Thanksgiving 2023

 John didn’t sleep the night before, so we had a very late Thanksgiving, which is not my favorite. But the kids are fun and did a whole bunch and I did not have to do nearly as much as I once did and I really appreciate that. 

Eliza and Cone

Anya handed Eliza a pinecone at the park, saying "Eliza, it's a pinecone"
Eliza smiled and tried to take a bite out of it
Anya protested "No, its not for eating"
Eliza looked disappointed and threw it on the ground. 

She was hoping for an ice cream cone.

Gideon Says

 To Kate: Kate play legos or die!

To Rachel: Gideon offered to race Rachel drinking cocoa. Rachel won, so Gideon said second wins. Then Gideon got too full, so he said, “okay you win.”

Sam is 7

 Sam is 7 and that is the end of birthdays for 2023.

Who Will Win?

 Susan playing chess against herself.

Norovirus Strikes Again

 It has been 5.5 years since a bad stomach flu has hit our family and even that long since more than one person has had any sort of stomach bug at a time. We got hit hard this weekend. Here’s the horror show. And yes, I did keep track.

Wednesday night— Kate goes to bed feeling nauseous says she knows that she will not eat the next day.

Thursday morning— Ruth wakes up feeling sick, goes to the woods and prays and feels better, then comes inside to Sam Puking.

Thursday—- Sam pukes 8 times throughout the day.

Friday—- Everyone is fine.

Friday night—- Joseph says he feels sick and goes to sleep on the coach.

John has diarrhea 7 times through the night.

Saturday morning—- Ruth comes into my room and feels very sick and said she has diarrhea and is very distressed.

Joseph wakes up puking and I have hot flashes and messed up heart pumping cleaning up his mess.

Susan pukes in the bathroom sink and I hand out buckets to everyone in the house even those sleeping in their beds.

Arwen pukes. I am glad I handed out those buckets.

Ruth pukes.

Gideon pukes and even though he was asleep he makes it all into the bucket. Ruth is in the bathroom still helping Susan who is puking and Arwen who is now in the bath.

Arwen pukes again and has diarrhea at the same time.

Joseph pukes again.

Adam wakes up and pukes.

Kate, Eliza, and I go to the store to get supplies before it gets worse.

While I am gone Gideon pukes again and Susan pukes again.

Saturday afternoon—- I get home. Johnny says he is sick and sleeps. Anya and Rachel sleep. They say they are just tired.

Adam pukes again. 

Sam has diahrea in his pants.

Gideon pukes again.

John and I both have fevers. Anya and Rachel look horrible and probably have fevers. They sleep more.

Josh says he can’t tell if his stomach hurts because he is sick or hungry or because so many people are puking.

Johnny has a fever and diarrhea.

Susan comes into my room, sits down on my bed pukes in a bucket and has diarrhea on my bed.

Eliza pukes on me at the same time.

Sam has more diarrhea in his pants.

I make two rules: no farting unless you are sitting on the toilet, and no coming in my bedroom if you are feeling sick, instead sit up and hold your bucket.

John and I clean up the three messes while having fevers.

Eliza pukes again.

Saturday night—-Rachel comes into my room looking horrible. I tell her to get a bucket. Rachel yells at me and tells me I am mean, but pukes within the hour.

Eliza pukes 6 more times. I stay with Eliza taking care of her and the other sick kids think I am disappeared because I am sick. But I was actually doing a lot of laundry too, so they could have noticed me.

Midnight Sunday—- Eliza pukes one more time and goes to sleep immediately there after.

4am Sunday—- Eliza wakes up and I allow her to breast feed. After an hour, she asks for a bath, gets in the tub and sneaks a cup of hot water, but she does not puke again.

Sunday—- Kate wakes up feeling sick again. Sam’s birthday, poor kid. Everyone is laying around getting small drinks and hoping that no one else pukes. 

Sunday afternoon—- I make dairy free banana muffins for Sam and we sing happy birthday and he opens a present. 

Kids continue to rehydrate some eat crackers and some muffins.

Sunday night— I am make plain rice for dinner, most people eat a little.

Monday— Half the family feels better, the other half feels weak and still a little uncomfortable.

Josh has not really been sick yet. Anya said she felt sick and that she had a fever, but she never puked. I am hoping that they had it more like I did and we are done. I am also hoping that we are immune to norovirus for another 5 to 10 years.

UPDATE: Tuesday evening—Gideon has round 2, but he felt better faster.

                   4am Thursday—Josh succumbs.

Things Eliza Saya

 Here is a list of cute things that Eliza says

Neigh for horse

Sea neigh for sea horse

Neigh corn for unicorn

Fish corn for narwhal

Beepbot for robot

Tanya for Rachel and Anya

One More Beach Day

 This was such a nice beach day. It was not a swim day. The water is cold now and there were a ton of jellyfish close to shore, but it was such a lovely day.