Highs and Lows

A few weeks ago, on Monday, Cam had to leave for a week long business trip to Minneapolis. On the way to the airport, my stomach felt like it was in knots. My first thought was that my usual acid reflux had kicked it up a notch. I came home and realized that I really was sick. Luckily, I had prepped dinner before we left and was able to just stick it in the oven and lay down.

I put Cruz in charge but laid on the couch to help as much as I could from there. Cruz did such a good job. He took out dinner, fed his brothers, and even held Noelle to keep her happy. Unfortunately, Noelle started to cry uncontrollably just as I was sure if I even moved I would throw up. It was horrible laying next to her on the bed and just watching her scream. Cruz tried to help but couldn't get her to calm down. I was sure she was getting sick too. A threw up a few times and felt better enough to take care of her. I quickly discovered her crying was because of a poopy diaper and thankfully she did not get sick. Meanwhile, I was texting Cam to ask if he was feeling sick too. He told me he was feeling well. I was up until 5 am getting sick on and off. I was grateful it was night and I had no one to take care of and could just lay there.

Tuesday morning Cam called and said he was feeling sick now. Cam was sick almost his whole business trip. It was a really bad bug that lasted for several days for me and him! Even though it was really horrible the first few days, the rest of the week while Cam was away went really well. The weather was amazing and we spent lots of days outside enjoying sunny weather.

I should also mention here about my amazing neighbor Iris. The kids sometimes go over to her house because she has cookies and she collects Fisher-Price toys which the boys love to play with. Kian and Dax went over to her house on Tuesday and she called to check and make sure it was okay with me. I said it was and that I couldn't come over that day with them because I was sick. She told me to rest and take it easy. Here is the most amazing part. Iris just turned 90 years old! Seriously, I want to be like her if I get to be ninety. I used to protest to her watching the kids without me there but she totally insists. She is stubborn but that has what has kept her moving and healthy- at least in my opinion! Iris fed them lunch, let them play with toys, and they even had ice cream for dessert. They came home with a box of ice cream for me and homemade chocolate syrup.

 Thankfully, I was feeling much better by the weekend. Cam came home Friday and so he gave me some time Saturday to go out. I did some painting in the morning. In the late afternoon I got to go out and see a movie with friends and we went to dinner. It was so good to get out and nice to just talk and laugh a lot.



This past week has been a lot smoother since Cameron has been home. Having him gone occasionally really helps me to appreciate when he is here. We spent a good portion of the week inside and enjoyed our fair share of book reading.  The kids are calm and happy when we read together(definitely a worthwhile cause!).

Today we got outside! It was an amazing 70 degrees. The South is lovely in the winter. 
I left in the morning to go paint and just before noon I called Cam to see how things were going. He said he was coming to meet me so I could feed Noelle. He surprised me with lunch and we all sat down for a little picnic. It was perfect.

They left and I then I finished my second painting. I came home to Cam digging in the backyard (We have been working on installing a french drain to keep the moisture out of our basement. I will post about that project in more detail on the house blog as soon as it gets done.) After digging, he did got to use his chainsaw to chop up a tree. I have fun when I paint, and he gets an equal amount of enjoyment from chopping wood. The kids of course love anything involving dirt (see pic below) so we all had an awesome day!