Mercy's Solution to H1N1

Due to the swine flu, children under 18 have been banned from visiting at the hospital where Benj works. During the spring and summer, I often take the children to see Benj at work when we're in town running errands, and Mercy will ask to "go find my daggy" when I tell her we're going bye-bye. I haven't been taking them to his unit since the flu outbreak, but we have met him in the lobby. Last night, we were in town late, so I decided to pick Benj up from work. Since I couldn't take the children in, we sat out in the truck and waited. Mercy wanted to go in to the "big howspill" badly, but I told her we couldn't because of all the sick people. She said, "Tell all the sick people to go home."

I'm sure many of the nurses would heartily agree with her solution. The patients...maybe not so much.

Judah has enjoyed being a cowboy with one of Benj's discarded hats:

Today I French braided Mercy's hair for the first time. I've done little braids across the front to keep her hair out of her eyes, but she just now has enough to braid it all down the sides. She looks so grown up.

And that's all the news from Lake Woebegone, where the man is tired, the woman is frustrated, and the children never sleep.