When Sickness Becomes the Best Part of Your Week

We had a full, fun week this past week replete with so many opportunities for praise and thanksgiving!
 
Included in it were celebrating our youngest's 5th birthday...

Jack was surprised by the special treat the restaurant offered him when we went for his birthday meal.

... taking care of some tadpoles we are headstarting...

Each of the children took turns helping to clean out tadpole pond, straining out all the pine needles and gunk, carrying green water to plants and replacing some of it with fresher water from our rain barrel -- all the while, being sure not a single live tadpole got accidentally removed.

... enjoying beach time with friends...

Nina's favorite baby at the beach with us on Jack's birthday.

... completing an egg drop experiment as a part of a rocketry class...

The kids' final design was successful!

... delighting in time together at homeschool gatherings at the beach...
 

I don't know what Mama started this splash battle.  (wink)

... enjoying 3rd of July traditions...

Wide-eyed watching the bonfire blaze between gazing up at fireworks...

 ... watching the 4th of July parade...

Parade-side boys...

...and girls.

... picking produce at a farm...

Peas -- produce the child will eat!  Yay!

... going to the fireworks.

Among all the activities, however, the most enjoyable for me has been witnessing my children serve one another through sickness.

I thought Jack was just tired as we walked down to the waterfront for the 4th of July festivities.  So did his siblings, who sweetly held his hands and verbally encouraged him...

So sweet!

... and, then, paused at benches for him to rest...

 

And we thought he was just tired...

But, soon enough. I realized it was more.  Jack, who rarely naps at all and seldom for any length of time, took a long nap amidst the hubbub of Independence Day celebrations.  His nap ended with fever and a belly bug.

Poor little one...

Nina went down, too, with a fever.

She actually slept through most of the fireworks!

You'd think that having two kids get sick would ruin the night and today. 

Nope!  

Just before the fireworks.  (There was no point in leaving once we figured out Jack was sick, since it would have meant picking our way through crowds.  It worked better to stay and have Grammy walk with us back to the van at the conclusion of the event - with Luke being a champ carrying bags, Jack back on his feet and Nina weak but not whining too much.) 

Instead, my kiddoes' sickness provided opportunities for all of us to exercise virtue.  Small kindnesses, like scratching backs, stroking hair, getting clean up cloths and napkins, sharing prayers, being extra helpful, fetching popsicles, keeping one another company... It meant some of us sacrificing participation in Mass in to stay home to cuddle while watching Mass online.  It developed into a slow day filled with a myriad of simple expressions of love, care and encouragement.

Of course, I do not like to see my children down with bugs.  However, I do delight in witnessing their growth as they tend to one another with compassion.

No matter what this weekend has brought you and yours I pray that you, too, see the blessings in the "bad" stuff.  There are ALWAYS blessings.  Praise be to God!