the weekend continued, even though I spent most of it in bed

Friday night I went out to dinner with friends.  Before the check came and unfortunately after I ate, I knew I too had the stomach flu.  My friend Megan graciously agreed to pay for my food as I quickly excused myself to drive home as fast as I could.  The elderly gentleman in front of me obviously didn't realize I was about to be sick in my own lap and drove 5 miles under the limit the entire way home.  I barely made it into the house before the flu virus reared it's ugly head.  I very much regret eating everything I did and it will take a good long while before I will grace Johnny Carino's eating establishment again.

After me and my bathroom had a few really good discussions, I learned from Steve that while I was gone for only an hour Saylor also was sick...all over the basement.  Steve being the wonderful man that he is cleaned her, him and the carpet up before I got home.  Man this flu is not nice.

I spent most of yesterday in bed trying as hard as I could to stay hydrated.  Steve game me a priesthood blessing and I was promised I would still be able to take care of Grady's needs.  In the past if I cut down eating or drinking at all, Grady is extremely unhappy with me.  I didn't eat anything until last night and Grady was perfectly happy and well fed despite me being sick.  Today I'm grateful for even the tiniest of blessings and am grateful to a Heavenly Father who answers prayers.  But lets be honest, nursing a baby while being nauseated beyond all reason is not fun.  I'm not proud of how I finished feeding Grady, practically threw him at Steve and then pushed Steve out of my way so I could make it to the bathroom for another "discussion"...not proud at all.  Not one of my most beautiful moments.

While I was sleeping off the flu, Steve took care of the kids.  I secretly think my entire family loves when I am sick because I am not telling anyone what to do.   This hunch was confirmed this morning when I asked Steve to help me clean up the kitchen.  He looked at me and stated, "You're feeling better aren't you."  When mom is down...the whole house is a party.  But in Steve's defense, the house was not a total wreck.  He's a great guy.

Andrew got home from Camp Bradley around 3pm.  I was asleep and luckily didn't get to hug him until after he showered.  Steve described his feet as BLACK.  I believe Steve because I washed Andrew's socks last night.  They were also BLACK.  There isn't enough bleach in the world to make those puppies white again.

I was so happy to see Andrew.  I missed that kid.  It was wonderful to have him home and even more wonderful to have him happy and pleasant around his siblings.  I hope he realizes how his attitude can make or break the feeling of our home.  He came home spilling his guts about adventures and fun that he had at scout camp.  For one, his troop one the Cape Horn award.  This is an overall award that includes camp inspections, meeting attendance, uniform compliance and a number of physical activities.  He and his friends Barrett and Michael also won the triathlon.   Barrett completed the canoeing portion, Michael the swimming and Andrew the running portion with 5.06 minutes for 3/4 of a mile.  Andrew completed three merit badges and was frustrated he couldn't do more.  The rules were changed this year and each scout could max do 6 merit badges.  Andrew earned pioneering, rowing, and canoeing.  He almost finished rifling and wilderness survival.  He was extremely frustrated that he couldn't try for shotgun.  His 13th birthday is 2 weeks away still and only 13 and up were allowed to shoot shotguns.  (good thing he has a grandpa with LOTS of shotguns)

Andrew also raved about the food and described to me almost everything he ate while at camp.  I must be starving this poor boy because I never make him bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and two bowls of cereal for breakfast.  We also don't have a peanut butter and jelly bar for when he doesn't like what is served at dinner.  He also proclaimed Camp Bradley pancakes better than mine.  I'm clinging to the fact that he was starving and that mountain air makes everything taste better.  Nobodies pancakes are better than my Grandma Walkers!

Today, I'm keeping Saylor, Grady and Colby home from church.  (Colby...because he pretended to be sick last night, and I still think he is going to come down with the flu in the next few days.  I figure we should expose the least amount of people possible.)  Steve is smoking a huge pork roast that we will pull and freeze for our Dixon family reunion later this week.  I'm catching up on laundry and trying to get my house back in order after only a day of being down.  I'll feel a lot better when every towel and sheet is clean in this house.

Other things we have going on this next week:

Grady's 4 month appointment
Andrew gets braces
Swim team
Piano lessons
Guitar lessons
Shopping for family reunion
Baking for family reunion
Packing for family reunion

Random pictures from this past week...which obviously means swimming pictures because that is the only thing we do around here lately.

This is the best picture of Wyatt I could get.  He was determined to finish his 50.  There was no time for him to stop and pose.  He was one determined swimmer!

 Goof ball in the swim pool.

If I was her teacher, I would go crazy...she's not exactly obedient but could be described as squirrelly.

Carter's crazy hair.  He is pretty proud of it.

I think he needs a cut soon.

Colby tried to make his hair as crazy at Carters.  It didn't quite work.  Colby has too many cowlicks and finer, curlier hair than Carter.

...but that vein popping out of his forehead might make up for it.

And I wonder why my baby smells like smokey meat.

Good thing the largest predators around here are stray kittens.  Grady would be a tasty snack otherwise.