It's been a crappy week, and it's only Thursday

In the last week, Veronica has had two ear infections, started on a second course of antibiotics. Miranda has had a runny nose and cough and crankiness, sleeping poorly (including naps). Megan got sick at school last week and this week, enough that I had to come pick her up and bring her home. Travis is getting a cold. I've had a perpetual headache, most likely due to severe sleep deprivation (with Miranda and Veronica being sick, I've not slept more than 3 hours at a time).

I'm not super mom. My house is upside down. I haven't done enough laundry (my oldest has had to wear skirts all week because the slacks aren't clean). I haven't been grocery shopping (thankfully we have enough milk to get us through at least one more day, and food storage if it becomes critical- we'll just lack in the green veggies department* but we have vitamins so we might make it) because I got called to go pick up Megan. I think once in the last week I showered before noon, and I won't recount the number of days I didn't shower.

But, my kids are fed, and medicated. They've had some shouts, but lots of hugs and snuggles. They have some clean and warm clothes to wear (but if my four-year-old decides again that black polka-dots on pink go well with multi-colored plaid, that's her choice, not a style based on lack of clean options; I'm still trying to convince the 2-year-old that she has to wear something over the tights, as anchors and hearts are adorable on legs, but people would still rather have something covering the bottom besides the thin tights through which the diaper print shows#).

I'm hoping that my Birthday will be a different kind of celebration this year... not just the conclusion of Winter (my birthday falls on the last day of winter most years), but the onset of SICKNESS-FREE SPRING! That's all I want for my birthday: a few good solid months where I don't have to wipe noses, take axillary temperatures, awaken to my blank-year-old in the middle of the night with fill-in-the-blank illness (options: vomiting, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, fever, diarrhea, etc.) Is it too much to ask? I don't expect to never have them sick again, but just for a little while so EVERYBODY in the house can get a good night's rest.

If I can have that for my birthday, I promise I'll be a better mom; I won't yell as much (at myself or my husband or my children), I might have the laundry caught up, and the house might not have so many dust bunnies. Such a gift of illness free month would be one that would have much more return on the investment. But what kind of effort would it require? Barring the doors and creating a level four lab out of our home? I wouldn't mind having my people pass through a decontamination chamber before entering our home. Nor having a "clean bomb" that I could set off at church so the nursery toys were actually germ-free instead of germ overpopulated. I know the leaders try, but how do you keep 10 2-year-olds from putting anything in their mouth?

I've gotta go. The 2-year-old is making scary noises in the kitchen and the six-month-old is crying miserably on the living room floor. It's nap time. For me, at least...

*Do you have any ideas for storage of a green vegetable that isn't green beans? or peas? My family won't eat either of these. I have corn and tomatoes in our food storage, so far as vegetables go. And, yes, I consider tomatoes a vegetable. If it were fruit, we'd be grossly off the food pyramid, and I can't take that kind of stress right now.

#What is the DEAL with having stupid little prints on diapers? I don't care of they are disney, Pooh, or polka-dots. My favorite diapers are the 7th generation "environmentally friendly"(although it'd be nice if they did print a size on them). But, at twice the cost, I have a hard time justifying the expense at this point in my life. Still, it's nice to not have to see stupid patterns showing through clothes, or peeking out through waistbands. I bet it'd be $0.02 a diaper less if we could forego the licensed prints, and go without any ink on diapers.