Everyone loves a PARTY!

Jarett couldn't come home on Jaymeson's birthday, so we celebrated it a day late. Let's face it, he would never know the difference and it's nice to have the WHOLE family together. I made a special cake for the occasion (don't look too closely, the cake decorating gene didn't get passed on to me) and we had a couple presents. My girls were wonderful helpers. They helped me come up with ideas for the cake, make and decorate the cake, they wrapped the presents, set the table and EVEN ate their dinner really well.


As you can see, Jaymeson liked the cake. Before we could grab it to cut it, there he was...
When we took the cake away to cut it, he was less than impressed...
He got his cake, and he ate it too...
Then played PEEK-A-BOO....what else would you do with an empty plate?!?...

Then to the living room to open presents...Daddy liked them too!


It was a fun night...but we noticed something strange. Kienna didn't finish her cake. Then she felt awfully warm... 102 to be exact. We gave her some Tylenol and put them to bed and woke up the next morning to MADNESS!

I had a Girls Night Out and got to sleep at about 1am. It was a PD Day, so the kids were going to be home from school. I had a plan to put on a movie when Jaymeson slept and I could get a nap and catch up on the housework etc. Unfortunately, it didn't work that way. I woke up with a horrid scratchy throat. I had a slight fever and was feeling quite horrid. I was about to roll over and go back to sleep when Saryn joined me. She said she felt sick (like every morning) and then fell asleep beside me. Kaia walked in shortly after saying that she was feeling sick. She climbed into bed (thank heaven for a King Size) and I noticed her being REALLY warm. She was 100, just like me. She was talking about her scratchy throat and her head hurting. I was in the middle of checking Kaia's temperature when Kienna and Jaymeson started screaming. Jaymeson just sounded fussy, so I went to see Kienna first. She was lying on the floor and saying that she was going to throw up. She took the cake with 103.6. Jaymeson was next, he's teething, so his fever of 101 wasn't unheard of. Still, he wasn't a happy camper. With lots of Tylenol and Motrin later, we were able to heard downstairs and congregate around the TV for over 6 movies. Kienna's thrown up quite a few times, but she's never phased by it. She just will be mid sentence, throw up and then continue where she left off.

Saryn felt a little left out being the only person not sick, so we did a special video of her being "sick".

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today has improved in some regard. Kaia and I are both feeling functional and our fevers have gone down. Kienna's fever is MUCH better. It's even been in the 90's once. Saryn, however, had her hopes come true when she had a fever develop of 102. Jaymeson's teeh are painful, but the fever is gone. It's looking up. If things continue this way, we might even be able to attend Stake Conference tomorrow (although that's still a BIG if). Regardless, we've had quite a party with lots and lots of movies. So really, we're grateful to have 3 party days right in a row!

I've had a lot of people tell me that my kids are always sick. I agree, but I've always felt like I'm a bad mom because I can't keep my kids healthy - ever. I would just like to share an interesting little fact with those of you who care, so that I can explain things.

1st, Kienna has HUGE tonsils and adenoids that catch sickness like nobody's business. She is in general, my sickest child and those will be removed on Nov 10, so we'll talk after that.

2nd, we live in subsidized housing where I just found out 2 interesting facts.
#1 There was a house fire in our complex that completely ruined the house. It was completely black and nothing was left. It's in a row of 8 townhouses, and it didn't spread into the neighbouring houses. Now, that sounds like a great thing, right? It's actually quite horrid.... Because if you ask "Why?" you'd get the answer that makes me freak out. Apparently, the mold and moisture is SO overwhelming in the walls, that the fire COULDN'T spread. Now, I may not be a doctor, but this COULD be one of the reasons every child in our complex seems to have asthma, and it COULD have something to do with my kids being sick all the time.
#2 We just had an annual inspection of the house. I was asked if there was anything that needed fixing.
I said that I can't stand my flooring, but I knew they couldn't fix that because I had said that before.
She replied and said, "Yeah, we only are allowed to change 5 floors a year because it's so expensive. Unfortunately, your floors were from the 80's and so they're relatively new."

Yep, that's right. My 30 year old floors are really quite new. Then she continued.

"We actually have a few units left with the original flooring from when the places were built in the 60's". Oh, isn't THAT nice?
"Those are our priority this year, we are going to replace those floors first, and then move to the next ones. Unfortunately your floors are about the 3rd upgrade, so you'll only get new floors in about 5 years."

Of course.....
Then she went on to discuss how disgusting those floors are when they pull them up. How I wouldn't BELIEVE how many things are growing under them. I wanted to throw up right then and there.

Then we went upstairs..."oh, upstairs you have different floors."
"Yes, they are crumbling to pieces under our beds"
"Well, that's because you have the original flooring....." (cue ominous music)

Anyway, the good news about that is that they'll replace them in the new year. The bad news is that we've been breathing in that stuff for the past 3 years. Awesome eh? Anyway, they'll probably replace them when we leave in April, but at least the next people won't have Asthma immediately.

Well, I don't know if those are strong enough reasons to make my kids sick all the time, but I'm going to say that it's not my fault, it's the stupid house with mold in the windows and walls and who knows what all in the floors.