monday at the madhouse ~ our home, the petri dish

What a week it has been.Ezra was home sick on Monday and Tuesday, then he went back to daycare on Wednesday -- otherwise known as the day I came down with his symptoms. I've now had this cold for six days with it barely easing up. Ezra has the energy of a tsunami, but his nose is still runny (and chapped), and Jamie came down with a much milder version yesterday. And did you hear? It hasn't gotten above zero for about the last two days here.But, as you can imagine, we are a bit itchy with cabin fever due to all the illness. So this weekend we went out on short, easy trips. And then we came home, collapsed and ate tons of soup and watched a lot of TV. Below are some images of our time in, and some of our time out. If you are healthy right now, do not take it for granted. My god, the illnesses just keep hitting us hard this winter.Distraction No. 1? Puzzles.Distraction No. 2? Hiding in the curtains.Distraction No. 3? Snacks. This was yogurt and sausages. In case you can't tell by all that grime stuck to his face. (ew) And yes, his nose is scabbed over. Poor kid. (And yes, it's also covered in vaseline as we try to get it to heal.)We went to the mall on Sunday morning so we could sip coffee and let Ezra run around inside. Instead? He slept.Then he woke up and started making out with the window displays. As you do.Can't imagine why we're sick, can you?Adorable, but pretty crusty. The battles that have gone on in this household in an attempt to get that nose clean are legendary. And we are losing this war.On Sunday I opted for Distraction No. 5: Baking a cake with Ezra. He kept going back to the oven to check and see if it was done yet. Yeah, he's probably kissing that just like the window display.On Monday, we opted for Distraction No. 6 by taking him to the aquarium. On our way in, he sat down and refused to get up.Toddlers are fun like that.But don't worry! We got him up, and he had a wonderful time!And lastly, just a shot of these shoes. We actually got these free at a clothing swap at our daycare, and I have LOVED THEM. They are so easy to get on and off, and they are warm enough for this cold. Now, if it snows more, we'll switch to the winter boots we got him, but for now these are perfect.For your internet share, I kept seeing this link to Adele doing driving karoke, but I didn't click. WHY NOT? This reminds me of high school so much. I think all we did was drive around and sing ... New Order. Yup. Oh, and lots of stuff from John Hughes soundtracks.