Wordless Wednesday...

...but with a few words.

I had a post in mind today, but I just lost all of my motivation. I got very tired all of the sudden. Gloomy day.

Totally Random Tuesday

On Sunday I made my run to the grocery store. I wasn't sure how Ethan would feel Monday morning and if he would make it through a shopping trip. So I braved the store Sunday. Normal grocery day is early on a Monday morning, so there aren't many people there. And I normally shop in a smaller town with a newer Kroger store. It is usually a pleasant experience, except for the bill, haha! This time I went to a different store, because I wanted to bring home pizza for dinner, which meant I had to go to another town. Of course when I get there the store is packed. Great. I grab a cart and get going. I am doing my best to hurry and still get everything on my list. I am a little turned around because the store layout is different. I swear that in every single isle, there were people who would park their cart on one side, and stand on the other side. So when you wanted to pass them, you couldn't. I don't know how many times I had to say "excuse me." How can you not see another human being with a shopping cart? Why are you so inconsiderate that you have to act like you own the canned veggie isle? And then you run into a couple who are shopping together. One is pushing the cart, and one is walking beside the other. Again, taking up the entire isle! There is also the people who know each other and decide to take a coffee break to catch up, right in the middle of the isle. I am not one who wants to spend my time socializing in the store. Sorry. Get my crap and get out. It took me much longer than it should have because of people who are inconsiderate. I make it a point when I am shopping to keep to myself. The employees at this store were not nearly as friendly as the employees at my regular store. Maybe its because they are busier? I don't know, but it was not a welcomed change. What happened to the days when people actually considered others? What happened that some people think they are superior to any other? I know things are more stressful right now for people, but wouldn't a simple, kind gesture or smile from a stranger help improve your day? It would for me. A 'thank you' or just a smile. I may not be the most friendly out going person in the world at times, but still, can manage a 'thank you' and a smile when I cross anothers path. Really it doesn't take much to be kind.

Here are a few pictures from Saturday.

Dylan had a blast searching the the eggs. I can't believe that the weather cooperated for that one day either.

We have nothing going on this week. Rather boring week. Ethan was quite grumpy today for some reason. He isn't napping well today either. Who knows why. It makes for a long day though.

A product review!

About a month ago I was contacted about trying out a new product. So I thought "sure, why not." This product is called My PurMist. They have a website that you can check out to learn more. Please click HERE. You can also find them on Facebook too if you'd like.

So I received the product and opened it up, and read the manual.
Here it is!

It comes with an adult mask and a child's mask.


Here it is, with the child's mask attached.

The first thing I noticed about it was that it needed distilled water. I didn't want to chance using our well water, so the next time I was at the store, I picked up a gallon of inexpensive distilled water. A gallon goes a very very long way in this machine. The first time I turned it on, I let it run a cycle without using it. Even then I was amazed at the amount of warm mist the tiny little thing was putting out. I used it first to get an idea of the settings. I found it best to use at the lowest setting. It is much more convenient to use than a full room warm mist humidifier. It concentrates the steam so that you get maximum benefits. I then attached the child's mask and had Dylan give it a whirl. He wasn't afraid of it since he had just seem me do it. In true spring fashion Dylan did have a cold. I swear this past few months someone in this house has been sick. hope we are done with colds now! Anyway, I had him sit down and use it for a while. He did fine sitting there. He was still able to talk to me through the mask, so that helped. I'm not sure how long we sat there, but the little bit of water you put in there lasts quite a while. It opened him up and made him feel better. Again, we used the lowest setting.

The PurMist is definitely convenient. It is small enough for the child to hold on their own. Even without holding the mask right up to your face, you can still get the warm mist. This thing is pretty powerful. It is simple to set up. Oh, and another good thing about it is that once you are done using it, you just let it run until it runs out of water, and it dries itself out, and then shuts itself off! No worries about mold growing and no worries about having to dry it out yourself. Once its done drying, you can put it up until you are ready to use it again. That was a big 'wow' for me. Low maintenance. Who doesn't love that? If I were to change anything about it, I would like to see a chart in the manual that gave an idea of how much water to put in for an 'x' amount of time. But at the same time, if you put in too much, just let it clear itself out, and its no big deal. The masks can be used over and over again for as long as you want. They are simple to clean. And of course you can buy replacements from them with no problem. Would I recommend it to people? Yeah! I'm happy with it, and I am glad we have it. The summer often brings Me and Dylan awful allergies. So I'm sure once all of this rain ends, and the weather warms up, we will be using it more.
Here is their website again if you'd like to check them out for yourself.

http://www.mypurmist.com/

Weekend in Review

A couple of things. If you are wondering how Ethan is doing, scroll down for our weekend review. Second, I am linking up with Chic Homeschool Mama for Monday Rewind. I chose this picture, because I have hope that the troubles of the weekend are gone. And that the rain that we are going to get decides to go elsewhere.

What a tiring weekend. So after my post on Saturday, things didn't get any better. Ethan became more more miserable. Napping went out the window, fever stayed, and I think he was in pain. We did our best to make him comfortable and help him sleep, but nothing was working. We all ended up going up to Ryan's mom and dad's for the dinner that I mentioned. Ethan didn't do too bad. You can see that he wanted to play and be involved, but you could just see that he didn't feel good. He ate a little, and for the most part didn't fuss much. He had quite a few people to baby him though, so that was great. The kids got to do an Easter egg hunt, and they loved it. I will show pictures of Dylan doing that later in the week sometime. Dylan had a very busy day, and he loved every minute of it. Ethan and I came home a little early from the dinner, because he was getting so tired. Ryan and Dylan came home a little later. Ethan didn't sleep hardly at all that night. Between Ryan and I, he slept on our chests all night. He just acted restless. Like he couldn't stay still. We felt so bad for him. He was so exhausted and there was nothing we could do to help him.

Sunday we didn't do anything. Ethan wasn't napping well of course, but we tried. He didn't eat much either. He was still miserable and uncomfortable. It is so frustrating as a parent when you cant do anything to comfort or help your sick child. Ethan did his best to get through the day, but it was hard. Ryan's parents came down to color Easter eggs with Dylan. Ethan and I hung out in the living room until he couldn't take much more. I took him to his room and put him to bed. He was out like a light in no time. But he kept waking up and whining/crying. Well actually I don't think he was totally awake. I went in there quite a few times and he never looked at me, so I don't think the was totally awake. This went on for most of the night. But really I guess he was sleeping so we were making progress. His fever seems to be gone for the most part. He hasn't felt warm since mid day Sunday. He made it through the night and is napping again. I haven't heard a peep out of him since I put him down an hour ago. He played a lot better this morning and ate better too. I think we are getting past this. I know its only been a few days, but its been a long few days.

Here are a few pictures of the rash from Saturday morning. It even got worse than this. Sunday it looked truly awful. I didn't take any pictures that day. Exhaustion caused a foggy brain I guess.

You can see it on his cheek and then on his arms. It covered his whole body like that. Even the bottom of his feet.

His cheeks got much much redder

Look into those eyes and tell me that he isn't miserable. Poor baby

Moving on to what will hopefully be a good week. We don't have any plans for the week. It is once again supposed to rain. A lot. Go figure. I have hope that they will change the forecast though and it won't rain all week.

The sickies

We had plans for today. So did Ethan's body. Yesterday he woke up from his afternoon nap with a fever and a rash. The rash wasn't bad, so I kind of assumed that it was a viral rash that would be gone this morning. He was a little grumpy when he first woke, so I gave him ibuprofen for the fever. Once it kicked in he was fine, and playing. He ate like a pig at dinner. He went to bed at his normal time and slept great. He woke up a little late this morning. When I went into get him, his rash was much worse. Still had the fever. Thankfully his doctor's office is open for a few hours on Saturdays. I called as soon as they opened and was given an appointment. I don't want to be someone who runs to the doctors every time my kid gets a scratch. And normally I'm not. If this rash wouldn't have gotten worse overnight, then we wouldn't have gone in. Anyway, within 1 minute of talking to the doctor he knew exactly what it was. It was a reaction to the MMR shot he got at his 15 month appointment! I guess it takes a week or 2 for it to actually show up, if they get it at all. According to the paper he showed me, it is a 1 in 20 chance of getting the rash. It is not contagious and just brings a low fever. He said it should be gone in a couple of days. Ethan is kind of grumpy and whiny. You can tell he doesn't feel well though. He wants to play, but doesn't feel like it. I am hoping he naps well, because sleep is the best thing for him.

So we were all supposed to go to a birthday party for a friend's little girl. Actually, the plan was for mom to come over and stay with Ethan while the rest of us went. But since Ethan has that fever, I didn't want to leave him. So Dylan and Ryan went. I'm glad Dylan is out and about though. It is at a park, so he should enjoy himself. Tonight Ryan's Mom and Dad are having a dinner for Easter/Birthdays. As long as Ethan is acting ok, he and I will go as well. While I took Ethan to the doc's this morning, Dylan and Ryan went out on the four wheeler back to the woods to go mushroom hunting. Nothing was found, except for lots and lots of mud. But Dylan had fun. Also, yesterday evening Ryan tried mowing our yard. But he had to stop because it was spraying water. There is still water laying in our yard from all of this crappy rain. And tomorrow, more rain. If it holds off to later in the day, Ryan is going to try again to mow. We'll see. No plans for tomorrow though. I just hope that Ethan's fever and rash get better. Poor kid.

Foto-rific Friday

First, I am linking up again. I took this picture of Ethan yesterday. Did a cross process to it and cropped a bit off of the left.










Also yesterday evening, we got more rain. Ugh. Anyway, afterwards the sun came out immediately to our west, and put a rainbow to the East. So I ran out to get a few photos.

Look at this first one, you can see the end of the rainbow in front of the trees! And as you can also see, there is no pot of gold sitting there either. Darn.




A double rainbow appeared for a little while.

I think I need more coffee

Still tired.

We went out to eat for Ryan's birthday last night. We weren't sure if we were going to go because we didn't know what we were in for with the weather. We ended up going, and it just rained. We ate, ran an errand and came home. On the way home they issued a tornado watch until 3 am. Great here we go again. When we got home, I laid everything out in case we had to run for the basement later. Luckily around 1 am or so they cancelled the tornado watch. It got really really windy for a while, but didn't do much else. I am so glad nothing came of the watch. It was nice to get out and go to dinner as well. The boys did well. Ethan ate like a pig, which made me very happy. Depending on where we go Ethan and I can usually share a meal. This time we got him his own and he ate near all of it. He can be a big ol pig at times. By the time we were headed home, it was after 7 and he was getting tired. He kept rubbing his eyes and would whine a bit, but he was good.

The sun is out today finally. Supposedly we are done with the rain until Sunday and Monday. We'll see. I really hope things start to dry up at this point. It looks so nice outside right now, but it is a bit chilly. Yesterday we were close to 70 degrees by this time. Now we are only in the mid 40s. Seems like the weather can't decide what it wants to do.

Yesterday I picked up the living room 3 times before I was finally able to vacuum it. Some days it seems like I can't get anything done. It almost feels like there's no point in trying to clean when 5 minutes later you have to go back and re-do it. I had my dining room all nice and clutter free a week ago. Now, it looks like a closet has exploded on my dining table. I don't know why I can't seem to keep any room nice. Even one that we don't regularly use! I think that I have 2 good excused though as to why things always get cluttered and tossed around. 2 little, hyper, brotherly excuses. My kitchen is another room. Granted we are in there a lot. But in that room I just can't seem to get ahead. Always dishes to be done, things to be put away, meals to be cooked, counters to be cleaned, and trash to be taken out. I think the kitchen frustrates me the most. It seems like there is stuff everywhere, all of the time. Surely I am not the only one who cant seem to keep up with the little ones and their messes. The ones who can manage it and keep their home spotless, how do you do it? You know if I had a weekly maid service come in, they would quit or demand more money! Haha! They'd complain its just too much work. And I would understand.

Yeah, I need more coffee.