The holiday season started off so great...lots of fun things to do, cookie decorating, Christmas programs, decorating the Okatie float and watching the Bluffton Parade, hanging with friends, Christmas shopping, Christmas parties, talk of our upcoming trip to Texas, etc, etc.
Unfortunately it ended rather anti-climatically.
My birthday seems to have kicked off the germ fest that partied in my house for much of December. The kids got out of school on December 17th and Tommy hadn't been feeling well for a couple of days already. That first night of the vacation he stayed the night with a friend, whose mom ended up having to give him cold & flu medicine.
Turns out Tommy then spent the next 4 days sick with what I'm sure was the flu - tired, body aches, high fever, upset stomach. Then he started feeling better by Wednesday.
However, THAT celebration was short lived as my husband had caught T's bug :(
Tom then spent the next 11 days in BED. He even fainted a few times during those two weeks...once in the bathroom on Christmas morning, which induced tears in my five year daughter who walked in at just the wrong moment and asked "what's wrong with my daddy???" and almost seemed to have a panic attack thinking her daddy was dying. A-W-E-S-O-M-E start to the morning!
Should I try to describe those two weeks? Nah...use your imagination. If you're a single mom then know I can sympathise. If you have a husband who has ever been sick you can sympathise with me.
And during those two weeks I was still finishing up Christmas shopping & wrapping, packing for five for our upcoming trip to Texas, and making sure everything else didn't fall apart.
Too bad I wasn't making sure *I* didn't fall apart. This was a Christmas that I am ok with not remembering perfectly clearly.
Although, we did make some memories over the break.
The not-so-lovely ones first:
- Think Cole splitting his chin open on the stairs and narrowly avoiding a trip to the emergency room thanks to a neighbor who is a nurse
- Our guinnea pig losing the fight to a gross battle with some type of skin disease
- Fights over the new Kinnect system
- Fights over the old Wii system
- Mommy losing it on Christmas morning after sitting for two hours at the computer and STILL being unable to download a new game to Ave's iXL...thanks firewall!
- Tommy being told by a neighbor on Christmas morning his iPod touch may not be a real 0ne because it didn't have the apple on the back (it's a refurbished one. Duh...the kid is 11. He doesn't need a $350 iPod. lol)
- We have survived 11 years with Tommy!
- Seeing Avery in her first elementary school Christmas performance
- Cooking pancakes & sausage for the Polar Express themed last day of school breakfast
- I turned 33 :)
- I had two mornings in December while the children were in school, and ran into a friend while shopping and was able to go have coffee. Seriously? When did I get here?? :)
- Baking cookies with a very good friend and her daughters, and just talking all day long without having anything else to do
- Making gingerbread houses with the kids
- Spending time with my children while they were out of school, even though we didn't get to do much due to sick people
- The kids and I spending Christmas Eve morning at our church with two of the families in the Family Promise program (in case you aren't familiar with this program, it helps homeless families get back on their feet while living at participating churches who take turns hosting on a weekly basis), making gingerbread houses and decorating cookies, putting make-up on and building blocks. Then having one of the mom's tell me thank you because we did some of the things their family usually did during the holidays but are unable to this year
- Avery and I taking our neighbor to lunch on Christmas Eve, while she was home from boarding school. My two little ones adore her and call her "my mady." It was wonderful to catch up and let Avery spend time with her
- Watching my children's excitement as Christmas drew near, then seeing their faces as they woke us up after seeing Santa had visited us
- Tom's mom jumping in her car two days after Christmas and driving here to be with us since we couldn't get there. I.LOVE.HER
- Knowing I have a God who loves me enough to sacrifice His son so that I will have everlasting life!
Thank goodness the highs were more than the lows. We really did enjoy each other during the Christmas season and I was sad to see the kids go back to school today. Although, it's very nice to be back into a routine.
Here are some pictures from the beginning of the month to the end, Christmas Eve at my parents and Christmas morning at our house. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the kids opening Grandma's presents. Hopefully she'll have a few! She spoiled the kids as well :)
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