It's about time

Sorry folks. My sad little twice-a-month blogging has turned into skipping a full month. It's a little overwhelming to start trying to record "October" in one sitting, and also trying to make it somewhat interesting for you to read. Here's hopin' you'll understand why the computer hasn't been my priority:

On Friday October 2 our nephews Matt and Jack came to stay with us for the weekend. I posted on my facebook account, "looking forward to the chaos of a weekend with 4 boys...age 5 and under. Jake and Ty are pumped for slumber parties with their cousins!" and then after the boys went home on Sunday evening I posted, "I love my nephews, but I'm pretty sure that this weekend God audibly confirmed our decision to stop at 2 boys." The kids had a blast together, the older 3 sleeping sideways on a blow-up bed in J&T's room. Buuuuuut I'm definitely not cut out for the part of Michelle Duggar on "18 Kids and Counting."

The next night we hosted over 20 people for Monday night football. I cleaned the house. I cooked dinner. But other people brought side dishes and we really had a great time. We have some amazing friends. We're really blessed!

So speaking of blessed, I got a fever that Wednesday afternoon, the 7th. But then felt much better and fever-free on Thursday so I made the worst decision of 2009 and went to work from 3pm-3:30am. Everyone and their second cousin were leaving their beds, sitting in a jam packed ER waiting room for 4 hours just to hear an official diagnosis of H1N1 influenza. Piggy flu. This is what a lot of staff looked like on that night:And we tell people not to worry, it's not that big of a deal. Let me just go put on a ridiculous piece of headgear connected to a battery powered belt to be 100% certain you can't breathe on my face, and I'm sure that will make you feel more calm.

I didn't actually leave work until almost 4am, and by the time I was walking out to my car, I knew my fever was returning. I should have brought a space suit home to protect my family. Friday night my status was, "I don't think I have swine flu, because according to the media I should be nearer to death. On second thought, death doesn't sound too bad right now."

I'm very confident that we did in fact get the H1N1 flu. I say "we" because Jake got a fever 2 days later, and Ty got a fever 2 days after that. Dan slept downstairs on the futon for 8 nights. Seriously. Eight. Good thing it's comfy. He's still healthy. Knock on wood. The kids recovered, but I got a sinus infection on top of it all, so it took me a course of antibiotics longer. Could I dare to hope that we'll stay healthy the rest of the season?

One heart-warming story from that miserable 2 weeks happened on a night that Ty was sleeping in my bed. He kept waking up thrashing around, crying and burning with a fever, and dripping snot all over my bed. Heart warming already, I know. This kid is a terribly wild sleeper to begin with; he was doing 360's all night. And I still had a fever and hadn't breathed through my nose in what felt like years. I was, needless to say, having a hard time sleeping. I had finally just started to drift off to sleep when Ty kicked me in the face. Twice. Rapid-fire style. I wasn't at the peak of patience when I pushed his feet toward the end of the bed and shoved his head back onto his pillow. I had a nightlight on (Dan gets nervous sometimes) and so I could see Ty crack open one eye. "Love you, Mama." And then the snores returned. He may have been in a feverish stupor, but I couldn't help but smile.

October post-sickness was good. It was really good in fact. Still busy of course. We hosted more football, we started a small group Bible study with our church that meets at our house. I just can't say enough how much I l-o-v-e that group. It's been awesome to get to know some new people. Our church rules. What else? I threw another baby shower to show off the mastery of my creative diaper-caking once again. For your viewing pleasure:
Gracious, could I be close to finishing? October 31st. It started with Jake's last soccer game, where he closed out the season by scoring his most athletic and picture-perfect goal ever. He took the ball all the way down the field to the goal. It's ridiculous how proud it made me feel. Then we had a pizza party with his team where he got a soccer medal (one of his most prized possessions to date).

Then we changed into Halloween mode. What excitement! The build up to any holiday is a lot more fun with kids. We carved pumpkins and Jake actually threw up with his hand full of pumpkin guts. He took a big whiff and couldn't stop gagging, which ended poorly for my kitchen floor. Ty was up to his elbows in goo and couldn't get enough of it. Which also ended poorly for the floor, but I guess I did need to mop anyway. My Nascar driver and Spiderman on Halloween night, showing us the fastest route to the most candy (sorry, I didn't get a lot of great pix): Dan wanted to paste a sign on Jake's back that his costume was not dad-approved. Dan hates Nascar. "It's not a sport...you just drive around in circles. How athletic is turning left?" Anyway, Jake is and always has been obsessed with cars, and because my parents know some people involved with Nascar, they've encouraged the passion inside my son. I think, regardless of the "is Nascar a sport" debate, that they both looked awesome. They had a blast trick-or-treating in downtown Gresham and a little bit around our neighborhood. We had dinner at my sister's house, and just generally had a great day.

Oh my goodness sakes. I might be done. I've almost worked up a sweat here. I know it's the 7th of November, but I only promised October, people. Here's my pledge to you, and to myself, not to go months between posts. And here's a picture of Ty's actual face not covered by a mask. And because post-bathtime is when I love this child the most. And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a nap.