Strep Invasion

All the kids started clogging on Tuesday. Idaho Rhythm opened a spring class with my 5 as the base for the class, we only needed to find 2 more kids for a full class. Sara is taking the kids to that class until Mia gets her license. I am hoping to have Amelia licensed by next week! Hooray! Then she can drive herself to piano and take the kids to dance class on Tuesday. I hear all the kids enjoyed their first class. Toward bedtime Evelyn suddenly started crying and throwing a fit. She was complaining about a headache and sore throat. No fever. I supposed she was tired and worn out after two dance classes. 

Next day Evelyn was feeling terrible, worse than she felt on Tuesday. I let her stay home, had to bribe her to attend school without Evelyn. I took Evelyn to the Urgent care since Dr Aldous was booked for the next couple days. She had a nasty case of strep throat. I was unable to pick up her antibiotics until Thursday with all the craziness of our Wednesday schedule. It was quite strange to observe Evelyn sitting on the couch for 2-3 days, she is not a sitter. I went to YW with Amelia to work on camp stuff. The YCLs and I met on Sunday for the first time to talk about our theme and review what the general camp plan is this year. My awesome friend Daisy is letting us reserve her AirBNB off the books for a great price. We saved enough money that we can now stay 3 nights, one night for just the YCLs. The girls were tasked to think about a camp theme and bring ideas Wednesday at 6:30 before the younger girls arrived. We had so many good suggestions, finally settling on “City on a Hill: Ye are the Light of the World.” The general activity was to create a logo for camp shirts. By the end of an hour we had to choose between 20 gorgeous designs. Jocelyn’s design was the final winner. Yay! Now to translate her design into a digital file. By the end of the night Amelia and Everett showed symptoms of strep throat. 

Thursday and Friday I had 3 kids home sick with strep. Two more kids to urgent care for antibiotics and excuse notes for school. I went to MCO with just Phillip and Josie in tow…plus Ambree. I almost stayed home but realized Phillip and Amber would miss the next rehearsal per symphony and drumline performance. So off we went, it was a good thing too because only 1 volunteer showed up. I was late because we stopped to pick up burritos for dinner at Del Taco, that was the slowest taco joint ever, took like 20 minutes….in the drive thru lane. I stayed until Phillip and Ambree were done at 7. Justin drove up at 5:10 to pick up Josie. He witnessed 20 kids mobbing me because I had the bag of gummy bears, it’s intense I tell you. We were playing catch the bag without tipping over the volunteer. I took myself to Target in search of Easter schtuff for Easter baskets. I was in heaven, alone in Target for 90 minutes. 

Grandma Clarice Simpson Call passed away 2-3 weeks before her 100th birthday Thursday morning. We don’t know much about her because she did not treat Bruce’s family very well. She was mean, unfiltered, and OCD most of the time. Justin refers to her as “Hello, Clarice” from Silence of the Lambs. Not many of the older grandchildren liked her very much. I cannot imagine the task of taking on 8 children as Step-Mother was an easy task after 40+ years of being single. Maybe one day Justin will learn the why and how of Clarice. 

Friday I hardly got an ounce of editing completed, that is my editing day. I ran here and there picking up medicine, rotating tires, picking up my new frames, and working on laundry. Two weeks ago the spring in the right arm of my glasses frame snapped, it is awesome to have glasses that stay on my face. Evelyn was on her antibiotics for 24 hours at 3 pm so was no longer contagious, she went to ukulele lessons. Thank heavens, she was going stir crazy by Friday. I started dough for cinnamon rolls with Evelyn’s help. Phillip stayed after school to help Mr Burton set up the school for Band Festival his school was hosting for the entire south-west of our state. I asked Justin to pick him up around 4, but he was not done until 5 pm. Justin was unhappy about the time wait, but Phillip has no way to communicate with us from school with gmail banned. I got a frantic call at 5:10 from Justin. His Hamster Wagon was not starting. I ran over thinking it would be a simple battery jump, nope! His car was dead as a fish out of water. Dead, dead, dead. He had new tires and an alignment earlier that day?! He said the tire place closed at 6, I still called at 6:12 to adamant negativity from Justin. The manager was there finishing up the last piles of paperwork. He helped us out on his way home, in case it was due to the car battery activated during the alignment. With proper tools and sensors Justin and the Les Schwab guy determined the battery was fine but the battery post needed replacing. We pushed the car to a better spot for the night and once again left it locked until we could figure out a solution. Dinner was a rather late affair at 8 pm, everyone ravenously chowed down warm cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs. 

Saturday was a very special day for Oliver. He was baptized by Dusty and confirmed by his Grandpa Ostler. I finally got to meet Sara’s parents and one of her sisters, Ann. I was starting to think she didn’t have family, ha ha ha. Amelia played piano to accompany Carson (cello) and Amber (violin) for I Am A Child of God. They did an awesome job! Logan worked very hard for 3 weeks to learn I Love to see the Temple in piano lessons. He played his number between the baptism and confirmation. Oliver was beaming, he looked so handsome and cute with his smiling face. We enjoyed a fancy luncheon at Sara’s home for immediate family….yes, we are now immediate family. Sara’s parents were very worried about the weather, it was snowing hard over Eastern Idaho, they headed home soon after. Justin replaced the terminal post on the Kia’s battery, it started right up! Phillip and Everett spent the afternoon at East Valley for band festival. They helped usher guest, move furniture, and guard the doors. They were thrilled to get pizza and a liter of soda as a reward for volunteering. Phillip performed with his drum line shortly after one pm. I hear they did a great job! 

Sunday we learned a new song, Don’t Forget to Pray in Primary. We watched the video first then used hand motions to move with the words and rhythm. Josie had a tummy ache and cast her lots several times before church. She stayed home alone during sacrament meeting armed with the iPad to message me if needed. She indeed messaged me about 30 times with random emojis and GIFs. Justin went home second hour to be with her. Right after church was a linger longer for our new Fast Sunday opportunity this year. I forgot to make something (again) and didn’t really want to stay. The kids really wanted to linger so we stayed and leached off everyone else’s offerings. 

Enjoy photos of my pretty rocks. I soaked the blue opal chunks in vinegar and salt for a few days then soaked the rocks in CLR! I think the combination cleaning did an amazing job removing the debris! I can't wait to find some time to cut the thunder eggs out at the rock shop.