The vet.

Yes, Max is feeling a bit better today!  Somewhat less fussy.

Gabe, playing with his Ancient Egypt toys during his "break."  I am actually quite tired of hearing about Gabe's "break." ... "When do I get my break?  Aw, can't I have a break?"  He even asks for a break in the morning before he's even started his work, and he'll beg for a break at bedtime.  A break from what ... sleep?!

Here's Gabe, working while listening to Powerman 5000.  Wow, the electro-metal really got him going!  It works better than the last technique I tried to keep him on task, which was continuously smacking him on the back of the head until he finished the task.  (Just a joke.  Don't call CPS.)

This is what happens to Gabe during homeschool when he's not continuously prompted.

We took Buster to the vet for the first time today!  This vet was a tall, skinny guy who looked about 17.  He says the puppy has worms.  So they "de-wormed" him.  No mange, no fleas.

Buster got his parvo/distemper and has to go back for a rabies shot in a month.  The vet thinks he looks like a chow/shepherd mix, which is what we've been hearing from everyone else.  Buster was a very good boy during this trip, and behaved better than the kids!

Here's Gabe reading about Ancient Egypt.  This unit study has been fun!  I'm even reading about Egyptology on my own.  This Friday we're going to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the Mummy IMAX in 3D.  And I'm planning an awesome Ancient Egypt birthday party already ... for June!

Don't put me down, Mom. I don't feel good.

Max is still not his usual self.  Here he is -- as always, wearing only one sock!

The other kids are feeling fine, though!

Running, jumping, climbing trees ... fighting, of course.

Being chased ...

by the weed-eater.

Apparently Gabe and Joe had another big fight today, so we had "family fun" instead of "barn fun" tonight.

We bought the puppy a collar and a leash today.  I'll go ahead and make a vet appointment this week for our new pet!  My theory is that every now and then, despite what your plans may have been, your number comes up again ... and you are entrusted with another precious little creature to take care of.  It was simply our turn.  So, meet Buster Starr!  

Some of the cast of characters of my life.  Hoping for a better day for Max tomorrow!

Stay-at-home Saturday.

Today Brian told me about Aaron's proposal to Sondra, at a fountain at a park in Houston.  Brian put on a goofy disguise and sat and watched and photographed as they ate lunch, and the whole proposal was documented in pics!  Here's one:

This is bigger than my personal news for the day!

Max was feeling a liiiiittle better today ...

He has been protesting when I hand him to Dan though.

The kids played inside ...

... and outside ...

... and with the puppy.

Here's Joe throwing Gabe's boot into the tree to try and get his ball down ...

... and getting Gabe's boot stuck in the tree.

Here is Gabe, angrily shaking his boot down.  Afterward the boys got into a fight and had to be separated.

And here's Dad looking up Carribean cruises so we can all spend more quality time together!

Max's doctor appointment.

Max was still running fever and feeling out of sorts today

So we went to the ped.  Here he is at the office.  He had no fever when they checked him.  Dr. Singh thinks he is getting better and not looking bad, but still did some checking to determine the source of the fever.  His fontanel is not bulging, so it's not meningitis.  His ears look fine.  His chest is fine.  His throat is a little red, but negative for strep.  

To check for a bladder infection they taped a bag to him to catch the urine.  I thought it would be uncomfortable, but he didn't complain.  Thirty minutes after arriving home he had made us a specimen, so Mom ran it in to the office.  I was nervous, but his urine was fine too.  So, it's probably just a virus that will resolve without intervention.  Surprise, surprise.

Gabe received his Ancient Egyptian excavation kit in the mail today.

He, Joe and Dan chiseled the sarcophagus out of the brick.  

Here's the supervisor of the dig.

Still no calls about our puppy-dog.  Here he is, annoying the crap out of Fidget.  Fidget wants to bite him.

And who is this weirdo?  I actually took this photo of Brian last night, trying on the disguise he wore today so he could surreptitiously  photograph his friend Aaron Matthews proposing to his girlfriend Sondra!  Randy Ho was also present and in disguise.  Apparently it worked -- it was a YES!  I hope to hear the whole story tomorrow!

More on the puppy. And poor Maxie.

Here is the little guy who has not been claimed today, despite this and three other signs I posted:

I'm not expecting anyone to call.  He's too little to have wandered so far from an owner by himself, and if he had an owner nearby, he wouldn't be so hungry.  There's also a sign on Old Man Burkhardt's mailbox.  Still no sign of him, and I figure he wouldn't care.

This is where the puppy actually crawled out of the bushes.  Walking by today I was afraid another puppy might crawl out.  But thankfully that didn't happen.

Gabe went to school today.  Every day in his lunch box I pack him "something weird."  He seems to enjoy the surprise.  Today it was a star-shaped cookie cutter.

Here's Max during a happy moment today.  He's still running a fever, so we are going to the doctor tomorrow.

My poor little man.

He's probably just got what the rest of us have had, but I get kind of freaked when the baby is sick.

Gabe got a copy of this book in the mail today.  He is especially interested in Anubis, the Egyptian god of mummies, pictured on the cover.  We've been reading about King Tut too, and oddly the cause of his death was just discovered and was in the world news earlier this week!  

I told Gabe that if we found Buster's owner, we will have to give him back.  He asked, "If we have to give him back, can we get another dog just like him?"

The puppy.

It's funny how you never know what the day will bring.  I would never have guessed this morning that this would be the title of today's post.

Max has still been running a little low-grade fever all day, but has no other symptoms except a little fussiness.  So we all went to the library (more Egypt books) and got fast food.  Max can't wait to get a few more teeth so he can take a big bite of my hamburger.

I was taking these photos to document just how far we have to go to get to our mailbox.  It is about a 5-10 minute walk.  Here is Gabe walking.  Just before we found the puppy.

Checking the mail.  Dan had no clue his day was about to get a lot more annoying.

Heading back home, we heard a tiny bark come from the other side of old Mr. Burkhardt's fence.  And out flopped a fuzzy little brown puppy.  Dan tried to chase it away.  But it was tiny.  And cute.  And helpless.  And following us down the road.

See what I mean.  Does anyone know what breed this little guy most closely resembles?  I knocked on Old Man Burkhardt's door, but no one answered.  You can't even tell by looking at his house if he still lives there or not.  There was an old note to him on the door from the Mormon missionaries.  Called Mrs. Rush when we got home, and she had never seen this puppy before.

When we got home the puppy followed me in the back door and started chowing down on Fidget's food like he'd never eaten before in his life.  I couldn't bring myself to stop him.  Dan said that if we kept him his name would be Buster.  (Dan wanted to name Max Buster, but I had vetoed it.)  

We went to the barn to ask Buddy for advice about what to do to keep the puppy  safe and warm overnight till we could locate someone to take him.  Gabe walked in the door and said, "Buddy, my mom wants you to help her with our new dog, Buster!"  Laughter ensued ...

This is Dan's shirt that he always wanted.  He finally ordered it with some of our tax money and got it in the mail today.  I told him that he was just asking for a new pet.  

Tomorrow we will make some fliers and spread the word about our found dog.  We will look for somebody to take him.  I hope someone will.  But Gabe is kind of fixated on Buster.  It feels like we might have a new pet.  On the negative side, we already have a dog, an infant, lots to do, not much money ... On the positive side, we couldn't have asked for a cuter one ...