December 6, 2008 - A very long week

It has been a very long week. Just a warning - this post is about icky things. Caelia, Lera and Michael all got sick - really sick. Vomitting, diarrhea, headaches and general yuck. This was my first experience with Lera being really sick. She threw up everywhere in her sleep and never woke up. She actually got mad at me and Randy for waking her to give her a bath and clean up her bed. Caelia woke up and sat watching Lera saying " poor nina". She tried to hug and kiss her but we wouldn't let her. It's amazing how a little bit (or a lot) of puke between sisters is negligiable. Caelia is sweet that way - she was less affectionate when Lera got diarrhea. Just as Lera quit throwing up, I heard Michael run for the bathroom, where he spent a better portion of the night. Caelia waited for morning to join the party.

Of course, as soon as the kids were on the road to recovery - Mama got sick. Mama got really sick. Randy stayed home because Mama was so sick. He went back to work for one day and the spent the next night being ill. He got much sicker than the rest and all of us spent 6 hours in the emergency room on Friday so that he could get rehydrated. I spent all day Sunday washing clothes and trying to set my house back to rights.

The goal this week is to get the house spruced up for the holidays and spend some time with the kids. We are going to make cookies and treats on Friday. Caelia loves to cook. She loves to help. So does Lera. Lera looks at the different utensils with a great deal of curiosity. Food was brought to her at the orphanage. She understands what the knives and forks are and even the spoons but rolling pins, cookie cutters and cookie presses are a mystery. She is also a bit mystified by plastic disposable spoons. I send yogurt, fruit snacks and a drink with them for snacktime at school - I also include a napkin and a plastic spoon. Well, since she throws them away at school, Lera has decided that we throw all spoons away. I have been trying to find my teaspoons all week and finally found a stash of them in my garbage can. I wonder how long she has been doing this?