The Influenza

This weekend I had the Influenza. I didn't go to the doctor and have the test done or anything, but I had all the symptoms. It was miserable. Caleb and I both had it, and all I wanted to do was lay on the couch and sleep. My entire body ached. I had a fever, a cough, and head congestion. I alternated between shivering and sweating for 5 days. It was horrible. Chad said he'd never seen me so sick. Today I am feeling about a million times better, although I have some lingering congestion. But today Natalie and Claire have started with the fever. Ugh. 5 more days of going nowhere. I am not exaggerating when I say that there have only been 2 Sundays since the beginning of 2009 when my entire family has been at church together. I feel like I'm going inactive. I am SO tired of being sick and having sick kids. Yesterday I started wiping all of our toys with Lysol Disinfecting Wipes. I'm washing all the sheets. Chad is cleaning the bathrooms. I've washed the door handles. What else can you do to eliminate household germs?

Loose teeth

Caleb lost his first tooth last week. Thus begins the first akward-looking phase of a child's life. But it begs the question--how much does the tooth fairy give per tooth? What does the tooth fairy do with the teeth once she collects them? Caleb was expecting a Thomas Train. I hope he wasn't too disappointed.

We've been busy

Things have been busy but pretty normal at our house lately, but I wanted to add some pictures so you can see some of the fun things we are doing.

Caleb's birthday was good. I wanted to do a birthday party, but I didn't want to have too many kids, and I didn't want to go to a lot of work. So Caleb chose 3 friends to come over, we made pizzas, they watched "The Little Rascals", and ate cake and ice cream. Then the kids just played for a little while before I took them home. (As a side note, that movie is so funny. I don't know if the kids liked it or not, but Chad and I sure got a kick out of it.) Since we had pizzas to eat, I made a pizza cake. It was really fun.

Chad's birthday came and went. We went out to dinner to On the Border, a sort-of Tex-Mex restaurant. Pretty good. Chad had the fajitas and they were quite tasty. Then we went to the mall and got Chad a new pair of hiking shoes. They are quite comfortable for him, which is good. Last night we were asked to go on the Trek with the stake youth this summer. We will be a "Ma and Pa" to a group of 8 kids, and we'll push/pull a handcart for 15 miles before hiking back into the cove. We'll be gone 3 nights, but, Chad's parents are going to watch the kids for us. We are really excited to be going. I can see how this experience can have a really important influence on the kids, and I don't understand how some parents can just not make their kids participate in this. I am so glad that youth activities weren't an option for us. I see so many of these kids choosing not to participate in these type of things, and they are really just missing opportunities to have their testimonies strengthened. So anyway, we are really excited to be going. I am going to make myself a pioneer dress with matching bonnet and apron. But I'm trying to decide if I want to make a dress or a skirt, and then buy a blouse, although I need to decide soon because its probably going to take me the next 6 months to get it made.

Chad and I went to a stake activity last weekend... It was a "Regency Ball." We learned several dances (think Pride and Prejudice type) and then went to the dance where people were all dressed up. Many of the men were wearing tuxedos, but Chad just wore a suit. I borrowed one of Erin's formals and dressed up. We had a fun time. (That makes 2 dates in one month!)

Chad and Caleb are taking tae kwon-do together. Its great for them to have that time together, and get some excercise. Caleb is really getting the hang of things--he doesn't have perfect technique, but he's doing great. He can even count to 10 in Korean. Last night they got their uniforms. We got Caleb's a little big so that he can wear it for a few years. But he is very proud of it.

The girls are doing okay. Natalie is really good about wearing her glasses. She loves preschool, singing, reading books, and dancing in her ballet class. Claire has been sick, it seems like forever. The other night her fever reached 104.4. The fever seems to be gone now, but she has a runny nose and lingering grumpiness. She might be getting her molars, but I'm not sure. She's becoming a picky eater, and she won't drink milk or formula. But she's so cute and makes us laugh with her busy-ness.

I'm keeping busy with preschool, YWs, spending time at Caleb's school, and all the other stuff. And of course reading... I have started downloading (free) audiobooks to listen to on the IPOD while I'm cleaning house. My dishes are usually mostly done now that I have something to occupy my mind while I do it. I listened to Jane Eyre last week. I love that book. This week I am attempting to get thru Emma, but I'm surprised to say its tougher to listen to because there is more dialogue. I get lost. But its still a fun thing to do.

Well I've gone on a long time. Just thought I'd share.

The Mom

I copied this directly off of my friend's blog because I loved it.

Mom is the one who . . .
. . . opens the windows to let in the light.
. . . eats the broken graham crackers.
. . . makes a sandwich for herself out of the heels of the bread.
. . . has a coat for every child, but forgets one for herself.
. . . knows where the clean socks are.
. . . runs towards a sick child, not away from the sick child.
. . . hears you cough in the middle of the night.

My Christmas Projects

We had a really tough time coming up with an idea for what to give the doctors at Chad's work. Finally 6 days before Christmas I came up with the idea to make them wreaths. Now this wasn't an entirely brilliant plan because I'd never made a wreath before. But several hours at the craft store (I Heart Hobby Lobby) and a couple hours at home, and VOILA!! this is what I came up with.

This one has two little mittens with snowflakes on them, so the big white snowflake really does fit in.

You can't see it, but there is a little bird (not a real one) in a nest on the lower right side. It was really cute.

Christmas, New Years, and Sledding

Christmas was great. We all shared some kind of stomach bug that week, so we weren't sure how things were going to go, but by Christmas we were doing okay. We did the Nativity story with the kids on Christmas Eve. Caleb and Natalie were Joseph and Mary. Claire was a shepherd. The Wise Men were played by the kids' dolls. The gifts were gold (a penny), frankincense (a tip to a nasal aspirator), and myrrh (and Italian bud vase). It was so fun.

For New Years we had some of Chad's family over to eat good food and play fun games. We played Uno Attack (or whatever its called) and that was really fun. We also played Yahtzee Free-for-All. Now Yahtzee is one of my most favorite games to play (probably because its one of the few games that I can beat Chad at every once in a while). Yahtzee Free-for-All wasn't at all what I expected it to be.... I expected everyone has their own set of dice and everyone plays at the same time and the first person done gets extra points and then the person with the hightest score wins. Thats not it at all, but it was fun. Chad thinks he likes it better than the original, but I think he just said that because he beat me.

The Saturday after New Years we got about 6 inches of snow. It was very exciting. We decided to take the kids sledding. Claire wasn't really into it, mostly because it was interrupting her nap time, but Caleb and Natalie had a great time. They want to go again this weekend, but that probably won't happen unless we get more snow. But maybe!

Claire's Birthday

On Dec. 21st Claire turned 1. I can't believe how quickly the year has gone. She has been so much fun. Here are a few things about her. She loves to smile for a camera. If you hold a camera up, she'll smile. She loves to laugh at her big brother and sometimes her big sister. Claire is quite the dare-devil. Her favorite place to play is the stairs, which really makes me nervous much of the time, but she hasn't taken a spill yet. She copies sounds and motions made by her older siblings. She loves to eat, and she will eat almost anything. She has decided lately to throw fits when she doesn't get what she wants, and boy can she throw a fit! She isn't walking yet but is getting more confident every day, so it won't be long. She's tall (97th percentile for height) and skinny (10th percentile for weight), and I suspect she will pass both of her older siblings in height eventually. And she's absolutely adorable, but I'm probably biased. Her first word was "kitty!"

Her cake was really fun to make. Its the Baby Einstein caterpillar.

She loved the cupcake we gave her.