Friday Night.

Ok. - Day 2 of the H1N1 outbreak in our home.

This is what it looks like when a baby with the flu naps. He was like this for a while, then I felt sorry for him and put him back on the couch.

And, how about those pink socks? The doctor ended up taking them off to look at his feet.

In my defense, they are clean. That is all that matters.

Here is a picture of a healthy Emma. This was Wednesday (I think). I loved all the leaves outside. So I made her go sit in them. And she posed. And posed. And posed.

We are supposed to get our 2009 pictures back tomorrow. I can't wait.

I will have plenty to show.

Oh, I almost forgot. For everyone who is interested, Eli wears a size 4 in juniors. :)

I am happy to announce that I purchased my son his first pair of girls skinny jeans.

OK, it is not as bad as it sounds.

He is "playing" that lead singer of Guns and Roses in the Beta Convention

at Opryland Hotel next week. And he needed "the look." Boy, did he ever get the look.

I will have pictures of that next TUESDAY. You do not want to miss it!

Sickness.

My little Tripp has the flu.

Just this Wednesday night, he got up and he was crying - It was somewhere around 1 a.m. I was tired and I vaguely remember. I let Dave "handle it." So, I was dozing, Tripp was crying, Dave was talking him down and the next thing I knew was there was a hot little body in between us. And Dave says, "Hey Mel. He just threw up. What can I give him? Pepto?"

No, silly goose. No Pepto for small children. It has aspirin-like stuff in it and that causes other diseases. No aspirin for kids.

So, to save Tripp from other diseases, I got up.

Crying, crying, crying. It was pitiful. When I asked him questions, he replied with "yes, please" and "no, thank you" and "yes, m'am."

I knew right then we had to get him to the doctor. Because if Tripp is using manners, there is something terribly wrong.

We finally got him calmed down. His temp was about 102. When the sun came up, and it was time to start our real day, he was still hot - following doses of Motrin and Tylenol. I made the decision not to send him to school. :) It was time to see Dr. Mark. So, we got ready.

Tripp told me he didn't feel like walking, putting clothes on, or buckling his car seat.

After an hour-long wait at the doctors office (which he slept through) we got in a room. They took his tempature and it was 104.5. Now, I will tell you, I am not panicked at this. I reserve my angst for temperatures over 105. For some reason, both Emma and Tripp run fevers that are high for simple things like ear infections.

They swabbed him for the flu and it came back positive.

Needless to say, it was a stressful day. He has slept on and off. We have started Tamiflu, and it is washed down with Motrin. All the other kids are on flu medicine also.

He slept with us last night. He is so sweet when he is sick. And although I love the fact that he cuddles me, holds my hand to his little chest, and uses such politeness....I want my mean boy back.

A Secret.

During the 8th grade year, students take a practice ACT test... I forget the name of it exactly. It tells what "direction" students should go in high school. It tells whether they are college bound. It gives a projected ACT score.

Eli took this test a couple of weeks ago. He didn't even tell me he was taking it - I found out on Wednesday night at church services from another mother. So I asked him the day after the test and he said it was "fine" and "easy" and that it was "no problem."

The test is somewhat different than a regular ACT - scores range from 1 -25, with 25 being the highest score possible.

Today, I got an email from a guidance counselor at his school.

It seems that Eli got a 25. There has never been a 25 at LMS before. Out of the whole test, he missed three math problems.

So, Eli runs in the house this afternoon. He is ecstatic. He is bursting open with possibility. He is talking Harvard. :)

We are so proud of him.