All's Well!

I'm afraid that my sabbatical from the blog ended up being slightly longer than I had intended: a whole two weeks! I recovered from the flu after about three days since by the time I got sick we had learned exactly what to do to get rid of this horrible bug; Shannon still had fevers off-and-on until just last Thursday, two weeks after coming becoming sick.

Mom came home from Grandma's last Friday after an absence of two weeks and a day. It is so nice to have her back now!

We ended up postponing our recording date yet again because just about all of us had bad coughs leftover from the flu. This means that we will not be submitting a CD to the Arts Commission. Our plans are to record sometime towards the end of next week.

The last week-and-a-half has been busy: we had "company" in for a week; Mom has kept up her research, meaning that Leslie and I have had the opportunity to continue to sharpen our housekeeping skills; Katelyn Grace demands lots of attention, which we are all very pleased to give; and we have had all of our normal lessons and engagements to get to.

April 11, Mom and I will go to Atlanta to get some therapy done for Katelyn Grace. Mom will fly out from Atlanta on the 12th for San Diego to stay with Aunt Sharon (Dad's sister) for a month, getting some more treatments for Katelyn Grace. We pray that the Lord will give Mom and Dad wisdom to give Katelyn Grace the best treatments possible. Mom may be posting more details about the treatments themselves; I don't have all of the information now.

These extended Mom-absences are allowing Leslie and me to get even more valuable housekeeping experience than we have been getting! What a blessing to have the time to serve our family while getting real-life experience!

Grandma A. was requesting some Katelyn Grace pictures, so here they are! She is exactly 8 weeks old today. My, how time flies!



















Someone actually requested sick pictures (yes, I did take some of those)! Since I am in the mood to humor just about anyone with anything, here they are! : )

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Many blessings from our family to yours!

It's Finally Happened....

The epidemic is complete. I discovered (by finding out I had over a 100 degree fever) that I had the flu this morning, but I think I've been sick for at least a day or two already. The implications of this new development are widespread, and include - but are not limited to - the following:

1. Mom and Katelyn Grace will have to stay out at my grandparents' house for probably at least another 4 or 5 days.

2. The wedding we are playing for tomorrow will not be as easy or fun.

3. Our recording date for our sample CD will be postponed to Wednesday for three reasons:

a. Leslie especially has a horrible cough, which would not exactly be the accompaniment we had planned for our sample CD.

b. Recording on Wednesday will give us time to practice slightly less intensively. This is important, given the fact that everyone's playing is not quite up to par: I am sick and everyone else is slowly but surely convalescing.

c. The man doing our recording does not want to get sick since he has a very full schedule coming up.


Dad just was not getting over his bout with the flu, so he finally went to the doctor yesterday to get some medicine. Hopefully this will make him as good as new shortly. He's just eating lots of yogurt to counteract the antibiotics!

Everyone else is doing much, much better, and I think we can safely say that they have just about thrashed their flues for good.

I believe that I will retire from the blog for a few days, so in the meantime let me leave you with a few pictures from Austin's and my birthday party.

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What do you do for your brother's birthday instead of having a birthday cake when the said brother doesn't eat sugar? Why, you get him a gallon of raw milk for his personal ingestion (in addition to the 5 gallons a week your family already gets) and put candles on it, of course!

I, on the other hand, have no problem with sugar, in moderation. I certainly got a great cake this year, from a local German bakery! (Thank you, giver-of-the-cake!)




Katelyn Grace thought we were there celebrating her birthday. She is six weeks old today!

My, how time does fly!

Oh Dear....

Here we thought that everyone was over the flu, and come to find out that both Shannon and Dad have fevers again tonight. Dad said that he feels worse now than when he was in the middle of the flu. Shannon seems just as chipper as ever, though.

We have been sick for 10 days now, and were so much looking forward to Mom's and Katelyn Grace's return tomorrow. Now it looks like that is going to have to be postponed yet again to protect Katelyn Grace.

I [Lauren] have still not gotten sick, and am cherishing hopes that I have escaped this detestable flu for good.

Please pray for our whole family!

Update

Well, I haven't had too many chances lately to get on here and put up anything very interesting. I do have time now for a quick update, though.

Shannon was a real trooper at the wedding our family ensemble played at this evening. She had a fever and looked kind of flushed, but hung in there admirably. Way to go, Shannon! We're so proud of you! She's still in the middle of the whole flu experience, though, poor girl.

Dad is doing much better, but is still a little weak and worn out from being sick for a good five days.

Leslie is slowly but surely on the mend, but still has a fever and is kind of "out of it."

Austin is almost recovered, but could still be considered to be sick (if that's ambiguous enough for you).

I'm still flu-less! ... amazingly enough. Mom and Katelyn Grace are still out at Grandma and Pop's, escaping the plague.

Our heartfelt thanks to those of you who made us meals and helped out in other ways! The Lord has blessed us with wonderful friends!

This next week is looking very busy. On Wednesday, we're playing for a home tour downtown. On Saturday, we're playing for another wedding. Next Sunday is the real big day, though. We're getting a professional recording done to submit to the Arts Commission and also as a sample CD for potential wedding people. Our old recording is long out of date. So this next week we'll be putting in some intense practicing time - hopefully two 1-1/2 hour sessions each day.

Now, if only Shannon will get better quickly!

The next week, we're looking forward to a much-anticipated family vacation. Now won't that be nice?

Yet Another Sickling

Shannon has been struck down as well. Her fever is 100.5 and she looks perfectly awful! (Sorry, darling, but it's true. I think you have an excuse, though.)

She's down on the couch with flushed cheeks just crying now, saying that she feels weak and horrible. I want to hug her and sit with her, but us "well" people are kind of supposed to keep our distance.

Mom left with Katelyn Grace for Grandma and Pop's house this morning to escape the plague. Hopefully neither of them will get sick.

I think everyone else still has fevers, and they don't look so good either. We're playing in a wedding this Saturday, and I think some of them are just going to have to "tough it out."

Right now, I'm the last "well" one. Things are busy here, but I tend to thrive on busy-ness! Of course, certain kinds of busy-ness are better than others....

Lauren

Sicklings Update

Leslie: 101.6 degree fever. Completely swaddled in blankets. Has slept or been trying to sleep solid since 10am Monday morning. Voice scratchy. Drinking chicken broth and lots of water. Eyes look hollow.

Dad: 102.1 degree fever. Only came downstairs once today. Looks very sick. Slept instead of drinking chicken broth. Eyes look hollow. Bad cough. Hasn't lost sense of humor.

Austin: Felt better this morning. Worked on neighbor's lawn all afternoon. Had a relapse. Doesn't want temperature taken. Huge winter coat, scarf, and hat worn inside the house speak for themselves. Voice changing for the second time in his life. Drinking chicken broth and lots of water. Eyes look hollow.

I just found out that on Sunday, the day Austin got sick (when he and Dad were on their camping trip), Austin hiked 10 miles with a fever. He never ceases to amaze me! Must have something to do with the fact that he hasn't had one granule of sugar since Thanksgiving 2005.

Thankfully, no one else is sick [yet]!

Sick....

Hello everyone!

I had planned on posting about Austin's and my birthday today, but things turned out differently. 3/7 of our family is sick now, so today was a little busier than usual (if that's possible!).

Saturday, Dad took Leslie up to a friend's house about 3-1/2 hours away for a debate tournament, and then took Austin camping and hiking. Austin ended up getting sick and slept the whole way home. This morning, we got a call from Leslie (she sounded horrible, poor thing), saying that she too was sick. So, Dad had to drive those 3-1/2 hours (and 3-1/2 hours back) all over again to pick Leslie up. So much for her debate tournament! Meanwhile, Dad got sick also.

So, Dad, Leslie, and Austin all have the flu - a moderately high fever and a pretty bad cold, accompanied by a racking cough.

I suppose if we lived a long time ago, we would be making poultices and mustard plasters, but since this is the 21st century, they're taking colloidal silver, eating chicken broth, drinking lots of water, and taking their vitamins.

Please pray that Katelyn Grace and Mom don't get sick!!! If Katelyn Grace gets sick, it could very easily develop into pneumonia, which could be very serious.

Hoping that this post finds all of you in better health than we are right now,

-Lauren for the whole family