So, it's been awhile!

Okay, so I've been very lax in my blog posting since before Thanksgiving. But I have a good reason! Our family was inundated with sickie bugs for most of the last two weeks. Yuck! We started out the holiday with John, Kara, and I having head colds. Then Kara developed a nasty stomach bug late on Thanksgiving night. She was down and out for most of the weekend, which was too bad for our visit with all the extended family. The rest of us thought we were free and clear, but then we quickly realized we were wrong! On the Wednesday after the holiday, once my cold was finally starting to clear, I came down with the stomach bug. That night Matt succumbed and John was affected the following day. John was the only one who did not actually get sick, but he spent most of the day complaining of an upset tummy, stayed home from swimming and school and took a nap (which he only does when he's sick). So, after several more days of illness, we seem to finally have beaten back the bugs and be on the mend. Needless to say, it's been a long couple of weeks!

Fortunately, we did have a good holiday overall. With Kara being the exception, the rest of us really enjoyed the time we had with both sets of grandparents, my aunt, my uncle, and my brother, sister-in-law and their two girls. John had a great time playing with the cousins, while Kara mostly slept the days away. We cut down Christmas trees and decorated my parents' house, ate tons of yummy food, and watched some good football games. It was a busy, but good weekend.

This last week was a bit brutal for us, but with us getting sick in a sort of staggered fashion, we were able to get through it. That, and with the help of some good friends! We've been sick a few times this fall already, but this was definitely the worst. It made me appreciate the fact that we rarely get stomach bugs around here. Usually it's just colds, which are yucky, but not so bad when compared with this.

So, for now, I'm on to getting prepared for John's 5th birthday (which is a week from today - yikes!) and then on to Christmas. We tried to go see Santa today at the mall. Not quite sure what we were thinking - trying to see Santa on the weekend? Duh! Not likely! So I'm heading back tomorrow morning - going early and getting a good spot in line. The people we were in line with today waited at least 2 hours! No thank you! We waved to Santa and the kids were just fine with it.

Then later this week we'll be getting ready for a very small gathering for John's birthday on Sunday. We purchased a Thomas cake (at the preschool's silent auction), so John's delighted about that and wants the decorations to also be Thomas themed. So, off to the party store for us for supplies. And I want to get over to the arts & crafts store also for a few crafts to do in the coming weeks with the kids. Maybe somewhere in there we'll get to make a few cookies and treats too.

I really wish I had a few more hours in the day, a couple more hands, and maybe even a few clones of me to do all the chores that I can't seem to get to. Oh, and some extra cash to buy all these gifts and decorations with would be nice too!