Sick - CNY - Yard Mess

We've all been sick.  Life has been crazy busy, lots of added stress lately and then sick to boot.  I'm starting to feel better after two weeks.  Lili is still home with a barking cough.  Eric seemed to be getting it this morning but he's fine now.  Fei seems fine.  Jia needed to see a Dr. last week for wheezing and then was given asthma meds.  She didn't seem to mind and it impoved her breathing immediatly.  Last week there were only 11 out of 24 kids in Fei's class.  It's a doozy of a cold!

CNY was basically lost to stress.  We enjoyed a couple events on the weekend before, then we had school issues on the 3rd and I pulled the kids out of school, so they missed the school events.  Add sickness to that and we were out of business for a few days.  I haven't left the house for the last couple weekends.  My Birthday was a complete bust.  Too sick to eat or go out.  Eric didn't make me my double decker chocolate cake with peanut butter filling...so he owes me still.  Our local fcc group did a pot luck this year at a hall and it turned out better than I expected.  We had a great time.  Jia loved the lion dancing and the music!

I got a little misty when my baby backed up and stood with the kids.  She's growing up way too fast.

We've still got Eric's sister and family staying in their rv at our place.  Part of their rent/thanks was to help Eric with our retaining wall out front, with their excavator and bobcat.   It turned out to be a much bigger job than I was prepared for.  Cost $2500 for rocks, gravel and ground cover, which I was unprepared for and the worst was the mess, that I was really, really NOT prepared for.  It's been a bit shocking.  Some days I came home and just wanted to cry and cry.  I got my car into the garage asap and raced into the house and slammed the door behind me and then did everything in my power to not look out any front windows!  I'm sooooo glad it's finally mostly over.  There is still mess and yard owies to take care of and I'm afraid to look in the side yard still.  Our own rv is stuck in the backyard and can't come out until we do some lawn/yard repairs, but at least the front is semi under control.  Phew.  If this was a job I had wanted done, perhaps I'd feel differently about it all.  Right now...still stuck in resentment.  Years from now when the rock retaining wall is still holding up and there are creeping flowers all over it I'll feel better.  I don't have a finished picture, will post one later.

Jia has been moved up to a toddler music class, we go on Saturday now, which means I can take her.  She just learned the moves for a song about a dog named Rover and she just grins when it comes to the part where she sits, lays and then rolls over.  Gotta' get that on video.  The picture is of her first piggies, that I put in for her music class.  She left them in all day! 

It was spirit day at school today for Valentines.  Fei was all decked out in her red/pink and white.  She even finally wore the red boots she bought in China that so far have been too special to wear.  She reports that they're very comfortable and for reasons unknown she can run faster in them.  Fei has been freaking out about today, it's the day she had to go up at assembly with the other Birthday week kids to have the school sing Happy Birthday to their friends.  It was hard to sit through that assembly knowing how much she was dreading the moment and then I was so proud of her as she bounded up there and smiled at the whole school.  Now, as wild as it sounds, our little wee girl is going to be 8 tomorrow!  The kids are always thrilled about being the same age, tomorrow we'll have two eight year olds and a one year old.

So, party preperations are seriously underway tonight.  Fei and I are going to make 26 marshmallow polar bears for her to share with her class tomorrow.  If it goes well, perhaps we'll get some made for the party too.  Lots to do here at party central.