I Don’t Know About Everyone Else…

…but I’m soooo done with this flu season. Kev was sick the week before Christmas. Malia and Matthew were sick the week of Christmas. The week after Christmas was pretty good except for all the lingering coughs. Then all the kids went back to school and it has been super not fun. Nathan missed school last week Thursday and Friday because he was sick. On Tuesday I got a call from preschool, the one where they tell you your child threw up at school. Malia is pretty well recovered today but Matthew came home from school with a fever. So round and round it goes….

I think I need a break.

High Tech Holiday

Matthew and Malia are both still feverish today. That meant no Christmas Eve dinner with the extended family. But thanks to some cool technology, we were still able to participate in the annual reading of the Nativity story and the musical portion of the evening. Kev and my dad got their iPads out and we connected via facetime. My technologically advanced sister Esther connected my dad’s iPad with the t.v. so the folks gathered there got us on the big screen. Nathan still got to play his piano piece for everyone and Matthew, who was still running a fever but definitely feeling better, acted just as spazzy as he always does when he’s on facetime. While it wasn’t as good as actually being there (no cheesecake, although I think I’m the only one who missed that), it worked out really well and made my kids feel like they didn’t miss out on much. They didn’t care about missing the food (having pizza is actually a treat for them and one I didn’t feel bad about doing on a holiday since Matthew isn’t back up to eating yet anyway) and they still got to join in the festivities. So not the way we had planned the day to go, but still, we do have some pretty cool technology nowadays.

Some Days Just Don't Go According to Plan

Today is Christmas Adam. (Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, Adam came before Eve, therefore today is Christmas Adam. This tidbit brought to you by our ward’s Teachers’ Quorum.) Kev has been running a fever for the past three days and he is finally on the downhill side of whatever he has. Now Malia is running a fever. Matthew woke up sick this morning as well, throwing up and running a fever. Poor kid. He really, really, really wants to not be sick on Christmas. I don’t blame him. Being sick is never fun, but being sick on Christmas is absolutely miserable.

I was sick on Christmas the year I was in first grade. I woke up sick on the very first day of Christmas vacation. I remember being sick a lot when I was a kid and spending a lot of time lying on the couch with a barf bowl. On this particular occasion I was so sick that I didn’t even make it to the couch. For a number of days I was in my bed feeling like death. As Christmas approached, Jon and Patti (my older brother and sister) would come in and encourage me to eat a little soup or drink some 7-Up so I could get better in time for Christmas. But I had no appetite and couldn’t keep anything down even if I did manage to eat it.

And so it went until I awoke on Christmas Day still just as sick. I did make it to the couch, but I just laid there not even caring that Christmas was happening all around me. My siblings tried to get me excited about the gifts that were for me, but I was still feeling so awful that I honestly could not work up any enthusiasm. As the day began to wane and I was feeling no better, my Dad called our home teacher and the two of them gave me a blessing. Within a few hours I was nearly completely recovered. As night fell and my siblings all went to bed, it was quiet and peaceful (something that rarely happens in a home with seven children) and I finally had my own little Christmas. I clearly remember finally being excited about the dolls and doll house furniture I received.

This particular experience is one that has always stuck in my mind for a couple of reasons. For starters, it was the first time I ever remember knowing without a doubt that there really is power in the priesthood. In all the subsequent years, I have never faltered in that knowledge. That’s how powerful a lesson it was for me. Second, it taught me that in spite of all the grief that siblings may give each other (and believe me, with seven of us there was grief a plenty), there is love there. The kindness and compassion my two older siblings showed to me is one of the only clear memories I have of those sick days. This is a particularly valuable reminder for me now as I watch my own children bicker and fight and wonder if they are ever going to get along. I believe it will come, with time and age and understanding because in spite of it all, there is love there.

I know it doesn’t help Matthew at all, but I know how rough it is to be sick on Christmas. While he still has a full day until our first holiday gathering, I have a feeling that we may just be hunkering down at home for Christmas this year. Nathan was pretty disappointed when we had that conversation a bit earlier today, but when I explained that it is more important to be together on Christmas that it is to attend all the fun parties, I think he understood. Because in spite of all the drama that happens between Nathan and Matthew, there is love there.

So to wrap things up, we may not currently be merry and bright but we are still hoping to have some holiday cheer. If you show up at our door we will welcome you, just enter at your own risk. You may go home with the plague.

A Pox Upon Our House

We've been sick...all of us. Three weeks ago Nathan came down with a cold, a pretty nasty one. Within a week, we all had it. Just as we were finishing up with the cold, Malia got sick with something else icky. I won't give details because it is all pretty disgusting, but it was not pleasant. That was Friday. I got sick on Saturday and Sunday morning Kevin, Daniel and Nathan jumped on the bandwagon. Matthew held out until Sunday evening.

This is the first time in my memory that all of us have been sick all at the same time. We've had all the boys sick at once before and we've had times where we took turns, but this is the first time we've all been down and out on the same day. Not fun. I think we're in recovery mode now, but we're planning to hunker down for a bit longer and try not to share the misery.

The germfest is definitely my very least favorite part of sending my kids back to school.

For Christmas We Got...

...sick.  The Monday before Christmas, Matthew was sick.  He recovered and then on Christmas Eve Daniel and Nathan got sick.  On Christmas Day everyone was feeling relatively well.  The day after Christmas, I got sick.  The day after that, Nathan got sick again.  It was totally not awesome.

In spite of the fact that so many of us felt gross, we still had a nice holiday.  Having two sick kids meant a quiet Christmas Eve at home instead of having a big Christmas Eve gathering with our extended family.  The boys were all in bed at their normal bedtime and even Kev and I were asleep by about midnight.  Christmas morning brought the normal chaos that usually ensues on Christmas.  The boys were all pleased by what Santa brought and were terribly excited to give the gifts that they had chosen for everyone.  Matthew kept digging around under the tree for things.  At first I thought he was looking for presents for him, but in reality he was trying to find the presents that he had picked out for everyone else.  It was one of those moments when I was really proud of my kids.

Santa brought Matthew a new bike.  Kev helped him put it together the day after Christmas and Matthew has been riding it around in the basement ever since.  He also got a Mack (think Pixar's Cars) truck that can carry Hot Wheels sized cars.  He has been wanting one ever since he played with a similar one at a friend's house at the beginning of the year.  He saw one in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago and got all excited about it.  When he opened it up on Christmas morning he exclaimed, "This is exactly what I wanted!"  Points to Santa for knowing just the right thing for him!

Daniel got a lightsaber (the purple one he has been wanting) and one of the Lego sets he has been looking at online.  He also got a Star Trek calendar.  I think it is funny that the calendar is one of the first things he shows everyone.  He has been working his way through the original Star Trek series on Netflix and has become a bit of a Trekkie lately.

Nathan got a bunch of books (I love that he is so excited by this!) and a big Lego set.  This is his first big Lego set.  He has had small ones, but never one of the great big ones.  He was very excited and spent all his free time on Christmas day building it.  As he completed each section, he would come upstairs and show us.  He had a great time!  He also got a Nerf Dart Tag set. (Daniel and Matthew also got a Dart Tag set to share so that everyone can play.)

Malia slept through the first flurry of activities, but woke up later to discover a baby doll and some new toys that she is developing the skill to grab.  Matthew was especially excited to give her the stuffed monkey he got for her.

Kev got some tools and tweezers to use when he does modeling and he got me a new ipod touch.  (Very excited about that!  When I bought my first one two years ago, I thought 8 gig was more than I would ever need.  Of course, I was wrong and have had to rotate a lot of the content to keep what I wanted on it.)  We also got a new camera.  This was not a planned present, but our camera broke.  Six days before Christmas.  While we definitely feel like we got our money’s worth out of it (8 years), the timing was stinky.  And while we knew exactly which camera we wanted to buy, it is a popular model and it was actually pretty hard to find six days before Christmas.  But find it we did and then we needed to get it up and running in time for all the Christmas festivities.  So while it wasn't actually under the tree, it took pictures of the tree...

Kev's parents joined us for Christmas dinner and brought a few more things for the kids and a wonderful family home evening chart for me.  I had plans to make a new one this year.  Not only did our old one not include Malia, but it is a cheap one made of plastic foam and over the years more than one of my children has decided to write on it or rip pieces off of it.  The one my mother-in-law made for me was exactly the concept I was imagining but far cuter than what I had in mind!  I love it!  But my favorite present by far was...

Unkind Thoughts About Microorganisms

Dear Mr. Germ,

I am writing to inform you that you are being evicted. You have long overstayed your welcome and I'm very kindly inviting you to get the heck out of my house. We are all very weary and in need of a good night's sleep uninterrupted by sneezing, coughing, vomiting, mouth breathing, shivering, sweating, wheezing, etc. So please, pack up your little duds and vacate the premises at your earliest convenience. Although I know you will be back in the future, your cooperation in this matter at this current time would be greatly appreciated.

Warmest (Feverishly So) Regards,
The Management

P.S. Please take all your little friends with you. We are running low on toilet paper and at some point one of us must escape this insanity long enough to run to the store.