This Pretty Much Sums it Up

I ended my last post with high hopes of having a less eventful week that didn't involve a lot of pyjama wearing. But it was not meant to be. Keziah came down with the flu on Monday morning and Silas got sick the next day. It was the kind of flu that kept me guessing - just when they seemed to be doing well (as in jumping on the trampoline, running around the house), somebody would get hit with another fever, or randomly start throwing up...

Saturday came and everyone seemed to be finally feeling better. So, we met with some friends to go skating for the afternoon and then a Timmy's date afterwards. But apparently Silas was still feeling the effects of the week. He ate his chocolate chip cookie and then promptly put his head down on his chair and fell asleep.

For real.

I know how he feels.

Just hours later I started getting the dreaded aches and chills and ended up spending all of yesterday in bed. But I'm feeling a bit better today thanks to a couple little friends by the name of advil and tylenol...

Like White on Rice

Another LONG day with 3 kids at home. I was on the fence about whether to send Micah back to school yet, so when Keziah woke up with a sick tummy, it was an easy decision to keep them both home.

After playing 2 games of Clue Junior, sticking stickers on paper, driving cars down the side of the toy-box into an empty laundry hamper, refereeing a wrestling match on the trampoline and letting the kids watch WAY too much TV, I came up with a great idea that kept Silas busy the entire time I was making dinner. I found a few nearly-empty bags of different kinds of rice and a few random raw macaronis and created Silas' own private rice table.

We're talking hours of fun. Why didn't I think of this before?

Well, there is a downside to every fun thing, isn't there? Playing with rice in a bucket does not mean that it will stay there...

Fortunately for me I have a weird enjoyment of the "ding-ding-ding" of rice getting sucked up the vacuum cleaner, so it really was a win-win situation for all of us...

Cabin Fever

Those 2 words pretty much sum up my entire week. The snow itself wouldn't have been so bad and wouldn't have kept us too house-bound, but a sick 7-year-old definitely has kept us all sticking close to home.

Here's the low-down on how the week transpired:

Saturday/Sunday:

- Micah starts showing the tell-tale signs of pink eye, which means cancelling 2 fun events with school friends on the weekend.

- We start giving him over-the-counter polysporin eye drops.

Monday:

- It's snowing. A lot.

- School is on though, and we manage to get Keziah there (though I regret it later when the snow keeps coming).

- Micah is feeling good despite his red eyes, so the boys and I have some fun in the snow.

Tuesday:

- School is cancelled.

- We play outside until Keziah gets snow in her boots and drops into a crying, floppy pile on the road. We barely make it back to the house alive.

- Micah's eye drops don't seem to be helping and he starts getting fevers and flu-like symptoms.

Wednesday:

- School is back on but I decide to keep Keziah home anyway since Erik needs the van and it looks like a blizzard outside.

- I spend a LONG day inside playing referee between Keziah and Silas.

- Micah is feeling lousy and watches TV for about 8 hours straight.

Thursday:

- Micah wakes up with eyes crusted over for the 4th night in a row. I make a doctor's appointment for later that afternoon.

- I manage to get Keziah to school and drag the boys to Superstore since my fridge and freezer are empty and we've been living on hot dogs, applesauce and beans for the last couple of days.

- Micah lays in the cart for the duration of the shopping trip and doesn't even want a free cookie from the bakery.

- We see the doctor later that afternoon after waiting an hour. Find out Micah's one eye is pretty infected and get a prescription for stronger eye drops.

Friday:

- School is cancelled again on account of freezing rain.

- Silas has been begging to go outside since Wednesday. I go out with him for 15 minutes while the older 2 watch from the window.

- Micah has a TWO-hour meltdown between supper and bedtime. Can't remember the last time he's been so worked up about something. I end up laying with him in our bed until he falls asleep.

- 8:00 pm: Erik and I finally sit down for an evening of TV.

- 9:15 pm: I wake up from a deep sleep and notice Erik snoring from the next couch. I turn off the TV and walk with eyes half-closed to my bed.

Who would've guessed a week at home could be so... exhausting.

Good news is, Micah seems a bit more like himself today. His appetite is slowly coming back and him and Silas had a good wrestling match this morning. He just finished a game of Tiddly Winks with Keziah and is gladly heading outside to build a snowman with Grandma. His eyes still look red and goopy so he's probably going to be house-bound a wee bit longer.

But, here's hoping that next week brings healthier kids, less weather drama and a few days in a row of wearing something other than our pyjamas.

BC has 4 Seasons After All

The other morning we woke up to winter.

It started melting as soon as the sun came up - perfect snowman-making snow. I headed out with the boys (including cousin Caleb).

We all agreed that the pine branches made good snowman hair.

After the snowman was built (and then thoroughly pummeled to a pulp by 3 rowdy boys) we headed to the front yard for some more fun. Like snow soccer.

Then it was time to head inside and warm up with some cookies and hot chocolate.


Keziah joined in on the treats even though she had decided to stay inside instead of participating in the snowy fun (an inside girl much like her Mama...)

Turns out that little bit of snow was just the beginning. After another dumping today it looks like we'll get to have winter for a little while longer...

After School Play

What is it about the inexpensive entertainment like empty wrapping paper tubes and hot wheels that trump all the new Christmas gifts in the next room?

Whatever it is, it kept these boys entertained for awhile.


Meanwhile, Keziah had more feminine pursuits.

A "new" thrift store umbrella served as the perfect place for her doll-babies to find some shade (with that fluorescent light fixture overhead I don't really blame them).

But before I knew it, Silas had abandoned the tube-car-sliding and wanted a space to play like Keziah's. So, I hauled out his new Ikea bedding, scrounged up an empty laundry hamper to be his doll crib and swaddled his monkey...

And even if I do all of that for 15, 10 ... 5 minutes of quiet play... It's always worth it.

Last Year's Loose Ends

I've been missing in action on the blog-front the last while, so by way of a quick catch-up, here's how we finished off the year 2011...

We celebrated.

With Keziah's Rainbow Party behind me and the Christmas season in full force, I was all about simplicity when it came to celebrating Micah's birthday this year. In the end, we were able to do a joint party with one of his friends from school who was also turning 7 in December. And renting the ARC gym for 2 hours was the perfect way to entertain 20 kids (most of which were boys!)

The birthday boys:

There was face painting:


(Can't remember what Micah was supposed to be - all I know is that even after washing his face, it was slightly tinged-green and jaundiced-looking for church the next morning...)

The bouncy house (cousin Caleb can barely contain his excitement!):


And double-presents :)

The other mom and I agreed that we might have to make this December double-birthday party an annual thing!

We danced.

Well, one of us danced. Keziah did awesome at her ballet recital. The beach-ball-themed dance wasn't quite as heart-melting as last year's performance but still very, very cute. It was her maturity level and ability to cope with the chaos that was significantly improved from last year (imagine a hundred girls backstage all coming and going - me leaving her in the midst of the chaos {in the care of a stranger} so I can sit with Erik and watch the recital...) She did have a break-down right at the end when she couldn't find me right away, but all in all, a positive experience!

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the actual performance. I'm still trying to figure out the capabilities of my new (to me) camera and whether taking pictures of moving targets in dark spaces is even possible...??

We worked.

Erik "took 2 weeks off" over the holidays, but the quotations imply that he still mostly worked during those 2 weeks. But at least he was working on things at our house instead of someone else's :) Him and his dad spent several days replacing all the old windows in our house.

Micah helped a little bit too.

It's nice to know they're more energy-efficient, plus we now have opening windows in places where we didn't before - like these 2 smaller windows on either side of our big picture window in the living room.

Erik also replaced all our old electric baseboard heaters. The advantages? They're white instead of dingy beige, more energy efficient, and also a lot smaller than the old ones (which means one baseboard doesn't have to take up an entire wall and limit furniture placement options).

We hiked.

We took a day trip to the Othello tunnels...

Sporting her new scarf and Hello Kitty earmuffs that she got for Christmas...



This kid can't get enough of his "di-wego" boots even though they're about 3 sizes too big...


2 thumbs up!

Silas could've thrown rocks into this river for h-o-u-r-s. His fingers were almost frozen solid and we still had to tear him away from those rocks.

We skated.

Skating with 3 wobbly kids is no easy task. Even with the help of those push-bars, Erik and I got a pretty good work-out helping our kids around the rink for an hour.

We upgraded.

Another project Erik did over the holidays was build a bottom bunk for Silas. We took Silas out of his crib a few weeks ago and it was time to give him a big boy bed of his very own.

Loft bed/crib combo before:

Bunk bed after:

When we eventually have more bedrooms for these kids, the boys will probably be together in one room with the bunk beds and Keziah will get her own room with a loft bed. For now, Keziah and Silas are sharing the bunks, as the bedtime routine seems to work best if those 2 don't have any direct visual sight-lines to each other...

Phew, now that I've tied up those loose ends, it's time to fully embrace 2012.

Happy New Year everybody!