Croup, Coughs and Black Eyes?....

Well, we have just had a houseful of sick coughing folks in the Gardner household. It all started suddenly with William coughing and sounding as if we had a barking seal residing in his room until we realized it was coming from him. He has started to recover but has managed to share the love with his sister Grace and his dad, mom thus far has been able to escape the clutches of the "Barking".. Let's just hope that remains the case because let's face it, what happens when momma gets sick ~ who takes care of her? (I have to give credit because Edwin is pretty darn good at taking care of me, props to him!!). So, all this illness in the house didn't stop us from enjoying the weather, what better way to beat a cough than sunshine and fresh air?? We spent most all weekend outside basking in the sun as did most of the neighborhood, people emerged from their homes as if they hadn't seen the sun in years ~ it was a perfect weekend!! We stayed home from church because we figured we didn't want our Sunday School class to absolutely hate us for giving one of their children "The Bark" so we played outside. We just hiked around the lakes here at the house, started clearing an area for a flower garden behind our fence, ate at Sonic (OUTSIDE) and trimmed some of the bushes ~ all in all a VERY productive and lovely Sunday afternoon until we reached the evening..... That is when the DRAMA hit! Blame it on no nap, blame it on too much fresh air but the kids were in RARE form. I was downstairs cleaning up from dinner while Edwin and the kids were upstairs, all of a sudden I heard it ~ THUD and then the screams.......I had no idea what had happened, I dropped whatever was in my hands, darted upstairs to find Grace crying with her hand on her eye and William's mouth gaping open in disbelief. He had been swinging a drum around by the drumstick (it was attached to the the drum with a rope), it had slipped out of his hand and made complete contact with Gracie's corner of her eye. Let's just say that she looks somewhat like she should sing in a Punk band due to the dark purplish eyeliner she has going on around her eyelid. William has NEVER had a black eye and this is Gracie's second (please refer to our Christmas card two years ago to refresh your memory, ha). Yes, she is going to be the one in the household that will constantly have a bruise of some sort (granted this wasn't her fault but she is ALWAYS into something). So, when you see her next time ask her about her eye and you will hear her go off on a long story about William and a drum.. You probably won't understand all that she is saying but since you now know the story behind it you can nod your head with confidence that you do understand and that will please her beyond words. So, pictures of the shiner to come but in the mean time I hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy this beautiful weather, watch out for flying drums!!!