Round 2

We've had round 2 of being sick going through this week.  It seems to be a new bug and one by one all of the kids went down with it through out the week.  We had barely gotten through the last bug and many still had lingering coughs when noses started dripping again, little bodies were feeling warm, and throats were reported to be sore.

Yes, thats 20 degrees!  We had some COLD mornings.

Since everyone was still dragging from the last bug and it was freezing outside we decided to lay low and stay in.  We put plan B into action.  Everyone stayed inside (since while some wanted to go play they would come in hacking and coughing from being out in the cold), minimal chores and school would be done and lots of cuddling was in order.

I sat on the couch and little ones piled on.

We set up our projector and watched DVDs (mostly science related or ones that involved character qualities/issues we are working on) and discussed them.  We spent quite a bit of time reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingals Wilder.  Once Miss J was feeling better (on Thursday) I took advantage of the down time to teach her some basic crochet skills, she was thrilled to get a long chain made up using her fingers, then she moved on to using a hook.

 

By Thursday evening I was wondering if I was coming down with the bug. I was thankful to have missed the last one, but this one seemed to be getting the better of me.  Friday morning found me dragging, but still not too bad.  By Friday after noon I was down.  I was thankful that I had been able to hold out until the week-end.  Daddy came home with a pizza and took over for the week-end while I stayed in bed and rested up in hopes that I would be in much better shape by Monday.  While resting I did make use of the quiet time and worked on some knitting I had been wanting to get to.  These fingerless mittens are just about done!

Happy 5th Birthday Miss J!

We've been celebrating Miss J's birthday this week.  First she celebrated by going out on a date with Daddy.  She loves steak, so she wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.   We had fun helping her pick her outfit, doing her hair and getting her all ready to go.

Miss J had big plans for her birthday cake.  She had found a cake topper that she wanted to use on a tiered cake.  She was going for a wedding cake sort of look.  Since some of us were still a bit under the weather and laying low it was a quiet day with plenty of time for working on her cake.

A sweet visit

Last week-end when everyone was sick, or just coming out of the bug we had, we had some guests visit.  This visit had been in the works for a while and ended up being such a blessing.  These dear friends from Colorado came and visited, played with the kids and just encouraged our whole family.

By the second day most of us were feeling much better.  Some games were played and the kids loved showing off their animals too.  That evening we shared such a sweet time of singing hymns and Psalms. What a blessing to enjoys such fellowship and encouragement.  Thank you Mr. and Mrs. B for coming!

Dropping like flies (the flu?)

I guess it should be no surprise after all of the junk food, late nights and fun that kids are getting sick.  Mr. M was the first victim, going down on our camping trip.  I thought it was a simple cold and he seemed to recover in about three days.

With medicine like this you can't help but feel better!

Mr. S succumbed the next day (Tuesday), Miss J followed within hours.  A couple days later I was starting to suspect we were dealing with more than a simple cold.  Mr. M was still coughing, the other two were a bit better but still quite miserable.

I'm using essential oils to help us get through this bug.

Thursday morning Miss E announced that she was sick.  Mr. K and Miss C were remarkably quiet and by mid-day it was obvious they were sick too.  Its beginning to look a lot like influenza around here. :/  Fevers, coughs, achy bodies and even some...yuck!

*I'm sitting on the couch with Miss C at 3:30am as she watches a show on my iPad.  Its going to be a long few days.  I'd love your prayers for a quick recovery and strength to get through this.

Happy New Year!

Its been one big party around here.

Now we're all tired out and ready for some rest.

*The poor boy was so tired he fell asleep eating his sausage snack.  Daddy couldn't help but grab the mini stein to set up this great shot.

Post Christmas camping

After our guests took off we headed out on our own adventure.  Knowing this was coming up and wanting a relaxing Christmas I'd been loading the trailer slowly over the past couple of weeks.  It didn't take us long to load up the remaining supplies and head out on the road.   We were headed out on a hike within an hour of arriving at the campground.

We made it to the discovery center to explore and learn about the area.

 

We couldn't have our own fire, but there was a shared fire pit just across the way that we were able to enjoy.

 

We love the closeness of the trailer.  So many opportunities for cuddling!

The kids made swords from sticks found around the site and duct tape.

 

More hikes and exploring; though I spent the hiking times at the trailer with napping little ones.

Mr. K was napping when they left, though we met up with them on their way back.  Miss C did a great job keeping up with everyone!

This time Miss C was napping

 

A cold morning hike with Daddy

Mr. M got sick in the middle of the trip and spend quite a bit of time resting.

Everyone else was out on a hike, we stayed behind to care for Mr. M

We enjoyed many games of skip-bo.

 

On our last night there it snowed!  The kids knew it was snowing and when they were waking up we could hear their sweet excited whispers.  What fun to have a bit of snow to play in before heading home to a new year!

Rabbits!

As if chickens and worms were not enough we just added rabbits to our backyard fun!  Mr. S has been wanting to get rabbits for a couple of years now.  Thanks to a great find on craigslist (stacking cages) and a friend (who's friend raises rabbits) the timing was right to get some.

The oldest four each got to pick one.  They were all beautiful and very cuddly.  These little guys are about 3 weeks old right now and will get quite a bit bigger.

Yes, we know that rabbits tend to multiply like...well, rabbits.  These are meat rabbits and we will be breeding them for that purpose.  The kids are loving on these since they are the mommies and daddies that need to be tame and calm.  This is a fun project for daddy and the boys that we can all enjoy.