Deck the halls with lots of illness

Boy, have we had a tough time lately. First, I came down with a cold, then Violet caught it and it mutated into croup. We hardly ever leave the house- how come we're the sick ones? Then, Charlotte came down with it during Jason's party for his show choir on Friday night. She pretty much refused to eat and drink and waited for everyone to leave before she threw up. Of course, then she was perfectly fine for the rest of the night. (This party is bad juju for us- last year, Indy the Diabetic Cat went into an insulin coma and almost died- I had to start the party while Jason whisked him to the vet. He's fine now- Violet is routinely horrifying him.)

Since she seemed okay, we decided on Saturday to head to Sea World as planned, and got a chance to see the stingrays and dolphins before Charlotte got diarrhea from the cold medicine we had given her to clear up ungodly stuffiness and drip. So, double whammy. We left Sea World and went to Emily's for the night, where at around midnight she developed a 103.9 fever, complete with shakes, chills, goosebumps, and possibly some delirium- she did some serious talking in her sleep. We're hoping to return to Sea World before the New Year so we can see Kayla sing in the O Wondrous Night show there.

We left Emily's this morning at 6:30 am so Jason could get to church, and he's now at Disney's Candlelight with his chorus (poor Jason had to drive home from Orlando this morning, then back to Orlando, and back from Orlando tonight). Everyone seems a little better- Violet is very snotty and Charlotte takes more breaks in her play, but (I hope) the worst is behind us. Time to clean up for the family arriving tomorrow and shop for our annual Christmas Eve appetizer spread. This year's menu:

Veggie Bars
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Crostini with Goat Cheese, Figs and Prosciutto
My dad's Eggrolls
Cheese Wraps
Sausage Wontons

You know, all the things that are bad for you.

Enjoy some pictures of our goings-on today, almost all inspired by Pinterest:

Our Elf on the Shelf, Apple, reading The Very Busy Spider to the Little People.

Post-church cuddles- if you ask Vi for a hug, she flings her arms around your neck.

We cut out construction paper and wrapping paper to make a snowman on our front door.

Cutting flour tortillas into snowflakes. We baked them with cinnamon sugar for snack.

Trying out a new hairstyle.

Our first letter to Santa!

Charlotte and I had a (semi) special moment today and wrote her first letter to Santa. She kept running away and singing and dancing (her default demeanor), so I had to appeal to Apple, our Elf on the Shelf, to remind her that Santa won't know what to bring her without a letter. Finally, we had a workable copy. It was kind of funny to keep reminding her what she wanted (and what's already hiding in our closet, ready for wrapping.) It's also funny to basically tell her what she's getting for Christmas, as she will have forgotten by the 25th. It took a lot of prompting to get her to include some presents for Violet.

The letter, which you can see in the picture, is almost 100% her words, which would explain some of the delusion therein. I mean, she picks Violet up about 47 times a day. For real. I helped her write her name at the end. My mom, the Kindergarten teacher, warned me about giving my child a 9 letter first name, but did I listen? No. And now I pay the price in that she won't be able to write her whole name (and 9 letter middle name, too) until she's in 5th grade. But how freakin' cute is it the "laugh and love" part? And the "fascinating" part?

Did you know that if you look it up online, you can find Santa's address? We have addressed the envelope and will mail it shortly.


In other news, Violet has croup, which has been a kick. This is the second time she's had it, and nighttime is just awful. She and I barely slept last night. We spent some time in a steam bath and she generally woke up every 20 minutes. Charlotte has been stumbling into our room in the middle of the night every night for several months. Quite honestly, we're just too lazy and exhausted to take her back to her room, so we let her stay. That King bed is getting awfully crowded. The answer to all of this is lots and lots of coffee.

Happy but snotty

Between this week and last, I have had to call a couple of hundred students, but today I only have 15 on my list, then we can steam clean our filthy, filthy carpet in preparation for Jason's show choir Christmas party tomorrow night. It's always a fun time. We are headed to Sea World on Saturday to see a former student and amazing friend in the Christmas show, then Jason has Disney's Candlelight with his kids on Sunday. Christmas shopping is almost completely finished! Woo hoo! 

Merry Christmas, everyone!