We're a few days back from our spring break trip, and after a good weekend, I told myself I'm back at my regular routine of waking up at 5:15, scriptures and oatmeal then climbing and then the rest of the school morning. So that was the plan and hope last night, until.... I was woken up at 3:30 by a knock at our door. It was Peter, I opened it and told him to go lay down on our couch, figuring that he woke up from a bad dream. But no, instead Peter had been given the task by Daniel to come get me. Peter sweetly and sleepily told me "Daniel needs you, he threw up on his bed" Oh yay. I go in there, turn on the light to see the damage. I was grateful that it wasn't projectile vomit that was spewed from his 3 bunk bed position onto the beds and toys below or the floor. It was all in two nice piles, yay. (It's probably strange/gross that I was so pleased with it, but today I learned that apples make a very nice vomit consistency). We moved Daniel's pillows, blankets. and stuffed toys off the bed - I doubled checked and yes, they were all safe. I got a garbage can and some grocery sacks - I put them over my hands like gloves and was able to grab all the mess with two sacks and threw it down into the garbage can. I took off the sheet, put it in a bucket to rinse and wash later. I set Daniel up on the floor and then we were back to bed. It was now 4. So my 5:15 wake up time probably wasn't going to happen. I turned off my alarm and figured I'd see what my body does. I slept in until the 6:10 "wake abi" alarm. That was when Abi told me that someone pooped on the ottoman downstairs in the side room. What? She had fallen asleep there during scriptures and said when she woke up at 2, there was something gross next to her. I go look. More vomit, same as what I cleaned at 3:30. I thought Daniel was in his bed at 2 - I didn't think he was asleep next to Abi... was this someone else? A mystery I shall have to figure out later - I clean it up a bit, then decided I needed a break, so I went climbing. Back at 8:15, Peter wakes up and tells me he threw up on his bed. He had been drinking water so his was a bit more mess - took of his sheet, washed it out with Daniel's and started a load to wash those with the rags that I used to scrub the ottoman. Daniel said it wasn't him who threw up downstairs, so we might never know. Boy we're off to a good start to this week! I'm hoping this is a "one and done" throw up sickness, not a several times by each person. I got on a zoom meeting at 8:45 for less than an hour, after that was done, back to cleaning. I was washing garbage cans in the tub and had the water on pretty louds around 11 and missed a call from the elementary school. I didn't answer it because I figured it was just the attendance call telling me that Daniel was absent, and I had already called the school to verify that. I continued cleaning but then Corey called asking me if I'd gotten the message from the school. No I had not. He said I needed to go get Owen cause he threw up in class. Oh yay, so I go get Owen. He's a sensitive kid and he seemed pretty embarrassed about it. I asked if I could take a pic of him, he said "noooo..." so that's his pursed lips of him saying no, as I did what I wanted anyway.
Poor kid was trying to hold in the tears as we drove home. Must be embarrassing. His classroom was all cleared out for cleaning, which was finished as I went there to get his backpack. Returned home, sat him on the couch with sick Daniel and Peter who were watching Bluey. O had another digestive accident when I was upstairs taking a nap with K. She's been super clingy on Corey and to help him be able to leave for the day, I had to take his place and carry and hold her. She dozed off watching a movie, like she had with Corey last week (Corey was holding her all day yesterday, I think it makes her clingyness worse) Daniel was calling up the stairs "MOM! Owen needs you!" "Tell him to get a bucket" thinking it was a "my stomach hurts" problem. Daniel said his charge over and over, I got up, K woke up, went downstairs, bathroom smelled so bad... this is what Sophi had. She was the first kid to be sick on the drive home from TX, but not throw up, the other end. I was grateful he made it to the bathroom. The clean up wasn't too hard. I'm hoping K doesn't get the bug, or else I'm sure that she will likely get the carpet.
So things are not smelling good around here. It's worse than the moldy fruit that greeted us after Texas. The whole side room smelled from the vomit on the ottoman. I left at 4 for violin. It was later today because Sophi stayed after school for a ballroom thing (instruction classes all this week before tryouts next week) and so it was just Natalie and Sophi's going to go next week. When we got back from that and I walked in through the garage into the side room, the stench hit me again, ugh, so Hyrum helped me take the ottoman into the backyard to air out. I'm not sure it will be able to recover. I've been thinking about getting new couches for that room though. The one we have is a good size but it's had it's share of wear and tear these past 13 years, and the velcro doesn't hold the cushions on, so when you sit on it, eventually the cushion is slipping out from under you and you're sinking into the crack.
Ok, so that's that! Yesterday was Stake Conference, It was good. Right after that, Daniel had a "Great to be 8" baptism introduction activity, he got two donuts to make an 8.
That's usually the main thing kids remember from the Great to be 8 meeting! Ethan and Mel came up last night. Ethan was getting footage for The House 2, which he's been working on since December. Should be good. He said it's twice as long as the original. And that it's been taking him a lot longer than he planned, but getting married probably pushed back the release date, understandably. I told him it's good though - it's become a Family Anniversary Party classic to watch that. It is something that our family will treasure now and it could outlive us all and be a treasure to posterity as well. That's my hope for this blog here too - a treasure for my children and their children, to look back on and know what our family was like while their moms and dad's were kids, and to help my kids when they are parents and wondering how I "did it" raising 13 children. I'm sure I won't remember anything then, as I can barely remember now, but I do know how to search it up here. And that's also why I include the daily life events like throwing up. Not because it's all that important, but it's real, it happens, messes are made and cleaned up and life goes on.
Peter and I tried to hit the ball around with tennis rackets. 
It was so fun having all the kids here today! Life is passing away like a dream. I'm excited to see the rest of it unfold, and I'm really glad we still have little ones at home to raise. Having these older ones be in college and married has rocked Corey's world a little. He's thinking "where has the time gone? I was JUST there myself..." but I think that will happen for me when the kids are all in school all day, or when Katharine graduates high school and this child rearing phase is really over. It feels like it's all I've known for so long, so that will be strange when that happens for me, but right now I'm glad to still be in the middle of it. One of my biking songs is "The Middle" and my birthday is in a week, so I really am about in the middle (I plan to live to 100+) Life is so good, it was a day of many blessings and having my cup full. I'm so grateful for gospel living. Our sincere efforts to follow Jesus Christ in all things gets all the credit for creating this happy life for us. (BeReal from church today)
