We had some excitement yesterday.

It actually started on Saturday night, when Charlie kept whimpering from his crate, begging to be let out, then crying again as soon as he came back in. I think I managed only three hours of sleep and just barely managed to keep Wes from killing Charlie. I kept telling him that something wasn’t right, that Charlie doesn’t act like this, and that he was trying to tell us something. Well, his message came across loud and clear after church on Sunday when from the garage (with our doors closed!) we could smell a BIG problem. Charlie had gotten violently ill in his crate and was just standing there in it all, quivering and moaning.

I’m not sure who was unhappier about this all — Charlie, who had to endure being hosed down in the yard, or me, who had to clean up everything. I’ve always said that there’s nothing worse than cleaning up after a sick preschooler. I stand corrected. Without going into the disgusting details, I’ll tell you that bleach is awesome and that the digestive tract of a German Shepherd must be gigantic. At some points in the process (especially when I had to scrub the walls — yes, the walls), I considered just abandoning the whole house as a lost cause. But I persevered, and after giving everything a good bleach rub-down again this morning, I declare the laundry room CLEAN. Perhaps cleaner than the rest of my house, in all honesty.

Charlie appears to be back to normal and will never eat hot dogs again. (I think this was what set him off. One seemingly harmless hot dog. Never again!) Doesn’t he look great in that picture?

Ana was feverish early yesterday morning but not enough that she needed to stay home. She got through Sunday school just fine, then slept through the service, burning up. We got her home, where she napped all afternoon, then hit 101 degrees right before bedtime. Poor baby! Tylenol got it down and kept it down, but since the school has been adamant that children are not to come back to school until they’ve fever-free for at least twenty-four hours following an illness, I kept her home. She’s been enjoying the unexpected vacation, laying around on the couch, playing with Emma, and commenting on how much better the laundry room smells. Ha!

We’re preparing ourselves for snow tonight and tomorrow. I’m getting all the laundry done now, in case we lose power, and we’re stocking up on groceries this afternoon. Wes put a full tank of gas in the car in case we lose power for long enough that the girls and I need to go down to Texas (remember last year’s ice storm?), but he’s planning on staying to help out with disaster relief if needed. Of course, if that does happen, we’ll feel awfully silly for having bought all those groceries, won’t we? Here’s hoping we won’t even have to worry about it!

We’re looking forward to a fun February here… will post a blog with more details soon!