Fevers and Coughs

Our family's been hit with a nasty virus, so I've spent a good part of the week in bed. I pretty much slept for about 36 hours straight Wed/Thurs, just getting up for more Tylenol or to sit with kids in front of the TV while Stephen took other kids to activities. I haven't had a fever like that in a long time, with chills and shakes, then hot flashes. My head felt ready to explode and I just hurt everywhere! And I'm getting a great ab workout from the deep coughing! Lincoln's been fighting it for a week. He had a couple really bad days, but mostly he starts the day acting okay, then by afternoon he just crashes and falls asleep wherever he was playing. Adam's got the cough and is just grumpy and whiny. Jeanisha bounces from energetic to floppy onto the couch. Cumorah has the cough and has slept a lot, but seems to be avoiding the fever. So all week the older kids have been watching "something educational" while Lincoln, Cumorah, and I sleep. Stephen has been wonderful taking care of the kids and stayed home from work Thursday when I was the worst.

I still have racking coughs and I'm not moving fast, so I've worked on updating the blog, since it's been forever. There are a couple new posts, so if you are interested scroll down. :)

Jan/Feb 2012

Adam turned 5 in February!

 Adam is generally very happy and easy going. He's learning to read without much effort on my part thanks to Reading Eggs and watching the older kids learn. He likes to play outside and build things. His current favorite shows are Garfield and Super Why.

The kids recycle ALL of the gift bags for any occasion.

Body part dress ups and Cars 2 cars

 Cumorah learned how to sit up. She is such a happy, smiling baby. As long as someone is paying attention to her and she can see what is going on, she's content! Isn't she adorable!!!

 This is Dash and Daisy, the guinea pigs that were the biggest surprise on Christmas morning. Somehow the photos weren't in that group, so here they are now. It has been fun to watch them get used to people, and us in particular. They start squeaking for treats whenever I walk into the room.

 At Discover Engineering Day the kids did lots of different activities. Eli laid on a bed of nails, they learned how sewage is cleaned and got to try cleaning "fake" sewage. They made an edible aquifer, and watched Dr. Picklestein do chemistry experiments and explode things.

November/December 2011

This is my first catch-up post, so I'll probably mix what happened "then" with what is happening "now."

 

Lincoln's 3rd birthday just happened to fall on Thanksgiving this year, so he got to have a super size party at Grandma's with all of his cousins. As far as he was concerned, everyone got together just for him. Unfortunately, instead of deciding 3 was big, he decided he was going to stay little. We've been battling Sunbeams (he's big enough physically to open the door and run out and down the hall) and potty training. I'm still not very successful with either. 

 

Size wise, Lincoln (3 in Nov) and Adam (5 in Feb) are almost identical.  I get asked often if they are twins. They are almost inseparable and Adam moving up to the older class at co-op made it so Lincoln will no longer go to a class he's been going to for over a year. Lincoln is a tease and can be very stubborn! We got a firepit from my dad and Stephen and the kids were out cooking hot dogs. Lincoln got close and Stephen warned him it would burn him. A few minutes later, he reached out and touched it. Stephen asked if it hurt to come get water on it. Lincoln folded his arms and said, "It did not hurt me." The next morning at church, we noticed blisters on the tips of several fingers. When asked if they hurt, he said, "They do NOT hurt me. I can touch hot things." He still refused to admit that it was not a good choice.

He is also a very sweet loving child. He loves to say "I love you the mostest." or "I love you to the (Stars or whatever) and back." He also likes to lay by you and pet your arm or face. Which is fine is you're watching a movie or something, not so much when you are trying to sleep.

Ryan, Tyler, and Jeanisha were part of a children's choir. They had a wonderful concert at Christmas. It's been fun to see how much the kids have learned about reading music.

Ryan has especially enjoyed the challenge of singing in two choirs and took 2nd place in the interval singing competition. (The instructor play a chord and asks them to sing the middle note, a note two above the top note, etc.) He has a great ear for music and is also flying ahead in piano!

In December the kids were able to be Santa's helpers making balls, blocks, and quilts with DHSA, our homeschooling group and then later had a special visit from Santa himself at our family Christmas party!

 Here they are lined up Christmas morning waiting to go see what Santa brought.

Cumorah's first Christmas

The Cars 2 cars in front were a BIG hit

Yes, those are REAL hatchets. They have been well used and well loved. Good thing we have lots of trees with branches to chop!

Notice ALL the legos, that's not the same box. Stephen said he wanted "Ten Thousand legos, so we can build whole cities in the basement." We don't have 10,000 but we now have A LOT (Thanks to Black Friday.) 

Now Stephen, I mean the kids, can build anything they want to!

They must have been good because Christmas was great!