Okay, the truth? I actually forgot to blog last Sunday. And by the time I realized it, it was Tuesday. On Wednesday the tickle in the throat became a fever and the next thing I knew it was Saturday. I think it's safe to say we are DONE with this virus!!

What was missed: Outings to Chuck E. Cheese and bowling. Gotta love that shot above. :)

I honestly have been so out of it and therefore out of touch that I think I'll just leave it at a slide show this week and start fresh next week. Sorry - I know that's weak. But do you have any idea how difficult it is to get computer time with three kids in the house?? And the four-yr-old is the worst! We are seriously very close to a sign-up sheet.

It's almost 11:00 and I am WAY past tired. G'night all!!!

P.S. Happy Birthday Grandpa Fickel and Happy Birthday Cousin Logan!! :)

Wow - what a week! Super Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, another snow day on Thursday, a skating party on Friday, celebrating my birthday (a day early), and last but not least . . . Shannon lost her first tooth!! Whew! Sprinkle in the rest of the every day stuff, and that's a whopper of a week. And now we're in the middle of an extreme cold snap - last I checked it was 1 degree outstide with negative wind chill readings. We've had school off for ice and snow so far, now the talk is whether or not they'll call school off for wind chill safety. Sounds crazy - I know, but for the families who have kids waiting out at bus stops for long periods of time, I can understand the concern. Tomorrow's supposed to be even colder than today, so we'll see what happens. It's been a crazy year so far with weather. Reminds me of when we were kids. There have actually been days when the kids had enough snow around here to build snow forts - which hasn't happened in a while. It's kind of nice.

Joel is working every night this week so we celebrated my birthday as a family a day early today. I was completely spoiled beginning to end. Had a delicious gluten-free meal at a restaurant in town and topped it off with some GF brownies and ice cream. The kids all had super special gifts for me and even let me sneak in a nap this afternoon! Yea!! :) That's big stuff for geezers like me.

But the biggest news of the day came from Shannon who lost her first tooth today. She is sooooo excited! Don't believe me? Give her a call if you have 30 minutes or so to spare to hear about it. We should all experience that level of utter bliss every day! So funny. I can hardly wait to see her reaction after the tooth fairy visits.

We managed to get Shannon back to healthy just in time for her brother and dad to follow suit with their colds. So far (knocking on wood) Emma and I have escaped this nasty bronchial bug so hopefully it will stay that way. In the mean time, let's hope Joel gets to take a break from plowing and salting soon because the reffing sure isn't letting up. As I said, he's working every night this week because of all the area snow days lately which have the schools scrambling to reschedule games whenever they can. But a chance to actually sleep through the night would be a welcome change for him and a necessary step to fighting this cold. We could all use a dose of sunshine right about now!

I managed to get this entry in tonight before bed time for a change so that I can turn in early myself. I have a Celiac support group meeting tomorrow night and a Lenten series lecture on Tuesday night, so sleep is going to be a commodity at least until Wednesday. (I mention sleep a lot - have you noticed that?)

For now, I think I'll go sneak another birthday brownie. :)

Hope you're all doing well ~ have a great week! Oh, I should mention the photos in the slide show include photos of Shannon at her preschool "beach party" where the kids wore swimsuits to school and brought beach towels and had a picnic on their towels. Also the kids built a snowman named "Jess" who is in absolutely no danger of leaving us anytime soon. Brrrrr.

P.S. ~ Cindy, if you're reading this . . . Happy Birthday!! :)

The air is out of the tires tonight. Shannon is in bed sicker than a dog and as any parent will tell you, that's one of the most exhausting things in the world - worrying/caring for a sick child. No Super Bowl commercial can compete with that for attention.

Quick news update: We had a bazaar week with weather. We were off school on Tuesday because of "ice." I put that in quotations because there wasn't any visible ice at our house. We assume it was in the northern part of the district, but nevertheless because there truly wasn't any ice around here we took full advantage of the day off and headed to the movies. Fast forward to Friday . . . and this time a snow day. (Notice the lack of quotations.) This time we earned our day off with 6+ inches of snow overnight. Needless to say, a five day work week will feel like an eternity this week. :) Yeah - THIS is why I got out of payroll!!!

Other than that - the kids' report cards arrived this week and both Emma and Joel did very well. Everyone had great marks and Joel and I are very proud of them.

Sorry the news is thin, but I truly do feel depleted tonight. Tomorrow brings back-to-back hefty meetings too that will have me out late and I really need my energy to stay up on Tuesday to watch all the Super Tuesday analysis (my other hobby).

No menu update - I'll get to that later this week. Maybe. Also, again, there are no new photos . . . but . . . we've decided to add an element to this blog that will be a recurring photo essay from Emma each week based on a theme of her choice. This last week was "fruit." So look for that later this week too. She has really taken to photography and is exploring what it means to tell a story through photos rather than words. She's really having fun with it!

Lastly, I wish you all a provoking Ash Wednesday. Lent doesn't come with shiny packages and pretty bows, or radio stations with non-stop Easter songs for 40 days, or an onslaught of cards and correspondence from loved ones - but what a powerful season it is! I can't think of a better way to reconnect and recharge.

Until then, my pillow will have to do. :)