M’s feet are getting big. I didn’t realize how big until I saw him struggling to put on his boots this morning. He hasn’t had them that long. A quick comparison showed me that his feet are nearly the same size as mine.
The Man came out to help do the deed since I was still trying to hold him steady during the seizures and I didn’t want to lose the thermometer in there. Well, losing the thermometer wouldn’t have been a problem, retrieving it might have been.
With a temperature of about 105° we knew he was overheated and suspected heatstroke even though he had plenty of water sources available to him. For the next hour I sat on the front lawn with Dog letting water from the hose cool him off. The Man went to get something to stop the seizures. By the time the Man returned, Dog’s temperature was near normal. After a few shots, the seizures lessened, but Dog was still pretty stiff. The Man carried him to the back porch where it was decided Dog and Man would spend the night.
About 1:00 a.m. the vet finally returned the call (he had been out of cell phone range making a house call). The Man took Dog to the vet’s where the vet immediately diagnosed strychnine poisoning. After some additional IV medication, Dog was finally able to relax.The Man and Boys returned the following morning to bring home a very drowsy Dog. A, still in her pajamas, played nurse.
After resting Friday and the weekend he is once again drooling at the squirrels and the rabbits through the slider. He won’t be allowed back outside unattended until we find out which neighbor is not being careful with the strychnine poison. We figure he probably got a squirrel or other rodent after it had been poisoned and traveled unto our property.
Updates from last week:
The child is doing much better. The child is still trying to figure out how Grandma knew who it was…Proverbs 20:11.
I didn’t need the sign. The lawnmower man gave me back a working mower on Thursday. M got the front lawn mowed. The side yard is over a foot tall and being pollinated by a variety of stinging insects. After an application of the baking soda and water to the sting site, the rest of the side yard can wait until an evening when it isn’t raining.
I was asked to make this sign last night as I was tucking one of the children in quite a bit early. This child thought that nobody was nice to him/her. So it seemed. This child had an altercation with each and every one of the siblings yesterday. Of course the siblings all got along fine, so it must have been a conspiracy against said child. So sad. Fortunately today has gone much better for this child. It must have been the sign. Now all the other kids want one also. 
We’ve been going to
I like Play-doh®. A lot. Maybe because I was never allowed to play with it as a child, I enjoy squishing it in my hands just as much as the kids do.
Since A has reminded me umpteen times in the past few weeks that our Play-doh® is all gone, I bought two 4-packs this morning. After lunch the girls and S disappeared to the back porch. Other than giggles about the “food” they were creating out of the Play-doh®, I didn’t hear a peep out of them for 2 hours. We now have 6 tubs of rainbow Play-doh®.
Here is a sculpture S made of A’s friend.
She was not impressed.
I have a few more gray hairs, but boys will be boys. At least that is what I’m told. That photo is of J. M & S also got great use out of their “new” jump. A even tried it out with a little help from The Man. The “Man” borrowed J’s bike so he could try it out also. Boys will be boys.
By the way, those weeds interspersed with the corn plants are there on purpose. I read a great book from our library a few weeks ago. Weeds: Guardians of the Soil (get your copy here) encourages its readers to leave the weeds alone. According to this book, certain weeds can actually help the plants be stronger and healthier. That sounds good to me. We’ve been accidentally following this method for many years, but now we can do so without the guilt.
We hope you are having/had a wonderful 4th of July. We had a church picnic here at lunchtime. Of course our lawnmower picked last week to be obstinate after M had half the lawn mowed. It is now resting in a mechanic's shop over the holiday. This morning The Man got out the old mower to try to even out the weeds. S finally was given the chance to fulfill his lifelong dream of mowing the lawn. He even let A in on the action.
Some parts got mowed more than once, and others didn't get mowed at all. Of course M & J thought they were having too much fun. S was gracious enough to allow them to try out the contraption.
Tonight we’re going up to the city to watch the fireworks. They aren’t scheduled to start until 10 p.m. so all the kids and The Man are napping…except for the one that just got up for a drink of water, and the one that used the bathroom, and the one who is turning pages in his bed...
Most of the front of the house has been painted. It certainly looks a lot different, but it is an improvement over the peeling red that was there. We had originally planned on spraying, then we decided we would be rolling the paint. That lasted for about 5 minutes, then we decided it would have to be brushed on the house. S and A helped also. In addition to a light brown “mocha” house, we also have a very special mocha lilac bush and some mocha rosemary.
Last night while taking her bath, A started counting slowly as she dunked her arm under the water. When I asked her why, she said she was going to see if all her spots would disappear. While we didn’t have any miracles of Biblical proportions happen in the tub, with a brisk scrubbing, all the mocha paint spots did go down the drain.
