Week in Review: A Pathetic Snow Day, An Almost State Qualifier, A Scam That Worked, and Some Chicken Biology

Another week of illness in the house, this time for the younger three boys.  I'm pretty sure it's the flu, as people they are friends with have tested positive for it.  I didn't bring them in because we are managing their symptoms at home and there's nothing the doc can give us for a virus except advice.  Lots of resting, fluids, and alternating tylenol and advil for the fevers.  Poor babies.  JP says there's tons of it going around at the hospital where he works.  Brendan was the first to recover and is back to school today, but Declan and Xander are still home.

We had our first Snow Day except that it barely snowed!  School was called off the night before and it only snowed a couple of inches, but we will take it!  I always try to do some deep cleaning or organizing chore on snow days because they are bonus days of no work.  I swear I'm fun ;)

Phil and I went through the three younger boys clothes and donated lots (no need to save the smallest boy clothes anymore!) and moved everyone up a size.  

Then we put winter sheets on their beds and washed everything in sight and opened windows and sprayed their room down with this disinfecting mist.  At night they all took showers and put on fresh pajamas, and there's almost nothing that makes me feel like a better mother than turning a sick room into a clean and healthy room.  Aaaahhhh.

Last weekend, Eamon ran in a track meet and got a PR in the 1000m:

He's in maroon tank and blue shoes

Even though he is a senior, this is Eamon's first time ever running high school track...as he has always played basketball in the winter since age 6.  But when he made the Varsity Basketball team last year and was a benchwarmer, he didn't want to go through that again.  The winter track coaches are very happy to have discovered him "where have you been hiding?".  They want him to run Spring Track and think he can qualify for states (he missed it by a couple seconds) at tomorrow's last chance meet.  I guess soccer players make great runners!

Poor Andrew was scammed by a text that both Phil and I also received.  I had googled it and found out that it was a popular scam going around right now, but both Phil and Andrew went to the link which looks like the real deal and entered their credit card numbers and gotten the message that the card didn't work.  But the scam is that they now have your CC numbers.  So rude.  

They both had to call their CC company and get new cards, what an ordeal.  So just to warn any of you, you will always get a bill in the mail for tolls, never as a text.  The more you know :)

Maggie's mission trip group had their last fundraiser, a Tex Mex dinner and it was so cute and fun.  They are heading to San Juan, Texas next weekend to help people with small construction projects, yardwork, etc.   There are about 25 teens going, and these are the three amigas who are great friends and wonderful young ladies:

Lena, Maggie and Maggie, or as my friend calls them "The Barbies"

I started doing a new workout program called Ladder and I really like it.  There's all sorts of trainers who focus on different things and I've enjoyed each class.  I am definitely someone who needs a coach/trainer telling me what to do when it comes to strength training, and gives me a plan to follow.  The older I get, the more I want to walk and lift weights.  I still run (slowly) once or twice a week, and take some cardio/weight classes at the YMCA but I don't want to jump or sprint anymore.  Going for a 3 mile walk on my lunch break and doing a Ladder workout at home is exactly my kind of speed right now.  I'm glad I ran a bunch of half-marathons in the past and did all those HIIT workouts when I could, but I'm in a season of slowing down and lifting heavier, I think it's called aging?  Xander joined me for a Chest and Back workout one day:

Declan's basketball team made it all the way to the semifinals and then lost.  Declan had to miss that last game because he was sick but the coach sent a nice text about how much he has loved watching Declan grow this year.  Declan practices shooting every day after school and has the skills but lacks the confidence.  He is such a kind boy with low aggression on the court, which you just can't teach, but he has been making strides this year and scored quite a few baskets and has been playing stronger defense.  At times I wish he was more confident and aggressive, but then I realize that he wouldn't be the same sweet, innocent boy we love so much.  

Invisible ink creepy mustache

Here's a funny Declan story...

Maggie chicken-sits (babysits our neighbors chickens when they are out of town) and Declan likes to go help her.  He came back one morning with an egg and asked us if the chickens ever make chicks.  

Phil: No, there's no rooster.

Declan: So chickens can't make eggs turn into chicks?

Phil: They need a rooster to make a chick.

Declan: What does the rooster do?

Me: The rooster and chicken are like the dad and mom and they can make a baby chick.

Declan: Ohhhhhh, so they have to get married.

Yup!

Have a wonderful Superbowl-watching, non-scamming, snow-storming (we're supposed to get 8 inches on Saturday night!) healthy weekend everyone!