Spring Sprung and Snapped

I figured out why spring wasn't coming. I had left up my winter welcome sign. So I took the sign down and winter got the hint packed up and headed out of town. The only problem being that spring must have still been sleeping so Summer just went ahead and took over. We went from cold and snowy to hot and sunny. May has been a busy month of starting seeds and raising baby chicks. We got 25 meat chickens this year and 13 laying hens. It was 14 but we lost one. We also got 2 turkeys this year which is our first attempt at turkeys. The kids named them Bob and Larry after the Veggie Tales characters. Unlike the meat birds the turkeys sure have personality which may make it harder to butcher them. When we got them we also picked up 2 little Brahma chicks and the turkeys act as protectors to the chicks now that we have them out in the pen with the adult birds.

The kids got to meet famous Rope Jumper Rene Bibaud of ropeworkjumprope.com . They had a great time watching her demos and learning how to jump rope. I was really proud of the effort that they put in trying to learn the tricks. She is really a talented lady and I was totally amazed by her performances and her energy. Just a real neat person.

With the end of May and beginning of June came planting time. The green houses went up and the plant starts went from the windowsills to the greenhouses. We're using a new garden spot this year so we had to till and pull sticks and baby trees. Last years garden area is the fenced area around the barn were the goats are. We've started planting in the garden but things are going much slower than we would like. The kids and I have been very sick. We had a hard time getting proper medical care and so have really been in the dumps. The 21st-22nd of May we were in Fairbanks for dental checkups on the kidos. That Friday they had a well child check with the visiting PA in Manley who noticed that the kids throats looked a little sore and he said they were probably coming down with something. Saturday we attended the community clean up in Manly raking and burning leaves in the park. By Saturday night all the kids were complaining of soar throats and running fevers over 103*F. This went on Sunday so Monday (Memorial Day) we took the kids to 1st care in Fairbanks since they were the only ones open on the holiday. They did strep tests and told us that we just had a late spring cold that was going around. They said if they were still having fevers by Friday to have them seen again. The local clinic in Manley isn't open on Friday so I took the kids in on Thursday. Oak was running a fever of 104.2* F. The gal in the clinic did nothing for him. I stripped him down and started wiping him with a cold cloth and gave him some children's Tylenol that I always carry in my purse/first aid kit. The gal at the clinic ran another strep test still negative and after sitting in there for over three hours gave us a bottle of Motrin and sent us home saying again it was just a cold. She also told us that at the time of the well child check and prior when we had seen her around town that she had been suffering from strep and pertussis. The kids and I continued to struggle with fevers, sore throats and a horrible cough. I stayed in email contact with the clinic but did not feel like I could make the drive in. I had a horrible sinus infection at this point so I started taking some old antibiotics that I had. After a couple of days I could breath and I stopped blowing out blood clots. Lisa's fever again went way up and spiked at 104.3*F. Ken was working and going to be heading to Delta for the weekend. I made the choice to drive back into Fairbanks on Friday June 7th. We saw the same Dr. at the 1st care clinic. He did chest X-rays on the kids and Lisa had bilateral pneumonia. The boys didn't show any in the X-ray but he started them on treatment for it as well. He also started us all on a separate antibiotic for pertussis. He swabbed the kids noses and we are waiting for the results on that. I don't have insurance on myself so I was not seen but he prescribed the antibiotic for the pertussis to myself, Ken and my mom who had endured the 6 hour round trip car ride with us to the Dr. I met up with Ken in Fairbanks and gave him his meds. The kids and I are on a 1 week quarantine and then we will have to go back to Fairbanks. We have been avoiding contact with the Scott's since this all started because I am scared to death of passing any kind of illness on to them. So we have only had contact while standing outside and I am praying that they will not be impacted by this illness. I'm hoping to get the test results soon. With Ken gone we all piled in our bed last night so I wouldn't have to go up and down the stairs all night. It took a while for us all to fall asleep but once we did we all REALLY slept for the first time in a long time. We got up really late. That's good to get the rest but meant my running around crazy to get my chores done. Needless to say I'm already worn out. Ken should be home this afternoon which I'm looking forward to.

We have plenty of projects in the works to keep us busy this season.We have the chickens, the garden, the greenhouses. The goats who should be having babies next month. Ken has been working up at Dart Am Farm and will be taking a couple weeks off from there to work for ASRC again on another phase of the airport project. I could go on and on with all the projects that we have lined up to do this summer but it would be extensive. Ken's mom will be coming to visit again in July and we're planing a couple of fun things to do while she's here.

Please pray for our family for healing. Also please pray for our pastor who is home for 1 month but then he will have to return to the lower 48 to finish up his business down there before he will get to come home long term. We miss him terribly and I am so saddened that I can't got to church and see him and his wife today being their 1st Sunday back in Alaska. They are having a potluck as a welcome home. Donna Scott dropped off some goodies for us on her way in since we don't get to go so we got to have some of her extra yummy cranberry cream cheese coffee cake.

Well I hope that this post finds you all healthy, happy and productive. I'm off to do some more chores outside before I burn out for the day. Blessings to you all and your families.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:30-21 KJV