Valentine's Festivities

Our family had a sweet Valentine's celebration this year. On the actual day, Teag gave the girls their customary heart-shaped box of chocolates, and in the evening, we had our special family dinner.

I loved conversation hearts when I was a kid, so I was stoked to find these conversation heart plates for the kids to use. We also got cookies with their names written on them for dessert, after we'd eaten our grilled salmon, mashed red potatoes, and asparagus. With sparkling cider. So fancy, I know.

The next day, we all got gussied up and attended the primary "Families are Forever" dance.

We spent an hour and a half cutting loose, and dancing with each other. There was so much movement, I couldn't get much in the way of pictures.

Even Finn had a good time, though most of his fun was in being chased by some older primary girls. He's such a charmer :).

It was a very cute idea, especially as all the primary-aged kids got corsages and boutonnieres when they arrived. Props to the primary for putting it on. A couple of great days, filled with lots of treats and lots of love!

The Plague

I'm sure you remember me talking about getting sick with the flu twice in a month a few posts ago? Well there's a new epidemic at the Bayly house. Or maybe it's the same one, and it affects the kids differently, I don't know. Either way, it sucks.

It started with Finn. He had a fever that wouldn't go away, and by the time we reached day five, it was clear he needed to be seen by a doctor. This happened to be Sunday, and Teag was also out of town. My mom took the girls to church while I took Finn to an Instacare, and spent the next four hours comforting him while he was poked, and suctioned, and X-Rayed. It took no time at all for them to assess that he was one sick little dude, but it took a really long time to determine what he was sick with. He finally fell asleep on me, traumatized and exhausted.

They ruled out RSV, which I didn't even think was possible in our family, and determined it to be pneumonia. He was given a dose of antibiotics before we even left the clinic, and a prescription for more. My mom still had the girls, so I drove to her house to pick them up, only to discover that Rory was running a fever and hadn't done much more than lay down and cough since my mom had brought her home early from church.

The poor kid just lays there, she's too tired to stand

We waited a few days to see if she'd improve on her own. No such luck. After a Monday and Tuesday filled with barely moving except to cough like a barking seal, Teag took her to the doctor. Same tests. Same diagnosis. The doctor even compared her and Finn's chest X-Ray's and said they were practically identical.

So we've got her on antibiotics now, but were warned that it's very contagious. We kinda figured but it's been confirmed. Sincerely hoping that Maisie and Dany manage to escape this particular plague. Not sure what this will mean for me either, since I was the only caregiver during most of these illnesses. I can't afford to get sick again.

Rough, rough winter for the Bayly's!

Birthday Girls!

We celebrated Maisie and Dany's birthday together this year! Teag was doing a rather large set of trips that happened to overlap Dany's actual birthday, and rather than have him miss it, Maisie graciously agreed to share her birthday celebration with Dany a week before. Maisie wanted to see the new Hobbit movie for her activity, and Dany wanted to go to Kangaroo Zoo. The plan was for Teag to take the younger three to the zoo while I took Maisie to the movie the Saturday before, but my old nemesis was hard at work, and I felt too terrible to go anywhere. We ended up finding a place to watch it online (shh!), and ate popcorn and hot chocolate in the comfort of our own home :). Teag took a few pictures of the younger girls bouncing around at the zoo.

A few days later was the actual birthday celebration. The kids had chosen Chuck-a-Rama for their birthday dinner (of course!), and then we came home and Grandma and Grandpa Rogers stopped by for presents and treats. Maisie, who is now into double digits, got a desk for her room, and some Lord of the Rings inspired jewelry, which she was very excited about. Also, a book and some money from Grandma.

Dany, who will be seven tomorrow, got a girly Lego camper, an alarm clock, a paint set, and an Anna doll and shirt from the Grandparents.

Then it was time for brownies and mint chocolate chip ice cream. I have to post this whole sequence of pictures, because of the story it tells.

Apparently Maisie needs to work on her candle-blowing.

I really appreciated how flexible both the girls were. Circumstances were far from ideal, but they both handled the changes graciously, and we were all able to have a really fun day together. Happy birthday, my lovely girls!

Ice Castles

One evening for FHE, Brad & Sara invited us to go with them and Kev & Meg up to the Midway Ice Castles. I'd heard of them before, but didn't really know what to expect. It was honestly way cooler than I thought it would be.

There were all kinds of tunnels and pathways, lit up with multicolored lights. The structures themselves are fascinating to look at, and it was worth braving the chill to explore.

We even managed to find a familiar face!

The kids had a so much fun burrowing into little pockets of ice, and exploring with their cousins. We even managed to get a picture of them, though it's not one of the better kid pictures we've taken.

We couldn't get a picture of our whole family together, however, and only managed it in pieces.

We listened to Frozen songs all the way there and back, and after we were done, had hot chocolate and donuts. A very satisfying evening, along with some great company. Props to Brad and Sara for setting it up, and inviting us along!