Hot Mess

That would be my Drum right now. He's been running a 100-103 fever all week. Normally I'm not one to run to the doctor for everything. But an elevated temp on day four with no tell tale signs (cough, sneeze, red throat, puffy eyes, runny nose, etc.) and no relief (nothing brought the fever down below 100 at all) had me concerned. After a thorough exam, the doctor said he had no clue. Aside from the fever and lethargy, Drum is the picture of health. He lost a bit of weight with not wanting to eat   much, but he was nursing well still so dehydration wasn't a concern. So I've got a cranky pants boy who won't sleep at night or nap without being held. I can't just lay down with him in arms. Oh, no. I've gotta be sitting upright with him for him to relax. With no idea what's causing it. Yay for modern medicine. I'm hoping its just a little bug that goes soon. 

We haven't gotten officially started with school work yet since I only have bits and pieces of materials, but we've been working with what we have without a set plan so far. Mostly Bible, reading and art with some science exploration. Not too much math or formal schedule yet. I'm determined to start right after Labor Day! I'm debating on how we want to register. I'm thinking about doing an "official" school through 8th grade if the TOPS (scholarship for local kids for in-state colleges that pays full tuition) program is still around when they're older and then switching to allowing outside review every year since TOPS isn't given to kids in the "registered schools," but is to those who turn in their yearly performance review. If TOPS is done away with by then, we'll just continue our "school." I'm thinking of the name "la petit academie de Pont Breaux" which is French for "the small school in (our city)." Hope it's not taken when I make my final decision. Lol

I've been super busy otherwise. I designed magazine from scratch for my Junior League chapter complete with doing the pictures. Full color, full bleed professionally printed magazine! I'll take pictures when it comes to my mail box. But it has certainly been a lot of work behind the scenes and making presentations and whatnot. Deadline was right before Drum got sick, so it's been a crazy time here. 

Also coinciding with Drum's sickness was our church ministry fair. We've had a tremendous influx of new members, so we wanted to provide an opportunity for them to get information about the various ministries and get involved. I was swamped with that. I had two booths to design (complete with logos for our ministries and information cards) all promotional materials and videos and social media leading up to and during the event, photo booth, food, and a huge free closet for all members to take whatever blessing they needed. We had so many like-new clothes donated that it was   amazing. Two big 6ft tables with stacks of clothes, three racks full, a table for shoes, and bins stuffed full. There was so much left over that I was even able to grab some stuff for myself. And there are still about 8 or 10 huge trash bags full to donate to the homeless shelters here. 

It was a lot of work, but it was great! 

Those are our booths and a fussy feverish Drum who kept us company while we presented information about our groups to people. 

Of course as soon as that calms down, fall portrait season comes around so I'm not really getting any sort of a break. I
won't   complain about getting business , though! But by the grace of God and coffee, I'll find peace and energy to make it through. I'm working hard on being content. This new busy season has made it very hard for me to make a much from scratch as I'm used to, so I'm having to adjust to the mind set that store bought bread and chicken stock won't kill my kids. That doesn't mean we're all out of a box now as I'm still cooking, but I'm having to purchase pre packaged sauces and ingredients that I can thrown in a pot. And let's not even get started on the laundry room. Haha. 

But, it is a lesson in finding peace amidst the chaos. It would be really easy to become overwhelmed and freak out and not be able to find rest in His grace. So I'm making time for extra prayer to stay plugged in. 

Auds starts dance again in two weeks, so we went and got her fitted for new shoes and had a breakfast out and some girl-time. It was so nice hanging with my gal pal and not hearing poop jokes or belching contests. But I did miss my boys. Auds got an apple fritter as big as her head and loved it!

My kids' creativity never ceases to amaze me. They used my balloons from the ministry fair as a volleyball net for a rousing game.