Ohhh what a start to the weekend!  I ventured out Friday night, staying out and up much later than normal.  Setting into bed at 11:30 I wasn’t tired but knew I’d be up with Aiden and Chris in no time.  After laying in bed maybe 15 minutes, I heard someone pounding on our front door. We had no lights on, inside or out and no reasons for visitors.  I woke Mike up who in his lovely groggy, opened the front door.  No one was there and he called out with no response.  I am a big scaredy cat and in no time, my mind was going in a million directions and I knew it would be a while before I was back asleep.  Mike and I crept around our house, pulling drapes and locking doors.  I can honestly say that this was the first time I was scared to be in my own house… like truly scared.  I kept thinking that when you have lights on in the house, people outside can see you but you can’t see them and of course spooked myself even more.  That was the start of Friday evening and into the wee hours of Saturday morning.  Three cop cars showed up, pulled a car over and were outside the house for over an hour.  It was quite possibly the most excitement that we have seen on Cain Street ever… As the cops left and I realized the clock said nearly 2 am, I decided I needed to calm down and felt better that the police were so responsive.  I also made myself feel better concluding that anyone that may have been outside would have been long gone after the cops had been parked outside for such a long duration. 

As the bed was starting to get comfy and cozy, croup attack #1 set in.  We have never experienced croup in our house before and poor Aiden was the first victim.  He was scared to death and I know think he fully understood why he couldn’t breath.  Thank goodness for the internet!  A hot steamy room, a drink, some cough meds and a little snuggle time and he was finally calmed back down… an hour later…. just in time for Chris to start up with the same thing.  I kid you not.  This is where you can press the repeat button until 4:30 am.  I don’t think I’ve pulled an “all nighter” quite like this in many, many years!  After 2 very short hours of sleep, A & C were rearing to go but in rough shape.  Chris started with pink eye and the both sound like little boys who have smoked for years.  Needless to say, they were less than pleased when I cancelled our afternoon plans with the Schillings and called it a “keep our cooties to ourselves day.”  We stayed in PJ’s all day and plugged through until bedtime.  This could be quite possibly one of the longest days I’ve experienced in a long time.  I swear that we were blessed with 40 hours today.

Given our circumstances yesterday, we are home bound again today as I would hate to make anyone else sick just in time for Thanksgiving.  I am hopeful that one more day at home with lots of R & R will get us all in tip top shape to start the week.

Backing it up, we’ve had a busy week!  Thursday the boys stayed home from school as we headed to the Dr.’s to confirm that Aiden’s eye accident from the previous night didn’t cause any retina damage.  It was a sigh of relief to hear he was fine but likely had the start of pink eye.  Oh public schools, how I despise your germs!  Grammie came over Thursday afternoon to watch the monkeys while Mike and I attended parent teacher conferences.  We met Chris’s teacher first and her first comment was that she can’t imagine what life is like at home when she sees the two of them together.  Fair enough!  Some days I can’t imagine either {Although I must admit that I turned bright red when she said this and it felt like the room was suddenly 100 degrees. I guess I was feeling guilty to know that others experience my daily joys as well!}  Aiden and Chris both got remarked comments and both teachers said they are any teachers ideal students.  Phew! A proud Mommy moment that was unexpected given the initial comment from Chris’s teacher!  The boys had a great time at home with Grammie and kept very busy with lots of new art projects and fun craft kits.  After dinner, my mom and I met Laura for another night of wedding dress shopping and guess what???? She said YES to a dress!!!!  While I can’t share any of the details {because its only fair to keep them a secret for everyone} I must say that she looks stunning.  The dress is the perfect combo of fun, flirty, and elegant.  She is going to make one heck of a bride!

I am ready for this week to come to a close with the greatest hopes that the week ahead brings better health, less expenses after countless mishaps last week and a wonderful Thanksgiving for all!  Stay tuned for our exciting news as we find out the gender of Hopkins #3 on Tuesday!  We will be sharing the secret with our families on Thanksgiving and will be happy to fill our readers in too, so be sure to check us out next week!  Eeek… I can’t wait! {Another reason to loose sleep!}

In place of pictures of my sick little men this week, I’m asking anyone who hasn’t already to leave a comment with whether they think it will be more team blue or team pink for little Hopkins #3. Woo hoo for week 18! I’m feeling great, my energy level has returned and I can still see my toes!