We're Back!

We got back from Ohio last night, and we even made it over to Bible study! It was a no-brainer--we got home around 7:00, and our house was a chilly 56 degrees, since we had not left our heat on. So we all ate quick bowls of cereal, then headed over to the L's warm house in time for prayer time and dessert! Actually, when we got back home, our house was still cold--Bob had to go up to the attic to discover that the HVAC guy, when recharging our AC system this spring, evidentally turned off the gas. Whoops! No wonder nothing happened!

It was a wonderful trip. Obviously I didn't do any blogging--in fact, I only looked at a computer once during the whole trip! It was really nice to just be away from it all--especially the politics. That is one thing about being near D.C.--politics are a big deal--and it was good to have a break. Of course, now that means we have tons of emails to catch up on, and tons of junk emails to delete, but oh well, a small price to pay!

We stayed with my best friend Amy, and we had so much fun. I told Bob that I haven't spent this much time with Amy since we roomed together in college! We could just talk while we went about the day, washing dishes, folding clothes, keeping kids entertained . . . it was great. We even did some scrapbooking, and I did Nathan's book for this past year! Amy and Jason gave us their huge master bedroom, so it was like our own luxery hotel suite. The 3 older boys all slept on an air mattress there, and Jonathan borrowed Jacob's pack-n-play. The older boys had a great time playing with Zachary, especially with his Playmobil figures. Joanthan and Jacob sometimes played well, sometimes had territorial disputes--you know, they were both 2! LOL!

We got to see my parents' new house a few times, and it is looking so great! I was so glad to finally be able to see it--phone descriptions just don't do it justice! It's just so light and airy, with so much open space. SO different from their other house! We got to see all their flooring choices, except the carpet, which isn't down yet, and I really liked them all. The paint and wallpaper looks great too. I can tell we are really going to enjoy staying there! The boys liked racing around in all the space and getting really dusty. Just a few more weeks until it's done-wow! They said I could organize their books too, once they move in. LOL!

We did have some struggles during the trip. Bob is fighting off a horrible case of poison ivy. It's 2 weeks old now, coming from when we cleared out our back yard. He is just really sensitive to poison ivy. He went to the doctor before we left, and he got a course of steroid pills plus some antihisitmines. I can truthfully say those did nothing at all. The rash spread all over, and he was so itchy and uncomfortable. Finally he had to go in to the Wright-Pat ER, where they gave him a steroid shot and some stronger antihistimines. He seems to be slowly getting a bit better, although he is still itchy.

Caleb is really struggling with his asthma. He always has problems when the weather really changes, and the temperatures dropped about 20 degrees when we got to Ohio. It was so cold and wet the first few days we were there! He wheezed and coughed away, and we used the last of his albuterol inhaler. Fortunately Amy has a breathing machine, since Zachary also has struggled with asthma, and so we used that for Caleb. It really helped, but now we are trying to make it until Monday, when hopefully I'll be able to get an appointment for Caleb so we can get some more medicine. None of his coughing seemed to slow him down, but we did have one really bad night where no one got any sleep because of it! That was when we decided to start using the breathing machine, and he slept really well after that.

Well, that was pretty much the trip. Now we have to settle back into our routine again. Nathan and Luke are playing soccer this morning, but the little boys and I are home because I didn't want Caleb to cough too much. We're going to meet them and the L's afterwards for lunch. And at some point I'll have to unpack those suitcases--my absolute least-favorite part of traveling!