Things can only get better


I like to think of myself as an optimist. I figure that just because we have started our end of Term One Easter break with a vomiting bug doesn't HAVE to mean our whole holiday will be a washout!?!
I console myself with this as I try to to ignore stomach cramps and dizzy spells while whizzing, (Did I say whizzing? I meant staggering..) around the house, madly disinfecting every child and surface I happen to stumble across. Maybe we're just getting the bad stuff out of the way fast so that the good stuff can quickly take over? I mean that's entirely possible. Isn't it? Please God, let it be possible!

In the midst of our last week of term one turning torrid, we managed to celebrate the birthday of Jesse - our first born and now eleven-year-old son. Here's a picture of a picture of him as a baby.
The sweetest thing!


Here he is opening presents. With a little help from his friend..


Particularly loved the Willow Tree boy holding a gold heart. It was an op shop find that jumped out at me. Wouldn't have thought of buying a boy a figurine normally, but this heart-warming piece seems to sum up much of what I hope for my son: Having a heart for others, for truth, joy and God's love.

The rest of the wrapping was simple: black and white dots with foil "elevens" glued on to each package.


Who would have thought that this bubba (yes, the one dancing below) had been the carrier of a stomach bug that within hours of these photos being taken would bring most of his loving family to their knees? See he'd already been sick by the time we woke up to celebrate Jesse's birthday. Yes I had spent most of the previous day dry retching from the results of Arch's malaise. But then he slept through the night and woke up like normal. Hence, my false sense of security (Actually delusion, and wilful ignorance of how these bugs work..) that the bug had passed over the rest of us (including hapless members of the extended family who, against advice, also dropped by).

Sadly, it was not to be. I realise now that the bug was just regaining its strength, preparing itself to unleash a mega-dose on anyone in the vicinity of Arch: the carrier. Who cares that I spent 24 hours washing everything and saturating the house with litres of disinfectant? The house may never have looked so spiffy, but it is a truism of sickness in family life, that the cleaner your house, the messier the vomiting will be.


Don't you just love it when the first one to be sick recovers really quickly and is back to being a bouncing ball of fun when everyone else is still huddled over with stomach cramps, glassy eyed and silently weeping (or not that silently as is the case with some)…

Yep. That's about where we're at at the moment!

Okay so amidst the unfolding turmoil, a lovely celebratory chocolate cake (recipe from the  Monday Morning Cooking Club Book) was created. Topped with a delicious raspberry cream cheese frosting. I know what you're thinking. Bright pink icing wouldn't be the first choice of most eleven-year-old boys. What can I say, I was struggling at this point. Hastily added cocoa to the mix turned the frosting into a murky pinky brown that was going to have to do. Then decorated with M&Ms and topped with star shaped sparklers. It was deemed a success.


And yes, I got to see the cake again at 2.30am the next morning as successive family members succumbed to the bug. Safe to say, however tasty, I won't be making that cake again for a while.

And, in an effort to rise above our circumstances, I can say that there are things to be thankful for:
  • Eleven joyful years with a beautiful son, who shows all the signs of having a golden heart
  • A sister-in-law bringing much needed supplies (including coffee and newspapers) when the cabin fever got bad
  • A husband and birthday boy who may, possibly, so far, seem to have escaped THE BUG.

Maybe that's the best even an optimist can hope for - a healthy reprieve for the birthday boy.
I'd be more than happy with that…

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Borrowed today's post title from the fabulous Howard Jones. If you can stop laughing at the weird video clip, and Howard's crazy 80s suit and hair, you'll probably enjoy the song as much as I do!

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