Fighting Germs & Catching Up!

We are now 7 days into the New Year and I'm going to try, once again, to blog on a more regular basis this year. 
As most of you know, my family was struck with the flu over a week ago.  One by one we fell victim to various symptoms; chills, fever, aches, runny noses, congestion, sore throats, coughs and a little bit of vomiting for good measure.  Jim was in bed for the better part of 2 days. Isabella had a million cold-like symptoms. Savannah ended up with walking pneumonia as well as a double ear and eye infection.  I had a fever, severe sore throat and cough that left me without a voice and now, although I am feeling better, I'm still suffering from laryngitis and a nagging cough.   Fortunately, thus far, Kyle has been spared from many of the symptoms that plagued the rest of us.  He has a cough and some congestion, but nothing of major concern.  Savannah has been having an awful time sleeping comfortably.  Two nights in a row now she's woken up crying every hour through-out the night.  That being said, I think we are all on the road to recovery.  No one has had a fever in over 24 hours and everyone is looking less pale and more human today.  Thank god.
Last Thursday night New England received it's first winter snow storm of the year.  We woke up to several inches of powdery snow on Friday morning.  We were all pretty sick but the kids were exceptionally excited about the snow, since it was the first significant amount we've had in over a year, so I decided to bundle us all up and head outside for a short while.  I knew that within 10 minutes at least one of them would want to go back inside but I figured the fresh air would do us a world of good and I was right.  We were outside for about 20 minutes and in that time I had more energy than I'd had all week!!  I was able to help Jim shovel some of the snow for our neighbors before heading back into our self quarantined home.  Jim ended up spending the entire morning outside, plowing and shoveling for others.  As usual Kyle was excited to be riding around in the plow truck.
Now that I'm starting to feel better I've been trying to get things organized in the house again.  The Christmas Tree is out on the curb and most of the decorations have been packed into boxes and put into the storage room.  I've been struggling to find spots for the new toys that the kids got for Christmas but fortunately this house is full of all sorts of nooks and cranny's!
Speaking of Christmas, we had a lovely time over the holidays.  Our home was bursting with people, love, laughter, food and presents!!  The kids eyes were full of magic and their smiles warmed all of our hearts as they excitedly gathered around the tree on Christmas morning.  This year Savannah "got it" and was just as excited to see all of the brightly wrapped gifts under the tree as her older siblings were!  We all enjoyed spending lots of time with our family and close friends and if truth be told, I think we're all a little disappointed that the holidays are behind us already.  It seemed like they went by extra fast this year!!
A couple of random tid bits to share:  Kyle has finished more than half of the 4th Grade Curriculum and continues to learn at a lightening fast pace.  Bella is officially writing and absolutely loves doing her preschool work.  And Savannah, who is now a little under 2 1/2 yrs old, is completely potty trained.  Yes, I've been busy!!
Happy 2014, Everyone!  May this New Year bring everyone excellent health, lots of love and laughter and a Superbowl to the New England Patriots, Please !