Our week began with the flu… and by the middle of the week, four out of five of us had had it, were getting it, or were recovering from it. I was sicker than I’ve remembered being for a very long time… it took me five days of being bedridden before I finally felt well enough to be up and around again!
And that was the case for all of us who got it. Gratefully, though, we’re all almost completely well again!
Kathrynne enjoyed playing with her new marble maze that was a Christmas gift from her aunt and uncle before she finally succumbed to the flu.
When Silas and Kaitlynn were well enough to be up, we used our new Yonanas machine (a Christmas gift from my aunt and uncle!) to make banana “ice cream.”
Yum!
We enjoyed a few fast and furious Scrabble games this week while we were recovering. We discovered that it’s a great way for Kathrynne to improve her spelling skills, too!
Jesse and I also celebrated our 10 year anniversary this week. I am so thankful for this wonderful man that God has given me. We’ve had our ups and down and our hard times, but we’ve grown together so much through it all.
Yesterday, Jesse and I made a quick trip to Little Rock to celebrate our anniversary and have some business meetings with a few people here. It’s been fun to get away together and just enjoy some quiet and time to talk and dream about the next 10 years of our marriage.
So that was our week in a nutshell. What was your week like? Tell us in the comments.
Milk Allergy Mom says
I hope you guys are all better! We just got a Yonanas machine and I can’t wait to try it for our dairy-free home! 🙂
Karen says
We got a yonanas machine also, but not huge banana fans. Love using frozen peaches & berries in it!! 🙂
Anna@The DIY Mom says
Happy Anniversary!
And I hope you all feel completely back to normal soon, if not already.
Jenny says
Happy Anniversary!
Sara says
Sorry ya’ll have had the ‘bug’. So far we have escaped. THANK THE LORD!!!
Congratulations on 10! We are right behind ya. 9 years in May. We plan and save all year and then go on a “honeymoon” every year. Usually just a couple of days, but so important! The kiddos love to stay with grandparents and look forward to it all year long.
Thanks for the game ideas, everyone. I never thought of that. Hmmm….I need to go game shopping. 🙂
Living So Abundantly says
You did a beautiful job braiding your daughter’s hair. 🙂
Morgan says
Do you live in Arkansas?
Crystal says
No, we live in Kansas. 🙂
Kelly Hess says
Happy 10 year anniversary. My husband and I celebrated our 10 year this past August. We wanted to go somewhere but we just had our daughter the month before. It is amazing how fast time goes. 10 years and now we have 3 kids, 7, 4 and 6 months. We definitely hope to go on a trip just the 2 of us this August for our 11th Anniversary!
Victoria says
My husband and I have been enjoying passing the ipad back and forth playing words with friends. He beats me everytime!
Shelly says
We were sick for almost a month with what we think was the flu. I hope you are all doing much better now.
My daughter has the marble run too it is fun. The banana ice cream looks really good that is something my kids would love.
Kelly says
So happy that you all are doing well after the nastiness of the flu! Happy Anniversary, too!
Ann says
Our family likes to (occasionally) play “take one” with just the Scrabble letter tiles, no board.
Each person draws 7 tiles and arranges words, all hooked together, until they have used all seven tiles. Then that person says “take one” and each player takes one more tile & everyone keeps working to use all their tiles. This game doesn’t go by turns, everyone is arranging their tiles simultaneously. Depending what letters you have to work with, it can go very fast paced, or a little slow if you need more vowels, or another E, or whatever!
It is fun to find scrabble at a garage sale & keep adding tiles to your collection!
Stephanie F. says
I hope everyone is back to being 100%. I’ve never had the flu, but it sounds awful!
Happy Anniversary to you & Jesse!!!
Karen says
Ugh!! Flu!! So sorry you were so ill but glad you are all feeling better. Actually they DID get the flu strain correct. The H3N2 strain is mowing people down and it was indeed included in the flu shot this year.
Hannah says
Happy anniversary, Crystal! Have been following your blogs for most of that time, and it’s hard to believe 10 years have gone by!
kathy says
I wanted to add my congratulations to others here. My husband and I will celebrate our 37th this year. May God bless you and your family!
Nicole says
So unnecessary.
Sara says
?
Nicole says
Um, sorry, I don’t know how this reply got onto this post. 🙂 Love the post and your site, Crystal! Please feel free to remove. Lol.
Sheila says
Happy Anniversary!!!
We celebrate our 20th next month.
Sounds like the flu bug is spreading fast. My youngest 2 had it last week & I have it this week. I’m praying my husband & oldest are protected from it.
It’s been a crazy week getting back into the school routine.
I am thankful for my amazing husband who has been taking care of me & our family, doing his substitute bus driving, & prepping for today’s church service. I’m blessed!
amy says
Congrats on the anniversary. It is nice to get away just to have a conversation isn’t it? 🙂
I’m also curious on the Yonannas machine.
Rena (An Ordinary Housewife) says
Congrats on the anniversary! We’re going on 8 years. Sorry you had to spend it being sick!
LuAnn Braley says
Glad to hear y’all are on the mend. And CONGRATS on your wedding anniversary! I’m going to have to check out that Yonanas contraption!
Jill says
Darling pictures! Sorry you were so il 🙁 danny and I celebrated our 10th in Nov of this past yr. doesn’t time fly and life circumstances change considerably in 10yrs!
Maria says
Happy Anniversary! I also am curious about the Yonnanas machine, especially since you already have a Vitamix. Knowing you, you probably slready have a blogpost planned. 🙂 Reviews, please!
Lucy says
Happy anniversary! Our 10 years was last june, and I’m so thankful to my lord to chose this man for me!
I heard about the bad flu, so we went to CVS to get flu shots last week, my arm was sore for a while. I hope everyone who got a flu will get recover soon.
Christia says
Wow the Yonanas thing is so interesting it looks delicious! I just love your blog so much it is inspiring. Thank you very much.
Amy Lauren says
Sorry to hear about your sickness, but I really like reading these little updates about your life. Glad you were able to celebrate your anniversary at least, and it looks like you guys had fun with the ice cream machine!
Suzanne says
Happy Anniversary! May God bless you with many, many more to come!
Melly says
Happy anniversary! My hubs and I just celebrated 19 years! Just found your blog and read your eBook. Thanks for the tips, I really want to have a successful website one day.
Now, I am going to go read your article about freezer cooking. 🙂
Elizabeth says
Happy Ann. 🙂 I think when my husband and I hit 10 years we looked at each other and said, “You’re still here why?” LOL But that’s our humor.
I’m glad y’all enjoyed your trip and sorry about people having the icks.
Renee says
I am also curious as to your impressions of the yonannas, I have been thinking of buying one. We love making “bananna icecream” in our magic bullet but I wonder if the thickness and consistance would be better with the yonannas. How do you like your’s…worth the extra kitchen space and money? Thanks.
Danna says
We got the flu as well. Wow it is a really bad virus. I’m barely up out of bed now.
Ami Montgomery says
Hi Crystal!
I am curious about the Yonannas, I am on Weight Watchers and have been considering this product. Can you tell me if it is worth the money to spend on the device?
Can you make other “ice cream” other than banannas? Please give me your insight on this product
Thanks!
Amanda says
Hi Ami, We’ve had our Yonanas machine for around a year now and we just love it. It’s a great way to get that sweet ice cream fix, but have only fruit. You can mix other frozen fruit with the bananas to add flavor. You will always have the slightly banana base, but the additional flavors are great (we’ve tried strawberries, blueberries, cherries, peaches, pineapple mango). You can do just straight other fruit, but it turns out more like sorbet because it doesn’t have the creaminess from the bananas. We made mango sorbet once and it was great. You can get the machine at Bed Bath and Beyond (look for one of their coupons). For us, it was well worth the money and we use it once every couple weeks in the cold season and at least once a week in the summer.
Erin says
I got mine on clearance, and I don’t really think it was worth the money. We used it a number of times over the summer, but it’s a one-trick pony that is ultimately collecting dust and will probably end up in a yard sale. I tried a number of the recipes in the book, and they were very good (chocolate banana and raspberry banana were my favs) but I couldn’t help but think I could make it in a blender. I also had great luck using peaches instead of bananas. It made a nice sorbet that once again could probably be achieved in a blender. You have to eat the banana-based puree quickly; it thaws quickly and gets “slimy.” Despite claims, it does NOT taste like vanilla soft serve; it tastes like bananas. Maybe hot fudge would help, but that wouldn’t be WW friendly. Bottom line is, I’d just as soon make a smoothie in the blender.
Erin says
As a minimalist, I wouldn’t think the Yonanas machine would appeal to you. I haven’t tried it, but I heard you can get the same results with the Vitamix. I like the Yonanas concept, but I rarely have leftover bananas to freeze. My Yonanas machine ended up collecting dust.
Sakura says
Love the marble maze! We have 3 sets and the family has contests to see who can build it bigger, better, faster! You should try a maze game called Perplexus. There are a few versions of this but my 8 yo loves it. It’s all self contained so it travels well. A very fun game for developing problem solving skills.
Happy Annversary! Both you and your husband seem to be very sweet to each other.
Susan in St. Louis says
So glad you were well in time to enjoy your anniversary trip! 🙂
Kari says
Congrats on 10 years!!! my hubby and i will be celebrating 9 years in feb. =)
WilliamB says
I’m sorry everyone got ill! It’s no fun. How do you care for your children when you’re so sick, or maybe the question should be how to do arrange for alternate care?
While it’s true that the flu season is very bad this year, it’s not because the shot is off the mark. Although the CDC & pharmaceutical corps got the strains mostly right, apparently they underestimated the virulence.
Leah says
There are actually three strains of the flu going around this season. Only one is not susceptible to this years flu shot. Therefore it is extremely important that people still get the shot! If you haven’t gotten it already there is still time!
Allyson @ All Our Days says
So glad you all are feeling better. It’s no fun when sickness passes through an entire family.
Congratulations on 10 years. We have our 8 year anniversary in March, time sure does fly!
My husband and I also love Bananagrams. We also received a new word game for Christmas, Quiddler and really like that one, too.
Lorie says
So glad you’re feeling better. Flu hasn’t got here yet, but looks like there’s a good chance it will. Can you give some recommendations as to what you had or wish you had around to make life somewhat easier when you were sick?
Thank you,
Lorie
Melanie says
Our family of 6 is still getting over it, after 2 weeks. It was a week of fever, then a week of getting over the awful congestion and sinus/ear pain. I think we got the bad strain of it. I can attest that we went through lots of ibuprofen, Nyquil, TONS of Gatorade, ginger ale, hard pretzels, saltines, 10 boxes of tissues or more, Jello, applesauce and lots of assorted popscicles. Everyone in our family lost a considerable amount of weight. A friend made us some homemade medicine and that did seem to help with the cough. Here’s the recipe:
4 TB Bragg’s organic apple cider
4 TB honey (local preferably)
1 1/2 TB water
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Add all ingredients to a sealed container and shake well. Take 1-2 Tablespoon or more every hour or so or really as often as you like. Does not need to be refrigerated. If it is a little too strong for your liking try adding a little more honey or a tad more water, though the honey won’t dilute it like the water would.
Wendy says
Happy Anniversary to y’all! My hubby and I just celebrated 10 years last week! 🙂
Holly @ Whole Sweet Home says
What? You were in Little Rock?!? That’s my home. 🙂
Happy anniversary!
Annie says
Kathrynne’s marble maze is the Marbleworks from Discovery Toys!!! My sisters and I LOVED this toy growing up, and it’s one of the reasons I want more of the fun, learning toys Discovery Toys has to offer for my kids! And that is the reason I started selling DT…so I could get them for our family. We plan to use them in our homeschooling. So much fun!!!
Sarah K. @ The Pajama Chef says
yeah i noticed that too! my aunt sold discovery toys. my sister & i LOVED marbleworks growing up, and i even used marbleworks in high school for a science fair project in physics (measuring speed & stuff).
Brittany says
Happy anniversary! I’m locking myself in the house to avoid that flu bug going around. It sounds terrible! Hope you’re all as good as new soon! 🙂
Amy says
Congrats on your anniversary! Our anniversary was 10 years this week too! Many blessings to you….
denise says
do you play apples to apples with your kids? another fun game for the whole family!
so sorry you were all sick. I hope you had someone to help you while you were so sick!
happy anniversary! We just had our 2 year one a month ago – can’t wait for more!
Lori says
Glad that you are all better. Happy Anniversary! My husband and I celebrated our 25th Anniversary this week. We weren’t able to get away, but he surprised me with a gift on the day of and we went out to dinner and a movie on his weekend 🙂
Lisa Jacobson says
Many blessings on your 10th anniversary! Another favorite word game in our family? Boggle. It’s got a goofy name, but it’s a lot of fun and you can play it with mixed ages. My husband and I played it on our honeymoon…? 🙂
Wendy says
Love Boggle! We played lots of board games in my family when my brother and I were growing up. We learned to count with Sorry, multiply with Yahtzee, spell with Boggle and Scrabble, and lots of fun facts with a trivia game called Know Your America. It was such a good way to combine fun with learning!
julie says
I you like Scrabble, you should try Bananagrams. We have a blast playing with our kids and they practice their spelling and making new words at the same time not to mention other lessons. Bananagrams can be purchased at Walgreens/WalMart/Target and I am sure other places as well. Glad everyone is over the flu!
Annie says
I agree! I learned how to play Bananagrams over Christmas, and can’t wait to teach my husband how to play! My 3 year old got LOTS of practice recognizing the letters in his name with the tiles in between our games. 🙂
Liz with OnMyWayToOrganized says
Sickness has hit our home too. It is heartbreaking to see our littke ones suffer with it. So glad everyone is better now:) Happy 10 years!!
Michelle Zielicke Murphy says
We had the flu… 2 times! I can relate to how AWEFUL it was… we had it once and then started it AGAIN. BLECK. We have 1 child finishing up. “sigh”. I am glad it is almost GONE… I hope.
Happy Anniversary. 🙂
What a great idea for Scrabble and helping spelling. I have always been afraid to do Scrabble with my kids because they are not very good spellers. Maybe I will go dust off the Scramble and try it for our family game night.
Thanks for sharing your week with us. I LOVE your posts about your every day life. 🙂
Tina Johnson says
Hi Crystal,
I’m so sorry you guys were so sick; our 2012 started that way, too. Don’t know if you remember me, but we met at the Virginia homeschool convention (HEAV) in June of last year. My husband and I celebrated our 14th anniversary this week, on the 9th! Fun month to get married in!! Happy anniversary, and here’s to no more sickness for any of us!!
Kara says
Congrats on the 10 year!! we celebrate our 10 year next month! thank GOD we have dodged the flu here. i can’t imange the entire family with it!
Jen says
Happy Anniversary! Ours was 11 in November. The years fly by! We all had the flu. It takes it’s sweet old time too. I was only down for 2 days but my toddler was down for 2 before that so it’s been nearly a week for me anyway. Glad you’re all on the mend 🙂
jamala wade-thomas says
wow you are in my town!! enjoy!
Krysten says
Happy Anniversary! We had to go back to the school grind this week. My husband is a teacher and I teach piano lessons 3 days/week. We haven’t caught that awful flu bug, but the family who babysits our 3-yr-old did, so he got to go to school with me on Tuesday and spend a morning with the preschool class while I taught. He had a blast!
I’m trying the recipe for Angel Face cookies that was posted on here a while back. I mixed the dry ingredients earlier, and am about to go finish them. Can’t wait to try them!
Lesley says
We made the angel face cookies before Christmas and everyone who ate them loved them! They were easy to make and made a lot which was nice because then we were able to give some away.
Sharon says
We love our marble maze. Love, love, love it! Happy anniversary and glad everyone is feeling better. It just started at our house this weekend. 🙁
Brandi @ Savvy Student Shopper says
I am in Florida for the week visiting my grandparents in their new house! So exciting 🙂 And I’m so thankful we could go visit this year.
Sorry your family was ill 🙁
Crystal @ Blissful Homemaking says
Happy anniversary! I’m sorry your family had to deal with the flu. 🙁