what's up weekly (in which two weeks foggily blend into one post).

Well.  It's been two weeks since I've written a W.U.W. post, and some stuff has happened in there, so I guess it's time to give you the skinny.

Friday night two weeks ago, we all went to Bonkers, this indoor obstacle course/gym thing for kids.  Penelope had saved up her money and paid for all of us to go as her Christmas gift to us.  It was so sweet of her, and the kids had so much fun.  I don't think I've ever seen Finneas that overheated.  He was red and sweaty and having the time of his life.  The rest of the kids were going nuts as well - even Rocco was doing his best, although I had inadvertently dressed him in a pair of very-much-too-small jeans, so his range of motion was pretty limited.  (Plus, he was also dressed in a getting-too-small shirt, so his belly was hanging out the bottom of it, and he just looked like a tube of toothpaste that had been squeezed too hard at the bottom.)

We spent the weekend acting pretty normal, even though Rocco's tummy seemed like it was upset at times.  By Sunday evening, it was pretty clear he was sick.

Although he was feeling under the weather, the rest of us were feeling fine.  Penelope and I made raspberry vanilla ice cream with some of our cream from the Amish, and we planned to share it with the babysitter that night, but Rocco woke up from nap with a fever, so I opted to stay home from Connection Group and let the babysitter take the night off.  After our trip to the Amish the following morning, I didn't leave the house again until yesterday.  (That's eight days, for those of you counting at home.)

It's been brutal.  We have had the active stomach bug in our house for the last fourteen days.  Atticus and Laurelai are still feverish and queasy.  Each of us seems to have had it for around five days each, although Finneas had it the worst - eight days of the stomach flu.  He is so gaunt right now it's heartbreaking, though he hasn't lost his scrappiness.

I will say, though, it has made for a verrrrrry open week.  No school, no house guests, no speech therapy.  Just lots of Netflix, lots of cuddles, lots of warm baths, lots of naps.  We didn't even make the drive to the Amish this week - a super sweet friend of mine offered to go for me, and I took her up on it.  It gave me time to start stripping the beds and dealing with the mountains of laundry.

We are now in the recovery stage, for which I'm grateful for many reasons - not least of which being that I finally have enough energy to shave my armpits again.  It is amazing what a committed armpit can accomplish in a week's time with no interference.

And other than sickness-related news, this girl turned seven months old and is terrified at the prospect of aging.

I tried giving her goats milk before bed a couple of times before we all fell sick, but she was not having it.  I'm hoping to try again soon, just to see if I can stretch her nighttime out a little longer.  And speaking of stretching, look who has clearly outgrown her 0-3 month clothing!  This has to be a record for our kids.  I know for a fact it's a record for our girls.

Also, Todd preached twice.  Once at Salt (the college ministry) on the topic of sx and marriage, and once at church on Galatians 2.  Click the links to listen - they were both just incredible!

Here's to a lowkey weekend of rest and recovery, and an upcoming week that's hopefully full of 'normal'!