Ups & Downs

Sam & Santa, a photo by Justin and Kelly Webb on Flickr.

We have definitely had our ups and downs this week...fortunately mostly ups. We were supposed to head to Indiana to celebrate Christmas with Justin's family, as well as help his parents clean out their house in preparation to sell. Justin was actually in Chicago on Wednesday and the kids & I were to meet him there on Thursday morning and head the rest of the way to Indy together.


Major Downer: Sickness...Izzy still on antibiotics (which seemed to not be helping her cough...until today) and I came down with something even worse...miserable. First time in maybe 20 years that I had a fever. First time in maybe 20 years I went to the doctor b/c I felt so horrible.

Major Downer: The kids and I cancel our trip on Thursday morning.

Up: Justin was still able to go help his parents clean out their house and celebrate Christmas with his side of the family...and stay away from our sick house.

Up: As I'm dropping Caleb off at school Thursday morning, the principal brings a big basket full of craft stuff to our car...apparently Sam won a raffle at the Santa breakfast last wknd. Perfect timing. The kids are happy again.

Up: Justin and his parents are super productive (um, w/o our kids) and get a TON of stuff done.

Up: Having my mom so close...she watches Izzy and Sam a few times, takes Caleb & Sam to tennis lessons, runs multiple errands for me, brings me medicine...you get the picture.

Up: Izzy loves the movie Rudolf and although it's short, she will watch it repeatedly while I sleep on the couch next to her. Oh yeah, when it's over, she knows how to hit "play" so she doesn't have to bother me. ;)

Up: Justin enjoys good quality time with his mom & dad on Thursday & Friday...no kid interruptions, just the three of them. Today he was able to see Chris & his family as well.

Up: Casey picked up the boys today to take them to the Muppet Movie. They had a blast....all 3 of them. :)

Up: My mom brought us homemade chicken noodle soup tonight...so yummy. I needed it, it's one of Caleb's favorites and apparently it's one of Izzy's - - she ate 3 bowls. She also brought my favorite bread over...from a bread shop in Milwaukee...my dad's best friend Tim actually bought it..he bought a loaf for my parents AND a loaf for ME. Made fresh today... How nice is that!?!! And perfect timing...went great w/ our soup.

Downer: this flu/virus/infection/whatever it is just won't go away.

Up: The kids have actually been very sweet and understanding. I can't tell you how many times Caleb has asked me if I was alright. Soooo sweet. As I layed on the couch this morning, Sam & Izzy "took care of me" with lots of pretend meals, medicine & lots of orange juice.

Downer: b/c I can't speak loudly (to get the kids attention....or to just yell) I have to clap to get their attention. Um, I think this is confusing Izzy. Example:Today, Sam was throwing his blanket around and knocking ornaments off the tree and laughing...I try to yell (from the kitchen) and nothing comes out. So I clap to get Sam to look at me...Izzy mistakes my clap as a positive and joins in the fun. I think I need one of those air horns you hear at sporting events.
Up: Justin comes home tomorrow!
Up: Although we missed celebrating with Justin's family this wknd, it's not all that bad b/c his parents had already planned on being at our place for Christmas anyway.

I'll end on a funny "Up":
Last night after dinner I felt like my health was FINALLY taking a turn for the better instead of continuing downhill. I decided to be "fun" (as best I could) and told the kids at 7:00 (PJ time) that after their PJs were on, we were getting in the car, eating lollipops/candy canes, listening to Christmas music and were going to drive around to look at Christmas lights. They LOVED it...but before we left, as they were putting their seatbelts on, Sam's eye's lit up, he had a huge smile on his face and he said "mom, is this illegal?" as if doing something illegal was the coolest thing in the world. Maybe I should have categorized this as a "downer".