Birthdays, sickness, the usual....

"Mom, that Anne Geddes chick with the babies smushed in baskets has got nothing on us!"

Well, as usual, we've been so super busy I'm not sure we've breathed in the last week (how is it that such small kids make you head-spinningly busy??) Actually, no, correct that: some of us have definitely breathed because Kate has come down with the dreaded stomach flu that is sweeping Central Oregon. Almost everyone I know has had it or has it....on the downside, there's the vomitting and the endless laundry; on the upside, I have lots of friends to commiserate with about it. Hopefully, Kate's at the tailend. The best part of the whole thing for her was that I gave her Gatorade. She'd never had it before and, I guess, equated it to an adult-only beverage because all she could say was, "I CAN'T WAIT to tell daddy that you gave me Gatorade! Next, I'll have beer." Yes, Gatorade is apparently the little known gateway drink to beer. She did indeed relish in telling daddy that I had given her such a forbidden substance. She didn't even like it, but she did like the forbidden-fruit element, for sure. So...yep..that's consumed our week so far. Yuck. But, before the illness hit, the weekend was great. I got a birthday night out with Ryan followed by a girls' night out with friends! Those paired with a board meeting the night before my birthday meant I didn't put the kids to bed for three nights in a row. This has hardly ever happened since their births and I'm ready now to say: I deserve it!! :) Thanks to Grandma Connie and Ryan for giving me some (much needed) mommy re-charge time--it's priceless!!