We Survived!...i think?

What a relief, I think we’re mostly done; other than a few lingering side effects. Every one of us ended up getting sick, to some degree. It’s interesting, though, because we all had different levels of severity. Surprisingly, Malachi was on the very mild end, if he really even had it.
So, to conclude this chapter of the story, here is a summary of the last few days:
Friday, Halloween, Ati woke up feeling “all the way better”, or so she said. I was still pretty skeptical, considering that she was near death (not really, just seemed that way) the day before. I’m pretty sure she was mustering up all her strength to feel better so that she wouldn’t miss her Halloween party at school (or trick or treating, of course). I ended up letting her go to school, but just for the parade, and then I was going to take her home. Well, she talked me into letting her stay for the party; and I sat by the phone practically the whole time expecting to hear that she’d thrown up or passed out. She actually made it through the whole thing, and did just fine. Of course, when she got home she was immediately cranky, and went back to lying around in her underwear. I think she just wore herself out and was still fighting the final battle of sick. She was still pretty weak the rest of the day, but managed to enjoy all the Halloween fun. Saturday and Sunday were similar, she was mostly better but still weak; and then Monday she woke up full of energy and ready to be alive again.
Eli was completely better on Friday, making his grand total of sick days: 6
Friday, however, was the beginning of the fun for the rest of us. To spare the boring details of it, I will summarize: Tad, Malachi, John and I all ended up with (the D word). Malachi threw up on Sunday, but only 1 time, and he only had (the D word) on Friday. I’ve been really achy, nauseous, weak, and tired since Friday, but I was still able to function (mostly). Today I’m starting to feel almost better. I’m not quite 100 percent, but getting there).
So, there you have it…The End!

A few other things of interest:

We finally have some extra money to fix up our old black van. It’s still a slow process, but within the next few weeks we will have a second car to drive! Yay!

We made a big decision:
We are going to buy (or build) our own home! Without the in-laws! We looked through our budget, and with John’s new job we hope to have our debt paid off sometime in the spring, which will free up some money to start thinking about moving out! There’s a lot more details about that whole situation and a lot more to be worked out; but I’m just really excited and immensely relieved! Until now we have had no plan for the future, and life here was becoming rather gloomy. Now I can smile and see the light.

And…Today is Tad’s birthday…he is 9! Crazy how time goes by.

Here are some random pictures from the last few days:

My Flowers Blooming



A Pretty Sunrise, in the backyard



Ati at her Halloween Parade (in the white dress)


More Halloween Fun