Platter of Pączki

Pączki day isn't until tomorrow but the last couple years I've been making them a day early so we could enjoy them for breakfast and throughout the day on Tuesday. This year I tried a new recipe that has a different filling technique - in general it worked pretty well despite my concerns about how sticky the dough was, but putting the filling in before cooking left the centers pretty darn doughy. Next year I might use this recipe again but return to piping the filling after they come out of the oil. While tomorrow is the actual day, who am I to deny excited kids warm fresh Pączki?

Lincoln and Otto both had apple (although Otto pretty much just licked all the sugar off and didn't eat it) and Nora had cherry. The boys enjoyed their's along with some tree guy work at a neighbor's house in the gorgeous weather out on the patio and Nora's already talking about wanting one for breakfast and one in her lunch tomorrow haha! Sidenote/Update: Everyone slept through the night last night AND Lincoln and Nora both went to school today, which after the last week feels like a huge victory. Otto is on the mend having ditched the fever but is still definitely under the weather and napping now. I have volunteering tonight and Nora has swim so Kyle's schlepping them all to the Y this evening. Another week underway!

Parties and Pedals

Nora's weekend on the birthday circuit continued today. Another one of her very close friends and classmates from Montessori school who lives in the neighborhood had her party this afternoon. Nora rode her bike over first and after I made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up what we'd need to at least get part of the way into this week I stopped by. She was having a blast making slime and playing in the bounce house - it really was a perfectly set up kids party that appeared to more or less run itself. The kids all had a blast! After the party she stayed a little longer and I headed home. Despite Otto still feeling under the weather but overall a bit better (last night was a rough one with a croupy cough, multiple steamy shower visits and some fevers) he decided he wanted to ride the orange bike today. If there's one thing we've learned, it's when one of our kids tells us they're ready to ride a bike, they're usually ready and we should follow their lead ASAP.

SO CLOSE!!  He tried so hard and was so patient! I think had he been feeling good and healthy he would have had it in no time!  But, he was not all there and a little slow to process which I think messed him up some.  I'm excited to get him back out there later this week when he's feeling better and see what happens.  While the thought of him jetting off on a bike is somewhat terrifying it's also fun to see how close and ready he really is!  Little man is snuggled in on the cot next to our bed snoozing as I type so we (I) can keep an ear on his breathing and coughs tonight - at the moment (knock on wood) all signs point it not being nearly as bad as last night. A good night sleep would do all of us a world of good!!  

Take Your Skates!

Nora was back at the Roller Rink today for a friend's birthday party. She was so excited to see her Montessori friends and get to use her rollerblades for real but first was that messy room hurdle she had to overcome. With much debating, coaxing, coaching, at times scolding, chiding and whatever other whatevers were required she finished with just a bit of time to spare before it was time to go! While she was thrilled to get to put her skates to use at the skateway, I was thrilled that she was using them somewhere other than in my house! Kyle did text me while they were there to confirm that all her through the kitchen and around the house practice had paid off though and she was doing great. She looks like she had fun! I stayed home with the boys. Lincoln's fever has finally broken leaving him with just a cough and a stuffy nose and Otto (who has a history of not weathering illness well) is pretty miserable with his own cough, stuffy nose and fever. Fun times continue!

Dominoes!

I mean it was only a matter of time until this happened. You know Otto isn't feeling well when he wakes up, hangs out a bit, then goes back to bed! Yep, the fever and whatever virus Lincoln has had has gotten him too! Both boys started out pretty warm and pretty flat this morning but exactly 20 minutes after a dose of Motrin they were both up and asking for breakfast. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed with both of them playing but Otto did take a long nap. Since I haven't been able to go to the grocery store this week Kyle stopped on his way home from work then came and picked Nora up. He had made plans to meet up with Seth tonight since he's in town and instead of all of us going as we'd initially planned, it was just him and Nora. She swears despite tonight's outing she'll get her room cleaned in time to go to her friend's birthday party tomorrow afternoon. I'm really looking forward to that battle tomorrow!

They met up at Top Golf which despite the cold weather Nora seemed to enjoy and was probably genius on Kyle's part because it kept her busy enough that he and Seth got to actually have a conversation! Meanwhile at home the boys and I hung out in front of a fire since it didn't get out of the 50's yesterday and was 49˚. They're both asleep in the family room in front of a now waining fire (I started running low on cut wood). Here's hoping this weekend has the magic it takes to return everyone to health, or at least provide a needed break here and there. This week has worn me out!

Safe Start Finished, Still Sick Season

No giant fevers last night, still A fever, just not a giant one...so, we took Otto to swim in his clothes and crocs today. The crocs proved to be a distraction at first but once he got used to them on his feet and adjusted a bit he settled in and figured out his float. It's been a pretty low key day with both boys at home, playing, Otto took a decent nap which is a rarity these days but after last night he was requesting a rest after he finished lunch - I'm not going to argue with that. Lincoln got to get out his Lincoln Logs that he got for Christmas and I managed to take a shower which is probably as rare as an Otto nap! Anyway, Otto passed his refresher and finishes up this round and probably his last round of Safe Start tomorrow...from there he'll graduate to swimming with Miss. Jessica like a big kid!

As of now Lincoln is still dancing between a yellow and red temperature on the thermometer but hasn't taken anything since this morning so I'm guessing we'll close out the week with him at home tomorrow and hope he's cleared this from his system in time for the weekend! Sickness season is the worst!

2 Outta 3 Adventure with Dad

I thought Monday night's fever was high high, well the one I instinctively checked and discovered out of a sound sleep at 4am put that one to shame. Motrin did the trick again as I watched it fall steadily back to just about normal between 4am and 6am. Otto was dream yelling at me at about 6:15am and I settled in to go back to sleep for a bit just in time for Kyle's alarms to start going off. Living the dream! So, Lincoln is home again, completely fine again aside from dramatically high temps and my best guess is that we're dealing with a late onset bout of Roseola maybe? We'l find out if and when he gets a rash whenever this nonsense decides to end. His temp has been up and down based on medication times all day while he plays and is otherwise his normal self. We skipped Otto's swim today because I wasn't sure what the morning would bring but we went to Nora's this evening. Kyle met up with us after her lesson was over and took Nora & Otto down to Disney to meet up with Greg, Jenny & their kids for a bit. While they waited for them to get back from dinner they explored the hotel and stumbled upon Radiator Springs. This was novel to Otto seeing as how this is pretty much the only Disney movie our kids have ever seen in it's entirety and they just watched it about a week ago. He was pretty pumped to get to check out Mater up close. Lincoln and I stopped for smoothies on the way home, had some dinner together, he got to take a long hot shower and have 1:1 story time before heading to bed for what will hopefully be a good night's sleep. With a fresh dose of Motrin on board we should get close! We've already decided that since he was feverish without meds for most of the day today he'll be home again tomorrow. He's trying for the full week! Kyle got home with the kids after 10 so I'm sure tomorrow morning will be fun for all!

Finishing Up & A Fever

Otto's refresher lessons are finishing up this week - today was pajama day. With his pull-up he probably weighed 5lbs more than usual. He was so angry this morning when I told him he had to swim in his jammies and pull-up but he ended up having fun getting to do it. He did just fine and tomorrow he wears clothes and shoes to prove he's safe!

In other news, Lincoln woke up last night not feeling well, he came in my room before I was asleep and when I took his temp it was high...high high. So, he got a dose of Tylenol and a spot on the cot next to our bed where he laid and chit chatted while I occasionally re-took his temp to make sure it was falling. It started coming down and I started dozing so, rather than leaving the news on for him to watch I switched it over to PBS kids (Hey hey 11pm Daniel!), set the sleep timer and I fell asleep, I don't think he was far behind me. I woke up a couple other times to check him and he was within reasonable low grade temp range so that was good. He was hot again this morning and scored himself a day off of school. With Tylenol in him there's not really a fever and he's completely fine otherwise so he and Otto have been playing all day. I swear this kind of sick is sanity robbing! I gave him Motrin this evening so we'll see if he makes it through the night tonight.