Phew...It's been a long time since I've updated or really been online. Things have been so busy lately. We have had staggered Spring Breaks for the kids and of course, drumroll..... we all got Influenza A. Zoe was the first one to get sick, followed by Aidan, Alex, Amanda, Thomas, me and then...finally...Andrew. It's been like watching a house of cards slowly fall down card by card.

I think the hardest part of it was the fact that we didn't just all get sick at the same time. It has felt like a long road to recovery for all of us. In the midst of feeling yucky, I've still had to get kids off to school and pick them up, had other kids home for Spring Break, had to take care of sick little ones. Thomas was so miserable that he actually cancelled his clinic (though he of course took his Influenza A with him to the ICU to see patients ...yes, that is who I would want visiting me if I was on a vent in the ICU...a doc with Influenza . He wore a mask, but still. ) ....ugh....Thank goodness we are all finally on the mend!

Alex and Amanda also had a big Kung Fu presentation that they were a part of on Saturday night, so we had a couple of extra rehearsals this week on top of the yuck still circulating in the house.

There were over 500 people there to watch and when Amanda walked into the hall before she presented, the first words out of her mouth were "let's go home"!

Here she is right before getting on stage:



Phew...after it was over, she and Alex pigged out on Chinese food!


I'll post the video when I get it uploaded!

We got home and finally colored our easter eggs....which was a blast for everyone (even Andrew, who is just way too cool to do family things anymore!).


Alex took the most time with the eggs. He only colored a few, but he took the time to make them very artistic and interesting. Everyone else tried to just color as many eggs as possible.




Hey...off the table!


Zoe, get down!


No way, Mom...I'm here to stay:




For Aidan, coloring the eggs was the most fun...and he looked forward to it for days!


Easter morning was low key for us. We didn't go to church or really do much that was Easter-like. Thomas and I are just still too worn out from not feeling well and still having to keep everything running. I did cook a nice German Easter Rouladen but not before sitting down on the sofa at noon and waking up 3 1/2 hours later with kids sitting all over me!





HA...notice the mess in the background including the roll of toilet paper Zoe dragged into the kitchen. Have I mentioned that I've been sick?


Indoor easter egg hunt...because...we got 7 inches of snow.



We tried to take an Easter walk together as a family, but once again we didn't even make it around the pond before the kids were "too cold". I think we're just going to have to wait a few more weeks!

Next week is also going to be a busy one. Alex is off for Spring Break and we have some play dates planned in the afternoons. Zoe has her NICU follow-up Tues. morning and I have a pulmonology appt. Wed. morning.

My second article appeared in the St. Cloud Times today.....Here is where it is online...I don't know why it's posted in such an unusual format instead of directly on the SC Times page, but...here it is anyway. It is in the newspaper in a regular format:

http://www.moms.mn/apps/pbcs.dll/articl ... /1067/MOMS

OH...and the book is finally, finally done. The proofs got turned back to me, I made the corrections....by the end of the week, they are supposed to hand me my final proofs and it will be ready to print. Good grief has this been a process. The cover art has been the biggest challenge because their artist is...well...hmmmm. Hopefully, this first edition will be a good jumping off point and I can improve on it every couple of years...I know that everyone will have....a lot of....suggestions. (Obviously, I'll hand out free copies )[/quote]