Our Easter

It was a different sort of Easter celebration this year. Arden got sick on Good Friday, and I had a feeling that her smocked Easter dress would not get worn. By Saturday night, she was really bad and had croup (you know, the "seal cough") and fever. She had stopped eating and drinking for the most part and refused to sleep. Everytime we put her down, she was up screaming in 30 minutes. Stuart knew it was an ear infection. I was hoping we could survive it until Monday when we could take her to the pediatrician's office, but we couldn't. She ended up spitting up some blood in the middle of the night on Saturday, and then we immediately took her to the ER.

Luckily, Arden's croup was not so severe to need hospitalization, and the blood was from a broken blood vessel from such forceful coughing. However, Dr. Stuart was correct because Arden had not one, but two, badly infected ears . . . hence the fever, screaming, and refusing to lay flat. So, we left the ER at 2 a.m. with our antibiotic prescription.

Sunday was a horribly cold and rainy day here. After getting to bed after 2 a.m., I decided to volunteer to be the one to stay home with Arden. Stuart took the boys to a later church service than we normally attend, but at least they made it. I threw together the ingredients to make Stuart's favorite sweet potato casserole, and luckily I had already purchased a pre-cooked ham from my favorite Honey Baked Ham Company. I didn't have to really cook anything except the sweet potato casserole, and we added some frozen veggies, cranberry sauce, and some rolls. Overall, it was a delicious meal for very little work and the perfect solution after a very sleepless night. All the kids enjoyed their Easter baskets which they opened after church, and it was fun to see their excitement over the small things we had picked out. Hudson had to have a chocolate bunny (he LOVES anything chocolate), and Owen wanted jelly beans. They both got a Bakugan toy which they play together, and I had picked up some cute activity books with decoders at Target.

Arden is recovering now and finally sleeping normally, but Owen is staying home sick from school today with the stomach flu. He seems like he has recovered quickly and will probably be able to return tomorrow. He ate a normal lunch and hasn't had any more problems.

At least Arden's smocked dress didn't have bunnies or Easter baskets on it, so she can easily wear it again on any other Sunday. I'll take a picture of her in it next week and "pretend" it was Easter.

We did spend time remembering the real reason for Easter that doesn't involve baskets, dyed eggs (oops . . forgot to do those!), or bunnies. Christ has risen from the grave for our sins and has given us the gift of eternal life. He is the reason why we celebrate. We opened the empty egg from our Resurrection Egg set and talked with the boys about the empty tomb.

Even though we had illness, we had plenty to be thankful for: a warm house, good ham, a family, and a God who loved us enough to die for us.