WE MADE IT!!!

School's out for summer!

Air Quality Alert!

Well, today was another air quality alert day here in Jacksonville.  The fires near the Okefenokee swamp are inundating us with smoke.  It's recommended that everybody stay indoors.  This is really starting to cramp my summer style! 

Earlier this week, two firefighters were killed while battling this blaze.  Please offer up your prayers for their families.

Here's a view from space showing where the fires are and the direction the smoke is going.

HOT!

It's just too hot to do anything! I tried to get out of the house with the kids for a little while today, but, we didn't get far. We managed to have a sandwich at a local deli and my plan was for us to walk to the park from there.....nope. Waaay too hot!

As a matter of fact, when we got into the car, Nathan noticed that our small, hand-held, plastic calculator had melted! About half of the keys aren't usable anymore...so once we cooled it off, we popped of the keys that had melted. Otherwise, it seems to work ok!

So, here we sit in the air conditioned house watching a video (An American Tail: Fievel Goes West)! Perhaps when the movie is over, I can persuade them to take a nap!

I hope it's cooler where you are!

Summer Fun!

I was able to take the kids to Adventure Landing (a local water park) this week. None of it would have been possible without the kindness of Aunt Franny and the Cousins! I thought I would post some pictures of the day!

Summer adventures to the ER!

Well, that didn't take long! The last day of school was Friday and I've already been to the emergency room!

Apparently, Nathan scratched a pimple or bump of some kind on his thigh (near his knee) and it became infected. I noticed about a week ago that it was bleeding. We put some antibiotic cream on it and then covered it with a band aid. Well, by Saturday...it was gross. It had turned black and had a red ring of cellulitis all around it. He said that it hurt really bad all the way up his leg to his groin area. This had ALERT/WARNING written all over it. I thought about waiting until Monday to have it looked at, but I just had a bad feeling about it.
It was a good thing too because the ER doctor said we had about another 24 hours before he would have needed IV antibiotics!

The ER doctor cleaned the "wound" out really well, put another band aid on it and gave him an oral dose of antibiotics...then sent us home with instructions to have him keep it covered, use warm compresses and keep his leg elevated until we see our regular doctor on Monday....for which we have an appointment in 50 minutes!

The first thing I did when we got home from the hospital on Saturday was to cut those nasty, dirty fingernails of his..(boys are just gross)! Keeping him on the couch has been a challenge! I've had to endure endless episodes of Ben 10: Alien Force. I've watched two Harry Potter movies and one Indiana Jones. We played checkers, UNO and prayed a rosary.

Hopefully, this is not a trend for the rest of the summer!!

Officially Summer!

Today is the official first day of summer vacation for my kids! Right now, Amelia and Olivia are glued to the tv watching some strange cartoon called "Gogoriki". I've never seen it (or heard of it) before and I'm pretty sure it will be the last time they watch it. Nathan is in his room "karate chopping" anything in sight with his new sword. I wonder how long it will be before all three of them come to me to say they are "bored".

Summer is almost here.....

....and the ice cream man made an early visit here this afternoon!

Spiderman and Spongebob ice cream all around!

What's up this week.

1. Nathan finished his report on alligators last night. This is actually the reason we went to the Alligator Farm on Saturday. We wanted to get some good pictures of Nathan with the gators. His report turned out really nice. Daddy guided him really well. There was no fighting, no raised voices and he didn't get sent to his room at all! This is progress, my friends....progress!

2. Olivia has just two more days of school....today and Wednesday! This is bittersweet as we will be leaving Wilma's Little People School (Jacksonville University) and heading to Assumption with Nathan and Amelia. WLPS has been a very special place for our kids. I will miss it! However, it will be easier to have all 3 of them in the same place. Wednesday is her "end of the year" party. Dan signed us up to bring finger sandwiches....actually...he signed me up to bring finger sandwiches.

3. There is an interesting little quiz going around on Facebook called "How well do you know ????". The way it works is you set up questions for your friends to answer....it's all multiple choice. I can't believe that some very close friends did TERRIBLE on this quiz!!!
There are actually some blogging friends who did better or as well as those I've known for 25 years or so!! I realize that I've been in Jacksonville for almost 13 years now.....so all my friends from my life in California have not seen me in many years....but still! After all, one of them was my house mate for several years....and the other...well let's just say that I could have married him. I guess I've changed in 13 years....I consider that a good thing!

4. The religious order that is associated with our school (Servant Sisters (& Brothers) of the Home of the Mother) is sponsoring a retreat for boys ages 8-24 in July. As soon as Nathan heard about it, he wanted to go! This seemed strange to me since he has never really been away from home. This would be a 6 day retreat in the Smokey Mountains of North Georgia. I was really surprised that he was so interested. One of the concerns I had was that the age range seemed so large! However, after talking with Sister Clare, she assured me that there would be plenty of boys Nathan's age attending. We mulled this over for several weeks and finally filled out the paperwork and sent in the money this morning. I'm still nervous about it....but if he has a vocation to the priesthood...I want to help foster that...not stifle it. I ask for your prayers for Nathan regarding this boys retreat. Also....pray for his mother....that she can feel comfortable by letting go a teeny, tiny bit!!

5. Nathan and Amelia only have 9 days left of school. I should be happy about this but I don't think I'm prepared yet to have all three of them home at one time.....day after day. So, being the homeschooling wannabe that I am.....I will map out a tentative calendar for us for the summer. I want to try to plan outings, crafts and adventures so that they aren't sitting in front of the tv all summer! We have the Zoo, several museums, the alligator farm, The Shrine and lots of things to do in St. Augustine. We have a water park and of course....the Atlantic Ocean close by. I will let you know what are plans are....once I plan them!

6. We are still basking in the glow of Nathan's First Holy Communion. Each time I pass the entertainment center....I stop and read all of the cards he received. I sure wish I remembered more of that time in my life...when I received the Lord for the first time. Sadly, it is all a blur.
Anyway...our first order of business tonight is to have Nathan write some thank you notes!
This could be a long night.

Have a wonderful day everybody...and a blessed week!