Two Weeks Into the School Year AAAAAAND........

All three kids are sick.  The mommy is feeling it come on too.  Max fought a cold and nasty sore throat Sunday and Monday.  He actually stayed home from school on Tuesday.  Not fun.  I was relieved when he was able to jump back in on Wednesday.  But that was short lived, because this morning I have both Clara and Ben home with raging sore throats and upset tummies.  As I sit typing this, I am acutely aware of my own sore throat.  Not fun.  I am thinking it will be a very, very quiet weekend around these parts.  Got to love the return to the germ pool, huh?  THIS is the part of back to school that I just hate!

In other news...Cooper has been keeping me busy.

What's that on his face you ask?  Those would be feathers.  Yes...feathers.  Note the excessively GUILTY look on his face.  Also note that he is is INSIDE and not outside.  It was a CRAZY monsoon weather day yesterday.  One of the biggest and fiercest storms I have seen sweep the desert...here is a shot of the action...

See the wind playing havoc with my swing?!  It was raining all kinds of sideways!  And the wind gusts were just insane.  After it was all said and done, I discovered this this morning...

 It's hard to tell in this picture but this cactus is sizeable.  It's nearly up to my shoulders!

And this little tree just couldn't stand up to the wind either.  It was even staked to a sizeable pole (which doesn't show up in this pic but is there).

Anyway.  I had to fix this this morning.  The tree is easy enough to set upright and all...but the cactus...that's a sticky situation!  (Get it?!  Sticky? Ha ha)  Anyway.  I had Clara helping me with a towel kind of made into a sling around the cactus while I attempted to get it back into the ground and tamp the dirt down around it when we heard a huge SMACK on the window.  I could immediately see where a bird had flown into the master bedroom window there on the porch in front of the swing.  But I DIDN'T see any bird.  So I ASSUMED it knocked itself silly and flew away.  This is actually a common occurence here in the desert.  Big windows reflect lots of blue sky and the birds just fly right into it.  More often than not they just fly away.   I finished untangling myself from the cactus and headed over to the porch where there were LOTS of feathers, a huge streak of blood...dragged across the patio...but NO BIRD.  I knew immediately what had happened.  To my dismay, the back door was open and I immediately shouted to the kids to get eyes on Cooper STAT!  It's an order that we are all too familiar with in our house!   Everyone jumped to their feet and started looking.  There was a trail of feathers leading through the house, so that gave us a hint and we set off running in that direction.  They led all the way back to the master bedroom, through it and into the master bath and into MY CLOSET.  There is a small vanity chair stored in the back corner of my closet and it is under this chair that MUCH mischief seems to take place at the paws of a certain puppy by the name of Cooper.  Ben dove under and brought out a feather covered Cooper...

And I knew what I was looking for was also bound to be under there.  Sure enough...upon investigation, I discovered the dove that Cooper was trying to hide with.  I quickly removed her and then set to cleaning up the mess.  There are feathers EVERYWHERE in my house right now.  This dog never lets life get boring.  He keeps us hopping.  Always!  He's a quick one, for sure!  After two sick kids, two felled tree/cacti, and a crazy goose (well, DOVE) chase...I think this Friday is starting to feel a lot like a Monday.

The mommy's throat is hurting and I feel a headache coming on.  I need some drugs...and something warm to drink.  And so...off I go.  Have a great weekend!  Life is NOT dull here in the desert!