Random

Jumba leaving for a game.

Kiddos dressed for Mass.

Cutie Twin Beautiful.

Equally cute Twin Adorable.

Dad and Adorable

The week between getting back from NOLO and my birthday was a bad one for me. I had a high fever, felt tired but J was in traveling so much that I still had to get up and drive the kids around. It was only bad at night. One night I took some ibuprofen and found not stop the chills. I shook in bed for about 25 minutes. Finally the fever broke and then I was just tired. I felt much better the next day and after picking J up from the airport I took the weekend to recoup. He was in charge and I rested. 

Everyone Has the FLU

No details, no body wants them.  Sometimes being in a big family means that when the first person gets sick everyone else feels like a ticking time bomb.  When, will it be as bad, can I avoid it?  I share this post because I want to point out that I love my family.  I watched the kids take care of each other.  They fight and drive me nuts all of the time but they love each other and care for each other - even when it means they might be next.  My family would not have lived long during the black plague.  We would have shared it very quickly and died caring for each other.  In the end we were all on the mend and had enjoyed a few movies.  Now onto the next adventure.  With the house on the market I must say that our hoe has never been this clean while we were sick.  I scrubbed constantly.  With no showings we ended up having a peaceful week.

Pollen - It's No Picnic

I am still struggling with all these allergies.  UGH!  I wish that I wasn't having issues but this pollen is making me sick.  Now if I could only get over my fear of doctors and get to an allergist so I can get some relief.

Penthathlon - Father's Day - Bagel's Brithday

Today was supposed to be a day of many celebrations.  This was not any easy meet to get invited into.  For this meet you needed many skills in all strokes.  For this you had to reach a pretty fast time in each stroke plus the IM - which is all for swam together.  Bagel, Princess and Possible all timed well enough to receive the invite.  We knew that Bagel couldn't swim the Breast stoke without messing it up but she was still invited.  We headed into this event as a way to prove that she mastered that stroke and not to care about her overall placement.  The day was also going to celebrate Princess and her steady strokes and ability to do well in each one.  Possible had earned her way surprising everyone with great times in everything she swam . .  . Then the day came and it didn't go so well.  Instead of celebrating the best dad in the world for Father's day, instead of celebrating Bagel's 9th birthday and instead of watching all three of my fastest swimmers we had a house full of sickies.  It started with Possible and Dad was next.  The rest of us headed to the meet hoping that Dad and Possible would be better by the time we returned.

 

The day got worse at it went on.  By nightfall everyone (almost everyone) was ill.  The great news is that Bagel was able to swim the Breast Stroke two times in one day without DQing.  Yahoo.  WE were so proud of her and this ended up being a great way to celebrate her birthday.  Possible was so upset, as she had worked so hard to get here.  Princess also swam fantastically.  I didn't get sick later but the rest of them did, except Sugar.  Later that night she came down stairs holding her Epi Pen and asking to be taken to the ER again.  Off we went for another late night allergy adventure.  (Don't worry we do come back to Bagel's day later on!) 

In the end Sugar did not need the Epi or any more medications.  This was not an allergic reaction but maybe a reaction to the medicines or the lack of medicine.  Maybe this "reaction" was just  a breathing issue related being ill.  It was 3:30 am before we got home for our short night of sleep.  So far Sugar is OK but this is so scary.  Her allergic reactions have no cause?  This is crazy and it was one weekend that I was thrilled when it finally came to an end and I was able to close my eyes.  Happy birthday Bagel!  WE all love you and we are sorry that your day wasn't very good. 

Being Sick

QUARANTINE!!!! OK, I am being a little funny here. So far no one has turned into a Zombie except for mom - due to lack of sleep! The long lasting flu is a pain. I can handle the bugs that last a few days but this week plus junk is for the birds. We are now officially on the next wave (not sure how many more will hit!). The Twins are better, just bored because Princess and Bagel are too sick to entertain them. I have currently employed Pickle and Jumba (Now feeling 100%) to clean up around the house. Last night was a long one as Princess and Bagel were on opposite shifts of getting sick, crying and then falling back to sleep. The babies are feeling better so they woke early wanting to play. Poor things find mom extremely dull, especially after a night of little sleep.. 

Please do not visit - for your own sake. We are good right now. My fear is that the big kids and I will get sick at the same time. I will let you all know if that happens. For now please say a prayer.

 

~This was my facebook post from April 15.  That bug lasted 2 weeks, not every one got sick but the ones that did were sick for a long time. 

 

In between that flu and the one that followed most of us had a bad cold.  We were coughing and hacking all the time. Ourside weather wasn't helping as it is usually about 75 degrees at least everyday when we start swim team but we were having hot hot days in the high 80s and then low low days in the 50's, all the the kiddos were supposed to be going to daily swim practice.

 

 

We all get a little worried that we are way sicker than we are when it lasts as long as it did.  The truth is our family rarely gets sick.  We are all pretty healthy people (knock on wood (of the cross) three times -"Father, Son, and Holy Spirit") so this being sick is not fun.  We are always very shocked by it.  Every year it seams to hit at the beginning of swim team.  I guess it is because we are all the sudden around all those germs that we avoided all year by homeschooling. 

I was completely caught off guard the other day as I went to get jumba ready for swim team.  (I plan to post about his first days on the team soon!)   He just turned to me and vomited all over the place, and kept coming.  Big sigh, how to rework the day to get people where they needed to be even though I felt icky all day and now I know that I have been fluish not just lazy.  Within six hours 9 out of 13 people in the house were getting sick.  This made for a fun conversation  this morning.  The big comparison of who had been the most sick.  Only a big family can relate . . .  I laughed at their stories but I know I was the one who got the sickest.  YUCK! 

It didn't last long and within two more days only Dad and Bear did not get sick.  We are all hopeful that it is over, at least for awhile.  A month of on again off again sickness reminds us how blessed we are to have each other for help when sick and to just not be alone in the stuff life throws at us. 

Being Sick!

Our house was a wreck this week. The flu hit us and hit us hard. It started with Pooker feeling ill and medicating herself through it. Monday she stayed in bed all day and by Tuesday was feeling better. The cries started about 5:oo am with Princess complaining of her head hurting. She had a fever. An hour later Sugar came down with the same complaints. Moogie woke another hour later high fever and head ache. Pickle came down about 2 hours later with a head ache, he didn't yet have a fever but it came later. Bagel pretended to be sick also until early the next morning when she really had a fever. Wednesday Jumba woke with a fever and very crabby . Mom's fever started later in the day.

The short version is that I suspect we had the H1N1 Flu but we were not tested. The headaches were bad and lasted about 1 day. The fevers were high and lasted 3 days. The aches were connected with the fevers. The sore throat lasted about 2 days. The coughing hasn't ended so I can't say how long that will last.

We treated the fevers with acetaminophen and Ibuprofen. How can you treat so many people when you are feeling sick yourself. You make a chart. You list everyone on that chart and you mark every symptom and every drop of medicine given. That way no one gets too much medicine and you know if someone isn't getting better. It wan't pretty but it got the job done. After my week of nursing the sick I have decided to go back to teaching. We will start school next week, maybe!?! . . .