The month of plaugue

While it's been quiet on this blog, it hasn't been at all quiet in the house; the sound of coughing has been pretty persistent round the clock since the beginning of the month. On Friday Steve and I, valiantly striving against it with all kinds of sure-fire methods, succumbed within minutes of each other. I don't remember having muscle pain and chills like that in a long time. He's actually off work today in an attempt to recover, but as we have two children who have plenty of energy somehow, that's not really working for him. Anyway, not much on the camera roll as we've been pretty housebound.

We went to a friends for dinner right before everyone went down, and I brought the pie. It wasn't very good. (and it wasn't burned; this is bad lighting here) 

Beside-the-road-on-garbage-day find. Perfect order (even had fresh batteries in it). We disinfected it well and it was a hit, then passed it on to the playgroup (which we didn't get to attend as Hudson spiked a fever the night before).

Last weeks read. Nothing revolutionary in it, but a great reminder in the current atmosphere of unrest and fear of where our hope and trust is supposed to lay. Highly recommended reading.

Foamed my milk for an afternoon treat. 

The modern reader is apparently Mo Willems books. Henri thinks they're hilarious, and I bring home a few a week from the library. She is independently reading now, and decided to entertain Hud in his bath.

So. much. show watching the past two weeks. 

Adorable, are they not??? I have 100 of them, getting geared up for the Ladies Tea this spring. 

Yet another TJ's recommendation. They have a different veggie fried rice, but this one was insanely good. A complete meal, it's ready in 6 minutes. They make eating vegan so easy.

The car in front of me had this, I sent a picture to my mom ("Spinning, because knitting isn't weird enough")

Henri has moved on to crafting caftans. Thank goodness the thrift store has cloth remnants for $1 or I'd be very broke keeping her supplied. 

She's been wearing it proudly. 

Urgent care office added a new huge fish tank

Both kids eyes looked red, so I called first thing Sunday. Got an appt and not 10 minutes later Hen was crying her ear hurt. Final verdict: double ear infection for Hen (that had to doctor saying WOW), pink eye for both, beginnings of ear infection for Hud that we'll just watch right now, asthma flare for Hud. And of course this cold that's been lasting forever and is the cause of all the listed maladies. 

We all took today off to try and rest up. Hens' teacher graciously emailed me the math and spelling lesson so we homeschooled in our pj's today. If someone would send me a weekly lesson so I could be sure we weren't forgetting to teach something, I'd totally homeschool her. She's an easy pupil (although, do you remember adding double digit numbers in Kindergarten? or having 5 letter spelling words??? I don't think I'd be able to keep up with her academically in a few years).

In what turned out to be a really bad idea, I went grocery shopping with both kids and feeling lousy. Allll the comfort food made its way into my cart somehow. This has curry spicing it. You need it in your life.

So, that's pretty much it. Steve and I have never, ever, not even once contracted the same bug. Or if we have, it's never been at the same time. Feel like Ma on Little House on the Prairie where they all have the fever and almost die. We're trying to give the other one a break, but the kids (ok, Hudson) are not being cooperative. Folks around here have volunteered to help, but the only thing we could use is a break from the boy, and obviously no one is going to want to be exposed to potential germs. I keep chanting "some day I'll miss this" but I really don't think I will....

New year and no new habits yet

I enjoyed having those 2 weeks off, so I've sort of been trying to extend them as long as possible despite Henri being back in school. Playgroup is off until next week, we've kept our errands to a minimum, and I've backed out of a few events last minute with no guilt. Doesn't help that everyone, now me included, has come down with the cold that seems to linger for weeks. I've ingested so much honey I think I should be buzzing soon...
The weeks have been pretty repetitive, so nothing new to see:

Henri has moved on to sewing pillows for everyone.

The knight costume is getting daily use

They've started putting on plays for us. The first was pretty funny. The second was "eh", the third the audience finally walked out on because the plot just wasn't going anywhere.

Here was a particularly disturbing scene in which the queen gave birth and hovered near death for 18 years as a result until her son was old enough to go on a quest for that which would save her....turned out to be ice cream. I legit spit out my coffee. Also, pretty sure she's never seen a birth scene, maybe she's been going through my textbooks at naptime???

Sigh. It's January, so that means a return to hardcore veganism. Actually, that part isn't hard at all, it's the no sugar that's a beast. Way easier this time (because I'm not giving up coffee, so there's still something to live for), and we're both treating this as a sustainable lifestyle change (for example, friends are having us over tomorrow night, we'll eat what they provide. But otherwise we stick strictly to the plan). Anyway, most of my phone at the moment is accountability meal shots.

Siena gave the kids astronaut ice cream for Christmas. It was a hit.

New corner lamp, just need to replace the bulb as it's too dim.

Some fun tile work at Hudson's school

First day of (pre)school! It's just one day a week for 2 hours, and he's just gone 3 times, but so far he's loving it. And I'm loving having 2 hours a week. I drop him off, go get a coffee, walk the trails, sit and read or knit, catch up on emails. Fantastic

With the diet comes the need for quick snacks and meals that are approved. Thank goodness for Larabars and Amazon! The kids are obsessed with them as well so the mini bars are supposed to be for them. They usually sneak the apple pie ones though. 

Still working hard on color and letter recognition. And yes, he uses his middle finger to point to everything. A lady in the parking lot thought he was flipping her off and pulled over to tell him what she thought of that. Not-so-proud parenting moment right there. 

Big kids in the house! Hen didn't like dinner so she made her own sandwich while Hudson set the table for me. 

Waiting for gym class to start

There's a hand there, but last class Hudson finally mastered the back somersault by himself (down a ramp). Still can't do a forward one.

Can you tell he's not a Vermonter at all?

Getting beautiful

Hen stayed home sick last week so that meant I didn't get my Wednesday off after all. She walked the trails with me and then sat while I knit in the sun. 

It's a very small goal, but every day I have to knit 2 rows on my sweater. I'm trying to finish it up before I start anything else. 

Park play. There was a girl there the same age so they had a blast together. 

Waiting for Mr. Marco 

The "after". He was pretty pleased with his look

Went to VT for the long weekend. Gram gave Hen a knitty-knotty and she worked on it the whole time. (fashion by Anna).

Unfortunately the three of them developed nasty colds and coughed the entire time so sleep was had by none.

Got a little snow

It looks normal now with the snow disguising everything, but will be very strange come this summer to not have the pool anymore. It was a good decision to fill in, but lots of wonderful memories are in that spot!

Gram has a cheerful porch

Meg and Nate came up and played with us

Steve got in on the knitting action too

I am very aware I grew up in a special spot. Our current front view certainly can't compare.

...or our southern view....

Another food pict, sorry. But if you have a TJ's near you, run and get some of this. Super oily, but sooooooo sooooo good. I'd imagine it'd be especially tasty on chicken, but it's been pretty wonderful on my grain bowl and tofu.

The kids are in love with the bath bombs we made, so while at Whole Foods stocking up on cold care essentials I snagged a few of these. About 1/3 the package made plenty of bubbles and the scent was great. Put Hudson to sleep in minutes of being laid down. And yea, those are swim goggles on the tub. He uses them when he gets his hair washed.

I also have the Asian one of these which I adore, but this one is pretty good too. Made the veggie stew with dumplings last night and the flavor was amazing. Also, the recipes really do only take about 30 minutes total to make. 

Found a bouncy ball thingy at the thrift today and if we ever get housebound by the weather it's going to be a great thing.

An unusually social weekend is coming up, so I'm continuing to dose myself with all the garlic, ginger, citrus, honey, and cider vinegar I can handle in an attempt to stave off the worsening of this cold. Hope you're all enjoying a relaxed start to the year!