saturday in pictures

I think Charlie was right in his assumption that the apples were to blame.

More than twenty-four hours later, William and Elizabeth remain the only two people in our family to have become violently sick. Considering they both fell ill within minutes of each other and their symptoms are virtually identical and they were the only ones to have eaten the apples, I therefore to and hereunder concede that the flippin apples, as my brilliant husband initially suggested, are indeed, the most plausible culprit of the sickness that has struck our house.

I called Costco this morning to let them know that we suspect apples purchased in their store were bad and had likely caused food poisioning in our children. They had not received any other calls, so either we're totally off base, the contaminated batch was very small, or any other people who get sick don't make the connection back to the apples.

If I suspected that the kids needed medical treatment, I absolutely would have brought them to the hospital. But seeing as they were able to tolerate fluids today and are doing noticeably better, I decided the safest bet was to keep them home where they could rest. I definitely didn't want to drag them to an emergency room where they could be exposed to the swine flu. Especially since I've been to the doctor on too many occasions and sat in the emergency room for hours and hours on end, only to be told that everything that I was doing at home was correct and that these things have to just run their course.

Oh, and that will be $100.00 per child because this is an after hour emergency thankyouverymuch.

When both William and Elizabeth were wide awake at 6:30 this morning, I suspected that they were feeling completely better. I was definitely surprised at their energy levels considering they didn't fall asleep until midnight - after having spent the prior eight hours throwing up every 10 to 15 minutes.

William climbed in to bed at 6:30 and happily announced that he wanted pancakes for breakfast. Elizabeth jumped in to bed a few minutes later and declared that she wanted sausage, too. And then, a couple minutes after that, they stopped talking and started clutching their stomachs in agony. Because just the talk of food was enough to cause another upset.

They stayed in our bed for the better part of the morning watching cartoons.

And were later joined by a perfectly healthy Henry and Carolyn.

Henry took a break from watching cartoons to ambush a basket of nicely folded laundry that had yet to be put away. I snapped this picture off a milli-second before Charlie yelled at me, "JEN! PUT DOWN THAT CAMERA AND STOP HIM!!"

(My husband has NO idea what it means to capture a moment on film.)

While the triplets were contentedly watching Special Agent Oso, my husband felt compelled to tell me the flaws with this particular character. How is it that Special Agent Oso who has highly advanced equipment and can spot a child who loses a wheel on their bicycle - is unable to identify terrorists who detonate bombs in a crowd of people?

After I listened for a grueling five minutes to my husband dissecting Disney's newest preschool television character, who in his opinion isn't really all that O So Special ... I kindly asked if he would please take the toddler that was climbing on the bed - and smacking his sick siblings in their heads with their puke bowls - to the grocery store because our bendy straw supply needed restocking.

And when you're sick ... you've got to have bendy straws.

I then turned my attention to cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer which have completely ceased working. Considering I spent almost $300.00 at Costco on Thursday, I can't tell you how thankful I am that we have two freezers. Because otherwise, there would be coolers with food packed on ice in every corner of our house.

Today in the midst of my refrigerator/freezer cleaning spree, I threw several things away. Including a bottle of Jägermeister that has never been open but has accompanied me with every move for the past 16 years.

Seeing as I am the anti-pack rat, I have no idea why I would hold on to something that long. I must have picked up this trait from my mother who once had a tin of SPAM in her refrigerator for 10 years. I suppose it sometimes happens when you know something isn't going to go bad - you just leave it there and think, "Maybe one day I'll be in the mood for some delicious canned ham."

Now I'm just holding hope that tomorrow a long lost friend won't drop by and say, "You know what I'd really love is a shot of ice cold Jägermeister. You wouldn't happen to have any ... would you?!"

Thank goodness for the fridge and freezer thermometer. If not for this little gadget, I might have been really confused as to why a gallon of water from our ice maker spilled all over my feet when I opened the door.

It was warmer inside our freezer than it was outside, today.

Once I finished cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer and transferring any salvageable food to our outside refrigerator and freezer, I set about cleaning the house. Because when any one gets sick, I get the overwhelming urge to sanitize. (Unless I'm the one to get sick. And then I get the overwhelming urge to lay on the couch and complain loudly.)

So I got down on my hands and knees with a brush and scrubbed the baseboards, cabinets and floors. With a bucket of diluted bleach and a can of Lysol, I washed down every possible surface that might harbor germs. I cleaned the windows, the blinds, the light switches, the door knobs and the trashcan.

Seeing as Carolyn was feeling good, and I genuinely enjoy seeing little handprints all over our mirrors, she helped. While wearing her Christmas outfit.

(I never would have dreamed that I'd get such mileage out of those dresses.)

Charlie set about reassembling the carseats that had been covered in puke. He took a break to tell me how much he loves our Britax. We own another brand carseat that we keep in Charlie's truck and compared to the Britax, they are junky.

Our Britax have been taken apart, washed and reassembled numerous times. They are comfortable. They are secure. They are easy to disassemble and clean. And seeing as they have held our children since they were tiny infants - up until they weigh 60 pounds - they are the only carseats we will ever need.

When Charlie had been at the store (shopping while hungry), he couldn't resist a sale that was being offered on breakfast cereal. Clearly he had another of these moments. Because after he opened the box and poured himself a huge bowl full, he declared - not surprisingly - Cap'n Crunch doesn't taste as AWESOME as it did 25 years ago.

"They must have changed the way they make it. I mean, this stuff tasted great! Wait a minute. Let me see that box... surely it can't be me ..."

What else happened today?

Elizabeth sipped on Coca Cola (helps with nausea) from a baby can.

William sipped on Gatorade (helps restore electrolytes) from a big bottle.

The mere action of standing in the kitchen and drinking fluids, completely knocked the kids out. So Elizabeth retreated to bed.

And William retreated to the couch.

We put Henry down for a nap and while three of her siblings slept, Carolyn had the undivided attention of both her parents. She was on CLOUD NINE.

She hosted a tea party.

(Note pinky finger correctly extended).

Then she hosted a birthday party...

For her dad.

Then, she took off an errand to Home Depot with her dad to pick up some wood for fence repairs Charlie will be making, tomorrow.

Soon after returning home, the kids started to wake up - and Carolyn not quite ready to relinquish the undivided attention she had been receiving - decided that she was terribly sick and needed to lay down with a blue bowl.

But oh!

When her siblings went to watch Cinderella, she was miraculously healed.
For the next three hours, the kids laid on the couch and watched movies.

Then, William and Elizabeth went back to bed and took naps.

Both kids feel asleep at around 2 PM. Elizabeth slept until 6. When I returned home from church at 7:45, William was still asleep in our bed. The bed (and William) were drenched because he had fallen asleep almost six hours earlier after having consumed 24 oz of Gatorade.

I woke him up to stick on a Pull-Up and put him in some clean pajamas. I then put him in to his own bed at 8:30. He opened his eyes once to tell me he was tired and fell right back to sleep. Since he's been sleeping soundly since 2 this afternoon, I suspect he will be wide awake, fully healed, and ready to take on the world by no later than 3 AM.

I should probably lock our bedroom door and wear ear plugs.