Suuuuuuuuuuuuuu—eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Here’s what Swine Flu looks like on Day 2…

It makes a child who has not taken a nap since 2002…take a nap!

Does this not just make you want to scoop him up and hold him?  Ignoring the fact that he has Swine Flu and is highly contagious…look how sweet he looks!

Day 3 is going much better.  After two days of not eating, and just laying on the couch, he finally ate a piece of toast and has gotten off the couch.  Luckily I was able to get him into the doctor on Saturday, day 1, so that we could get him some Tamiflu and also a script for Amoxicillin since his ear is infected too.  I think the Tamiflu combined with the homeopathic route I have taken has really helped cut down the life span of this nasty bug!

Day 1 was not a fun day, Young Flanagan spent the better part of every hour vomiting.  Vomiting with him is just plain awful.  He fights it the entire time, trying to roll onto his back and not understanding that you need to roll to your side when you vomit.  We are always so worried that he’ll choke when he’s sick.  Oh it’s awful.  So glad that only lasted one day!

I do hope that the path we’re on continues this way, forward, and that we don’t take a step or two backwards with a secondary infection.  Given the already compromised immune system we’re dealing with here, it can go from bad to worse rather quickly.  So far so good.

For those of you with bodies unable to handle the  flu vaccine like us I recommend the homeopathic route.  We have been ingesting huge sums of Organic Elderberry Syrup and taking Flu Guard. So far – I really think they are making a difference.  That and of course non-stop hand-washing!  My hands are about to flake right off – they are so dry from the constant washing.  I won’t stop til they bleed!

My daughter came down with the fever last night so she is home from school as well today.  I’ve given her Elderberry and Flu Guard this whole time and now we are high dosing it to help her through.  She has asthma so she’s a little high-risk for complications just like Young Flanagan.  Thankfully no vomiting for my girl.  Phew, I’m still trying to catch up on all the laundry.

Wishing you all good health and being caught up on your laundry!

Remember to wash your hands, don’t touch your face, and cover your cough!

another successful season…

Young Flanagan added another trophy to his collection yesterday.  His third and most successful  season of soccer with this team has come to a close.  I’m trying to remember how many seasons of soccer he has played now, I want to say this was his seventh season!  Wow!

Yesterday we wrapped up the season with a way too long Round Robin Tournament.  By the end of the day Young Squire was sopping wet, filthy, muddy, exhausted, and teetering on the edge of a behavioral meltdown.  We pressed through and made it out alive, not just he and I,  but all of his team mates and opponents.  It was a long day!

My personal MVP award of the day goes to this little girl, a classmate of Young Flanagan.  She did an amazing job of reminding the team that whatever behaviors they demonstrated on the sidelines would be copied by my son.  This includes playing in the mud puddles, tackling team mates and opponents, running around, dumping water on team mates, etc…   I love when I witness this type of leadership amongst his peers.  Children who know first-hand just how quick my boy is to copy a behavior, good or bad.  She saw a situation spiraling out of control and tried to fix it before it exploded.  Unfortunately the day grew too long and he sat in a mud puddle, choked an innocent player from another team, and dumped a  bottle of water on a group of his team mates.  All done in the blink of an eye with Mom running across the muddy, puddle-filled field in an attempt to squelch said behavior.

By the end of the tournament this is what my daughter looked like:

I didn’t look much different!  But hey, it was a great season and Young Flanagan has demonstrated to EVERYONE that he deserves to be out there just as much as the next kid.  He’s really getting the game and succeeding; one goal, several assists, and numerous corner kicks later, watch out MLS – here comes Crazy Nut!

rain, rain, go away, come again………..in a few weeks…

Thankfully we had a three day respite from the rain, had that not happened I think it’s safe to assume I’d need to be admitted to a mental health ward…somewhere warm and sunny.

But now we’re on day two of another patch of rain and I’ve made a reservation at the nut house – another week of this and I’m admitting MYSELF!

Thankfully Young Flanagan’s support worker just took him on an adventure – they’re off to go Candlepin Bowling and then out for dinner!  Phew…a few hours of quiet for Mama.  I’m writing this post then it’s off to the sewing machine, I’ve got a belt I’ve been dying to sew for weeks now.  I’ll let you know how it pans out.

So getting back to the wonderful break in the weather we had…

I’ve been waiting patiently for strawberry season since …it ended last year.  Finally it’s that time of year and then the rain game began – what would become of my precious ruby fruits?  Good grief, if I have to put up with this rain AND no strawberries, things are going to get pretty damn dicey round these parts.

Saturday was sunny so before a cloud could darken the sky,  I grabbed the kids and headed to the closest organic farm open for picking, Goranson’s Farm!

Seventeen pounds later….pure happiness.

The only way to top that goodness was to stop for ice cream on the way home.  Did somebody say ice cream?!

That’s one of my favorite things about summer in Maine, there’s never an ice cream stand too far away.  I love this one with the great decor and the delicious Wild Maine Blueberry ice cream.  YUM-O-MATIC..Mama had a good day!

We had thrown the rain boots in the back in case the fields were muddy but thankfully they weren’t needed – they’ve had a heck of a workout these past few weeks, they needed a day off!  I managed to pick up some more delicious Maine Maple Syrup, farm fresh eggs, and naturally raised hamburg while at Goranson’s.  One stop shoppin’ I tell ya!

So yesterday I canned 6 jars of strawberry jam. Woke up this morning and decided WHO bread was in order to go with the jam, just had the first slice warm from the oven – DEL-IC-IOUS!

Now I’m off to make that belt, then I think I see some hand pie’s in my future!  This rain has to stop or I’ll be off to the fat farm!  Then again if it doesn’t I’ll just develop a new exercise routine that involves jumping in puddles!