The week before Christmas 3 of the 5 of us fell victim to the flu, with fevers, chills, aches, coughs, etc. Ashlyn and I got over the fever part after a day or two, but Josiah's hung on longer. Then his cough got worse (and so did mine). Christmas Eve found Josiah and Dakota sitting at the walk-in clinic, where he was diagnosed with croup and bronchiolitis. Merry Christmas!
There were many plans and traditional activities we had to cancel on account of us all being sick. Even when Christmas day rolled around, everyone slept in, and it was mid-morning before we touched the presents.
Once we were all awake, we opened presents, which the kids were pretty excited about.
In the school room, the kids each found their "big" present.
Josiah got a big rocking horse.
Ashlyn got a big Dora doll house. And Emma got a rainbow loom bracelet maker, with lots of rubber bands.
After the wrappings were all cleaned up and the kids were busy fighting over their new toys, Dakota and I started making our annual big brunch--which was more like a late lunch at this point. Usually we make a plate of cinnamon rolls and it's our "Happy Birthday, Jesus" cake. But this year the kids had to settle for pancakes topped with coconut butter, cinnamon and sugar. (Tastes just as good as cinnamon rolls by the way.)
After lunch, we all took naps, and Dakota said he felt like he was starting to get flu-like symptoms. Ugh no! We cancelled our annual Christmas day visit to the nursing home to play music and hand out Christmas cards. Yet one more thing that had to be cancelled.
The next day was packing day. Dakota laid low, in hopes of beating the flu at its game. I got the rest of us packed up for a trip to visit family in Chicago, determined that we wouldn't cancel one more of our Christmas plans. By the next morning, we still had our coughs, but overall were feeling much better.
Our time in Chicago was quiet and relaxing--just what we needed. We played several games of family solitaire, and just hung out.
When it came time for gifts, we were given a new ipad, which the kids quickly tried to claim as their own.
Josiah was given a giant Superman that was almost as big as he was. He had no idea what to do with it and just kept staring at it with an uneasy look on his face.
Apparently this is what he really wanted for Christmas. My mom had a grocery scanner/check-out toy that he became obsessed with. While we were unwrapping gifts, this is what he was doing.
In fact, when I asked him to come join us and open a few presents, he had a melt down, because he didn't want to stop scanning the groceries. So the next day grandma took Superman back to the store and got Josiah a grocery scanner/check-out of his own.
On Sunday we went to church with my sisters. We let the kids dress up in their Christmas dresses/outfits, since sickness had kept us from getting dressed up and going to church before Christmas. After church we joined more family for lunch at my grandma's house.
Emma showed my grandma how she made bracelets on her new loom, and then proceeded to make bracelets for everyone...
...while Ashlyn and Nathan had a tea party with my grandma's heavy pewter tea set.
And Josiah... he kept busy scanning groceries and bringing bags of pretend food around to everyone.
The next day it was time for us to pack up and head back to Iowa. The roads in IL were great, but it started snowing at the IA boarder. About 90 miles outside of Des Moines, the roads became deceptively slick. A few times, Dakota started fish tailing, and we had to drastically reduce our speed to make it home safely. It added considerable time to our drive, but we did finally make it home safely.
The next couple days were spent alternating between cleaning up around the house and resting. New Years Eve came and went without much fanfare. I stayed awake until midnight, but mostly because my cough wouldn't let me sleep.
2013 was a pretty good year overall, though I don't know that the ending would make the highlight's reel. Here's to a good 2014 from start to finish!
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