so you do the math. Ultimately, Chris drove around (because parking was impossible) while the kids and I stayed through the homily before leaving. It was at Mass that John discovered with feelings of betrayal and deep offense that his most special backpack with a fun strap for playing "follower the leader" was not such a thing at all. In fact, it was a device to keep track of him and Mama would not let go of the strap--he was very mad about that!

The Mass had begun at 11:30 while the march was scheduled to begin at noon, so you can see there was going to be an overlap. We left the Mass and had already bought sandwiches for lunch, so we ate those in the car and drove back to the hotel, where we parked. The hotel was several blocks from the beginning of the March, so we got bundled up and started walking. The weather was forecast to be a high of 39 with 80% chance of precipitation turning to snow, so I thanked God many times throughout the march that precipitation did not fall! But it was bitterly cold until we were amidst the mass of people: that many thousands of people squished up against each other really helps keep a person tolerably warm!

One extra little mortification I had to offer was my inability to wear any makeup. Because I developed conjunctivitis, I now have to throw away all my makeup because it is contaminated. And there is no point in buying new makeup while I'm still taking a course of antibiotics because that makeup could (not likely) become contaminated too and infect me later. So I'm not wearing any makeup this week, which is especially unfortunate because my facial skin is covered in big red blotches and is peeling off because of the severely dry and unusually cold weather we've had lately. A Catholic lady has got to "offer up" whatever mortifications God offers her, right?

We listened to the beginning speeches on Catholic radio on the drive over, then arrived in time to hear the second half of the speeches. Then we began marching. Well, first we began standing still for perhaps nearly an hour. It took a long time to move so many people along the route!

Mary, snug as a bug in a rug

Yes, John had new mittens, which he insisted on wearing in the car and in the hotel room, but refused to wear in the frigid weather.

The kids ended up falling asleep for a good two hours of the march, which was a good thing, I'm sure, because they would have become bored and antsy.

The kids and I had been battling illness and mine is really hanging on, making the decision to come to D.C. a last-minute choice and a difficult call. I had a bad cold and have an aggravating cough hanging on, conjunctivitis that is still being treated with antibiotics, and I'm fending off a sinus infection (trying all manner of treatments) that is causing headaches and earaches too. It's been tough, to say the least, to have all this pain and to lose sleep because of it. But the kids recovered in time for the trip, so I decided to push through my illness and make it something I could offer up to God as part of this march. So I was feeling really ragged, treatments were hardly helping, and I had 25-pound Mary in the Ergo on my front (not as easy as carrying her on my back, but it felt safer to me to be able to see her). I brought long johns but forgot to put them on and my socks lost their elastic during the march. After a couple of hours, it was becoming very hard to walk. I was limping and struggling badly to keep up morale. My back was feeling sharp pains like being stabbed by ice picks. I really had to meditate on the babies for whom we were marching. Also, I focused on others who were sacrificing more than me. I saw a monk wearing his sandals without socks as part of his normal habit, even though it was so cold that snow on the ground wasn't melting. I saw a teeny tiny elderly nun hunched over with osteoporosis, but with a beaming smile of joy on her face when she saw my children. I noticed a serenely happy man alongside the march: he was so crippled that he was in a wheelchair that he could move only by blowing air into a special sensor tube. I witnessed a person marching while hunched over his walker. And I started crying when I saw a couple marching together without any helpers, both of them blind.

The march route itself plus our walking to and from our hotel was about four miles, and we ended up standing and marching for about five hours.

We are not surprised that once again this huge event received almost zero attention in the media (this is wickedly funny and accurate). I don't know how many people were estimated to be at today's march, but there have been about 200,000 for the past many years. Yet I just searched online news sources: Fox News and Drudge Report seemed to make zero mention of hundreds of thousands of people shutting down the streets of the Capitol for half the day; CNN had a brief article much shorter than this blog post. And note that the headline picture is of pro-abortion protesters (which was probably a CNN stock photo because we didn't see any of them there.) and the article gives equal times to both sides, as if there is a moral equivalence between both sides. The fact that so many people have been showing up every single year on the same date for 37 years should be the journalistic story. I had been very startled to discover that our devoutly Christian, pro-life house cleaners had never heard of the March for Life in Washington D.C. but, with the way the media ignores it (hides it), I shouldn't have been surprised.

Chris and I are very glad we were able to come. It was a deeply meaningful and memorable experience for both of us.

John's First Barber Shop

I cut John's hair, but I'm not very good at it so every few times I take him to a professional to get the shape corrected. I've been taking him to a fancy kiddie salon with all the whizbangs. Today Chris took him to his plain and simple men's barber shop.

John is all prepared on his drive to the barber shop

I was worried that John would be worried or scared without the kiddie distractions of fun chairs shaped like vehicles and movies playing, but apparently he did great. Now, maybe he was worried and scared, but John expresses those emotions by being somber and quiet instead of throwing a loud, tearful tantrum.

John wanted to watch Daddy get his hair cut first, and then he was ready. Look at those concerned eyebrows!

More eyebrows

Yet more eyebrows

John was busting with pride when he arrived home to show me his new hair cut and tell me how he sat in the tall chair just like a man.

Big Girl

When Mary and I went to the doctor's office yesterday to get antibiotic eye drops, I had her measured. At 14 months she weighs 25 pounds and is 31 inches tall, which is almost the 90th percentile in weight and 75th percentile in height. My big, healthy girl! John was never small, but Mary is decidedly bigger at the same ages. At this age, John was about 22 pounds and 30 inches, which is even smaller percentage-wise for a boy.

All By Myself

John seems to be entering a new phase of independence, as evidenced by one of his favorite new phrases: "I did it all by myself!" This is not a child who has desired much independence: he's always preferred my company, my help, my presence. I would try gently to lure and coax him to want to do things on his own, but the idea of being a "big boy" didn't attract him till really quite recently.



John is (finally?) starting to dress himself. He's enjoying showing me that he can do it, slowly but surely, even though he still asks me about each step: do I do the shirt first? one leg in each hole of the pants? the picture goes in front?



He has begun asking, "Can I help?" I try to say yes as often as I can! Tuesday I told him I had to go upstairs to make the beds and John asked if he could help. Then he added, "Do you need a Super Helper?" (like a super hero). Mama: "Yes, I do need a Super Helper! Do you know where I could find one?" John: "Right here!"



The flip side of John wanting to do things all by himself is that helping him is my new greatest leverage (threat). When I offer him a choice these days, the worst thing I can offer is that I'm going to carry him somewhere, or hold his hand and walk him somewhere, or take something out of his hand instead of letting him hand it to me.

I'm really enjoying this new phase!

Monday of Erica's Visit

On the eighth day of Aunt Erica's visit, we got to leave the house for the second time, if only to take her to the airport! It was so awful as a hostess to have us stuck at home, my "list of fun ideas to do" sitting unused on the refrigerator. On our way to the airport, we stopped by Belmont Abbey to show Erica the church, grounds, and bookstore.

Ice in the goldfish pond

Sunday of Erica's Visit

The kids and I have undergone a nearly unending series of colds for two months and it is so tiresome. So, just like I was sick when Grampa Neil was here in December, we were sick while Aunt Erica was here. We didn't leave the house Wednesday through Sunday. Erica was working every day cooking for us, washing dishes, sweeping, vacuuming, and washing endless loads of laundry. Both kids had conjunctivitis, which creates a lot of laundry to try to halt contagion. (And, yet, it didn't work and last night I developed conjunctivitis. I am so grumpy!) We still have bad runny noses and deep coughs.

When we were feeling less weak, we were able to take a neighborhood walk on Sunday. John brought his magnifying glass and bug jar (thanks again, Grampa Neil and Gramma!).

Examining a live worm

Watching a cardinal bird

Later we were having fun with stickers. Aunt Erica told John she'd be leaving the next day, so they drew an airplane plus printed out a map which she labeled.