The Christmas of sickness

I don’t think it’s ever happened to us around Christmas before, but we’ve had a lot of this:

And this:

I think everyone is finally on the mend now (and so far I haven’t gotten sick), but whatever this bug is, it is slooooow to leave (at least, once it develops into pneumonia and bronchitis!).

Fortunately, on Christmas morning, everyone did feel well enough to open gifts.

Something that makes my heart happy: the genuine excitement all four of our kids have over giving gifts to each other and watching each other open presents.

 

It actually seems to supersede their excitement over opening their own gifts, and I’m so grateful for that.   It’s not that they lack enthusiasm over their own gifts or anything…just that giving has seemed to naturally become slightly more exciting.

Pretty sure my favorite thing is this adorable All-Clad 2 quart saucepan.

I love it.   And I might be drumming up reasons to use it.

“Anyone want some soup?   Cream of Wheat?   Oatmeal??   Anyone??”

Katy texted me to ask if the velvet gift bags were out (but of course!), so I sent her photographic proof.

Sonia and Zoe felt well enough for a while to try out Zoe’s new window markers.   Sonia bought them for her a few months ago when she and I found them on clearance at the grocery store.   😉

And I made caramel monkey bread for breakfast, though appetites were small.

 

 

As per usual, we spent the day in our pjs, which, let’s be honest, is how pretty much every day has been here during the plague’s residence.

We made crepes together, as is our tradition.

We ate them with fruit and whipped cream and chocolate pudding.

Plus sparkling juice (from Aldi, of course) and sausage from a local farm.

It’s not exactly traditional, but it’s our tradition, and I like it.   Tasty, a little unconventional, and so little work for me, which means that I get to spend Christmas Day relaxing, not cooking.

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Moving on from Christmas…my house has fallen into a state of disarray (I handily blame it on the plague.), so I’m gonna try to whip it back into shape this week before school starts again next week.

Any of you want to join me?   I’ll blog about my progress this week (because organizing/decluttering is way more fun when you get to share your results) and we can cheer each other on.

Or you can just have fun looking at the messes in my house.

The four main things I need to work on are the office (see above), the laundry room, the kitchen, and Sonia/Zoe’s room.   I’m probably the least inspired about the kitchen (I am positive I’m gonna find some food waste in my fridge what with all the sickness!), so I’m committing to tackle that first.   Wish me luck!