amidst the chaos

The only thing worse than having the flu yourself, is watching your littlest one struggle through it.  OK, yeah, there are worse things, but you know what I mean.  And actually I think Ayla is handling it with more grace than I did. Now I'm hoping that it bypasses the rest of the family.

We are also in the process of getting all of our little i's dotted and t's crossed so that we can close on the house and property by the end of next month.  It's been 9 months since we moved out of the city and started renting this property, and we are 100% ready to commit.  Oh yeah, this solar-heated, partially-finished, project-home on a bit of organic farmland with fruit trees and gorgeous views is our HOME.  It is just the right kind of crazy for us.

But amidst house projects and negotiations, sickness, and all, life still has sparks of beauty and creativity.

  Sylvia made me some fresh orange juice

 Sylvia and Ayla planted a tray with six different kinds of microgreens

 This led to... 

this (Camille)

and this (Sylvia).  One of the perks of an unfinished house is indoor chalk-drawing space.

 On the one day that no one was actually vomiting, we got outside briefly for some fresh air.

 And we played around with static electricity.  If you stick balloons to the wall after rubbing them on a shirt (or hair), they 'walk' down the wall as the charge wears off.

So yeah, the house is a bigger mess than usual and it's frozen burritos for dinner, but we are surviving and moving forward, even amidst some chaos.