Coughing Carver

This week was thrown off when Carver came down with the same vicious sore throat that Merritt had.

This weekend was General Conference, and so we worked our schedules around that for the most part. I let Kira sleep in on Sunday because she did not have to be up and getting ready for church. I fed the boys and then Kira gathered them all to watch the morning session with her. I ran to return some books to the library, worried it would be my only chance to get out of the house that day. I then started working on a new recipe for lunch (Asian-seasoned pork loin). Hannah came over for the meal, which turned out alright - I want to try it again now that I've learned a thing or two about it.

Kira hoped to watch the afternoon session of conference in peace - a near-impossibility in this household. I offered to each kid to go to a park, because it was sunny and cool outside. Merritt was the only one who had any interest, so I hoped that the others would just occupy themselves so Kira could focus. Merritt and I went to his school playground, where he had some fun. We were the only ones there, so he got bored rather quickly. It's probably good there weren't more kids, because he still sounded so terrible from his sore throat.

Merritt's Glasses Get Stuck in His Headphones

We came home for dinner and then had a quick family night lesson and activity before bedtime.

Merritt stayed home from school on Monday. He seemed to feel pretty good overall, but he still sounded like someone had punched him in the throat. I let Kira miss breakfast and then I drove Avey to school. Typical Monday morning otherwise as I worked and Kira got ready to go to her office. Once I had finished my work tasks, I took Merritt and Apollo to the dog park. It was a little challenging keeping an eye on both Merritt and Apollo, but it helped that Merritt was again the only kid at the park. He got bored after a while, so he came over to the dog park and tried to eat his picnic lunch we had packed on a bench. Of course, the dogs were very interested in what he was doing, so they all became his best friends. Luckily, they were friendly and not too big. Apollo actually played with the other dogs better than most times, so it was a good trip.

Once home, we waited for the buses. Jesse and Carver went to play with some friends, and Avey holed up in her room. It was a standard night until Kira made it home at bedtime. Carver was starting to feel crummy, so we hoped that it was maybe just exhaustion.

Tuesday morning came and found Carver feverish and complaining of a very sore throat. Merritt went to school finally - he still sounded rather bad, but his energy was basically normal, so we figured it was time. Carver, of course, stayed home. He seemed to have what Merritt did, but much worse (Merritt never had a fever).

Because I had to go into the city for my courses, Kira canceled a chiropractor appointment she had that day so that she could take care of Carver. He mostly just laid on the couch for the day. At least that allowed Kira a good, long nap. I kept very busy in the city, and then came home to help finish with dinner and help with Merritt's homework. Avey tested out her birthday water colors to create a new masterpiece: my shed!

Now, it truly is immortal. I just need to find a good place for it - probably somewhere away from a view to the backyard, so that I can admire the shed from more places within our house.

Kira let me sleep in on Wednesday, but Apollo woke me with his whining at the door. Carver was still feverish and he would barely speak because of his throat. Kira figured he should get to the doctor at that point, so she scheduled him for that morning. It's not clear what's going on with him, so she sent us with a rapid COVID test, and some medicines. The test was negative, which we figured would happen. We just worked on keeping him comfortable at that point, waiting for the antibiotics to do something.

I had a normal day of work and errands. Once the bus was back, Jesse did his homework. When he found out his friend was not available, I seized the opportunity to take him in for new glasses. He had his checkup a couple of months ago, but we just didn't make the order for his new glasses. We got those all figured out and then came home for dinner. Merritt had gymnastics that night, so I took him. Avey also had a career fair thing at the high school (also where gymnastics is). She rode with us. Merritt had a great time - he is the only boy out of maybe 30 girls in the class, but he sure had fun. At one point, they ran down a path and then jumped onto the springboard. The instructor showed them that she wanted them to do a roll onto the mat after the springboard. Merritt just couldn't help it, and instead bounced off the springboard and did a front flip.

I was sure impressed. He also enjoyed the balance beam:

We're glad that he's enjoying it, and that we found an outlet for his energy.

Avey's career fair was sort of a bust. She said that there were about 20 tables, but she saw only about 5 other students there. She stayed for maybe 20 minutes before finally bailing. I guess she'll have to find a career the old-fashioned way.

Thursday was still rough for Carver. He sounded awful, and was coughing a lot even with the medicines. He coughed so much that it pumped his stomach and caused him to throw up. At least his fever was gone...

I had a standard day in the city. Classes were good, but then the train and bus took extra long getting home. I bathed Merritt before bed, and then Kira was on the phone for the night, so Hannah, Avey, and I watched some TV without her.

Friday morning, Kira let me sleep in again. I was up to see the kids leave, except that Carver was still home. He was a little better. Still no fever, but quite the cough. Hannah and I played racquetball that morning, and then it was a standard rest of the day with work. Kira had rescheduled her chiropractor appointment to that morning, so she left for that. When the kids were home from school, our former neighbor who moved out a few months ago brought over her kids to play with Jesse and then chatted with Kira. Merritt and I went to the library and dropped Avey off to hang out with friends. Hannah met us at the library while she got an audiobook for the drive to the temple the next morning, and Merritt read to me. We thought we might go get ice cream while waiting for Avey to be done, but then she finished early, so we went back to get her and then took her to ice cream also.

When we got home, another neighbor had come over to play with the others in the chilly weather, bringing his dog to play with Apollo. We wrapped it up and then had a late dinner and got the kids to bed before watching a short movie. Hannah stayed home to get to bed before her early drive.

I slept in a little this morning and then got up to start writing this post. Carver seems worlds better now - his cough is still there, but it doesn't hurt to talk anymore. That's some pretty good progress, I'd say.

We are excited for my brother, Isaac, to join us later this week to help us celebrate Hannah's birthday! We are already making plans for how to fill the week. The weather is definitely cooling down, so I'm starting to get things ready for winter. I hope you all are, too!