The Plague is over!!

Can I just tell you how much we hate viral gastroenteritis? You know, the one that's commonly known as the stomach flu? We just went through a long bout of it here at the Cason Hacienda and damned if it didn't just about wear us out. Trevor first showed up with the symptoms in October, the usual fever and diarrhea that lasted 5 days no matter what you took, 5 days for everyone of us, and that part of it worked it's way through the whole family over the next FIVE weeks with several of the kids having pretty high fevers for more than a day. Rebekah even had fever-induced seizure Christi knew what was going on as she had experienced this with Jessica when she was almost 2 years old but is still scared the heck out of both of us.Also during this same time period, as if having the sickies for 5 days for each person with only one bathroom was not enough we were also now one by one experiencing super high fevers with sore throats and aches and pains and once that was over,( keep in mind it is now the 1st week of December) we felt lucky that we'd gotten away without the vomiting, but of course a new 3rd bug had more in store for us.Christi had said on Thursday, wow, I think we are finally sick free, never ever tempt fate, as the next day Chad started throwing up, we had our first puker. Once that started, we all got another taste of the sickies as we each, in turn, got to experience that same thrill. Yeah, that was a real party for Christi. She and I both spent a bit of time with our friends Clorox and Lysol, cleaning up behind one sick kid after another.In a an 18 hour period 13 of us were throwing up. Christi, of course, got the worst of it, because I was at work during the night and isn't that always when kids do their best barfing? She was the one, up in the middle of the night changing their clothes and flipping laundry back and forth trying to stay ahead of the vomit tsunami and while doing this she was throwing up herself.Christi told me when I got home that at one 10 minute interval there were 5 of them throwing up at the same time, 2 in the kitchen and 3 in the bathroom, Bailey had to bypass the bathroom as it was busy only to meet up with Austin at the kitchen sink. She laughs about it now as she said it was like something that might happen in a movie. My one visit from the bug happened at work and I just lost the bananas I had eaten earlier and spent the rest of my shift with some relatively mild nausea. And naturally, just when we thought we had it beat, it passed around a second time and some of the kids got another wave of sickness.
We have now been clear for about 5 days( this is the longest we have been sick free since late October) and things are looking good as far as illnesses are concerned. The laundry is now clean and everyone is eating normally, just in time for the Christmas. All the kids got flu shots too and we have never experienced 3 different illnesses back to back and hope not to ever again either, lol.
We hope that all of you have a flu-free Christmas and a healthy new year.

Christi wants to send hugs and loves to her beautiful cousin Linda and she is waving hi, give Uncle Ray and Aunt Betsy a hug from Christi.

Life gets in the way

Sooo, we started off this blog with a bang, on Sept. 11th of all days. And then...? Well, life got in the way. Here in the Cason household, we've gone through a bout of the flu (Walker, Emma, Morgan, Laura, and Bailey have all had it to one degree or another, now it's Dad's turn). All the while, Christi and I have been shopping online for a used car to replace the one recently totalled. This on top of the normal daily routine of Christi getting 10 of the kids out the door every morning to 4 different schools (I help a bit, but Christi is a blur and makes me look like I'm standing still), laundry, feeding the 4 littles still left at home, and a myriad of stuff I try hard not to think about (it would make my eyes bleed to think about the finances she juggles). Christi is also planning to go to her 20-year high school renunion in San Diego, so she's busy plotting the getaway with her sister. I'm so happy for her because she deserves a break for a couple of days. She's been in touch with a few of her old school friends on Facebook and she's looking forward to it.
The kids are fully in the swing of school now, with 5 of them in one band program or another and just the usual to and fro. Chad is driving himself to class everyday and Dalton is chomping at the bit waiting for his Aunt to get a new car so he can buy her old one. Austin is doing double duty with both marching band and jazz band, he plays the Euphonium (Yeah, I'd never heard of it either until Dalton and Austin started playing them) in the former and the trumpet in the latter. Gage also plays the Euphonium in the middle school band while Bailey plays the valve trombone. Even Kaylee is in the swing having started the clarinet in the 5th grade band program. I guess they got their musical abilities from Christi's side somewhere, because it sure didn't come from MY genetics. When I was in the service, a friend tried bravely to teach me to play the guitar, but he soon pointed out that maybe I should keep my day job.
That's pretty much my excuse for not posting for a week. It's not much, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it.