The Plague

When you think of the Plague you think you need to stay away...well that is what it was like at our house this past week. No one wanted to come near us for fear of getting sick!

Emmit started out the illnesses with a short bout of the flu Thurs. night. I stayed home with him on Friday due to a nasty cold I had. Even though Emmit seemed fine, I was suffering! He did play in bed with me while I rested - I could hardly keep my head up it was so full. I slept it off and things seemed to be getting better until Sat. night when Gerrit had the flu. Sunday was our little family Christmas before the Christmas program at church - well, we didn't make it to the program thanks to the flu. It was not worth trying to fight the crowd for a seat if Gerrit wasn't going to sing so we stayed home. Gerrit wasn't too disappointed as singing is not his thing - I think I was more bummed than anyone. Emmit enjoyed playing with his new toys while Gerrit laid on the couch and watched. I stayed home with him on Monday to make sure he no longer was ridding fluids at either end of his body. It gave me another day to nurse my nasty cold.

Tuesday we were all back to our normal routine and watching the weather closely. A major blizzard was predicted to hit WI on Wed. night and Thursday...Thursday we were to leave for MI! Emmit ends up with the flu again on Tuesday at daycare so our plans were set - we would leave Friday (and based on the snow Madison is getting, it was a good move regardless of illnesses).

It is now Thursday and Emmit is home from daycare still. He is starting to keep food down and play with his toys. He has been very cuddly the past 2 days which has been nice but it is great to see him start to show signs of himself again. I think we are all on the mends, my cold included.

We ended up getting about 5" of snow out of the major snow that is hitting Wisconsin. This hit at the right time to call of school for Gerrit. Luckily I was home anyways so the 3 of us hung out. We are waiting for dad to come home to snow blow the driveway so we can start loading the car. Our plan is to head out first thing in the morning and give the Subi a good test. Blowing snow is what is expected which we can handle. Hopefully the roads will be cleared by the time we hit Wisconsin in the morning. Once we make it through Wisconsin, it should be smooth sailing...we shall see!

Good thing I finished my class a week ago as it would have been a nightmare trying to take care of sick kids and finish a class! I am enjoying some extra time until mid January when the semester starts up again.

Q Bear Visits E. 4th Street

The weekend before you are star of the week in kindergarden, you get to take Q Bear home*. I am not sure why it is a bear with a Q or what the reason behind the tradition either. I know it has been going on for a long time because Luke, who is now in 7th grade, also had a bear for the weekend when he was in kindergarden. So, we went along with the tradition and noted the things we did this weekend that involved Q Bear.

• He went to the basektball game Friday night where Gerrit met up with a few friends from school and stopped running long enough for a quick picture. 
• He hung out with Cylde, our elf, at night - snuggling on the couch and playing Legos.
• He accompanied Gerrit and I to Rochester, and made it through a shopping trip to Target.
• Elf was showing for free across the street so we took Q Bear to see Elf. We only stayed for half (and seeing we saw it earlier in the week at home, it was not a big deal). {Apparently, Gerrit doesn't like with Finch comes to help out with brainstorming new book iddeas.}
• Gerrit was brave enough to take Q to see Santa and stayed long enough to get a picture too!
• And finally, with the snow falling, Q made a trip up Sugarloaf Hill today. (I took Rockne's Christmas card pic and that as the destination - behind their house. A beautiful hike up a hill that overlooks Z-town.)

And there you have our weekend in a nutshell as well as Q's. Gerrit will take Q back to school tomorrow with pictures of their adventures together! A great way to start off Star of the Week!

*Q bear almost didn't come home with us this weekend. Mrs. Boyum, Gerrit's teacher emailed me and said Q smelled so bad like smoke (from the previous home) that she was too embarrassed to send him home with Gerrit. She planned to take him home and wash him and Gerrit would get him next weekend instead. I quickly emailed back and said I would wash him as Gerrit was really looking forward to having Q this weekend - the bball game and visiting Santa. So, she made a trip back to school (I think a special trip just for us) and found a non-smoky smelling Q bear for Gerrit. So a big thanks to Mrs. Boyum for making this weekend extra special for Gerrit!

Not Much has Changed in a Year

I love that Santa visits Zumbrota. We can walk to visit him, rarely have to wait in line and we can take our own pictures. Plus, there are snacks and treats to enjoy thanks to the Telephone Co. annual Holiday open house.

I would hate to stand in line only to find out my kids are still afraid of Santa and refuse to go near him. Making the short walk is not a huge investment if the situation goes bad.

Gerrit whispered to me at breakfast he didn't want to see him but we convinced him to go for the snacks and possibility of seeing some friends.

Plus, Q Bear is visiting this weekend and wanted to see Santa (more on that later this weekend).

So he agreed to go and look how close he got!

He even told Santa what he wanted for Christmas: a dirt bike race track.

He wouldn't sit on his lap but did get closer and posed for a picture.

Emmit is still a bit shy. We thought he was going to walk up to Santa but no such luck. 

And again, dad is in the photo..maybe next year??

A Hunting We will Go...

We made our annual trip to Menomonie Wi to get our tree. We went a week later than normal thanks to a nasty cold Adam had during Thanksgiving. Turned out to be a blessing - the weather was much nicer when we went compared to when we were suppose to go.

The annual wagon ride out to find the perfect tree:

Gerrit did a great job carrying the measuring pole and double checking to make sure the tree wasn't too tall (we still have a mark on the ceiling from a tree that was a wee bit too tall!).

A family was near us when we found our tree so we actually got a family photo by the tree this year - first time ever?!

Emmit getting down near the action, checking things out - really he wanted to use the saw (and hold it as we were walking around).

Everyone was hard at work - the boys carrying the measuring pole to the wagon pick up area:

Gerrit was a huge help with the lights and putting ornaments on the tree. Although many ornaments were bunched by topic, it was still nice to have company (even if I had to move a few ornaments). Gerrit insisted that the MSU ornament was near the Gopher one and that the MSU football was near the MSU ornament because they won the game. Make sense, right?

Emmit tried to help but is not quite there yet. He went and brought his own chair over to get higher like his big brother.

And now the house is officially decorated for Christmas. Both boys remind us to turn the lights on the tree and the other areas we have lights in the house. Gerrit is doing a pretty good job of behaving himself seeing Clyde the elf is visiting again. And mornings are great - Gerrit usually is not an easy one to wake up in the morning but seeing the advent calendar is up and running he has to be the first one down to open the door!