Whoosh. It's been a week.

This is the arsenal that sits on my kitchen counter right now:

Yes, two of my girls have been sick. (Fortunately not the baby.) They came down with a scary case of strep last Wednesday. Scary because even a cycle of Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen couldn't keep their fevers down for long. We were at the doctor's office 3 times in 4 days and on the phone several times in between, mostly because of some odd reactions from Abby. She has been getting hives from her medication (presumably?). We changed the medication, but the hives continued, even though both drugs were ones she had taken before with no problems. Nevertheless, the outlook is improving and the girls are back to tearing the house down.

I like to keep a positive attitude about things, but even I have to admit it has been difficult to get into the groove of things this harvest season. Having sick kids has made it hard to focus on anything else, of course. But then there was Dad's 10 stitches in his knee (from slipping in a grain tank onto an auger), Mom's broken dishwasher (never a good thing during harvest), Mom's broken toes, and a long string of broken down farm equipment (more than usual it seems). All this leaves me wondering if we are going to find our groove before harvest is over.

But we must, because we need lots of stamina to get through the harvest season. The guys start early and don't come home to bed until the wee hours. Dinners have been at home thus far, but now that kids are feeling better I expect we will start taking dinner out the field to keep down time to a minimum. And maybe I'll even get to put in a few hours on the combine. Nothing like cutting wheat to put you in the harvest mood!

More updates to come...