Christmas

Advent was a blur. We started off with the girls' stomach illness, which didn't help. And we did the usual Advent wreath, purple lights, stockings on St. Nicholas Day, Choir concert, saint's days commemoration, shopping, giving tree, etc. Plus, my husband and oldest son managed to engineer and construct a HUGE light up star on the barn. It took all 6 of us and a giant extension ladder to hang it. The picture gives you an idea of the scale. It's more impressive lit and seen from the road a quarter mile away, but this is the only shot I captured.

My parents and sister came a few days before Christmas. We weren't quite done with decorating the house when they arrived because we're an old fashioned family, and cut a tree and deck the halls only a few days before Christmas. We don't even decorate the tree until Christmas Eve. But they didn't seem to mind. And we had a nice, quiet Christmas. Well, my 3 year old is loud, and my oldest was busy turning pan lids into drums, acoustic guitar strings into an electric guitar, quarters into computer mice, and play dough into keyboards, etc. with his new Makey Makey that he got for Christmas. (A modified Arduino.) But you know what I mean.

Speaking of trees, we got some snow the Friday before Christmas, so after my husband fixed the alternator in the truck (sigh) we headed to the tree farm that we used to go to before we moved here. For probably 12 years, we went to the same tree farm, and we were feeling the need for some continuity and tradition this year. Unfortunately, between the droughts, the flood, and the lateness in the year, there were no trees of the proper size to cut! We were SO disappointed. We settled for one they had in the barn pre-cut. It was the first time in probably 14 years that we hadn't cut our own tree, so it was sad! But we still got to talk to the owner, who remembered us (my husband by name!) He even remembered our veggie oil truck. And the kids got free cider and popcorn, so it wasn't a total bust. And it will make going to the "new tree farm" easier next year.

Right after Christmas we got more snow. The roads were so bad that my family stayed an extra day or two. My husband learned the fine art of plowing with our tractor attachment and spent hours clearing the long gravel drive. My kids played in the snow as much as they could, but with me unable to fit into my boots or button my coat, my husband busy on the plow, and my family here with no snow gear, it didn't happen as much as they would have liked. After all, I couldn't keep in the 3 year old and let the bigger kids go out. And I couldn't quite trust them with his care in the cold with all the distractions. But they still managed to make a snow house in a big snow bank with our neighbor's girl, and a 6 foot tall snowman.

My husband's family arrived the same day that my family left. So I was definitely busy. We managed to outfit my sister-in-law with snow gear, and she and my nephew took the kids out to play in the snow some more. They made a snow bear and romped around. It snowed several times over the next few days, a rarity for our locality, and we ended up with about 18 inches on the ground!

I think my in-laws had a nice visit. After they left, we tore down extra beds and began laundering linens and dealing with the aftermath of back-to-back family visits.  But the next night we were hit with a very nasty flu bug that my littlest nephew brought, so much of our snow play time was wasted. The little guy had been sick all Christmas week. And although he was fever free by the time his parents brought him, he still had coughing, sneezing, and a terribly runny nose. Since he was playing with the kids' toys and hanging out in the house, we inevitably got his ick, despite my wiping door knobs and whatnot.

Of course my 3 year old turned up with it first. Nasty high fevers were a part of the illness. My girls both got fevers well over 104 despite fever reducers, and had to be sponged in tepid baths. It was most unpleasant. And then finally, after all the kids had been sick for a week, I got the dreaded bug. Fevers are scary things to pregnant women. The sinus congestion and sneezing were also unpleasant. (I felt like something was going to shoot out of my belly button when a sneezed!) But the coughing fits were the worst! Hacking, gagging, cough-for-5-minutes-straight fits had me so sore and miserable! I think I got stretch marks from coughing! And then there was the weirdness of a persistent low-grade fever, which I had the 2nd week of the illness, along with the continued coughing.

So that was Christmas... mad dash up to it... Busy, busy Christmas week... Everybody sick for 2 weeks after that. And me just wrapping up the last of the cold symptoms this week! Phew!