While everyone has been sick, there are still a lot of hours to fill for the ones who have been healthy.

It stretches me to think on my feet, but that is what I have been doing while trying to keep healthy ones busy!

It was easy to have all of the healthy ones fulfill their obligations with school, chores, and guitar practice for the two boys.

We also have a lot of fun activities to do that Tate and Eliza are not good about doing on their own without some prompting first.

But they end up enjoying these things a lot!

You can usually find Addie Mae, when she is home, in the kitchen or laundry room!

She needs to start writing all of these things she pulls out of her head down for me!

Like chocolate dipped clementines. With a sprinkling of sea salt on top.

YUM.

She’s also smart and gets helpers whenever she can!

The boys have been whittling in their spare time and are getting pretty good at it!

Whether we are sick or not, there is always read aloud.

Such a favorite!

These kiddos love books!

Just like their Mama!!

I have been making sure the healthy ones were getting plenty of rest too.

Hoping it would help their immune systems be strong!

Tate is SO like Grant is SO many ways.

Grant even brings things to our attention and we all laugh how cute the memories and similarities are from when Grant was little!

Grant always slept with his covers over his head.

When he first came home from Korea, I would pull them off his head four times a night at least.

Finally I quit!

Tate sleeps the same way, day or night! Summer or winter!

He is really under there, I promise!

I manage to keep myself busy pretty easily, as there is always something that needs done!

We usually do a huge deep cleaning over our Christmas break, but with our house being so new it did not really need much this year.

I found some hot spots though, and did those on my own.

I also worked on some school planning!

Planning our next hymn to learn, and planning some Bible verse memory prizes.

Lots of coffee has been needed for the Mama who lives here.

Only because of all the illness, of course.

Pumpkin spice lattes are her favorite!

Over the last three weeks, any time that the temperatures were far enough above zero, I have been opening the windows and slider doors for just a bit to let some fresh air in!

The windows and sliders have been frozen shut a lot already this winter.

I made chocolate cupcakes one day.

Out of desperation for some normal.

You know, the kind of normal where your children actually want to eat something.

Blake and I are also working on a big “oh no, our computer sounds like it’s going to crash” project!

Because our computer was grinding, and making all kinds of not so good noises!

It is old.

Very old.

We opened up a cloud on Amazon to save all our photos, videos and documents to.

Blake also took the CPU apart, cleaned it, and had Lane put it back together.

I am not kidding!

That kid is smart!

It has taken a long time to get everything downloaded to the cloud, but I think we are almost there!

The computer is quiet now!

And so FAST!

We found one of our fridges broken a couple weeks ago.

Even when it was so cold outside, everything in the freezer thawed and stunk so bad!

It was old too.

We needed it though!

Blake and Grant headed up the road about five minutes away and got a “new to us” fridge to replace it for just $200.

Perfect!

The old one is on the right.

The new one is on the right!

I filled it fast!

Bundled up from head to toe!

Cause it was below zero that day!

I was downstairs for something one day and saw Tate’s bed.

It makes me smile.

He is TINY.

Like the size of Clyde who is two years old tiny.

But everyday he makes his bed perfectly and folds every single blanket perfectly.

Isn’t that cute!??

I can’t imagine the effort it must take for him to do that!!

We are back to finding time to get grocery again.

I had ordered grocery on-line for three weeks in a row and LOVED it.

I would just drive-up and pick it all up!

I told everyone I saw locally about it!

They all started doing it too!!

It was advertised that it cost a fee of $4.95 if you spent under $100.

Well – we never spend under $100.

Win, win!!

Then last week when I was putting my order in the computer, I noticed the price of a case of k-cups.

WHOA! They really raised the price of a case of k-cups! $2.79 more!!

I started taking a closer look at the other things already in my on-line cart.

HMMMM……

I had a receipt in my drawer from back in December when we had done the grocery shopping on our own last.

I started to compare each item.

THEY WERE ALL MORE.

I called.

Of course.

I asked how much it cost to do the on-line shopping.

I was told about the $4.95 fee.

Then silence.

So I asked “Are the items you purchase the same price as if I had walked through the store and bought them that way?”

“OH, noooo. There is an up charge. Of $.20 to $3.00 more PER ITEM.”

I am ok with that!

BUT, they are not advertising that info anywhere!

SNEAKY.

So here is my attempt to get the word out again!

And let you know I am back to being the grocery shopper!

Which I am being thankful for!!

I promise!

At least it got me out of the house for a bit!

Addie Mae and I snuck out too over the weekend to run some errands in town.

The one-on-one time was special, and the coffee was yummy!

The sun was shining!

It was a warmer day!

I will admit, I am looking forward to Monday, with high hopes that we can get after school and other normal things again!

I am also SO thankful that things have not been worse than they are, and that everyone is getting better everyday!

Thank you, Jesus, for blessing us that way!

Have a BLESSED DAY!

It all started over two weeks ago on Blake’s birthday.

Chad was first, down hard and fast, with a burning hot fever and really bad sore throat.

My poor guy!

The next morning, (which was a Monday and the day we were supposed to start school after Christmas break) we set Chad up downstairs and the rest of us started back up with school.

Sadie has been living inside the house with us ever since construction was finished in the middle of September, but she STILL had not been brave enough to use the stairs!

Grant had carried her down and then back up a few times, but other than that she had not been downstairs.

Funny puppy!

Then Chad got sick.

And stayed downstairs.

Just look at her dilemma!!

It was all she needed!

She went down all on her own with no one even trying to convince her it was ok!

I did have to go down after her and tell her all the rules.

Like the fact that she was not making Eliza’s trampoline her new bed, ahem!

It took some coaxing to get her to come back up the stairs the first time, but then she was all good, and has been going up and down ever since.

We spent the afternoons downstairs with Chad, watching a show, doing read aloud and cuddling.

He was in bed five full days.

That Thursday afternoon and evening we knew Chad would be back on his feet the next day.

So, of course, early Friday morning while I was having my quiet time, Lane came upstairs and was burning hot with a fever.

My poor guy!

When this illness started we got out our essential oils and started using them on everyone, had everyone eat lots of garlic everyday anyway we could get it in, used herbal teas, honey, and of course let those fevers burn and do the work they were intended to do in the boys.

David showed up on Saturday morning with reinforcements!

The boys both were not eating or even drinking because of how badly their throats hurt, so we did use tylenol and ibuprofen to help them with that.

Poor Lane had a reaction to the tylenol.

What misery on top of misery.

We moved him upstairs on his mattress so that he would be closer to Blake and I at night, and closer to all the action during the day.

Sadie capitalized on this illness too.

Silly puppy.

He was in bed a full five days too!

This virus means business.

I just love how smiley these kiddos always are, even when they are sick!!

Now we are up to Thursday of last week.

Everyone was well!!

The kiddos played out in the snow!

I had the windows cracked because it was SO beautiful outside!

We worked on school that day, and had read aloud times too!

Kay’s all came over for dinner that night, cause we were missing each other fiercely!

It was during all of that fun that I saw Eliza like this –

Oh boy.

The next morning she woke up burning hot.

It was her turn, and SO hard on my heart.

By Saturday morning, someone was missing his side kick very much, so I stuck them both in bed together for breakfast.

A smoothie, watching zooboomafoo on the lap top, and being together seemed to help!

This sweet baby can burn HOT.

She still requested a salad when asked what she wanted to eat!

She would tell me over and over that her voice hurt so bad.

I think Sunday was the worst day for Eliza.

I had her sleep with me (in Blake and my bed) this whole time she has been sick.

Eliza was up a good part of yesterday, but this was how things were going around dinner last night.

She is up again today, but the coughs that have been left behind from those fevers are deep and fierce.

Blake caught this too.

But in Blake fashion, he worked through it all, took the boys hunting too, and slept when he could.

Chad was back down the last two days.

Yep.

Remember the title of my post?

Big family fun!!

He’s up today and doing great, besides coughing a lot.

See that cutie in this photo below?

Who sat by his sister while she was burning hot?

The one whose lungs must be pretty compromised by all he has going on in his insides?

Wow, does the Lord protect him!

He has a slightly runny nose, which he told me he is very unhappy about.

As usual, he is still smiling bright.

Grant has a cold and cough, but has not missed a beat – so thankful!!

The last couple of weeks can be looked at two ways.

I choose to count my blessings – because THERE ARE SO MANY!

My mornings start out quiet while it’s dark.

And if I had even a smidge of discouragement in my heart and mind, I would start by writing every blessing I could think of down in my journal.

Which was super easy to do, I am sure you know!

This afternoon looks like this –

Isn’t that sweet!

Grant plowed snow all night, slept a few hours this morning, and the laughter while I have been typing this post is contagious!

I will add that Addie Mae left work early, just got home and went straight to bed.

My poor girl!

Dare I say that I haven’t gotten sick yet?

Well, now I’ve done it!!

Hoping and praying I stay healthy this time around!

It looks like we are not completely through it all yet, though, so time will tell!

I hope you all have had a great start to your week and are avoiding all the illness out there!