The Not-So-Merry Christmas

Looking back, it kind of feels like Christmas never happened this year. It all started at Charlotte and Jensen's school Christmas party. I kept looking around the room at all the kids coughing and sneezing all over each other and I knew it was only a matter of time before my kids came down with "the crud." A few of their friends had already been diagnosed with the good old "mystery fever" so I figured they were next. And on the last day of school before Christmas break, both kids came home looking fine, but within the next few hours started running fever. They had to miss the annual Shelton Christmas party and were pretty sad about it. Poor kiddos.

They both perked up within a couple days, and I never even took them to the doctor because I figured it was just the "mystery fever" that all the other kids had. Then I woke up on Christmas Eve feeling awful. I spent that day and all of Christmas Day feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. But when mom gets sick, the show must go on...especially on Christmas!

The "hot gift" of Christmas 2013...the Doc McStuffins Check-Up Center. Does she ever play with it? Nope. And their joint big gift was those wooden blocks...which they play with EVERY DAY. Very good purchase!

Jensen's big gift was the Day of the Diesels set from Thomas the Train.

It was seriously all I could do to just hang out on the couch and take a few pics. Brian took these pics later in the morning, and I think they illustrate how horrible I felt.

My mom finally made me go to the doctor the next day and I found out that it was the flu. I felt awful because I'm sure that's what the kids had, too...I just assumed it was mystery fever because that's what all their friends had. But we all just toughed it out and luckily Brian never got it. We were certainly not alone in our sickness; it seemed like half the world missed out on Christmas fun due to flu, strep or "mystery fever". Fortunately we were all better in time to ring in 2014 together!