School's In!

With all the sickness & storm days etc, it feels like the kids haven't been in school in ages! Today, however, they all went to preschool & I went to the gym! I haven't been there for almost 2 weeks so it was good to get back into the routine. I didn't go all out and my cardio left a little to be desired but you gotta start somewhere!

The kids were happy to see their friends again and had a good day. On the way home, we phoned GG to see what her schedule was like for the day and she was footloose and fancy free! I told her to grab her coat, we were coming to get her :) Luckily she's a low maintenance gal & doesn't require much prep. We came home for lunch here & GG read the girls some stories before I took them outside to play.

They almost always initially protest any talk of going outside. "I don't want to! I'm staying in! I want to watch tv" blah blah blah. Then I get them out there & they have a blast. They climbed the trees, the slid on the icy hills and making snowballs. When I wanted them to come in for a bath, I eventually had to threaten a time out to get them inside. GG had a rest while we were out there and finished their fairy story while I got the bath started. Then she kept them company while I baked a cake & started supper.

My cousin Matthew joined us for the meal & it was nice to have a full table. He & Sweetie had a great time playing "guess what animal I am" as she acted out "worm", "jelly fish" and I don't know what else. He must have played this before because he got them all right & I think she was quite impressed!

The kids were great all day, no fussing or whining (other than the we don't want to go out!/ we don't want to go in!) and were ready for bed before I left for bible study tonight. GG came along & went home with Aunt Cathy afterwards. Our get togethers had been cancelled the last two weeks due to weather so everyone was very excited to be back together again! Murray had hockey tonight so I had to scoot out early but I enjoyed being out at all!

Murray's drugs seem to be doing the trick, his headaches are overpowered by the niiiiiice codeine and the slime production has decreased significantly. He was a bit tired & was planning to grab a nap after the kids went to bed but he was awake when I got home so I'm not sure if that happened or not.

Weird Weather!

We woke up to beautiful snow falling (unless you ask my cousin Ryan, who's in the plowing business and a little sick of the stuff) and making everything all fluffy white & purty. By the time I got home from church it had stopped and things were warming up slightly.



The girls stayed home with Murray this morning as they're still verrrrrrrrrry tired by the end of the day & we had an outing planned and didn't want them all wiped out & cranky before we went.



Yesterday was an interesting day. Honey was up in the middle of the night, sick to her stomach again. This is her 4th time since mid January, poor thing! So i was up with her several times and Murray got her some too. By 7am I was wiped and barely even registered the other two waking up. Murray got up with them, despite being somewhat exhausted himself. I dozed on, totally out of it for another couple of hours. When I dragged my butt out to the kitchen, Murray looked like he felt AWFUL. His headache was still raging and he was tiiiiiiiiiiiiiired. I sent him back to bed and phoned his mum to get some "talk Murray into going to a doctor" strategy tips. She wasn't home but phoned me back a couple of hours later (Murray was still asleep!) and she agreed he should get some medical attention. Now to convince him of that! When he finally woke up around 1pm, I told him his mother thought he should see someone. He said "yeah. ok." I almost fell over. This guy hasn't gone to a doctor since we had to have physicals done when we were applying for adoption in 2003 (that I can remember, and going for stitches from hockey incidents doesn't count). We got ready to drive him to the walk in clinic but when we got there, they were full & not taking anyone else. Instead we dropped him off at the ER.

We were supposed to go for supper at my parents' but I had no idea when Murray would be finished and we couldn't go today because of our outing and Dad hadn't seen the kids for a couple weeks with all the sickness going on so I decided to take the kids up there & come back for Murray & then planned to take him up once he got done. The kids found this arrangement very strange but very appealing! Dad met me at the highway exit & saved me a bit of driving and the kids piled into his car quite happily and off they went.

With no one at home, I took advantage and slept for 2 hours. NOT. I was actually super productive! I vacuumed everywhere upstairs, mopped the kitchen, bathroom, entryway and the downstairs bathroom and cleaned the rest of the bathroom too. I don't know the last time I got so much done in one day and I am certain this is the first time my floors have EVER been mopped twice within the span of one week. (I know Kate from Jon & Kate +8 used to do hers a couple times a day at least but that ain't my style!) I had also opened all the windows to get some fresh air in and hopefully lots of germs out! I was so excited about my fresh clean house! Murray got done a little after 5 at the hospital and went across the street to get his prescriptions filled (mmmmm codeine & antibiotics! or "happy pills" as he calls them now).

The kids were doing fine at M&D's and they offered to bring the kids back since Murray & I weren't going to make it to supper so that was a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge help. Thank heaven for my parents' willingness to go the extra mile for us. You guys are tooooooooooooooo good to us! :) You should get a prize or something. (let me check with my sponsors and see what I can come up with....) The kids were pretty wiped & we tucked them into bed in a hurry and they zonked out in no time.




Murray didn't get any kind of diagnosis at the hospital but they took a swab of his throat gunk and ordered blood work so we'll see that that says in a couple days. His meds are agreeing with him though and he's been off to bed early each night. Without the headaches, he's sleeping much better and that's got to help! He's also coughing a lot less and that's an improvement for both of us. Getting a full blast of that in the face in the middle of the night is nowhere man.




This afternoon we took the kids to a live show at the theatre downtown and they enjoyed it! Honey was the most into it, out of her seat and dancing along etc. Lovey followed along a bit but kept asking when we could leave. Honey's face just shone with the excitement of it all. Sweetie sat in her seat and watched the whole thing and didn't start asking to go home until almost the end so that was good! LOL



After supper it was still nice & fairly warm out so we all went outside for some sunshine and fresh air. It feels like we have barely seen the sun in weeks so this was a nice treat. Murray felt so good that he did a little driveway clean up (don't worry, only a bit of slush near the road). Everyone enjoyed the time outside and they came in & got ready for bed without incident. I didn't want to push it as tomorrow's a school day!

It was raining a bit when we got home and the kids were excited to be able to use their umbrellas but by the time we finished supper, the rain had stopped. They had their hearts set on using them though so they took them out anyway. They had a blast holding these & sliding down the snowbanks on their bums.

Friday Friday Friday!!!!!!!!!!

We had a lazy morning and didn't go anywhere! The kids played with their Little People stuff for quite awhile so I took the opportunity to have a shower & never got interrupted even once! Honey was wearing her purple bodysuit today so I talked her into putting her pettiskirt on but it really took some doing! I have no idea what they have against these skirts but it's really annoying. Sweetie said I could do her pictures tomorrow. Then she came back out & said she would put hers on and I thought I had it made. She of course promptly changed her mind. She tried to pacify me with her orange outfit that I'm always asking her to wear but she also hates but I wasn't ready when she came out and then she got mad & left.

Honey was very accomodating however & lasted quite awhile before she bailed. :)

Sweetie was a superstar helper when I got home from groshies though & helped put a tonne of stuff away before I even got upstairs to start on it. She had all the produce out & was sorting out which things went in which bins & opened up the bags & refilled the buckets etc. It was quite impressive, especially since she just decided to jump in and do it.

Semi Normal

Today was good!!!!!!!! I think the girls are feeling much better, although still coughing occasionally. Their moods were much better today at least. They played for awhile this morning, then we got ready & went to the library. They behaved perfectly & picked out lots of stuff to bring home. Then we went & picked up my cousin Weez and we all went to McD's for lunch. They ate pretty well & were raring to hit the playland thing but did get tired after about an hour in there. I thought they'd crash out on the way home but they didn't.

Not only were they still awake when we got to the house, they didn't want to go inside. They did run in but just to jump into their snowpants and then we played outside for quite awhile with Weez. They had a blast and there wasn't one freak out, no tears and not a bit of whining. They just played.

When we went in, we baked some smartie cookies and they greatly enjoyed that process. They always like to bake but getting to count out the smarties and jam them in the cookies on the tray is highly entertaining. I could just dump them all in the mixer & let the machine distribute them through the dough but they enjoy it so much that I only put half in & let them add some to each cookie. My only problem is that dough is too freakin' tasty & I end up eating waaaaaaaaaaay too many cookies before they're even baked!

Once the cookies were all in the oven, I whipped the kids into the tub and got them cleaned up & all the playland grime off. (they had to wash their hands for cookie duty though so you're safe if you come over for a snack!)

Weez stayed for supper & then I took her back into town when I went to choir practice. She was disappointed that she couldn't sleep over and let me know that I still "owed" her! She has an early hockey game tomorrow, otherwise she could have. I'm sure we can handle her company again though so a sleepover shouldn't be a problem. The girls were disappointed that she was going home too.

Murray's starting to feel a bit better but his cough is naaaaaaaaaaaaaaasty. He's worn his throat raw. He suspected this from all the blood that's coming up. He confirmed this with a high powered flashlight and the mirror. He's having another early night so hopefully all this extra & uncharacteristic rest will do the trick. Luckily this was a light week for hockey and he's only had to miss one game.

We seem to have survived another week & Grammie comes tomorrow, wooooohooooooooo!!!!!! Three cheers for my mum!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sweetie's Stash....

Omigosh! Tonight at supper, I noticed Sweetie glancing at me furtively a few times & decided to watch what she was up to. As far as I could tell, she was stealthily swiping a few grains of rice off her plate at a time, and dropping them off the side of her chair, on the side close to Murray. I couldn't hear anything hitting the floor though. She kept doing this and finally I asked her what she was doing. Instantly she shrank back in her seat, frozen and said 'nnnnnnnnnnnnothing'. LOL but her eyes were saying "GUILTY GUILTY".

Me: why are you putting rice on the floor?
Sweetie: I'm not!
Me: I saw you take it off your plate & drop it! Murray, can you see the rice on the floor?
Murray (leans over, scans the floor): uhhh, no. No rice on the floor.... wait! there's rice on the side of her seat!
Me: what are you doing???? saving it for winter Sweetie????
Sweetie: noooooooooo. I leave it so it can get all dried up & I can eat it crunchy.
Murray: we'll give you a plate!!!!!

We're all still recuperating. I'm okay except for a bit of a cough if I breathe in too deeply. Murray's head was killing him last night but he finally got the pain stopped with some Tylenol and an early night.

I took the kids to playgroup. Staying home is just intolerable. They played pretty well & weren't to clingy there. GG is in town so Aunt Cathy suggested we go have lunch with her. I took the girls over & my cousin Jack dropped in too so we had a great visit. He had the girls in stitches as they played while I did up the dishes. Nothing like a good tickle! After awhile though, Honey was repeatedly asking to go home because she was tired. GG & I were working on some word ladders but anything with more than three or four rungs messed me up. (change one letter at a time and change "c a t" to "d o g" (cat, cot, cog, dog) but we had to cut the puzzles short so we could get home.

THey all fell asleep on the drive home & Honey was complaining about her left ear this afternoon. She insisted on me lying down with her, she could NOT fall asleep without me... it was a bit of a trying afternoon. Sweetie meanwhile was getting herself a "treat" and who knows WHAT that might have been. I did find an open bag of chips in the pantry and an empty yoghurt container in the garbage.... I'm hoping Honey doesn't have an ear infection :( She was complaining about her right ear the other day but it seemed fine the next morning. I doubt I'll get off easy twice in a row though.

Lovey came home & crawled right into bed & stayed there til supper time. She didn't eat anything then, just had some OJ & a bit of water.

I can't believe how this is dragging on! Murray was in bed by 9:30 tonight, he looks worse than he did the day he stayed home sick. He says he's never been this sick.

Hopefully we'll be feeling better by the weekend & the kids will be ready for school next week. They've been going to bed early every night, sleeping til normal time or later and still not making it through the day without a nap or a rest. Very unlike the go go go go gang I usually have here.

Desperate Times...

Yesterday Murray still wasn't feeling better and actually stayed home from the office (yet still managed to work half the day via email!) and it just seemed crazy here. The kids are much better, but not completely so. We're still dealing with a lot of fussiness, whininess and the attitude is really getting to be a bit much to handle. The constant indoor thing might have something to do with it too but oy yoy yoy, it just seemed intense!

The tv watching has been unlimited as no one has had the energy to do much else and we haven't been going anywhere. The novelty of this is starting to wear off and they're looking for something else to do. Out of desperation, I decided to pull out the FPP's as my husband's friend calls them. Murray had fallen asleep downstairs so I lured them up in hopes of keeping them occupied and quiet for a bit. I'd been trying to answer an email for a couple of hours but with so many "situations" I couldn't get through ONE message. I dug everything out. Everything. the hotel. the house/shopping mall/whatever it is thingy, the accessories, allllllllll the dolls. Within two minutes there was a fight. I don't remember what it was about but it involved a lot of screaming and a time out for someone I think.

Today we had to get out. I took them to a matinee at the mall. With that on the horizon, everyone was very happy this morning. Plus I had that to hold over them until we went. "Saucy girls don't go to the movies. Screaming girls don't go to the movies." etc. It totally worked. They only get to the theatre once or twice a year so they weren't taking any chances!

They're still coughing a lot & sneezing amazing volumes of well, uh, you know. Lovey was exhausted after we got home and curled up in the lazyboy for a nap. After supper they played for awhile and were all ready for bed at 7pm. A WHOLE HOUR EARLIER than normal.

I haven't been to the gym for a week. I almost went tonight but I still have a bit of a cough in my chest and a bit on the tired side as well so don't want to push it and figured one more night off won't do any harm.

Murray was feeling a bit better today so went in to work but made the concession of taking the car so that's saying something right there.

Looks like we still need a bit of rest!

well don't that just beat all!

The weekend's over and other than running errands yesterday & going to church this morning, I still have hardly seen the outside world. Someone commented that they were amazed that I still update the blog when we're all sick. That's because I'm so desperate for any kind of contact!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :))) So feel free to comment, comment, comment so I'm not just talking to myself cuz I'm getting a little bored with that this week!

Murray has barely been out of bed all day. He slept til I left for church with Honey and shortly after lunch he crashed again til supper time and only because Honey was screaming. Honey went straight to bed after we got home from church and also slept til supper time. At which point she woke up screaming in pain about her head but then changed it to her ear. Her fever was up a bit so it's likely an infection but she refused any medication at all so I gave her the cold thing for her forehead and then after awhile I took her back to her bedroom & laid down with her & she fell asleep again and hasn't budged much since. She woke about half an hour ago for a few minutes & we changed her into pj's (still had her dress & tights on from church). She mentioned that her ear felt better but that might only be a temporary reprieve. These things don't normally heal themselves. I phoned our doctor's office to see what her hours are this week but she's off tomorrow so that means either a trip to emergency or the after hours "walk in and catch something worse than what you came in for" clinic. A friend gave me a couple home remedy tricks that have helped her & her son that might get us through the night if it flares up so it's nice to have something to fall back on. I don't feel quite so helpless/useless here.

Murray's not able to sleep anymore, his headache is too painful and the Aspirin he took is doing nothing for it. The Tylenol I took worked for me but he prefers the other. His head is much bigger though so hard to say what works on a noggin like that! :) hee hee!

This week has been so exhausting that I can't remember when I bathed the kids last so since I felt pretty good today, I threw the awake ones in for a good long soak. I was hoping they'd put on their pettiskirts and we could take some pictures but Sweetie had a screaming crying fit about it for 20 minutes (15 of which I wasn't even down there for, she just stayed in the bathroom screaming that she didn't want to wear the skirt while I was upstairs already taking Lovey's pictures in hers!) Then Honey woke up with her ear troubles and that was pretty much the end of my photoshoot today. Sweetie eventually did come upstairs with her outfit on but only long enough to get to her room to ditch it in favour of something else. stinker.

here's her wardrobe suggestion :P

Lovey & Sweetie both went to bed early and I've been biding my time, thinking I'd get all sorts of organizing done with my pictures. I haven't backed anything up or printed anything in AGES but lookie there, it's after 10:30 and I don't want to push things so I'm turning in soon. Oh well, productivity can wait for another day can't it????????