Ever heard of Chikungunya? (Can you pronounce it?) The virus has new meaning for our family, since both Josh and Micah contracted the it, via mosquitoes, this month. Josh came down with it Saturday night, May 8th. Micah came down with it Tuesday morning, May 17. According to the CDC, “The most common symptoms of infection are fever and joint pain. Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, or rash.” Chikungunya is similar to dengue, but without the danger of dropping platelets. We diagnosed by symptoms. If you want an official diagnosis, you have to have bloodwork processed in Phnom Penh.

Josh had the fever, chills, headache, joint and muscle pain, and the rash. Two weeks later, he’s almost completely symptom free. Micah’s fever started suddenly and continued for three days, ranging from 101 to 103.89 (armpit). Micah had red limbs and swollen toes, diarrhea, and some throwing up. I was in contact with a friend, who is a pediatrician, and kept her updated with Micah’s symptoms. She concluded that Micah was a textbook case of all the symptoms described for Chikungunya in children. Once we confirmed that Micah had Chikungunya, I was quite relieved. We can deal with fevers and discomfort – dealing with unknown sicknesses leaves you wondering. It was a long four days, but by Friday Micah was fever-free and more like himself. He broke out in the “chikungunya rash” on his face on Saturday, but by Tuesday it had cleared up. It was never evident that his rash bothered him, but a few times he seemed to be trying to get to the back of his neck.

Thankful for the recovery of both my men. So thankful that they had mild cases of this virus. I’m so sad when my any of my children gets sick. I cannot tell you how happy I was when Micah’s fever broke! It’s rainy season now and we’ll have to wait another week to see if the mosquitoes pass the virus on to any of the rest of us. For now – we’re being very diligent in killing mosquitoes and have sprayed the dark areas in our house.

In other news, Ezra fell down some stairs on Friday. No one saw it and he had his moto helmet on. He recovered pretty quickly.

Our littlest man turned 6 months on Sunday – amazing! Micah continues to be a delight. He army crawls all over the house and loves getting into things. He’s discovered that our house has more than one room and is always determined to get into the kitchen. He’s completely ruining his clothes on our floors, which are impossible to keep clean. My life is quite a bit busier now making sure he’s not getting into things. He laughs so hard when he thinks he’s been caught doing something bad.

The other day Micah started making buzzing sounds with his lips. He loves to copy us when we do it. Ezra thought it was the funniest thing to watch. The other day I said “Boo!” and Micah copied a “b” sound. He still cannot stick his tongue out of his mouth, but his tongue-tied-ness hasn’t hindered him from nursing, so we’ll continue to wait and see what happens.

Everyone continues to love our littlest member of the family. He’s been sleeping from 10PM to 5AM. But last week he started getting up at 3AM to nurse – it’s been hot here, so maybe he’s been thirsty. He also has developed a dislike for thunderstorms and has been up two different nights disturbed by the thunder and lightening.

Time has flown too fast and Micah’s army crawling has made him seem older than he really is. I keep wondering where my little baby has gone. Looking at each of our children, I’m reminded that each one is a gift from God. They are given to us for a short time to point them to Christ and to help them learn how to thrive in the world God has put them in. I’m often filled with gratitude for our 6. There was a time when I thought we wouldn’t be able to have this many children (Becca’s premature birth, c-sections, miscarriages). But God has fully blessed – so thankful!

This year my kids made me a lovely Mother’s Day Countdown Calendar for the 11 days leading up to Mother’s Day. They were very diligent this year to make sure there was something special planned for each day. One of my favorite days was Thursday night when the kids performed an original, hilarious play with four scenes depicting how each child would act if he/she were a parent. At the end they stated they were thankful I wasn’t like the parents depicted in the play. I laughed so hard I was crying. Other gifts included nuts, pictures, and homemade gifts. It was all very special.

Josh was sick on Mother’s Day – but thankfully he had made Mother’s Day breakfast the day before, since he knew there wouldn’t be time Sunday morning. For supper Isaiah helped me put together chicken kabobs that I roasted in the oven, and Isaiah grilled hotdogs over charcoal outside. After supper the family gave me cards and gifts.

Being a mommy is a wonderful gift – from God and from Josh. Having six children is an incredible gift and privilege. There are many joys, encouragements, and lots of laughter. But it’s not all smilies – there is also exhaustion and weariness and discouragement. But it’s a good life work – a work that is worth it and that is filled with love and loving. It’s a lifework that is teaching more about who God is and about His love for me and my need of Him. I’m thankful God has given me my husband and my six precious children. Thankful for these gifts.

Sometimes I can’t believe it – I’m a mama for six children. Blessed!

This year we joined The Hands-on Homeschool co-op, and we are loving it. Our membership includes over 100 prerecorded classes in Art, Music, P.E., and STEM. It’s been a great help to me to not have to plan and prepare lessons for these “extra” subjects. I’m very thankful for the team who prepares and teaches all the lessons.

Our kids’ favorite subject is Art – they love the projects and our walls are now covered with their weekly projects. Often the kids do other projects with the techniques they’ve learned for the week. Sometimes I go back at night and try the project myself.

In PE, we’ve studied overhand and underhand tossing, juggling, line dancing, jump roping, hitting with a racket, and soccer skills. Not everyone is always excited about warm-ups.

I’ve added Music Memory to the Music class. We are making cards for each composer/piece we’re learning and then I quiz the kids to see if they can identify excerpts from the pieces. I’m very thankful for this opportunity. There’s no way I could have included all these classes with home schooling 4 children and having a toddler and newborn this year. I’ve been very pleased with The Hands-on Home School and would recommend it to anyone looking to add these subjects into their weekly teaching routine.