Ah! I can feel it-we are getting better. Sigh of relief. I am so sick of being sick. Yesterday, I pulled a classic "Hey, I'm better" and jumped in full swing trying to clean and do school and, and, and. Only to land myself back in bed most of the day. But with lots of rest, I'm actually much better today. I took the kids out this morning for a couple hours to do some unavoidable errands. The kids behaved  beautifully. And it didn't wear us out. We came home and completed a full day of school. Richard is bringing dinner home and we are going to move furniture around in the basement to make room for his NEW PLOTTER! Yes, he finally got it, a nice big one that will greatly cut down on his time for completing side jobs so he can spend that much more time with the family-and not wear himself out from working such long, hard hours.
 So last night was Halloween, and we usually hang out in the downstairs den watching movies or make plans to be elsewhere so we can avoid the trick-or-treaters. (We don't celebrate Halloween) We would have normally been at Wednesday night prayer meeting. But we're all sick, and we were very much home, upstairs, with the lights all on. In fact, my cabin feverish wild children, who didn't LOOK sick o

n the outside :D were climbing all over the couch looking out the big window to see what they could see. I knew that the trick-or-treaters would definitely be coming by, and I didn't want to seem like the bad guy with no candy and risk any teenagers' nasty tricks as a result. So I posted a sign on my front door"No candy here, Sickness in the house, One recovering from pneumonia, We won't open the door, Don't want to get you sick" Which was all very true. I mean, who wants to reach their hands into a candy bowl from a house that has been coughing, nose-blowing, sneezing, & just returned from the hospital?--And then, the doorbell rang! Huh? I looked over and my neighbor was motioning wildly through the window. I opened my door a crack and rasped out(because I can still barely talk) apologetically, "My kids are all sick..." But he held up a bag of candy and said in his broken Romanian accent, "For YOUR kids, because they can't come out!" Aaw! What a sweet gesture. I accepted it graciously for the kids and told the kids later they'd have to make him & his wife, a nice little Romanian couple from across the street, a big thank you card.

I have done it-bought my first Christmas present and first Christmas 'supply'! Bows were the first thing out for Christmas for $1 a bag, so I bought two bags. We are starting from scratch for almost everything Christmas this year, as most of our cheap old Christmas stuff wore out and died last year. Of course we still have the beautiful family decorations from both sides. But, the cheap stuff-bows, wrapping paper, garland, balls, that sort of thing-is all starting fresh. And it is a momentous year--the year to carefully choose a lasting angel for the top of the tree. I think we used a makeshift light thingy that was about to expire last year. But we both want a beautiful angel this year. 

Well, the honored individuals who will be the recipients of the First Present Bought are: my baby girls. :) Gracie enjoyed her baby doll stroller so much last year, she literally used it to death. It died last week. It bore baby dolls, stuffed animals,and....brothers and sisters. Yes, I think the brothers and sisters did the poor contraption in. In fact, the girls, being almost the same age and interests, had many, um, "discussions"-"differences of opinion"-"disagreements"--oh, bother, forget what adults call their arguments!---they had many plain, ole fights over that stroller! :D So, Richard and I decided the most peaceful plan was to get them EACH a stroller this year, especially since they're both such good little mommies and will truly love them. And, today, for some reason, I found them extremely inexpensively priced at WalMart---the exact same quality, as far as I could tell, as the one we got last year. $7.94 apiece! I had Gabriel distract the babies in the toy aisle while I hid them amongst the groceries. The first Christmas presents will be wrapped and topped with new bows by tonight! Merry Christmas, everyone!---Oh, wait, half of you haven't even had Thanksgiving yet, Lol! :D