Okay, I take it back. Forget my request for a stay-home do-nothing day.

Because now, at the end of almost 5 days of (for the most part) staying home, I am completely and utterly exhausted.

Poor L.(4) is still sick. His fever is still climbing to 102 or higher by the afternoon. And now he has some kind of rash covering more than half of his body. Lovely.

During his good moments — when he’s enjoying the benefits of Tylenol or Motrin — he looks like this:

During his bad moments, he’s 100% miserable. Tired, grumpy, feeling yucky. Needy, clingy, pushy, stubborn. And up often during the night. I certainly don’t blame him. But it’s making for one very tired mommy.

The doctor tells me it’s “something viral” and we’ll just have to wait it out. But he also said that if L. doesn’t turn around by the end of the week, to come see them again. So we just may be visiting our friendly local pediatrician tomorrow.

C.(11) has been keeping busy this week by making bridges.

I had purchased this K’Nex set last summer, but for some reason, we just never got it out. So this week, when I figured we’d be doing a whole lot of nothing, I dug it out and C. got to work. So far, he’s built a beam bridge, an arch bridge, and a truss bridge (pictured). Yes, it’s educational — he’s learning lots about structure and stability — but mostly, it’s a fun building kit.

Other not-so-interesting facts about our week at home:

• We are nearly out of food. Okay, not really, but it’s starting to feel like it. Somehow, I keep creating dinner out of random pantry and freezer items. But the everyday basics — my cereal, C’s yogurt, coffee creamer, bread, milk — are either completely gone or almost there. I’m really going to need to get to the grocery store soon.

• I got an envelope from Amazon.com today. For a moment, I got very excited, thinking they recognized my value as a customer and were sending me a gift card. I was half-right. It was a thank you note, for being such a “loyal customer” (aka, spending so much money on their site). Sadly, no gift card was enclosed.

• A family/clan/swarm of wasps has taken over one of the electrical outlets outside our front door. I simply cannot deal with this fact in my present state of mind. Hopefully, my husband will read this post and take care of them, because I keep forgetting to tell him about the insidious invaders.

• I’ve been playing around with a new blog design. I know, I know, I hardly blog consistently enough to warrant a new design. But the truth is, playing around with blog themes, CSS, and other geeky things is fun for me. And I’ve been wanting to create something a little simpler, a little less cluttered. So depending on my progress, I may or may be unveiling a new look soon. Don’t be surprised if you show up here one day and everything looks different.

Well, I think that about covers it. Sickness, tiredness, randomness. Yep, it sums up our week well.