2011

Wow.
We've been blogging since 2005.
And now it's 2011? When did that happen?
So 5 years and 25,000 hits later...

We did do some traveling over the holidays, but other than trips to Rochester and the Lake, we really tried to keep things to a minimum.
Unfortunately, the family that stays together also transmits infectious disease to each other - so over the past few weeks we've had two cases of the stomach flu, two cases of strep throat, two ear infections and one lower respiratory infection between the five of us. I seem to have escaped with the least damage (thus far). At the pediatrician's office on Thursday, Nate's ears were clear - but he still can't spend any extended period of time supine - so I'm not sold that we're totally okay there yet. Sam and Caroline have bounced back from their strep. Jim is recovering slowly.
I can hardly wait until Caroline goes back to school and shares germies with all the other utensil sharing, nose picking, doorknob-licking preschoolers and brings them all back this way.
Good times.
I'm beginning to feel like we carry the plague (some awful variation of a noro-virus) and take it everywhere we go. First Rochester, then the Lake. So if you see us and then try to run and hide, I totally understand.

It will be nice to try to get back into some sort of routine. But when I think about all there is to do in January, I get overwhelmed.
We're applying for charter schools and school choice with an adjacent school district and the paperwork for all of that is due at the end of the month. We're also contemplating homeschooling the kids for a few years, so we're also trying to get our ducks in a row there. Put that with the aftermath from the holidays, work (that we get paid for), work (around the house that we don't get paid for), Caroline's birthday, dance class and the craziness of everyday being - just thinking about it all makes me anxious.

Yikes.

But it's all good.
And how do I know that?
Well, I look at these pictures and how can it not be?

Here is Caroline reading "Madeline" to Sam:

Here is Nathanael (yet again) freaking out at the camera.
Nope. Still don't have a decent picture of him...

Here are the kids in their new towels for the Lake this summer...

And here they are doing what they do best...making us laugh...

We went to the Discovery Museum in Acton (thank you Pat & Erica)!
Even Nate got in at the action on the train table (and no, Sam did not move farther than 20 feet from the train table the whole time we were there. But thanks for asking)...

We were even able to get a picture of all three kids together. They look like they're related, don't they?

And here is everyone making cookies right before Auntie Chrissy came down with the stomach bug. So much for my theory that 8 minutes at 325 will kill just about anything...


And that will be it for tonight -we have lots more pictures to put up- my contacts are sticking to my eyeballs and I can barely see a thing. Makes typing just a tad difficult.

We wish you a New Year of much happiness and many blessings!