The only redeeming point of Andy’s training was that they learned to work together as a team. He met all of the crew that will be deployed with him. 
This is Ram, his EM counterpart 
Meanwhile, back at home, we were fighting off a NASTY bug. Beverly and Harvey both spiked fevers between 103-105 and Max and Mav kept a low fever most of the week. 
When Beverly and Harvey were at their worst, they started to hallucinate. Beverly was panicking that Max was carrying around a dead fish and Harvey woke up in the middle of the night thinking his owie under his eye had started bleeding again. 
Which is why he went back to sporting a bandaid… it did NOT reopen but a bandaid is harmless and put his sick mind at ease. 
The next day I went through his clothes and finally upgraded him from 3T to 4T. In the 4T box I found four blank white shirts… or in Harvey’s mind: blank canvases. He said making his shirts made him feel better and “made me happy!” 
He nearly fell asleep in the tub, so I bundled him in his towel and threw him on my bed to get a nap in. 
When the kids started feeling better they started with crafts. 
And lego building 
I knew they were 100% better when they started rough housing again. 
Though, Beverly went to a birthday party at a park and ended up having a vasovagal episode. She is very sensitive to heat and I think she was still recovering.
I got a phone call on Friday from my kids’ schools.
“Your kid has missed a whole week of school.”
I replied, “Yes, I’m aware.”
“I hope it isn’t anything too serious,” she replied.
“Well, y’all don’t want them, if that’s what you mean. They have had fevers the whole week.”
“Well, we hope they can get back to school soon.”
“You and me both, lady.”
Schools get money for attendance, so I know why they put so much focus on attendance, but my kids couldn’t even keep their heads up to eat a meal until Friday evening. I hated so much that they were sick, but there was nothing we could do but wait it out. It was a scary bug too! Beverly and Harvey hallucinated and even after I thought they were back to their normal rambunctious selves, Beverly had a vasovagal at the park on Saturday afternoon. It was a horrible week to have Andy gone, though he helped with medical advice whenever I called. When they were rough-housing Saturday morning, I told Andy, “Maybe it was a tender mercy they were sick while you were gone. It was so peaceful.” Though I don’t really feel that, because it was hard to see my kids sick, it was a very peaceful, calm, quiet week.
Despite having them home all day, every day and caring for four sick kids all on my own, I got a lot done around the house. I finished our bathroom, touched up some wall dents/cracks, went through Harvey’s clothes, organized my bathroom and closet, organized the linen closet, refreshed our 72 hr kits, cleaned under our bed, flipped to the other side of the bed… it’s nice, but it’s taking some getting used to, touched up the boys’ bathroom with some fresh paint, recaulked our tub, and all the other normal household chores I have to do. If I had gotten as sick as the kids (I was only a little sick) I wouldn’t have been able to get all of that done, so I was grateful for that tender mercy and really strove to count my blessings on that front. Nothing worse than taking care of sick kids, when you yourself are also very sick. Though I had a productive week, despite everything, I was very grateful when Andy came home and I am trying very hard not to cry that he’ll be gone in another month for a much longer period of time. I am so grateful for the support system we have around us, though. Lindsay brought me muffins, which ended up being our dinner because nobody had much of an appetite. Jay and Josh came over and gave Beverly and Harvey blessings the night they were hallucinating. Though they were still sick after that, their fever never got that high again. It was a great comfort knowing I had an army of friends willing and able to help. Max felt sick, but good enough to “watch” the kids while I ran errands. I even got away to book club and pickleball towards the end of the week. As my neighbor, Jay said, this was a good test run for the deployment. I kind of thought bitterly on that statement at first, but then when I realzed what the test run showed me wasn’t that I’d be capable of doing this on my own but that I wasn’t going to be alone, it felt less like a “test-run” and more like proof that God is mindful of me and that he has not, nor will he leave me comfortless.
My extended family introduced a new member into the family: Elijah Wolf Howell. He came out at 6 lbs 5 oz and 20″ long. He is precious looking. He is struggling a bit. He has been in the NICU since he was born. He has gotten his sugar levels under control, but his lungs still need some help and time to develop. My thoughts and prayers are with Jennie and Jordan and little Elijah.