The Sick Hut Comes to Life

The Paines were hit hard by a virus that swept through the household over the last two weeks and took out every member of the family. This is very unusual in that Nate rarely gets sick. But we all had it––fever, congestion and cough. Allie and Jen are still dealing with a lingering cough, and poor Rowan, the last to get it, still has some stuffiness. Thankfully he did not get the other symptoms. Breastfeeding ought to be good for something.

You know it's bad when Allie starts calling music "mucus." Last night she repeatedly talked about the "mucus" she wanted to listen to as she put her CD into the player. Sheesh.

Silas was home from school last week for four days with the virus, and unfortunately this past week he already had off for Thanksgiving. He had a long, unexpected break that was made even more challenging because the rest of us were also sick.

Nate and Silas passed the time by baking several batches of cookies, making chicken and lentil soups, and baking our traditional Thanksgiving apple pie. Silas loves to help with cooking and baking, mostly doing the "dumping" and mixing work. Every day he'll haul out a bag of chocolate chips and ask to make cookies. Although it's fun to mix up a batch with him, it's not so great for our waste lines!

The good news is that God brought us through the sickness, and protected Rowan from the worst of it. We still had a good Thanksgiving, despite being sick. And Rowan is now six weeks old––hooray!

An invention that came out of our long sickness was the
"sick hut". Here is Allie resting in the the first of the sick huts.

Silas' sick hut was more like a secret hideaway.

An early morning game of hide-in-the-cube.

Nate and Silas made a batch of chicken soup, which was a very nice treat
for mommy. Silas has become quite the sous chef lately.

Despite being stuffy these past few days, Rowan
continues to do well and is growing fast!