Battling Croup and Gobble Up

Croup.  We hate it.  We hate the sound of it, never more so than when it rears its head at 3:00 in the morning.  We hate that it makes us sit outside in the cold air.  We hate that it makes breathing something you have to keep an eye/ear on.  We think it needs to leave.  We think it needs to leave NOW.

Yesterday, I thought for sure we'd end up in the ER early in the morning; the 5 y.o. sounded terrible in the early evening so I started to mentally prep myself.  When he woke way-to-early-in-the-morning, after calming him down to get a good listen, we opted to head out to the back porch to suck in some cold air, which did the trick.  For now anyway.  

While sitting on a forgot-to-take-it-in cooler, him wrapped in a fleece blanket, me in my robe and slippers, we looked at all the stars.  So bright and white in the early pre-dawn.  Even the moon, crescent though it was, shone brightly.  It was a crisp almost-winter black velvet night.  Quite.  Peaceful, except for the raspy breathing in my ear.  To pass the time, I brought up my Google Sky app and we checked out the constellations and planets would could see.  Slowly his breathing settled down and we eventually went in to crash on a chair so I could listen to him for a while longer.

I've got pies and my sweet potatoes to whip up today, so I see Motrin (for my stiff-slept-in-a-chair neck pain) and coffee to keep me jittery enough not to fall asleep over my mixer.  You get to go play with some supplies, if you've got the time between your own food prep.

I said this week's inspiration would be simple so that it made creating during this Thanksgiving week quick and easy.  This card may be simple, but it's beautiful.  I found it via Pinterest and that led me to Split Coast Stampers' gallery; the creator was lisaadd.  If you need to create a couple cards to either send out, or take with you, this one would do the trick.  She's punched (or diecut) her branch and leaves, but you can free-hand draw the branch and then use cardstock or even small-patterned paper scraps for the leaves.  Shoot even hand-cut leaves from a patterned paper. Create a layout by putting a photo, or photos, directly beneath the branch - just make the scale a little larger to fit the size of your page.  How cute would this be with a family photo and then framed - maybe total size of 5x7?  This card, like yesterday's, would make a great place card.

Share your link in the comments and earn an entry into the November drawing.  Remember, even one finished and shared link earns you a spot in the drawing.  More completed projects means more entries, and, well, more completed projects. ;)

I won't post a challenge tomorrow - but check back on Friday. :)

Happy Wednesday,