I have been quiet for the last few days.  Our kids got hit like dominoes crashing with the stomach flu that has been going around the school and kindergarten.  The school (which is already extremely small in our rural Austrian town) has been practically deserted during this winter season between the flu, chicken pox, and now this terrible stomach flu.  Some kids even had to go to the hospital because of it!

I guess that I can say we were lucky even though it took us a full week to get over it.  That is, a full week for all of the kids to trade it off.  Most people getting this one were very sick for a full week.  Ours only got it for 2 to 3 days each.  As soon as one was getting better, the next went down. 

With four kids to go through, it seemed like a prison sentence being couped up in the house.  We had a fresh blanket of snow with beautiful sunshine-filled days.  Were we out in it?  No, we were holed up inside and I spent my days cleaning up puke buckets (no, there's nothing nice about this topic), washing bedsheets, and an enormous pile of laundry.

On the other hand, meal-times were super simple as we ate lots and lots of fruit meals to go easy on the little tummies and not everyone was eating.  I forgot how yummy it is to eat to your heart's content on nothing but mangoes in one sitting!

Do I dare say that I can't help but appreciate the quiet calm it brought to our house when my son was laying in bed or on the couch for 2 days straight?  A sickness like this is horrible with the little ones who can't make it to the bathroom or even a bucket in time (hence the piles of dirty laundry...), but at 8, our son is big enough to 'keep it clean.'

Am I a terrible mom because I can find the beauty in this situation?? 

When each day is usually filled with lots of noise, energetic movement, chatter, and busy goings on (which I adore because it comes from my amazing kids), I do appreciate the quiet moments in life that I just don't get enough of!

So, instead of blogging, writing for my upcoming book, and other evening activities, I have been keeping my head above water around the house and taking care of the little ones literally around the clock.  One day this week, on my husband's day off, we took turns napping because I hadn't slept in about 48 hours and him not much more!

On the brighter side, I spent lots of time snuggling with my kids, reading stories, watching a few dvd's, and just enjoying this rare time together without other agendas.

I am thankful that we really don't get sick that often and like to view these times as life's special reminders of how good the good times really are!