A tale of woe, some stories of a day gone by, and other stuff

Today, Josiah woke up with a fever.
What a way to begin a gorgeous summer day.
My heart goes out to him.
I hate it when my children are sick, and they look at me with those eyes – those, “help me, mama,” eyes.
And I do everything I can do to help them, indeed.
And then, I pray.
He is resting comfortably now.
We have a doctor’s appointment for Daniel’s one year check-up in a bit.
Maybe I’ll see if she will give Jo a look too.
Hopefully, whatever this bug is will pass quickly, and I will get my bouncy ‘ol Josiah back soon.

Stories Of A Day Gone By . . .

Yesterday, as we were riding in the car, Isaac broke into a spontaneous game of “I see a . . . in the clouds.”
He spotted a dragon ("a whole one"), and a prehistoric alligator.
He is currently reading Eragon, so he has dragons on his mind.
Josiah said, “I see an alligator too, with a chicken on its back. And not a chicken, chicken, but a cooked chicken!”
He was pointing out the front of the windshield.
I followed his finger, and sure enough, there it was, drumstick and all.
Isaac saw it too.
We all saw Isaac’s dragon, then, when he pointed it out to us.
And I saw a dragon’s head, witnessed by all.
It was so much fun, and I was careful to pay attention to my driving, of course.
Cloud pictures.
What a perfect way to sharpen the imagination.
Next time, though, I think we’ll find a nice field, pull out a blanket, lay back and have a relaxing game of “I see a . . .”
And speaking of seeing things . . . Daniel discovered fireflies last night.
We were walking a friend who had been visiting out, and I was holding Daniel.
It was that twilight time of day when the shade trees harbor nighttime under their branches and the violet sky is surrendering to deeper shades of darkness.
Fireflies were flickering their lights at each other all over the front yard.
One flew up, just about eye level with Daniel, and winked its twinkle-light at him.
He drew in a breath, staring at it, and raised his finger slowly to point at this strange new bug.
He looked at me.
“Firefly,” I crooned.
“Lightning bug,” I sing-songed.
I caught one on my hand to show him.
He was amazed, and looked at it for a long time, watching as it finally flew away, blinking out its farewell.
Discovery is an amazing thing.
To watch your child see something for the first time, that is one of the best gifts in this world.

A Tale of Woe, Continued . . .

We are back from the doctor’s office.
What an experience that was.
Josiah was so sick (102.5 fever when they took his temp!) and Daniel was so fussy. Both of them were crying and it was quite overwhelming.
But the doctor just kept going, talking to the boys in soft, comforting tones, and I did too, bouncing Daniel, whispering in his ear, reassuring him, reassuring Josiah and comforting him, a hand on his hot little arm, his forehead.
Somehow, we got through it.
Josiah may have strep, and will have to go again tomorrow to be re-checked.
So far, he is the only sick little boy here.
I give him fever-reducer, I offer a cup of water, a cold rag for his head, a hand to hold.
I prop up another pillow.
There are those eyes again.
I pray, I pray, I pray.

A fun pic for the day . . .

Daniel, taking a peek at what's in the fridge.

On a side note,

check out this cool blank journal I found! Guess where? Wal-mart! It's a Meade. The best part is, it was $3.95! And it is so pretty! Hmmmmm. I wonder what I will write in here . . . (I told you I had a sickness!!)