Read part 1 here.

(Subtitled: What we did Tuesday)

I think that from now on we won’t be doing school on Tuesdays. I think I am going to make Tuesday my official errand day. Hannah and Benjamin have piano lessons on Tuesday mornings. By the time we are home and have eaten lunch, no one wants to spend the afternoon doing schoolwork. Especially me. I like to get as much of it done in the mornings as possible and keep the afternoons open for fun stuff. I am convinced our weeks will be much more productive if I cram all running around on one day rather than leaving the house for one trip every day. And since we are going out every Tuesday morning anyway, Tuesdays are our official run-around/out-of-the-house days.

For some unknown reason Benjamin’s skin is making it abundantly clear that it is sen.si.tive. He has had the worst nights he’s had in a long time. Wet wrapping and extra Aquaphor are not helping. His skin is so dry and cracked and hive-y I don’t know what to do. This morning I gave him a fast bath and then covered him from head-to-toe with Aquaphor while he was still wet in order to try and seal in some moisture. Then, he got dressed. I don’t know how he stands it!

We packed up some school books and headed to Mrs. Ball’s house for Hannah’s and Benjamin’s lessons. But on the way I noticed Benjamin’s neck starting to break out in hives. It wasn’t too bad and he wasn’t messing with it. We continued on to the lessons. By the time Hannah’s lesson was over, I was certain I needed to get Benjamin an antihistamine and there was NO WAY he could play the piano for his teacher. He couldn’t stop scratching long enough to do anything! We rescheduled and headed home.

Home: Benadryll. Next stop: the barber shop. While the boys were getting sheared, I called our allergist. He is a wonderful doctor. I like him better than any doctor we’ve seen–and we’ve seen MANY! He sees the boys and me quite regularly. He also understands me and what we’ve been through; therefore, he knows if I’m calling to ask for a topical steroid for one of my kids I must be desperate. He agreed to call in something for Benjamin–praise the Lord!! And praise the Lord for good doctors!! Anyway, I had promised my mother and grandmother a visit, so I called them, too. After the barber shop, we went back home to get something (I can’t remember what) and then to Publix to help with lunch at Nanny’s house.

We had a great visit with the grannies. My grandmother will be 79 next month, but she has a cell phone and a dvd player that she knows how to use. She recently purchased a dvd collection of “HEE HAW” episodes and I just had to watch one. Once my kids got used to the format they thought it was funny, and they love any kind of music. I loved this show when I was a kid. My fondest memories of staying at Nanny’s house involve watching “HEE HAW” with PawPaw, dancing to the opening theme song of “Dallas”, and waking up to the smell of eggs and sausage. I’d give two fingers to be a kid spending a weekend Nanny’s house again. There is just nothing like the love of a grandmother.

Mom asked her if we could throw her a little party for her birthday that’s coming up. Nanny said, “No, wait till I’m eighty and we’ll have a big one.”

Since we were in the neighborhood, I decided it wouldn’t be right to not visit Karl’s grandmother, too. When we got there, we realized we wouldn’t be able to visit too long because she had been cooking all afternoon for the Samaritan’s Clinic volunteers and it was time to get to the church and she was already late. But not too late to give the kids a few gifts she picked up for them. “Oh, and take this cake. I’ll get in trouble if I take it because I wasn’t supposed to make a dessert, but I did it anyway. And here are some cinnaomon rolls I made just for your boys.” [How did she know we were going to stop by?] On the way down the driveway, Noah asked, “Why does she always give us stuff?”

“Well, Noah, she just loves y’all so much is one reason. The other reason is that Mima learned an important lesson a long time ago. Jesus said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ And Mima is most happy when she is giving to someone else, especially the people she loves.”

Benjamin said, “Mommy, we need to be givers, too.”

I couldn’t agree more.