Summer Bummer

Nothing kills the buzz of summer activities like a temperature of 105.1.

Rhett started running high fever last Wednesday night. Thursday the doctor said it wasn't strep throat but probably was the dreaded fever virus that all our friends and family had a week or two ago. The virus I thought we avoided. Bummer.

Ever since Rhett has had a steady fever. It goes up and down but never goes away. It spikes it's highest every night from 8 to 10pm and scares the bejeevies out of me. I slept in Rhett's room the first two nights in his "trungle" bed as he calls it. Rhett had to miss the last two days of VBS at his preschool church this week. He was totally bummed because his best little buddies were in class with him. However, he has felt so bad he hardly even mentioned VBS after the first day. Our Fathers Day plans have also changed. We are now planning a low-key day at home with my parents joining us for lunch after church. Really, that is just fine with me. Since I haven't slept much the past few nights and since we have had rain showers on and off since Thursday, I'm fine with a slow weekend at home. It's actually sorta nice...except that Rhett feels so bad.

The plus side of this untimely virus is that I have spent lots of one on one time with Rhett. That is something I have not done much of since Ella Kate was born. I love this little guy. He cracks me up, even when he is feeling lousy. I have been telling him lots of stories about my childhood adventures with my cousins Ashley and Robby. (He loves these stories as Ashley and Robby are parents to his bast buds Scarlett and Justin.) We have tried to make the best of it by mixing in back scratches, flashlight shadow figures on the ceiling, and several ice cream sundaes along with late night baths to bring his fever down and a regiment of Sprite and Tylenol. We have managed to have fun.

Since the tragic death of Conner Brown almost three weeks ago, I was already hugging my little boy tighter and more often. Since the accident I often find myself praying for protection and thanking God for times with my kids. Even the sick times. I think about the times LeAnn probably held Conner when he was sick. Those must be treasured memories now. Every hug, every smile, how he smelled, how his hands felt inside hers, how he said "MOM" from across the house when he was looking for something... All treasures. Conner's gift to me is the realization now that the little things about my kids and the little moments I spend with them are precious and are to be treasured and appreciated. That thinking makes dealing with a yucky summer fever virus a whole lot easier. I'm grateful for that.

Since I was spending so much time in Rhett's room, I decided to clean it out and rearrange some things. During that process Rhett informed me that he wants "to paint his room red with a blue ceiling and get new sheets, pillows and pictures." He has mentioned redoing his room a few times since we redid the guest room for Kolby and made her old room a nursery for Ella Kate last year. To pacify him, I added a few little things to his room then. Evidently he has bigger things in mind. I guess it would great to start Kindergarten off with a new room, so I am toying with the idea. No promises on the red walls though! It cracks me up to see this side of Rhett. He is so into sports, games,cars, bugs and all things "boy" that it catches me off guard when he wants to cook with me, put lotion on after baths and talk about room decor. That's my boy!

What have the other kids done with Rhett sick and taking center stage? Kolby has tried to go with friends and stay away for the most part, but there is no where to send Ella Kate. I am trying my best to keep them apart, use lots of Lysol, wash my hands and PRAY, PRAY, PRAY that no one else gets this yucky fever virus. Did I mention it is rumored to last 5 to 7 days? Almost any other week this summer that might not be so bad. BUT next weekend we are meeting a few families at a hotel in the metroplex for a Fort Worth friends reunion. We are so excited to see everyone, kick back,visit and play for three days! It takes allot to get these families together. We have already lost one family to scheduling problems this year so our family can't be sick! I think I better run out and get some more Airborne!

Time to give my little man his next dose of melt-away grape flavored fever reducer!
Hope you are WELL and having a happy Saturday!