Spam

So apparently if you don't post for awhile, some kind of spambots take notice and start trying to spam your blog. I'm getting multiple spam comments a day.

I think it's a hint. :)

Without further ado, a brief update:

Hives: We had our first incident of hives. Although none of our kids have ever had hives, I recognized them pretty quickly. A sudden case of big red splotches seemed pretty clear cut. The problem was figuring out the cause. We had gone to the zoo over the weekend for Mark's work picnic, but we hadn't done anything unusual and the food was hot dogs and burgers, so nothing odd there. But nevertheless, Sunday night Emily was covered in splotches. I gave her some Benadryl and she was good in the morning, but then Tuesday afternoon they popped up again. After some Googling and a call to the pediatric nurse, we just kept giving her Benadryl. But no one had said how long to give it to her, so I gave it to her for 24 hours then stopped. Thursday afternoon she looked like this again:

After three more days of continual Benadryl, the hives seem to be cleared up. Still no exact idea as to what caused them, but we did pet the stingrays at the zoo and got splashed (dripping wet) by one of them, so it might have been something in the water. However, the kids and I went again this past Wednesday and she didn't have any problems, so...???

A birthday: Alex is 9! He had a great birthday and we've been talking a lot about being 9 and what that means for him. I think he's excited to be growing up. :)

Circus Flora: The kids LOVED the circus. I really hope we can make this an annual tradition. The newest girls were just in awe of everything they saw. I think the kids liked the dog act the best, but I really liked the jugglers.

I have pictures of Alex's birthday and the circus, but since I've already waited a week to post this hoping I could get to the other computer and add the pictures, I'm just posting without them!

Gluttony

I have six kids, two of whom have been home for a little under 3 months. Obviously we're still working on adjusting, discipline...all kinds of things.

In addition to those six, we have another little girl, R, who is 20 months. She comes and visits us every day while her mom and dad work.

Yesterday, a fellow mom at church put out an emergency plea. She needed someone to watch her 3-year-old daughter for the day. Guess who volunteered?? :)

Today's schedule:

Get kids up, dressed, and fed (thankfully Mark does breakfast!)
R arrived
Schoolwork until 8:30
Bathrooms and load 7 kids into the van
Arrive for speech at 9am
Drop Emily off and then take Alex, Tim, and Danielle to the sibling playroom
Take Julia, Bianca, and R to the labs for another blood draw and TB test for Julia
Run upstairs to get Emily before the TB test because her speech is done
Take J, B, R, and E back down to the lab for the TB test
Pick up A, T, and D from the playroom
Drive home to meet A (the 3-year-old) who spent the rest of the day with us

So I had eight kids ages 8 and under today. What can I say...I'm a glutton for punishment. There were a few times where I looked out the window just to remind myself that there was something outside of where I was. :) But overall it was a really good day! I even managed to vacuum, get dinner started, and do two loads of laundry. It's always a good day if everyone eats and has clean clothes. :)