Weekly Wrap Up

What's up here at Casa Quarantina? Well, let's see...



Brianna managed to liberate her new double pointed knitting needles after they'd been eaten by her bunkbed.

We've watched our share of documentaries and mindless fluff movies. Anything to distract from the itching and keep us all from going stir crazy. (Stir crazier?) The blanket-draped figure is Annaliese, who, understandably, does not wish to be photographed in her poxed condition.



For those who are wondering, this is what stir crazy looks like. Sigh.

The big kids finished up their CAT testing! WOO HOO! I did a lot of this:

while they were working. Can I just say I love love love my iPad? I'm pretty sure it's my favorite present ever. I just need to finish up a couple more sections of testing with Furby this weekend, and we'll be mailing the whole box back next week for scoring.

I escaped to Target for a bit after school today, and got the girls a lamp for their bedroom. They got a new lamp when we moved, but Hannah fried it. I'll have to post about that someday. Maybe when it doesn't make my heart stop to think about it. At any rate, they NEEDED a lamp. So I found this pink bling-y one and knew Bri would approve. I had a coupon for 20% off kids bedroom stuff, which saved us $6 bucks. Bri decided a new lamp was reason to spruce up the dresser.

I finally went through my neglected coupon binder and pulled all the expired coupons and clipped over half of the pile of inserts that have been stacking up, neglected in the chaos of moving and getting settled. Although many of the coupons expired in February, I did find a couple that went all the way back to September, oops!

I have to say, having the product stash I had stored up when we moved has been amazingly helpful. It was so nice not to run out of things! Especially since we had many extra expenses getting the other house rentable. We finally came to the end of the dishwasher detergent and were getting close to the end of the laundry soap, so I made sure to find deals on those. The photo above was from Wednesday, when Sam and I picked Josiah up from school and went to Papa Murphy's to pick up dinner. While our pizzas were being assembled, we walked over to Rite Aid and went couponing. "Wellness + savings": $33.35, Coupon savings, $10, total OOP: $42.59.

Today's Target run was even more fun, with a savings of $75.33. It's been kind of nice doing an errand with just Josiah and Samuel after school every day this week. Annaliese can't go to school with the pox, so she's home to watch the other spotted ones while I catch a breath of fresh air and talk to people who aren't polka dotted.

Guess who is learning to wash her own hair one handed?

That's right! Hannah Banana is doing a great job sudsing up on her own. I still pour the shampoo and does a "check scrub" and the rinsing, but it's a great start, and just a matter of time before she takes over those tasks, as well.

Hannah watching Dora in Mandarin. She's lost most of it, but we continue to expose her. In the fall, she'll be old enough to start at the local weekend Mandarin school. I hope that hearing the tones regularly will make it easier for her to pick it back up. Mandarin school is a long term committment, as I hope she will be at least able to make some conversation with our guides when we go back to China for a heritage tour someday when she's older.

That's my week in a nutshell. I'm SO VERY MUCH looking forward to a Mom's Night Out with my adoptive mama friends next week. I need my batteries recharged. I miss park day and homeschool co op. I miss talking to grown ups.

Sunday Snapshot

A pictoral glimpse into my day.

Poor Furby has them on his lips.

And Eli on his hands & legs.

And neck.



This morning Paul took Samuel and Hannah to church while I stayed home with The Spotted Ones (and Josiah).



Somehow, I managed to convince them to let me take a few pictures.



After working looking over Furby's spelling test, I decided to sit down and do some phonics practice with him.




Which quickly turned into a multi-player game.



In case you can't read Eli's note, here it is up close:


Oh yeah. That's why I do this. And no, I didn't correct his spelling.

I can't make this stuff up!

I wasn't going to post because I don't have any pictures to share, and really, what fun is a blog with no pictures?? But the very unbelievableness of my life compels me to write.

I recently read someone's "Weekly Wrap Up" blog post, and I thought I'd deviate a little and share my month of March so far.

3/1 Take kids in to dr. Update shots, including Sam's chicken pox vaccine.

3/2 Sam breaks out in pox. Okay. It happens. Not unheard of for a vax'ed kid to get them.


3/3 My birthday. It's a really good friend who will bring their family over to your house for dinner when you have the plague (and it helps that they just got over it, lol).

Like the candles? Dh kinda forgot that part, so he threw on random candles from the last couple birthdays. :eyeroll:

Over the next 11 days we missed out on: Adoption play group, park day, civil air patrol, church, youth, baptism ministry, homeschool co op, etc. We started going a little bit stir crazy. I kept checking the other kids, "Lemme see your belly," and "Lemme feel your head," but none of them showed any sign of spots.

And just as Samuel's pox started crusting over...

3/15 Brianna wakes up poxed. She's HAD them before! That's when I start to get a little annoyed. I check the little boys and have a horrible suspicion about Eli, which is confirmed later in the morning. I said, "I know God won't give me more than I can handle. I guess I should be flattered in His confidence in me."

3/16 Drop Annaliese and her suitcase (the same one Paul used for two whole weeks in China) off at school for a 2 day trip to Disneyland with her sign language class. I'd teased her the night before when she was packing, "Wouldn't it be hilarious if you got down to Disney and woke up Saturday with Chicken Pox?" No, Mom, it wouldn't be funny at all. "You're right, it wouldn't be. I'm sorry." Didn't really think it was a possibility because (same song, second verse) she had the shot. 9 p.m. she texts me and tells me she has fever & headache and feels awful. I text back, "Check your torso." Next text, "I have chicken pox."

Seriously?! My heart broke for her. I felt completely awful for having teased about this very possibility. And the suckiest part of all is that she's 400 miles away from home. On a field trip. With a very contagious disease. Crap! They can't put her on a plane and fly her home because she's contagious. I can't fly down and rent a car and drive her home because I have 4 poxed kids here at home, and Paul is at work until morning.

Eventually, the plan was worked out. She'd stay at the hotel all day while her classmates went off to Disneyland, and Paul would leave from work at 8 a.m. to drive down and get her.

I'm so incredibly bummed for her. Even the other kids have been really sympathetic about how awful it is. Brianna said, "Annaliese missing Disneyland is way worse than me missing out on the Tween/teen Scavenger Hunt [with our homeschool co op].

They're on their way home now. I just talked to Paul, and they should be here in a couple hours. Before midnight, even. Which is an incredibly fast trip, all things considered.

And the rest of us? Well, we had our green foods for St Patrick's Day lunch.

We wore green and shamrock silly bands bracelets. We had corned beef for dinner. But there's definitely a cloud over the house. Bri, Eli, & Furby lay around and itch a lot. Sam has started to lose his mind after being cooped up so long with no end in sight, so he's picking on people, which makes them cry because tempers are short.

And I have another 2 kids who haven't had pox yet. And at least 2 more weeks of quarrantine to look forward to.

Trinkets from Zach

Yesterday we got a package from Zach!
The boys liked the duct tape closure.

In one of his phone calls, he told us he would be sending some trinkets.

The tiger, elephant and camel all open on hinges.

Oh look, it's my boys!

See the resemblance?

Little marble cups

A set of Arab nesting dolls!

I always think of nesting dolls as a Russian thing, so this was a neat surprise.

And the turtle Brianna is holding has a hinged opening, too.

Poor Bri. She wasn't feeling so great yesterday (hence the less than flattering picture) and this morning woke up with CHICKEN POX! How unfair is that?? She had them a year ago! She hugged her friend with pox 4 weeks ago and didn't break out when Samuel got them. So bummed for her. She was doing okay most of today, but this evening has a tummy ache and is pretty miserable.

Eli woke up with them, too. Actually, I wasn't sure about him at first, just a couple spots, but as the morning wore on, he developed more.

Looks like another 2 weeks of quarantine for us.  I really, really hope that if Furby is going to get them, he gets them soon so we can get it over with. 

Vaccine Irony

Remember how I talked about taking Samuel and Hannah to the pediatrician Thursday? I mentioned that both kids got 2 shots. Hannah got Hep A and Pentacel, Samuel got Hep A and the chicken pox booster shot. Booster. As in, he'd already had one almost 12 years ago. Guess what he woke up with Friday morning?

Yup. Chicken pox. I knew he'd been exposed 2 weeks earlier, because we had friends who had it, and we were over at their house. But I assumed (yes, I know) he would be okay because 1) he didn't get it last year, when Brianna had chicken pox; and 2) he HAD THE SHOT. Well. That was effective. I kinda think the booster may have been the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak.

Wook at dat face!

We're quarantined until he's better. Which meant no homeschool co op, no Civil Air Patrol, no church, no park day... I can't decide if it's frustrating or relaxing, actually. The silver lining in this is that it's been nice not having to run around quite so much. But we are starting to get a bit of cabin fever.

Poor guy. His feet have them, too. They're in his ears, his hair. He's been a really good sport about the whole thing, though. One of the things I love about Samuel is his good attitude. He's even been limping along in his schoolwork.

My one hope is that no one else breaks out with them. We're less than a week in, so it's still too early to say that no one else will catch them from him. I just dread the thought of getting Samuel all cleared up and ready to go back out in the big world, only to have Furby or Eli, neither of whom had the shot, break out.

When I talked to Zach, he suggested putting Sam in front of a movie. Fortunately, I had a free Redbox code for my birthday, which I used to pick up a movie the kids hadn't seen. I may even spring for another one when we return it, as a treat.