week 51 & 52

The kids were such troopers while we spent so much time being sick and stuck at home. Especially Oak who never got sick and always needs to be moving or doing something. My fever wasn't totally breaking and we were worried we wouldn't make it to my in-laws house for Christmas. But thankfully we did even though I was still pretty worn out from being sick and coughing non stop.

Oak and her adorable cousins. 

Everyone wants to be the angel when they do the Nativity for Christmas Eve.

Mac was so excited to get this nerf gun from Santa. 

Oak was very excited about the pajama dresses and long dresses she got from Santa. And Grandma C made her dream come true with an American Girl doll that looks like her. 

My niece was so stinking cute sitting here getting into her moms purse and drawing on her phone with a pen. lol. 

This was a newspaper found in my father-in-law's father's stuff. (He died when my FIL was a teenager).

This is obviously a favorite when at grandma and grandpa's. Mario Brothers. 

Since influenza ruined his birthday we had a birthday re-do. He chose all his favorite meals and snacks, had a nerf gun war, went to the arcade and had cake and ice cream. It was a great day to celebrate our boy. 

Church on the last day of the year. 

A list Oak made during church. She is so stinking cute and sweet. And I love her handwriting. 

He may be ten but still loves to create set-ups with Lincoln logs and army guys. 

We continued our tradition for new years eve of fruit/veggies/chips and dips. YUM!

Hoping for a healthier 2018.

week 50

Tea time with this cool book we got at the library.

This boy and reading. I just really love how much he reads.

A STEM activity with popsicle sticks and clothes pins.

This was the calm before the storm. The house was all clean the candles were lit. The house decorated. Classical music playing. And these two cuties playing light sabers. I laughed because I was trying create a hygge feeling in the house. Also this day my husband found out he had Influenza A. So I went to work quarantining him and cleaning every speck of the house so that no one else would get it.

My hubby found out he was sick the day before Mac's birthday. Mac was pretty disappointed that we wouldn't be doing his planned birthday activities because we decided we would all stay home just in case any of us were going to get sick so that we wouldn't spread it. Oak helped me blow up the balloons.

I slept on the couch to avoid getting sick. Which didn't work since I kissed my husband on the day he found out he had the Flu.

Excited to wake up to presents.

The Happy Birthday sign I made for his first birthday. We use for all the birthdays in our home. I love that it is still in such great condition and will always be a tradition in our family.

Daddy had gotten Mac a really nice pocket knife. This says a lot since Mac isn't know for being very responsible. He was very excited for this gift and that daddy trusted him enough to give it to him.

Then he had a fever of 102. Such a bummer to get sick on your birthday. (We originally thought he had influenza also. I even took him to the doctor they didn't test him because of the high possibility but did prescribe him Tamaflu. But I didn't feel right about him taking it so I never gave it to him. He was only sick with a fever for about two or three days and then was bouncing off the walls. Not much of a cough. So we think he was just sick with something but not influenza. My mom never got and Oak never got it. )

Our counter looked like this throughout the next week.

He still wanted his pumpkin pie.

While my husband was really sick, the hot water went out and I had to go reset it.

And my kids' toilet broke which I wasn't good timing because I didn't want the kids sharing a bathroom with daddy because he was sick and I didn't want them sharing grandma's bathroom downstairs because I didn't want her getting sick. But nothing could be done. So every time Mac went to the bathroom I went in right after him and scrubbed everything he touched.

This poor girl was going stir crazy but was actually being such a good girl while stuck in the house for two weeks and never getting sick.

I ended up coming down with influenza and fever and cough started a few days after my husbands. He was better by the time I got sick so we switched places and I was quarantined in the bedroom for the entire week before Christmas. It was not fun and Oak really struggled to not get to be near me. So we facetimed.

week 49

A cold but beautiful walk.

Oak's letter to Santa.

I love this drawing by Oak.

We love poetry tea time on Thursdays.

Our little towns biggest parade is the Snowflake light parade. It is also the coldest. But pretty much the whole town is there and its hard to find a place on the sidewalk.

For December I really wanted to avoid all the hoopla and just BE at home with my family spending time and celebrating in our own way. I didn't want the busyness and commercialism to blind us from what was important. So I tried to be in the moment finding little ways to enjoy our time. Reading and eating lunch by the tree was such a sweet moment.

We dried orange slices in the oven and strung them with popcorn and cranberries. The kids didn't like doing this as much as I thought they would. But they sure turned out pretty.

My cute girl.