Just When You Thing You Have Things Under Control...

 Well, rather foolishly, I've been thinking lately that things are going pretty smoothly around here. Life doesn't feel like constant chaos anymore. We have time to just BE. Like watching Arthur Christmas with all the kids on the weekend!

Then- Jacob gets a fever at daycare the Monday before Thanksgiving, and throws a wrench in everything. I have to leave work early, because Adam is in crunch time at school (end of the quarter, finals are next week!).

So-

I was frazzled and stressed, and Papa John's came to the rescue for dinner that night (the on n Issaquah has hot & ready pepperoni pizza's for only $5!).

The Washington State Health Department doesn't allow a child to go to school/daycare until they have 24 hours WITHOUT a fever. So, I took Tuesday off of work also, thinking surely his fever would be gone that day and he could go back to daycare Wednesday. Nope. Still had a fever Tuesday.

So Jacob and I paid a visit to Urgent Care (He is trying desperately to escape the doctor's office in t his pic). I hoped it was an ear infection, because he could start antibiotics and go back to daycare Wednesday still. Nope- couldn't figure out what was wrong. Uuugh. I called in and took Wednesday off of work as well. Goodbye sick days.

On the bright side, Jacob was a really sweet boy while I was home with him. And- Taylor lost her top tooth! She woke up, and it had fallen out in her sleep and was on her tongue.

In other good (okay, pretty stinking AWESEOME) news, Taylor won the Reflections contest at her school! If you have school age kids, you knwo what this is. For those who don't: It is a voluntary art contest, held every year. Each school has one, and those winners move on to the school district, then the state, etc. They have a theme, and you can submit visual art, photography, dance, music, etc.

The theme this year was The Magic of a Moment. Taylor spent a lot of time thinking and planning her artwork. She painted a watercolor blue sky, then used oil pastels to draw the branches of an apple tree. Then she cut out scraps of fabric for the leaves, and for the apples. She wrote a paragraph about how magical it was to spend time with her family this summer, playing in the apple tree, napping under it, and even eating the apples. (Sorry, I don't have a pic, it's on Adam's phone!)

Anyway, she was very proud of it (so was I!) so I matted it (Thank you Mr. Egan for teaching me how important the presentation of your artwork is!), and she dropped it off at school. We anxiously waited weeks to find out, and last Wednesday found out she won for Best Interpretation in the Visual Arts category for her school. Woo Hoo! We go to an Open House at the high school in early January, and then we will find out if she wins for the district (fingers crossed!).

(On a side note- I can't wait to get the painting back, because I robbed the mat from my large family portrait and it looks very odd without it!)