Holidays, House Update, and Lots of Antibiotics… “Round 2”

Holidays, House Update, and Lots of Antibiotics… “Round 2” December 7, 2017

Filed under: Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 2:44 pm

You’ll notice that my title for this post is the same as my last post. Because we are very much in the same boat as the last time I wrote you. The kids have been sick. They came down with what looked like pink eye after Zoolights at the end of November. We used up the last of the antibiotic drops and then switched to homeopathic drops. Since most pink eye is viral, I didn’t feel the need to go back to the doctor for more antibiotics. The pink eye cleared up quickly, but I have remained diligent about washing the boys bedding every day and Lysol spraying their rooms. Despite the war on germs, Owen managed to come down with the flu this weekend and then it has turned into an head cold that he has shared with Graham. My poor kiddos. We’re doing everything in our power to stop the spread of germs, but I seriously think hazmat suits are in our future. I’m not sure if it’s to protect us from the world or protect the world from us, but we need some serious help. That was the kids… now on to me.

I went back to the doctor yesterday because my eyes were still painful after my last round of antibiotics. When I had my culture on November 15th, they found two bugs growing my eyes. One was strep and the other was one commonly found in nursing homes. Don’t ask me how that happened. After going over the results from last appointment with a new doctor yesterday, she realized that I was prescribed an antibiotic that would only take care of the nursing home bug and not the strep in my eyes. So my strep has gone untreated this entire time. Explains why my eyes still feel awful and I can’t catch a break. I’m now on one last round of antibiotics before being referred to an eye specialist. Goodie. Painful eyes have been quite a challenge over the last month and more. It’s effected my sleep. I’m obviously uncomfortable. It explains my off and on fevers… My body has been fighting an infection and I’ve been trying to push through and live life like normal, but I’m totally depleted. Makes sense now. This is my 5th antibiotic and I will admit that my faith in antibiotics is a bit slim. However, I really want to kick this bug and not have to go to a specialist, so I’m praying this time it works and I’m free from this nasty infection. Prayers are appreciated!

We continue to keep chugging along into the Christmas season. Jeremy and I are almost 100% done with our Christmas shopping and I have all the presents we’ve purchased wrapped and under the tree (this is the first time in probably 4 years that we’ve had presents under the tree – it’s an exercise in trust and so far it’s going well). Jeremy was a super dad and picked out a Christmas train for the boys. Owen has been introduced to Frosty the Snowman, the old cartoon, and loves the train in the show. He and Graham love to listen to “Frosty the Snowman” on kids Christmas CD in the van. Graham has joined the family in loving Christmas music and can sing along to about one word in each song. For “Jingle Bells” the one word he can sing is way and he sings it loud and proud.

Owen & Graham participated in the Christmas musical this year. Their classes sang a song before the musical started. Owen wasn’t feeling well that morning, but he was crushed that he couldn’t sing on stage, so we went to church briefly so he could sing. I was nervous about how Graham would do on stage, but he did great! Owen and Graham held hands and looked super cute! They didn’t really sing along with the songs, but they were adorable and clapped at the end and didn’t make drama. I call that a win!

Owen’s room now as decorated mini-tree as well as our Little People nativity set and our Christmas letters out that spell believe. I told him its a reminder for us to believe in Jesus and why he came at Christmas time. Santa has taken up a more prominent place in our house as Owen asks me often if Santa will bring him one very specific item this year. He also knows that Christmas presents have been delivered to our house and I wrap them. I told him that Santa gave me the job of wrapping the Christmas presents. I didn’t use the word “delegate” but I’m teaching him that Santa shares his job with others. Haha… Verdict is still out on if we’ll do pictures with Santa this year. I’m inclined to if we can find the time. I also hope to do Snowflake Lane up in Bell Square if we can find a day where the weather is nice. They make it snow every night and do a fun parade with a drum line. The Christmas season is in full swing here and I’m hoping that if this last round of antibiotics does the trick, I’ll be able to enjoy the season a bit more than I have up until this point.

On to the house! The siding on the outside is completely done. The tubs/showers are in and the plumbers have been out to hook them up and get all the pipes in place. The doors have also all installed which make our effort to dry out the house even better because now we can trap air. The heating/cooling people have started their installation process and electricians should be on the scene shortly. Jeremy has been given the go-ahead to pressure the wash the siding and start the painting process. We have a stretch of dry weather, but it’s also cold weather. We need to figure out if it’s too cold to paint. We have some questions out to the pros and should know soon. Jeremy has some vacation time stored up for end of the year. Some of it will go to family fun and the holidays, but he will also want to use that time to work on the house. Painting the outside will be a huge project and I’m sure he’ll be glad for those vacation days so he can make headway.

I’ll touch on MOPS & Usborne just shortly before wrapping things up. On Monday, I had my steering team Christmas party for MOPS. Our steering team meetings usually stick to a schedule and while we have fun, we also take care of business. This meeting with all party and fun and no agenda! It was great. We ate a ton of good food, played a silly Christmas carol game and did a secret sister gift exchange. Next Monday is our Christmas party for the whole MOPS group. We have a great guest speaker lined up, Christmas games and a group Christmas present that I’m really happy with. We got the ladies each a MOPS “Free Indeed” theme mug and inside is a hot chocolate packet, a mug cake packet and a candy cane. Super cute! We don’t have a second meeting or outing in December because of the holidays. I’m looking forward to things slowing down a bit and having a slight break.

On to books, things are going great in the world of Usborne. I thought my business might fizzle after the Christmas selling rush was over, but I have 4 parties already on the calendar for January and a long list of people who said to contact them in the new year to book a party or a fundraiser. I had a really successful Black Friday sale and that gave me $200 in book rewards that I was able to cash in. Jeremy jokes with me that we’re not building a play room in the next house, but really a library. I’m kind of okay with that. A lot of the books I just got are age appropriate for the boys now. I’m think that my next time I cash in my book rewards, I’ll invest in some of our chapter books and start stock piling for the future. Tonight is my last book party in 2017! Woo hoo! I’m excited to wrap up this year and start strong in January.

And that is the update for now. Hopefully my next post will share how I beat the eye infections and finally feel like a normal person. And maybe I’ll have a picture of my painted house… Maybe… We’ll have to see!