Sigh...

It's snowing. But it's not the fun kind of snow, it's dry and small and COLD, the kind that doesn't really stick, it just causes problems.

Becca is sick again. She was complaining of ear pain yesterday (but says she's fine now), but she has a fever again and doesn't want to eat.

My friend I trade babysitting with brought her kids over today even though they have diarrhea.

Becca's car seat is in Scott's car, so I can't leave the house today.

I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night.

I need a bright side to look on. Anyone have any suggestions?

Edited 7:30 PM: Becca and Tyler are both throwing up now. Just when I thought we were finally healthy...

Quite a prize...

The first graders at my kids school were challenged at the beginning of the year to read 100 books by the end of the year. This was a challenge Rachel took to with enthusiasm. Of course they were promised a prize if they did it, and Rachel finished her first hundred books quite some time ago. But we've continued to count her books and send in her book lists. Last week she hit 200 books! Nobody else has anywhere close to that many books, not in the entire first grade. The next closest is 110. And today she came home with her prize from her teacher for her hard work. It was quite a prize.

Included was a darling Hello Kitty pink book bag, two little notebooks (Rachel's favorite thing in the world), three little gel pens in pretty colors, Hello Kitty stickers, Strawberry Shortcake cards, and a $10 gift card to Target! She got all of that just for reading! I'm pretty amazed at how far her teacher goes to encourage her.

As we approached 200 books, with so much time left in the school year, I've been encouraging her to go for 300 books, but she's fought me on it. Then I talked to her teacher and told her I would appreciate it if she would encourage Rachel in this. Of course she's happy to do so. So I told Rachel her teacher wanted her to go for 300 books. She didn't miss a beat before she said, "Okay, I'll do it." Just like that, she was ready to do it. Do you think she likes her teacher? :)

Oh, and if she makes it to 300 by the end of the school year, she gets to order pizza to eat with her teacher.

Aren't we done yet?

For the past week, we've been sick in this house. There hasn't been a day when there hasn't been someone sick. It started with me. I woke up last Monday with a fever and a lump in the back of my throat that was very painful and made it difficult to swallow. (I can't imagine what I would have done without Russian Tea!) On Wednesday I found out it was strep and was given penicillin. Within 36 hours I was feeling significantly better. But I wasn't the only one sick.

Tuesday, the day after I first got sick, Rachel woke up with a fever too. But not once did she complain of a sore throat, so nobody thought she had strep. She had a fever for three days, as I did, but when hers broke, she ended up with a pretty nasty cough that no medicine could touch. She's doing much better now, with just the last remnants of the cough, so she's finally back in school.

It was a relief when she woke up Friday without a fever, but by lunch time, Tyler had one too. But his wasn't the 101-102 degree fevers Rachel and I had, his came in at 105!! After not hearing back from the doctor's office, I finally got a hold of a consulting nurse. She said as long as he had no other symptoms, wasn't getting dehydrated, and medicine was helping to bring the fever down (does it count when ibuprofen and Tylenol combined only brings it down to 103?), that he would be fine and there was no need to bring him in. We medicated him heavily and often, and he seemed mostly fine. But if we missed a dose, he became lethargic and miserable. Both my fever and Rachel's lasted three days, so we were all set to deal with his for about the same amount of time. Imagine our surprise when he got up on Sunday morning, just a day and a half after the fever first hit, with a completely normal temperature. He does have a slight cough, but nothing like Rachel's was. I just have to say, I do not like fevers that high. They scare me. And I hated seeing my little boy suffer like that.

Sunday morning Tyler may have woken up normal, but Becca did not. Each one of my kids has had slightly different symptoms for whatever this illness is. Becca's fever is about 102, which is closer to Rachel, but she's been the only one who vomited. And that she did just once, Monday morning. She didn't want to eat for most of the day, just wanted water, and nothing could get her off the couch. My other kids were at least active when medicated. We are on her third day of a fever, so I am hoping it is her last. It's been more than a week of sickness in this house, and I am ready to be done with it! We've washed all the bedding and disinfected all the surfaces in the house. Let's just pray Scott doesn't come down with it next!!

Fizzy joys: ibuprofen, clean sheets and blankets, Russian tea, snuggling with my kids, someone else to make dinner, Dr. Seuss books, sun breaks, fleece blankets.

Tagged, I think...

Jenn sort of tagged me to do this (Does it count if there's a question mark?), and I thought it was cute, so I'm doing it!

6 Weird Things About Me

1. I love peanut butter and pickle sandwiches.

2. I won't take medicine unless I absolutely have to.

3. I don't like artificial light.

4. Taking a shower is a chore, not something I enjoy.

5. Exercising makes me happy.

6. I think smoking should be illegal.

6 Things That Make Me Happy (Right Now)

1. Penicillin

2. Braeburn apples and green grapes on sale

3. Piano lessons :)

4. Rebecca's smile

5. Listening to Tyler and Rachel read

6. Mulberry candles

I don't really have anyone else to tag since Jenn tagged Mom and sisters and that's about all who read my blog. But I may take this over to MySpace and get a few people there to do it!

Valentine's Day

As a general rule, I'm not very fond of Valentine's Day. I don't like forced sentiment, and to be honest, my husband isn't very good at that kind of thing. But this year I had a WONDERFUL Valentine's Day, all thanks to my amazing husband!

First off, he created a really great online riddle game for me. It's along the same lines as weffriddles, if you're familiar with that at all. I've been sick all week (strep throat) and he knows I've been going a little stir crazy, so he knew I would appreciate the entertainment. And entertaining it was, and fun, and creative, and challenging. It was so much fun! I loved it.

Then he came home with my REAL present. PIANO LESSONS! Yep, he arranged for me to be able to take piano lessons. I get an evaluation to see where I'm at and what I need, then 20 lessons after that. I couldn't be more excited, and he could not have done better for a gift. I accepted a long time ago that my husband is not the best at gift giving, but he completely blew me away this year. They say the best gifts are those that are creative and unique to the person you're giving to (as opposed to something like red roses or a box of chocolates that everyone gives). Scott hit the mark dead on.

Even though I have strep throat and basically haven't been able to eat or sleep in days, Scott's thoughtfulness and love made yesterday by far the best Valentine's Day I have ever had. Thank you, Babe. I love you!!