Oh a rambling we will go...

Oh great, another "roundup" post.  Yes, I have been a bad, bad blogger and just can't seem to keep up!  So here is what has happened the past few days.

Well, I had just thought to myself how we seem to have survived the fall with no illness when ds3 starts coughing.  Innocent enough, no runny nose or fever, just a cough.  On night three with said cough it turns into croup.  Now this boy has had the croup every year of his life...that would be 8 now!  He is long past all the time frames when drs say a child should "outgrow" the croup.  But this morning we were on a scary long drive into the e.r. with him, gasping and working hard for a breath.  It seems his episodes get worse every year instead of better or even milder.  They had to give him a steroid breathing treatment and then insert an i.v. to give him a shot of steroids before he finally calmed down.  The thing is, he is still coughing a lot!  He is playing and says he can breath okay, but he is coughing so much he can't speak or eat well.  We can't get into the dr until the morning, so I am just praying we don't have another scary ride in store tonight.

In other more cheerful news, we visited our favorite local shop, an "antique" store of sorts.  Basically the owner rents areas of her shop out to dealers who bring in garage/estate sale finds and other goodies.  On past visits we have acquired a gorgeous all wood desk for dh, a dining set for our kitchen, an old recipe box full of handwritten recipes, and lots more.  This weekend was "five and dime" weekend, where the vendors all put some 5 and 10 cent items out in their areas.  Look what I scored!

A cute holiday apron for a dime and a snowman cookie jar for $2!  Btw, if you are looking for recipes to fill your holiday cookie jar with, check out my recipe blog. :P

Don't hate me, but I am almost done with Christmas shopping.  Oh, it feels so good to have most of it done, wrapped and waiting.  We did well staying in budget, catching things on sale and choosing gifts the recipients actually need this year.  I'm making some things, too.  In school news we are still working on penguin, weather and presidents lapbooks...I am hoping to add in a unit on Christmas symbols, just to introduce the symbol and the meaning behind it and do a craft related to it.  With the illness, we will see how things go.  Okay, off to refill the humidifier and dose out the meds.  Have a great week everyone!