flu-time.

Well, it happened. We all came down with Parker's flu. Except Everly's version seems to be a 2 on the scale of 0-10 and registers as a "mild annoyance". The version Jeremy and I have, which is likely the same as Parks is what I would call a good, solid 10. Ten-plus, if I'm having a moment of particular whininess. I have compared this flu to Scarlett Fever, The Plague and anything else over the top, horrific in the way of colds that I can imagine. And this is not coming from the faint of heart. I have made it through two bouts of Pneumonia and the famous Swine Flu in the past 2 1/2 years. So, I'm giving myself room to whine a little with this one. It.is.awful. My mom and dad even took the kids for the first two nights to give us a leg up, and I shudder to think of how much worse I could feel, if that were possible.

And just when I thought I was starting to look, sound and feel a little better tonight, while I was laying in bed with Parker while he was slowly going to sleep, he snaked his little arm out from under the covers and put it on my cheek and whispers "Mom, are you dying?" Oh, no. No, no, no. And you know how I know that? I have the same flu as you did when you felt so badly over Thanksgiving. And you know what else I found out? You're braver and stronger than me, sweet boy, because I think you started feeling better sooner than me. But I'll be ok, because you are ok. "Oh, good. I'm so glad" he whispers. Oh, dear. We must still look pretty bad.

Tonight we tried to have some time that was intentional with the kids since it's been difficult to get off the couch and fetch them a snack. And Parker has also been worried about caring for us because as he said "I can only make cream cheese sandwiches! What if that doesn't sound good to you?!" We made dinner (saltines and a heated up casserole), and we listened to Parker read stories from his poetry folder, and we sat down and wrote letters to Santa. A lot of activities involving sitting. We met in the middle.

 "Gather 'round everyone! It's your favorite time of the day! Listening to me read..."

 "Whoops. That was a one finger space instead of two. Perhaps Santa will understand."

And our newest activity - putting Penny in our empty Kleenex boxes and watching her chew her way out. Good fun for sick people.

Good Tidings

The coziness of every surface being adorned with Christmas decorations has been one of my favorite things to look forward to every year. I love the familiarity in where everything is placed, lovingly setting out things passed down from my grandparents and my parents. Looping a colorful paper garland my mom made when she was a little girl. Hanging up an ornament from one of my very first students. Putting the Holiday Mix on the ipod and pouring ourselves a sparkling cider (or a mimosa :) and settling into a whole day of it. I love every minute.

This year Frisbee, our elfie showed up right after Jeremy put on the lights and we had our backs turned. He brought a note about all the wonderful things he enjoyed last year in our house and in anticipation of celebrating Jesus' birthday.

Parks was SO sick the entire day. I managed to snap just two pictures of him hanging up a handful of ornaments before he had to lay down again.

And this was Everly's first year of BIG participation. She loved hanging up ornaments and playing with the felted Nativity.

Ever had to know the story about each and every ornament we hung up. It took awhile. "Why is this one special? Tell me all about it!"

And it was also Everly's first year of hanging up the star! She can still barely reach it. A little help from dad to get it up there the last few inches was eventually needed.

Our new favorite addition. A felted Nativity that they can play with all they want.

I feel like the house is dripping with Christmas now. And I absolutely love it.

Grandparents

 

Aren't they just the greatest? I remember thinking so when I was little. And I still do. Parker and Everly's grandparents have really lived up to expectations as well because a day at their house is filled to the brim with frolicking, playing, special secret plans and things to do, fun and reading on laps and snuggling by the hour.

Their cups runneth over.

 

Traditions.

 

We have always put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving. Since I was little, the day after has marked a sense of merriment with the changing of the holidays, from one festivity to the next. We have kept up that tradition with our own family.

Since we also have a long-standing tradition of traveling up into the mountains and chopping down our own "wild tree" in the forest, a tradition that goes back many generations in my family, we have to start early in order to beat the snowfall. We usually venture up sometime in mid-November and some years we have still been stuck trekking up the hill in our snowboots and snowshoes and sawing down the first tree that looked reasonable and dragging it back down the hill for several hours. We really earned our trees those years. This year there was a gorgeous foot or so of snow on the ground, enough to be able to get up safely and still enjoy a white and wonderful experience. These are a few of the photos I took from a couple of weeks ago in the mountains on the east-side.

This year was particularly grand for so many reasons. The snow on the ground and the snow falling on and off from the sky. The kids are old enough to (mostly) walk the entire way. They are old enough to look forward to finding their own tiny tree and they can snip it down as well. Kid initiated snowball fights. Countless snow angels. Smiles on everyone's face. Hot chocolate in the cozy condo afterwards to warm everyone up.

Five.

To celebrate the fifth day of the worst cold ever, we turned over a new leaf and I made the kids get dressed in cozy sweats and we ventured off the couches and out of beds for approximately thirty minutes of crafting. In those thirty minutes, we filled glass ornaments with shaken paint and sparkles and puffy painted some very adorable snowmen with glue and shaving cream. Then the kids played sharks on the floor while laying down from exhaustion, I fed them crackers for dinner and put them to bed and while Parker was waiting for me to kiss Everly goodnight, he fell asleep with a book in his hand and all of the lights on in his room. Apparently, thirty minutes of crafting was a little too lofty. But they *are* looking better! I think!

Homeward bound.

We stayed home for Thanksgiving this year. Initially, that was a tough decision to make, but as the day wore on and Parker got sicker and sicker than he even started out, turned out we made the best choice. Jeremy and Everly have the same cold, but Parks seems to have the mega version.

To celebrate Thanksgiving with a sick girl and boy who by the end of the day was too weak to walk up the stairs, we played Christmas music and made a turkey casserole. Jeremy and I ran up the street to partake in 30-minute plates of food at our awesome neighbor's house, and we rounded out the day watching the Easter movie Hop. We joked that we combined all the holidays to keep our spirits high, while missing the giant family get-together. Everly played, we fed the birds, Parker watched for a little bit before that was too much for him and Jeremy wished a happy Thanksgiving to his 95 and 98 year old grandparents.  All in all, it was a nice version of what had to be this day.

By today, Parker seems even worse, if that's possible. Poor little guy. I don't think I've ever seen him this sick before. But we managed to decorate the house and put up the tree with Evie and Parks partook for about 20 minutes before he laid down on the floor and I carried him back to bed. I'm crossing my fingers for "you would believe what a difference a day makes!" :)

thankful.

At times, I have been wistfully walking around my house throughout this week, gazing at little scenes and filling my heart with thankfulness over each and every one. That's been sometimes. Other times I am dashing about from room to room trying to remain sane and keep my head above water. With the added intentional thankfulness, I've managed to keep some humor throughout situations that normally make me want to tear my hair out.

The children began getting sick on Sunday. Jeremy was at work, so I threw all agendas out the window and tended to getting them better. It worked, I patted myself on the back, worked 11 hours the next day, patted myself on the back again for balancing it all, and then I came home to kids who were getting sick (again) and a sick husband (as well). Lesson learned. Too much patting myself on the back.

That was Monday. Then we entered the past two days where time seemed to move slower. Parker's fever has hovered at 105 and slightly higher for two days now. This kid runs high fevers, but this is a doozy and it seems to only directly affect his crankiness level. His crankiness level seems to directly affect Everly's crankiness. And lo and behold, their crankiness directly affects my ability to be able to do anything besides fetch them water and lay a cold compress on their foreheads.

I'm still wandering around my house gazing at things and feeling thankful, but honestly the wistfulness is starting to wane and the things I'm thankful for are becoming far more concrete (coffee. my bed. quiet time. a mimosa. oh, why not, another mimosa.)

And this poetic Thankfulness post that I've been dreaming up in my head is slowly fading away.

This morning as I dragged a feverish boy on a quick errand that had to get done, I ran into a dear friend who just had her seventh child a few days ago. Her seventh child and her first girl. And we stood there in the Target shoe isle hugging and teary eyed and she explained this enormous and unexpected feeling of Thankfulness when she was surprised to meet this tiny baby girl who has already up-heaved their house of men. And my heart grew in Thankfulness too. Then, this afternoon, a friend sent me a post he wrote. These are good friends whom I often turn to in regards to parenting and usually when I need a dose of "Appreciate this. It will be gone before you know it." as their high school senior gives me a quick hug and dashes out the door. And it was if his words were written just for me. Half of my thankful list from my head, spelled out in another person's looking back over time.

And as my week has been a pendulum swinging, I was floating again on wistfulness from these two great and timely reminders, when, just before bed, Parker threw up all over his bedroom, Everly got so scared of it she peed on the floor and both of them stood there sobbing and I closed my eyes and repeated "I am still Thankful" while I carpet cleaned and sung my praises that Jeremy will be home tomorrow and we can have a much anticipated family day. And funny enough, even with all the hullabaloo right at bedtime, when we I got it all back together, just like my friend Mark reminded me, even tonight "How great was it to lay next to them in bed in the pitch dark and answer random questions that suddenly felt safe to ask."

 I am thankful.

Jeremy's job and the sacrifices he makes.

Laying with my children every night while they whisper questions to me in the dark.

All the modern conveniences I take for granted. Lights, and all.

Gifts of art with great symbolism.

Hand-holding. Even when they're sick.

Their strewn about play. A chair pulled up to a toadstool, a plastic frog floating in the fishbowl, ropes tied together and tossed off the balcony.

Coffee.

Forever and always, my friends and family.

Creativity.

and a thousand more things in my heart...