cabin fever

Today was day 1,000,000 of being in the house all day with two sick kids.  Well, I guess I'm exaggerating a little, but wow, am I tired of this!

Yesterday Rebecca came down with what Rachel's been battling. I took them both to the doctor.   She didn't think it was the flu, and it wasn't an ear infection or strep, so that was good.  Just your run of the mill winter virus.

Rachel was pretty miserable yesterday.  A little better today.  Rebecca's a day behind Rachel, so she was pretty miserable this afternoon/evening, and hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Rebecca got to choose the movie today.  One guess.  Yes, The Incredibles.  Ugh.  Hopefully Rachel will choose something better tomorrow (I actually like The Incredibles....I'm just tired of it!)

This morning was play doh (yuck, I really don't like play doh!  What a mess!).  But they had fun and forgot about being sick for awhile.

The silver lining is that Monday there was a two hour delay, so Rachel only missed a shortened day of school, and today and tomorrow school closed for cold, so she's not missing anything.  I think she'll be good to go back on Thursday, because her temp was normal tonight before she went to bed....the first time it's been in the 90s since 4:00 AM on Sunday morning!  Yay!

a snowy sick day

This winter has been something else!  Sub zero temps, snow and more snow....when is spring going to be here?

Yesterday we stayed in all day because we got about six inches of snow and the roads weren't great.  We watched movies and ate popcorn and played board games.   

Last night Rachel was up at 4:00 AM not feeling good.  Fever, cough, chills, headache....  So she and I stayed home from church while Rebecca and Daddy braved the roads (it was snowing again and the roads were not that great again) and went.  Rachel and I watched the movie, "Akeelah and the Bee," about the National Spelling Bee.  Rachel decided she wants a dictionary so she can spell that well.

She felt better for awhile, but then the medicine wore off and she was down again.  Next we watched "Pollyanna."  Now she's feeling better again and the TV is off until the medicine wears off again.  I'm completely movied out!   

We had talked about taking the kids sledding today....the last day before the bottom falls out of the temperatures, but obviously that couldn't happen, since she's sick.  

Everyone's expecting there to be no school for at least the next two days because of the temperatures, and this time I hope that's the case, because then Rachel wouldn't miss any school because of sickness.  

I'm ready for spring!!

Speaking of spring, this greeted me when I came downstairs yesterday morning, while the snow fell hard outside.

One of my students gave me this for Christmas.  It was just a bulb in the glass container.  We've watched it grow and grow for the last month, and could  tell it was ready to bloom soon.  The girls were thrilled to see it had opened up yesterday.  So we have a tiny piece of spring on our kitchen table.

incredible

Rachel once went through a phase where she was obsessed with the movie, The Incredibles.  During that time, my mom happened upon a Mr. Incredible costume at a consignment sale and bought it for Rachel, who loved it.  (For some reason, though, I can't seem to find a picture of her in it).

After she outgrew The Incredibles phase, the costume hung in the closet, and somehow ended up in Rebecca's closet. 

About a year ago Rebecca noticed the costume and started asking questions about it.   I kept telling her it was too big for her, but she finally found out it was from the movie, The Incredibles, which we own, but she'd never seen (she hasn't been interested in any movies at all until the last couple of months).   Every once in awhile she'd ask about it.

So finally, a couple of weeks ago, we went through all of our movies and made a pile of movies Rebecca hadn't seen and was old enough to watch, since she's now showing interest and will finally sit through an entire movie.  The Incredibles was one of them.  We had a family movie night, and she chose that one.  And fell in LOVE.

The next day she begged for the costume to come out of the closet.  She's had it on pretty much every day since at some point.  She even snuck out of bed one night, put it on over her PJs without our knowing, and in the morning came down with it on.  (She got in trouble for that one....and the costume got put away for a day as punishment.)  She'd watch the movie every day if I'd let her.

So here she is....this picture cracks me up. 

I tried finding the picture she was trying to recreate, which is a picture of Mr. Incredible from the menu screen on the movie, but I can't find it online.  He has his hands behind his back like she does.

Oh, this crazy girl.  (And thank goodness she's had her hair cut since I took this picture.  Man, those are some LONG bangs!)

(Now she's asking for Mr. Incredible boots, gloves, and mask for her birthday.  She doesn't understand that they don't make Mr. Incredible toys anymore. )

what's old is new again

Most of these toys have been in the toy box for years.  Occasionally they get taken out and played with, but mostly they stay hidden away in the toy box and rarely see the light of day.

Yesterday my parents brought me the bookshelf for the play room.  I just emptied the toy box and put the toys on the shelf, and suddenly, these old toys have new life!  Rebecca's playing with one after the other, because she can actually SEE them.  Of course, the shelf looks rather cluttered, and maybe someday I'll get cute baskets to make it look better, but for now, it's all about function. 

The toy box is now the dress up clothes box.  The dress up clothes get the most mileage around here, play-wise, so I'm not worried about them being forgotten in the toy box.  

The dress up box is now the musical instrument box (we have SO many guitars....Rebecca is a little less guitar obsessed than she used to be, but she still loves them!)

The train table has become the play table, since no one is into trains at the moment (my husband wants to sell the table and the train set, but Rebecca plays at this table ALL the time, so I don't want to).

We'll see how this arrangement works.  And I still need to figure out what to put on the top two shelves that the girls can't reach.  I'm thinking paint, play doh, etc, but we'll see.  For now I'm just happy that things are getting played with and there is less sitting on the floor.

cookies, anyone?

Rachel and her troop are selling Girl Scout cookies.  If anyone is interested in buying any, please let me know.  Even if you aren't local or don't want to eat the cookies yourself, you can order some to be donated to a local food bank.  They are $4 per box this year, but our troop gets a bigger percentage of the cost of each box than we've gotten in the past.

Thank you for supporting her and our Brownie troop!

a little stir crazy

I heard on the news today that the first Monday in January is considered the most depressing day of the year.  But in my world, today should've been a GREAT day. The day when half of my children go back to school after 2+ weeks at home and life starts to get normal again. I've been looking forward to today since about Dec 28th (when the post Christmas depression set in.....I get a little depressed every year after Christmas and it usually lasts until school starts and life gets back to normal).  

But things didn't get back to normal today.  Like much of the country, we are experiencing the "polar vortex" they're going on and on (and on and on) about, and the cold temperatures cancelled school.  I actually was glad I didn't have to get us all out the door to the bus stop first thing in the morning into the brutally cold air, but......I'm going a little stir crazy, and so are my girls.  

They're still playing with Christmas presents, but they've lost a little of their luster. They've played dress up ad nauseam.  They have watched more TV than I'd normally allow.  They've played school, house, American Girl, doggies, princess, and every other imaginary make believe concoction you can think of, and probably many you would NEVER think of.  They've colored, made books, done crafts, played  games, read books.....you name it, they've probably done it over the last two weeks.   They've played outside pretty much every day except today, when I couldn't, with a clear conscience, let them go out.  So today it was playing inside ALLLLLLLLL day.  

Ordinarily, I'd love a "snow day" off of school.  But I'm just ready for real life to start again.  I know I'm not the only mom feeling this way....

But guess what?  School is already called off for tomorrow.  For me, too (I was supposed to start teaching again tomorrow).  And Friday is an already scheduled day off of school.  So IF Rachel goes back to school on Wednesday, it will only be for two days, and then she's back home.

I love my girl, and love having her home (Rebecca's not going to know what to do with herself once Rachel is in school again), but I'm just ready for some normalcy.  Guess I need to wait awhile longer for that.

I shouldn't be complaining.  I'm happy to be home with my girls.  Happy we are in a warm house with food.  Happy they get along (MOST of the time) and have fun together.  Happy.  Really.  Just VERY stir crazy.