Sick Kids and Snow Days

We're a mess over here.  Literally and figuratively.  So much for all my cleaning and organizing!  Between sick kids and snow days, the house has become trashed once again.  Alex is going on almost 2 weeks now of a snotty nose, off and on fevers, and an emotionally needy alter-ego.  He is a mess.  Jane -- always one to hop on board the crazy train -- came down with a milder version of whatever he has a couple days after Alex did and has done her best to completely run me ragged.  Throw in a slightly sick Ethan, two snow days in a row, and lots and lots of sleepless nights and you can probably understand why blogging has been put on the back burner.  Hahahaha.

As it is, there's nothing REALLY all that note-worthy to record other than the fact that today is my Birthday Eve Eve.  Hahaha.  I've decided to really go ahead and treat myself this year {after saving up my spending cash for the last couple of months and selling a TON of clothes at Once Upon a Child} in order to go big for my 33rd benchmark.   As such I've gone ahead and gotten my hair done {after almost a YEAR}; ordered a big shipment of books on Amazon; and splurged on a GPS running watch.  Which I'm in love with.

 My Hair:

  

 

 I think the kids these days are calling this a selfie.  I'm so in the know.  Hahahaha.

My Books:

 

 Are you sensing a theme?  No junk January has spurred a revolution.  I've given up sugar for Lent.  Even though I don't technically celebrate Lent.

 My Watch:

 

 Garmin Forerunner 10.  Love.

It's hard to believe that February is almost at its end.  Here are a few more brief highlights of the month that have not yet been covered:

Ethan's Blue and Gold Dinner --

The theme this year was superheroes and the cake he went with was Spiderman themed.  The dinner was a lot of fun, and the kids really had a blast.  Alex especially was in heaven due to the presence of BALLOONS and basketballs floating around the court. {Although not literally, of course.}

 Seriously.  How cute is that???  He's hugging the balloon.

Grace's Earrings -- 

The 6-week mark has come and gone for her beginner studs and she can now switch things up to suit her fancy.  When she got her ears pierced after Christmas, she picked out some rainbow colored, spiky balls to be her very first replacement pair.  She was SUPER excited -- until she realized how hard it was to get the first pair off and how sensitive and tender her ears would be.  After a week or so of wearing the spikes, however, her ears were really hurting and looking a bit red so we took them out and I let her borrow a pair of mine until we could get her another pair.  I really wish I would have snapped a pic of her with my dangling, pearl "church" earrings before she traded them out for some more of her own.  It was hilarious looking.  We were finally able to make it over to the mall on Saturday night for her to pick out some new pairs and after a couple of HOURS of searching around we were all set.  She has a very distinct sense of style for an 8 year old.  I kind of love that.  Hahaha.

Between Justice's 40% off and "buy 2, get 2 free" and Claire's "buy 2, get 1 free" I would say Grace is pretty well stocked for the future.  

This is her very favorite new pair.  Dangling, giant sequins.  She's very mature.  Hahaha. {They're from Justice in case you were wondering.}

Sick, sick, and more sick --

As I've stated, Alex kick started the fever and snot parade this month, with Jane and then Ethan quickly following suit.  Before that, however, there were a couple weeks worth of nuisances from Grace, Sophie, and Jane and their eyes.  It wasn't pink eye -- more like a cold in the eye kind of a thing -- but it was annoying to deal with.  Especially with Grace.  She is quite possibly our worst patient.  Ethan on the other hand becomes ridiculously easy when he's sick.  In fact, my first clue that something was wrong and that he might be coming down with something was when he started doing extra chores around the house without being asked and without complaining.  Sure enough, the next day he was running a fever.  Hahaha.  Poor little lamb.  Luckily, his sickness has easily been the shortest while poor Alex's continues to stretch on.

Falling asleep on the floor while watching TV?  Definitely sick.

 Cute little sick man -- sitting in a basket and playing with toys.  So cute and so pitiful.

An Apple a Day --

In one of the more tranquil moments of the afternoon on Snow Day #1, Ethan, Grace, and Sophie settled themselves down to play a game of Apples to Apples, Jr. in the Family Room.  This was remarkable for a couple reasons -- 1.)  They turned off the TV on their own without being forced to and opted to play a game instead; and 2.)  The 3 of them were all playing together without any ire.  {Ethan is usually the only one who likes board games in the family and Sophie is rarely included in an Ethan-and-Grace venture.}

After the game was over, Ethan fell asleep on the floor and the girls went out to go sledding. 

Scott got served --

And finally, to finish off the month, Scott has Jury Duty this week.  And I am totally jealous.  No lie.  Hahahaha.  Am I the only person in the world who would actually LOVE to serve on a jury?  Perhaps so -- although it would be REALLY hard for me to not be able to discuss anything about the case until it was all over.  I've informed Scott that he will be doing a blog post about his experience when it's all over.  {I know you're all pumped about that.}  Hahaha.

And that is that.  I'm hoping the little ones get better soon so that I will no longer be going cuckoo for cocoa puffs here at home.  Until next time!