New Year!

On Sunday Tyler and Ruby stayed home from church. I wasn't feeling well but I had to play piano (I was subbing for the primary pianist) and I had to teach a primary lesson so I still went. I was feeling really crummy (runny nose, headache and a bit of nausea) and probably should have stayed home too but alas I went and shared my germs with everyone instead. 

On Monday Ruby and I still weren't feeling great and Tyler had joined the sick club. For Christmas Tyler's parents had gifted us a Chuck-E-Cheese pass and the middle three were desperate to use it so I ended up taking them, despite not feeling great. The middle three had a lot of fun so it was probably worth going. Ruby was not in to riding any of the moving cars or playing any of the games, she was still fussy. She spent most of the time wandering around the place and staring at the bright lights and things. Sometimes she joined in games with her siblings. I do feel like the pass his parents got us for Christmas is such a good deal because we have the ability to play 100 games every day for 2 months. It take the kids about an hour to go through 100 games so it entertains them for a good amount of time and is an easy outing.

Tuesday was New Years Eve. That morning I went out to breakfast with Caroline and Grace to celebrate Caroline's birthday (it was on Monday). It was a nice outing but the food wasn't quite as good as I remembered and I probably talked too much.

After Ruby's nap, Penny's glasses were ready for pick up- that was fast! She was so excited that we ended up going to pick them up immediately. She does look pretty cute in them.

That afternoon we did our new tradition (started last year) of taste testing weird sodas. I did not pick well this year apparently. The kids were grossed out by most of them. I had gotten butterscotch beer, marshmallow and bubblegum (I will admit that those were both gross), kitty piddle, alien snot and cookies and cream. After our soda taste testing, Lucy went to Claire's house for a New Years Eve Sleepover.

That evening we had Mariah's family over and her friend's family over again. It seemed like as soon as they got here my eye started getting all boogery and blurry. Ruby had indeed had pink eye after all and had given it to me. Of course, for the whole night, all I could think about was that I had pink eye and they were all going to notice and hate me for contaminating them. So it wasn't exactly a very fun night for me. Mariah didn't seem to be feeling well either. Her friend asked her if she was feeling nauseous and she nodded her head yes- either sick or maybe pregnant? It's probably about time for her to be pregnant again. At 8 they all watched a countdown and toasted with grape juice and sparkling cider. I do not know why they brought grape juice- that was terrifying in the hands of children. Thankfully no one spilled. Then they left and I couldn't help but just feel relief. I was able to take out my contacts and wash my eye with a cloth. I stayed up for a little while longer and Tyler and I worked on our "escape the crate" gift that we had gotten for Christmas. He pretty much solved all the puzzles we worked on that night while I sat there with my goopy eye but I still enjoyed seeing how the puzzles got solved. Meanwhile Ben and Penny watched "Little Rascals". I attempted to go to sleep around the time the kids movie ended but I was unsuccessful. I might as well have stayed up with everyone instead of lying in bed awake.

Wednesday we paid another visit to Chuck-E-Cheese- this time everyone came. It was the only family outing I could convince Steven to go on. I was glad he came and hung out with Ruby. He didn't even complain too much. My eye was still yucky but at least I had my glasses to hide behind. With it being the New Years I didn't want to deal with trying to find a dr's place open so I had decided to see if my eye would clear up on its own. After Chuck-E-Cheese, we went and got lunch at Chick-Fil-A. It was a nice morning out as a family. 

Thursday morning my eye wasn't goopy just a little pink so I didn't feel like I needed to go spend the $100 to go to a doctor. That morning the girls and I went to the mall. Lucy had gotten a giftcard for Claire's that she wanted to spend. It took her quite awhile to decide how to spend it but she ended up getting some earrings and a couple necklaces. I am not sure why she is so in to buying jewlery. She rarely changes her earrings and I never see her wearing necklaces. After Claire's, Ruby played in the kids play area, we got a pretzel, we stopped at the dog store and then we headed home.

Thursday afternoon Ben had Andrea over and wanted to take her to Chuck-E-Cheese so we went yet again. Ruby was napping so we left her with Steven. Tyler was back at  work. Lucy was starting to feel sick so she probably should have stayed at home but she did take a really cute pic while there. Ben and Andrea had a really good time though...

Friday morning I woke up with goopy eyes again and so did Ruby so we ended up at a same day clinic that morning. The doctor confirmed that we both had pink eye and prescribed us some drops but she didn't seem too concerned about any of our other symptoms- just told us to come back if they got worse. Like I want to come back and pay another $100. I just really hate how bad our healthcare is and that is why I procrastinate going to the doctor so much. Ruby seems to be doing better but neither one of us is great. Lots of boogers and coughing.

Friday evening Tyler and I went out to celebrate our 19th anniversary. I had failed to get him a gift that day but he had wrote me a really nice note. We were going to get dinner at our favorite Chinese place but sadly we got there and found it had been closed due to a fire a couple months ago. This was disappointing. We ended up at Applebee's which is not a favorite but it was food and it was nice to have night out without any kids (the girls were watching Ruby). 

Saturday morning we went, yet again, to Chuck-E-Cheese. We are becoming regulars. The kids just really love it and it is an easy and free way to get out of the house on a cold day. Ruby and I played some games. She liked a space invaders game, a chicken game and grabbing all the balls when I was trying to play skee ball. I also introduced the kids to Deal or No Deal and they seemed to like that one. It's nice to be able to try out games because we know we can come back and play more. We are not spending our tickets in hopes that we can get something super awesome at the end of our membership. 

Saturday afternoon I went to go to the piercing place so I could get a shorter rod on my nose stud but it turns out the piercer is out of town for the next 2 weeks. Boo. The rest of our day was uneventful. I think Ruby is finally feeling better so hopefully she will be good for Tyler when I go to Arizona Wednesday. She had been so fussy during the week- needing to be held and waking at nights- it is good we have turned a corner.