Swimming Mid Winter

We are getting back in the groove again.  Levi is getting slowly better with his asthma but it has been an uphill battle this time.  It may just be that we are having a cold spell and with the humidity and mold around, it is playing with his pipes!  We had soccer again this morning and I took my camera again because we were having team shots and I thought that I might save some money by taking my own while the professional shots were being taken.  I ended up being busy at the time anyway, so I am going to have to cough up the money.  I don't mind but generally the shots are pretty ordinary and not really worth the money.  Levi was having an 'old' day.  One of those days where he could as easily be seventeen years old as seven. 

 

Then after doing homework, Ty came over for a play and a sleepover.  The kids had a blast and are now sound asleep in bed.  They had to have a fire by the creek again and I was happy to help them.  They played in the creek until they were blue and shaking and then warmed up by the fire and then got straight back in the creek!  Then we toasted marshmallows, poked at the fire a bit more and then I put them straight in the shower to get them warmed back up fully!

This is the other thing we did.  Any hints?  Yes, he spent all of the soccer game scratching his head, so I checked and he had some head lice.  We washed, conditioned and combed out his hair with a fine tooth comb!

Saturday Fire Day

Today was about getting ready for next weekend. First off we had soccer as our standard Saturday morning event. Levi sored two goals and their team won which was great. They played a team that was fairly evenly matched and so the score was pretty equal. I love watching these games because the kids have to try really hard and they appreciate the other team, celebrating their goals as well. I have fun on the sideline because all the parents know each other and are good friends now and we chat as much (probably more) than we watch the kids! Jo and Jane come and watch fairly consistently as well now so they are getting to know the kids and their parents as well!

Levi's birthday party is next weekend.  OK to be more honest, the first of his birthday parties is next weekend.  I can't believe how quickly this has all happened even though the wait has seemed interminable.  Now I am thinking it will be hard to get everything done that I am wanting done before we leave.  The party is just the start!  Today was about cleaning up the backyard and sifting sand.  I had to sift the sand because it doesn't have a cover and I am going to have the kids search for dinosaurs in the sand next weekend.  Let me tell you my shoulders and back are sore!  After sifting wet sand for hours today, I think I will need to have a quieter one tomorrow!  Luckily tomorrow is about buying supplies and getting them organized rather than heavy manual labor.

By this afternoon, other people were coming over, so we planned to take them down to the creek and do farm things.  It was a beautiful day with bright sunshine but there was anedge to it.  There was a bite to the wind and in the shade it was coolish.  None of that stopped the kids from wading in the creek though.  At least with the fire we could warm them up afterwards.  The kids were city kids and not used to fires or creeks so they had a complete blast and Levi loves showing off his 'countryness'.  I bought a bag of marshmallows and the kids stuffed themselves.  Oh they will be impossible tonight for their respective parents but that would be their problem and not mine!

The other thing that Levi has to always demonstrate is that he is allowed to be in the car on the property without his seat belt.  In fact, he loves to stand on the front seat with his head out the sunroof with the wind on his face as I drive from the creek up to the house.  It isn't far and I go fairly slowly but he loves that he is stretching the rules somewhat, and more so that he can show that off when ever any new people come to the house! 

It has been hard to get anything done with the computer today as the internet has been really dodgy.  Luckily I have been so busy there is always something else to do!

Creekside Fire

This afternoon, we had one of Levi's friends over after school.  Mum and Dad were doing a ballet rehearsal for his younger sister.  Ty has been asking to do a fire by the creek for a while and so we went to the creek this afternoon to have a play.  As they have grown older and the creek grows smaller over winter, it is a very safe place to play now.  I can sit there next to the creek in the shade and just watch them having fun, without feeling like a parental unit is watching their every move.  First off, they went exploring and climbed trees around the banks of the creek.  They started off in their school uniforms but gradually, gradually as things got wet and they shed their clothes, they were much less dressed.  By the end I think they both wanted to start the fire because they were cold more than anything else!  Once that decision was made, the next step was collecting wood.  Both boys crossed the creek probably fifteen times bringing wood to my feet, while I sat beside a pile of driftwood about as high as my head while I sat in the folding chair.  Back and forward, co operating to carry huge logs over (for a fire that at most we could have for about 90 minutes), but it was all about the preparation!

The fire was worth it though.  It is just one of those things that spreads comfort.  You can feel the weight of tens of thousands of generations who have sat beside fires and poked them with sticks.  The boys acted like cavemen, so it wasn't a big stretch!  All in all, it was quite successful.  No one got hurt.  Nothing that we didn't want to burn was set on fire. 

Then we went back up the hill to the house.  Both boys saw the huge pile that had been delivered that day and wanted to run up and down the 'dirt pile'; except it wasn't dirt exactly.  Well not yet!  I mean cow manure eventually becomes dirt.  Right?

Playing at the Creek

Levi is still sick but it isn't really slowing him down.  Actually, more honestly, about 75% of the time it isn't slowing him down.  The rest of the time he is either due for medicine or has just had it and it still hasn't kicked in yet.  His temperature this morning was 104.6 F.  He woke several times last night and usually right as the Motrin was wearing off.  We had Ty and Steffi today (after warning their mum that Levi was sick), but I'm sure that partially the decision for her was easy as Levi got this illness from Ty originally.  You can still see in his eyes that he was only just coping and this was taken right in the middle of his 'good' time. 

 Also two boys came over with their grandmother for some time 'On the Farm'.  We took them to the creek and built a fire for them to have a picnic lunch down there.  They were very city type boys and they had never had a fire they could just poke around at and a creek to just throw rocks in.  They will remember the day for a long time I imagine.  It makes me remember how wonderful it is for Levi to grow up in this place, where he can run around barefoot and wield sticks and throw rocks, build towers and sculpt mud.  All without feeling like he is doing something wrong and without Someone watching over his shoulder all the time.

I just had to go and do the medicine again.  His temperature is better, only 102.4 now.  He wanted to switch back into my bed as well.  With Ty staying the night, I thought that he might sleep by himself but I think it was a bit much for a sick little boy.