Of Pigtails and Dinosaurs: Third Week of Lent

We are in the third week of Lent and it's been a bit of a doozy. :) But we've made it through, thank God! Monday I woke up with horrible neck pain and locked up muscles. My neck was so tight my right shoulder was higher than my left. I did a lot of heat, magnesium lotion, praying, and I think my husband anointed me. It was an exhausting day because it was so hard to move and I was so uncomfortable. Thankfully, I woke up Tuesday with less tightness. I was so surprised! It felt miraculous considering how uncomfortable I was Monday.

Then Wednesday early Wednesday morning I heard one of the kids get water. Our kids are not early risers so I was worried something might be wrong. When I got up to make our coffee, maybe around 7:30 Athanasius came in the kitchen looking awful! He looked pale, exhausted, and visibly unwell. He had a fever and felt nauseous. Later he vomited, had chills, and continued to look terrible. Then he said, "I can't move my left hand good." The fingers of his hand were basically locked up, and that's when I realized he had been hyperventilating and I had not caught it. He had been breathing weirdly, like out of breath but it wasn't registering until he mentioned his hand. Years ago when I used to have pretty terrible panic attacks I would hyperventilate and my hands would curl up and sometimes I could not move them for quite a while. Athanasius was also dehydrated because he felt so nauseous he was having a hard time drinking. Our doctor recommended taking him to the ER. His hand improved once they gave him fluids. The doctor was baffled by his hand though, but I wasn't. Today is Friday and he still looks puny but less weak and seems more himself, joking and being snarky. :) But man, a scare like that can really take a lot out of you, physically and emotionally.

The kids have been doing school this morning. I read two stories to Moses earlier, Flicka Ricka Dicka and Papa and the Pioneer Quilt. Moses and Felicity are playing with their animals, Clay is sitting with them, work must be slow. I'm glad, usually, he is so busy. Boaz has done math and is now doing his school reading. They want to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory today, we'll see. :) Athanasius did his school reading and half a lesson in math, he is resting now.

Eleanor is volunteering today at our library. Last night she and I watched the second Hunger Games movie. It was so fun to hang out with her!! She read the books so I thought it would be fun to watch the movies together.