Sickness Upon Sickness

It has been a wretched season for us and sicknesses. Since September, we are on our 10th illness, at least.

I had thought # 5, in early December, was rough as it cost me my voice for 3 full days and we had to cancel the whole school week.

This week though takes the prize. We had colds back to back but never two illnesses on top of each other.

On Saturday, Teresa got a fever, spiking at 102.9. James also came down with a cold. By Sunday, her fever was down to 99 but Elizabeth had gotten it and was spiking at 103.3 and Felicity seemed congested. By Monday, Elizabeth's fever was down to 100 and Teresa's fever was gone but Teresa had broken out in a rash from her ears to her toes. I took her to the doctor and was told she had a virus that was causing the rash and it would be a "few day thing."

Tuesday I thought, well, two are sick, we'll spend the week in and see if anyone else gets it. I went to Confession and about two hours later felt physically exhausted, drained and sore. That afternoon, Cecilia began complaining of a fever, headache and stomachache. She too had gotten a fever. Around bedtime, Cecilia threw up twice. We made a bed for her on the floor of our room along side our bed. Fortunately, she slept all night, but I woke up at 1:15 with a clear fever though I have no idea what it was as someone had taken my thermometer. I slept poorly until 6 when I got up looking and feeling like the walking dead. I checked in at 100.8. Felicity got up and checked in at 100.9. Cecilia got up and was 100.4. Teresa got up and, in addition to her rash, had a fever of 101.1. Elizabeth was the only one without a fever. And the only one acting like it.

Cecilia laid down on the sofa, Felicity curled up whimpering, Teresa clung to me crying like alligators were nipping at her toes. And there I sat, tired, sore, with a pulsating headache, easily dizzy, waves of queasiness and feeling just plain miserable. I nursed Teresa but she was as miserable as ever. And she was trying to go back to sleep. So I gave her some ibuprofen and put her in her swing for a nap.

Then I took two Motrin, got Felicity a piece of toast, turned on Disney Channel, curled up on the sofa, and drifted in and out of consciousness for two hours waking only to hear, "Mom, I don't want to watch this," at which point I'd switch it to PBS Kids and drift back into unconsciousness.

Those two hours definitely made a big difference though. When I got up, I was ready to eat. I made myself two slices of Monk Cinnamon Raisin Bread and, since Felicity had eaten her toast, gave her some ibuprofen. Teresa woke up as cranky as ever. It took a lot of nursing, two diaper changes, bear hugs and some Gerber Puffs to cheer her up.

By 11 though I was worried about the one healthy one. Elizabeth had fallen asleep. That is early for a nap and I couldn't help but wonder if she was coming down with this thing too. She and Teresa had had the virus that causes the rash, but as Teresa's fever for the rash had gone, and now she had another fever, I thought it was a safe bet that the fever that gripped now four of us was something else entirely. Cecilia continued to throw up Wednesday and through the night.

By Thursday I was a little improved with only a slight fever and a very sore throat. Teresa and Felicity continued to have slight fevers and Cecilia was still throwing up. So off to the doctor's all six of us trod. After the nurse finished noting the buffet of symptoms, and despite the obvious white spots all over Cecilia's tonsils and tongue, the strep test came back negative on all three girls. Basically we had another nasty virus and no one could do anything about it. 

Fortunately, the clouds began to break Thursday afternoon. Cecilia finally stopped throwing up. By Friday Cecilia was asking for Orange Juice and the only one with a fever was Teresa. 

Teresa continues to have cold symptoms and I have a smidgen of sore throat left but basically it has been a solid week of multiple viruses. I feel like I've been in a video game with different symptoms being thrown at me from different directions. It has been insane. 

Thus we spent all day today, apart from a grocery store run and picking up Chick FilA for lunch, mopping and cleaning the dining room, vacuuming the living room, scrubbing and sanitizing the bathrooms, washing and changing all the girls bed linens, washing all the towels and bath mats, vacuuming the girls' bedroom, and sanitizing commonly used items like door handles. And we ain't done yet! I'm all for building up immune systems, but I need a break. 

Snow! And ice.

We got our first real snow of the season. And then a layer of ice on top of it. But we weren't going to let that stop us! :)

Seven Quick Takes

1. On Monday Teresa had her 9 month appointment. She is passed her exam with flying colors weighing 19.8 pounds and measuring 28 inches.

2. Teresa is also quite the instigator at home. On Tuesday she figured out how to open cabinet doors by herself.

It is amazing how quickly a 9 month old can fall in love with a colander. Later that day, she found Elizabeth's milk cup on the floor. The pediatrician asked she not get cow's milk until she is a year to ensure her milk supply really comes from me. She didn't want to surrender that milk cup. At least she liked it though. Before the day was over, I caught her crawling away from this:

Then on Thursday I fished two AA batteries out of her mouth. If my next picture has more gray hair, you will know why.

3. I do the Little Flowers program at home with Cecilia and Felicity. We began last Fall focusing on St. Catherine of Siena and Faith. One of the requirements to earn the badge was to ask a religious about how their faith lead to their vocation. Now we live down the road from a Franciscan Monastery but as I have four girls, I thought this would be a good opportunity to introduce them to a religious sister. Fortunately for us, a town over or so, the Nashville Dominicans of St. Cecilia run the Mount de Sales Academy. And it just so happens a long-time family friend teaches there. So she arranges for me to bring Cecilia and Felicity and meet with Sister Amelia. Unfortunately, when we met, Felicity went completely shy either hiding behind me or during her head, sticking up her chin and closing her eyes. But Cecilia was very good and St. Amelia answered their question for their badge and told them about her habit and what she does. Cecilia thought it was really cool that her habit is her wedding dress. I wish I had thought to ask her to tell them about her day but our time was very limited as the faculty were doing interviews of incoming 8th graders. Still, it was a wonderful introduction to the religious life for two very young girls. When I told Sr. Amelia that Cecilia had sworn off marriage she used her scapular to see what Cecilia would look like in a veil. Afterwards our friend gave us a tour of the school. The girls had such a good time, Cecilia's asked if she can "go to school there some time."

4. This has been such a strange winter. It was in the 60s last weekend. Then flurries, then no jackets needed again. Up and down, up and down. Now, I know lots of people are thrilled about not getting much of a winter. But I like winter. I like the cold. I like snow. I like spring. But I want my winter first! Bring on the snow already!

5. But! That doesn't mean why won't enjoy the weather regardless. Last Friday was so warm, the girls ate their Christmas cookies in honor of the Epiphany outside. No jackets or coats. Yes, Cecilia is even wearing shorts.

6. Even Teresa got some time outside and loved it!

7. I confess I'm having a hard time adjusting to Ordinary Time. I feel like I've been dancing for 6 blessed weeks of anticipation and joy and, Monday afternoon, the music just stopped. And I feel like I'm standing in the middle of the ball room asking, "Okay, now what?" 5 1/2 weeks until Lent? What do I do for 5 1/2 weeks? Seriously, I need ... something ... during this time. How are you handling the post-Christmas/pre-Lent time?

More Quick Takes at Jen's Conversion Diary!

A Tale of Two Chairs

About 2 years ago, our local Ace store had a sale on adirondack chairs. The catch was they were not stained, sealed or assembled. But still, they can run over $100 or more per chair. I got two and stain and polyurethane for less than $75. It just became a matter of staining it, sealing it and putting it together. No problem. And my mom even bought me two foot rests to go with the chairs. I just needed to stain, seal and assemble!

But, there was never a good time. And it, and a few other things, have been on my personal projects to-do list for a while now.

But I had three weeks over Christmas when we were not doing any school so I really, Really, REALLY wanted to get something done on my projects list.

 83 pieces stained and sealed:

We had such a mild New Year's Eve, I took the day to get done the staining and sealing.

After about a day and a half (total) of work...

SUCCESS!!!

Okay, now I can begin school again. :)

Reading List 2012

I tried to start a reading list last year and, well, new baby, ... vacations .... and a move later I just never kept up with it. I was still reading. I just neglected to record what I read or write anything about it.

No more!

So, I'm beginning a new book list for 2012. And I will include my current reading book. Though I began it in December, I am going to include my current book once I finish it. I have 90 pages to go. It was my second Advent/Christmas book. The first, which I read in the first 2 weeks of Advent was The Wood of the Cradle by Caryll Houslander. A very good read and a nice preparation for Christmas. But not a long read, so I knew I'd need a second. I wanted something a little different though so I opted for a Birthday present. Not religious, but very apocalyptic. I am 75% through Mark Steyn's After America. That has inspired its own post, but I'm not done reading the book or writing the post yet.

Welcome 2012!

It is strange somehow to look back on a year. How do you reflect on a year of your life? What value can you place on it? The highs. The lows. It makes me think of a song I like from the musical Rent. (I do not recommend or condone the musical as a whole, but I love the song, "Seasons of Love."

525,600 minutes. So many minutes gone. Never to be gotten again. But it doesn't really matter that they are gone. What matters is what was done with them.

For us, 2011 meant we had our first child turn 5 years old, the arrival of our beautiful daughter Teresa, the graduation of both of my brothers from college, a memorable trip to Disney World with the whole family, Elizabeth turning 2, another move, the beginning of our first formal and state-recognized home school year, joining our first homeschool cooperative, the completion of Kindergarten and the beginning of 1st Grade, Felicity turning 4, our girls' first Nativity Pageant and Teresa's First Easter and Christmas. From birth to school to moving and trips, it has been a busy year but a good one.

I don't know about you, but I think we spent our 525,600 minutes well and I'm ready to begin 2012.

Jen spent last Christmas break putting together a Saint Generator to help people choose a patron for the coming year. The Saint it chose for me? Saint Claude de la Colombiere. Now, I'm familiar with many Saints, but I reacted with, "Okay, who?" and had to look him up. He was a French noble (born 1641) who became a Jesuit priest, promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and was spiritual director to St. Margaret Mary of Alocoque. Due to anti-Catholicism, he was imprisoned, tortured and exiled from England. He is considered a "dry" martyr, having suffered every abuse for the faith except death. Having read a bit more about him, I rather like him. I can't help but wonder if he is my patron for the year though because of his patronage of toy makers, as we seem to patron toy makers in our own way. :) Of him, JP II said, "In a period of contrasts between the fervor of some and the indifference or impiety of many, here is a devotion centered on the humility of Christ, on his presence, on his love of mercy and on forgiveness. Devotion to the Heart of Christ would be a source of balance and spiritual strengthening for Christian communities so often faced with increasing unbelief over the coming centuries." Certainly seems a fitting Saint for our times. Personally what I like most about him is that he converted many people simply through the example of his holy life. In these times, changing laws and policies is not easy and not necessarily the work of someone like me. But changing hearts through a Christ-like example - that I can (try to) do!


For the past two years I have also chosen a word for the year. I always struggle to chose a word. It is that fear-I-won't-follow-through kind of thing. The previous years I chose Queenship and Eucharist. Hard to top Eucharist, but every year is different. For this year, I am choosing two words that go together but aren't really complete without each other: Quiet and Listen, and I choose them for a few reasons. 


First and foremost, with the intention of striving to enter deeper into prayer, into the quiet and listening. Second, I have four young children and quiet may be a word I say often but certainly describes very little around our house and, due to its scarcity, does become quite the prize to strive after. Third, to quiet myself to listen better to others - listen better to their needs and be an attentive soul when they need one. And fourth, is to say less. In Michael Card's and John Michael Talbot's "The Final Word," they sing, "You and me, we use so very many clumsy words. The noise of what we often say is not worth being heard. When the Father's Wisdom wanted to communicate His love, He spoke it in one final perfect Word." Instead of spewing words thoughtlessly, my intention is to make what I do say more worth hearing.


I have never been a big fan of New Years' resolutions. My liturgical year began in November. My Lent offerings begin in February. And I am constantly in need of new resolutions, so January 1 is more like my Christmas resolutions until i re-evaluate in February and make Lenten ones. But one I will make is to try to say the Divine Office again. I do so love my breviary. And Melanie's post about Daria's post and post makes me want to try it again. I love praying the psalms but have always become very frustrated over striving to say it amidst the chaos that ensues with children who get up before 7, sometimes before 6! But I will give it a go and just put my guardian angel to work. :)

"My only followup is to make this suggestion to Melanie and all moms (and dads) who put down their breviary to attend to Life, only to see it sitting there several hours later and realize that one never got past the second psalm of the hour,and now it's time for the next hours to be prayed.  Don't try to go back and finish that earlier hour.  Imagine that your guardian angel finished it for you, since that is in fact what he did.   Your guardian angel, and the millions of believers all over the world. Sort of like when you get up  at mass to take a child to the bathroom. You wouldn't feel you had to go back and recite the prayer's you'd missed to "catch up" to the others. No, because they prayed the mass for you. That's  called the communion of saints."

My second resolution will be one I made in 2009 and kept - until Elizabeth was born in June - and it has simply been hit and miss since. But now that I have a whole monastery of Franciscans up the road, I'm going to try to get to Confession once a month. 5 minutes up the road. No problem right? I still better put it in my calendar. 


Finally, it would not be New Year's Day without wishing my wonderful husband, James, a Happy Anniversary. He currently has a cold and has barely slept but hopefully the day and year will only get better. He is truly my other half and I could not imagine my life without him. Seven years strong, many more to come. I love you, James! Thank you for everything!

An Angelic Innkeeper and Two Little Lambs

As I mentioned, just before Christmas, the girls were in their first Nativity Pageant.

Cecilia the Innkeeper:

 Elizabeth has some priceless sheep expressions.

 Cecilia the Angel:

 Felicity, my little lamb...

 Elizabeth didn't want to stay put for anything.... except the iPod. It was the only way I could lure her back into the show after she fled the cast to sit with Grandpa in the audience.

 Elizabeth, being sheepish....

 Baaaaaaa....

All the kids were so wonderful. It was truly a beautiful pageant, in the simple and innocent way only children can make it.

It reminded me of The Bells of St. Marys...