This & That Thursday

Today is September 11 here in the Philippines. This day just comes and goes without so much as a television news special on the tragedy that occurred 7 years ago. (WOW... 7 years!!) I do have a good friend here that lived in New York at that time and we have talked a little about her experience on that day, but I'm thinking today might be a good day for us to go get a foot massage and chat some more. We were both pregnant on September 11, 2001. Her oldest daughter was born about a month later. And, my twins were born 6 months later. Such an important time in our lives and yet what seems to stand out is the sheer devastation on that day and afterwards. I feel for those families who lost so much.

Going back to the Philippines... tonight is the premiere of The Amazing Race Asia, Season 3!!! I cannot tell you how excited I am to watch! I LOVE The Amazing Race! And, I've talked to several people here that have agreed we think the Asian version is so much better than the American version. I have built it up so much in my mind, so it'll probably be completely anti-climactic when I watch tonight, but then again, maybe not...

I finally have a house full of healthy kids! I didn't realize what a luxury this was until I had almost 3 full weeks of sick kids at home. As of today, the kids have had 24 school days, but combined they have missed a total of 9 of those days. Sydney was first. And, she is my healthiest of the 3, so I know when she gets sick, all of them are bound to get it. She ran a fever for a couple of days then had the weekend to recover. She was back in school the next Monday. Samuel started exactly one week after Sydney, on a Thursday also. I was hoping he would follow the same pattern: sick Thursday, sick Friday, recover on weekend and back to school on Monday. But, unfortunately, he was sick throughout the weekend as well, so he also missed school on Monday. But, he was back on Tuesday, while Nick stayed home with a fever on that day. Nick missed Tuesday through Thursday, then returned to school on Friday just in time to help his class sell lemonade at a stand they set up in front of their cafeteria. Nick was pretty down and out over the weekend, but we couldn't figure out why. He slept quite a bit and didn't eat much of anything. (If you know Nick, you know this is not his personality at all!) He never ran a fever over the weekend, so I took him to school on Monday, even though he did not want to go at all. (That was another red flag because this kid loves his school!) He cried and cried and I cried as I left him in his classroom crying for me. At the end of the day, his teacher told me they took him to visit the school nurse because he did not play at all on the playground and would not eat any of his snacks. But, the nurse could not find anything wrong, so they sent him back to class. That evening, he slept from 1:30 pm until 6:00 pm!! That's when I really worried. Living in a foreign, third world country, you just never know what kind of diseases, amoebas, parasites, etc. your kids will encounter. I had already made up my mind that we were going to a pediatrician first thing Tuesday morning to run some blood tests. However, at about 10 pm Monday night, Nicholas vomited chocolate milk ALL over my bed! He had been complaining that his stomach hurt for a few days, but nothing ever came of it. Until Monday night. He slept after that, but threw up several times Tuesday morning. So, of course, he did not go to school on Tuesday. But, by that afternoon, he was able to hold liquids and oatmeal down. On Wednesday morning, he announced he was all better and wanted to go back to school. Thank goodness! Today is Thursday and I am thankful all the kids are back in school and are healthy. I hope this streak continues for a long time!

Enjoy your Thursday... whenever it may come for you!