The Kids Are Sick.

The kids are sick. Puking sick. Puking sick on me, because I am, after all, the one who is usually holding them when their stomachs revolt. After being thrown up on three times in less than two hours tonight, I was, however, ready for the puking to stop.

I was also desperately in need of a hot shower.

When they are sick though, I am often reminded of just how fragile our health is. One moment they're fine, the next....not so much. We often take for granted feeling well and moan when we feel less than stellar. As humans, we are so unappreciative of the gift of health until we don't have it.

Tonight, as I watch my soon-to-be three year old snuggling with her daddy in the center of our bed, I am thankful that her fever has broken somewhat. Her oldest brother's fever is still going strong. And I appreciate the fact that I can pray freely for them for healing. Because when I asked the toddler if she needed anything earlier, before she fell asleep, her response humbled me.

"Pray for me, Mommy. That will make me feel better."

Out of the mouths of babes.

Colds, Math & Llama Scarves.

I've been battling a cold since Friday and, unfortunately, it is showing no signs of defeat. Blech. So, I've decided to post about the top 5 things I've learned from this nasty bug. You're thrilled with my topic choice, I can tell.

1. Basic math (and my calculator) escapes me when sick.
Now some may argue that this also occurs while healthy, but I can guarantee that it happens when I'm sick. Adding, subtracting....doing multiple operations?! Ha! You're better off asking Pony Dog to write the answer. However, I do give it valiant attempts....always with the wrong answer, but I try.

2. NyQuil and DayQuil are the same....only in different colors and forms.
DayQuil, the one that supposedly won't make drowsy, knocks me out for 3 hours at a time. NyQuil, the one that's supposed to knock me out all night, wakes me up after 3 hours....just as stuffy as before I took it. Before the government decided we were too stupid or transfixed with making meth, NyQuil had some cool stuff in it. Now? Not so much.

3. Being sick makes me want to snuggle.
Unfortunately, being sick hinders snuggling. It's a bummer.

4. Even while sick I can spell high point words on WWF.
Words like Zonk for 114 points. If that's not innate skill (and a crazy amount of luck), I don't know what is. And much thanks to my WWF pal who let me gloat...a lot...over my highest word score ever. It was very gracious of you! :)

5. I can't get warm when sick.
Okay, really, this applies in the winter when I'm well too. In fact, because I can't get warm, I always have the urge to knit or crochet when I'm sick. Unfortunately, you need to be able to count while doing either...see #1 above to find out why this is not a good activity while I'm ill. However, this morning I did order some super soft, red llama yarn to make myself a scarf. I'll take pictures of it when it's done....probably in 10 years.

And now, it's time to make myself some warm something to drink and try to convince the kids to eat lunch so we can nap all afternoon. I know....good luck with that.

Hope you are all well and that your math skills are up to snuff. You never know when you might need them!

Some Useless Stuff (with a dash of humor on the side).

Poor Gabe woke up to a lost voice and lots of congestion. An afternoon doctor's visit yielded the pink Amoxicillin stand-by and a trio of Mr. Potato Head stickers. And two creepy guys at the doctor's office who kept chatting up Shae. Back away from my daughter, misters, or I WILL take you down.

Seriously, what kind of crazy person tells a 2 year old who they're not related to, or KNOW for that matter, to come give them a kiss?!? If you're the Hangman playing type, I'm thinking of a word that's 7 letters, begins with a P, ends with a T and has E, R and V in the middle.

Unfortunately, the pink bubblegum atrocity, also known as, an antibiotic did nothing for Gabe except make him throw up tonight. Nice. Poor kid is still in there wheezing away with a hot pad on his chest, a vaporizer by his bed and a slathering of Vicks Vapo Rub so thick I'm getting loopy from a room and a half away.

I hate when the kids are sick. I'd rather be sick for them and hear them laughing and playing. The random bursts of screaming I can do without, but laughing and singing is fine. Although, if Shae sings The B-I-B-L-E one more time I think my head just might explode. Fair warning.

Well, onto other useless news...the kids came back to get the bike locks around 8 tonight after they were finished with football practice. There were 4 of them who needed locks, so I was glad I had picked up a couple extra. You could have heard a pin drop when one of them asked me, "Do, you like, make bike locks or something? Is that why you have them?" and I replied, "No, I bought them for you so your bikes don't get stolen." In that moment I had four big, dumbfounded young teen boys standing on my doorstep. Imagine, some woman they don't even know buying them bike locks simply because they need them. It had to be a first for them. Then huge smiles broke out, followed by "wows" and "thank yous" and "I really appreciate this". One even asked me to show him how to work the combination lock. Imagine that. Good times. All they need now are bike helmets.

Although, it did make me wonder...do I really look so handy that I could actually MAKE a metal chain and bike lock? Really? Because if I do, someone really needs to tell me. I could be missing out on a calling I didn't even know I had.

Speaking of callings...I think I hear my bed calling for company...or it may just be the echo of Kato snoring. It's hard to tell sometimes.


Question of the day: Cut it or let it grow?
My hair is getting long again...mid-way down my back long which is good for the curls, but not so good for the heat...can't decide whether I should get it cut or keep it long. Although, truthfully, by the time I manage to actually GET to the salon it could be down to my lower back - so keep that in mind when responding.



P.S. - Yes, Mom, I think it's a FABULOUS idea to go to WDW next summer. Just in case you missed my response in the last post, because I wouldn't want you to think we don't want to go. ;-)

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

It's a rainy day here in the good ol' Northeast and my body is rebelling. I feel like my head is stuffed with cotton and my bones and muscles are crying for a nap. A long, uninterrupted nap. Yeah, I know....good luck with that.

I can't believe I've got another cold. Just be thankful you can't catch it from where you are. We, the collective five of us, have been in varying stages of colds and the flu since the afternoon of Tuesday, March 17th. I'm ready to be done with it.

So, I'm trying to distract myself and am making a yoga bag for the Gym Mama Studio on ArtFire. It's a pretty robin's egg blue with a black & white geo print for the pocket, straps and cord. Even if you don't do yoga you'll want to buy it. Seriously. It's pretty. Very, very pretty. And very reasonably priced if I do say so myself.

I'll also be posting the pattern & a kit for it at my pattern store on ArtFire called She Made That. Don't worry about running over there right now to peek, because I have nothing in the shop except a banner and avatar.

For now though I'm holding my sleeping Baby Girl who is currently cutting four, yes four, teeth all at once. God bless her.

The Way to a Woman's Heart

My time at the gym has been non-existent. Even with the start of the GymMama.net's 1st Biggest Loser Charity Challenge underway. I've been fighting a cold since last Saturday and, ugh, I'm ready to be free of it. Thankfully, the kids are feeling pretty good...because as any parent knows you'd rather be sick than have the kiddos sick.

As I was running around last night helping to serve dinner at work, one of the ladies was hollering for her tea. She was literally hollering, "TEA! TEA! TEA!", so I'm not exaggerating with the "hollering" part. I couldn't help but chuckle and tease her as I poured her hot water and opened the tea bag. "Mary, you're keeping me on my toes tonight! Looks like I won't have to go to the gym tomorrow morning!" She looked at me, smacked my behind and replied, "Honey, you're fine the way you are. You don't need to lose any weight at all." Needless to say, I made sure her cup of tea was constantly filled throughout dinner.

Apparently, the way to a woman's heart is to compliment her weight!

Still sick

Still sick and not a day at the gym to show for the week. Of course, I've actually lost more pounds per week these last two weeks than I have in the last 3 months. What's wrong with that picture?!

Sick

Not only is working at night conducive to weight loss, but it's also pretty good for catching body achy colds. Ugh.

Today was my one day to go to the gym early, but after a rough night of feeling awful it was clear I was going nowhere.

My darling husband took the day off, so that he could help with the kids while I snoozed. What a great man!

I actually went to the doctor's...by myself, for myself! Don't be surprised if it snows. The good thing about it was that my weight was down a bit and much lower (by about 10 pounds) from the last time I was there before I got pregnant with the baby. So, I've got my supply of antibiotics to rid my throat of the golf balls that have apparently lodged in there and will be back to sleep shortly.

Oh, and I received the same "words of wisdom" (or warning!) from the residents of the nursing home...that zucchini is going to be full of seeds. Don't worry, next time I won't let it get that big!