If I had 3 wishes...

The last few weeks have been, well, full of SICKNESS. It sure makes you appreciate the times when you feel good--not even great, just good; with no sore throats, coughs, vomiting, diarrhea, fevers, teething, and times when kids actually sleep through the night! The girls already missed the 2nd to last week of school for a family vacation, then all the "fun" of the last week (field day, water games, autograph signing, not to mention the family fun of BBQs, 4th of July, etc).

It all started great, when we vacationed with Scott's family to a ranch in Montana. It was GORGEOUS! Full of horseback riding, hikes, fishing, bacci ball, and even tennis and golf! Then, the late nights, laughing, SUGAR, and sharing rooms w/cousins and therefore, germs, all got to us, I guess. One by one, 3 of the 6 of us came down with fevers, coughing, aching, etc. Some thought we even got the dreaded swine flu...whatever it was/is, it ISN'T FUN!! It does make you appreciate that at least it is only half of us! Just when I thought Shai and Eden were finally getting better, they got their first, horrible, dose of MAJOR cold sores all over their lips, inside cheek, tongue, and gums!

Now, I'm not blogging this to say "poor us" or get pity--it just helps me to remember and hopefully be grateful when things may not be perfect, but they aren't THIS bad!! Also, because Eden said the funniest, and yet saddest thing about it all. Her teeth have been hurting so bad she can't really even eat anything without inflaming or irritating the cold sores all over, since her "guts" (gums) are so swollen from it all. Last night, sadly, after 3 days of this, she covered her eyes at dinnertime and said, "Don't show me the food! I just want it so bad and I can't have it, it hurts too much! I just wish I could be healthy and eat whatever I wanted!"

Then, today took the cake. This time Eden's lips were dry and peeling and her tongue was stinging so much she looked at me and said, "I just wish I could switch places with someone who isn't SICK!!" She followed up with,
"Dad said he would switch places with me...
but, HOW?!!" quite seriously!
You could see her mind thinking desperately on how she could make it a reality! Then she said, "If I had 3 wishes, I know what I would wish." I asked her what she would wish for and she said, "First for my mouth to feel better, then for me to not have any sickness, then for Shailee to feel better." She was dead serious. How sweet that she would use her last wish on her sister, too! (The bad part about it is the thing that came to my mind, is how all of that could be taken care of in just 1 wish, "Help us all to be perfectly healthy", leaving 2 more to do whatever you wanted with! Oh Chelsea, you can't be greedy in a time like this!)

Jokes aside, really, I just want to remember the good times: of health, laughs, miracle days when you wake up feeling refreshed, times the laundry is done, the house is clean, and my family is just HAPPY!
One day, it will all be gone, and although well-rested and in an orderly house, I may think back on the times I got to get up and rock my sick girls,
and I will wish for it all back again...