22December2010 Gift?

We've occupied the last few days passing the stomach flu around the house.  Last week M came home from school feeling a little puny.  Then she woke up in the middle of the night (isn't that when these things always happen) and purged her body of everything she'd eaten since moving here.  Okay, maybe that's overdoing it a bit but from 2 o'clock to 5 o'clock in the morning things are a little hazy. 
Fast forward three days, to D's birthday.  Usually this is a day, well maybe a week, of celebrating the second-most (just barely "second-most") important holiday of the year.  Huge homemade, southern breakfast, cards and presents, balloons, fireworks, ticker tape parades.....you get the idea.  This year it wasn't to be.  2 boys, 1 little boy and 1 grown man, playing the part of a second little boy, were laying on the couch, loveseat, bed and even the floor, with makeshift throw-up buckets standing ready nearby.  Not exactly the festive atmosphere we normally shoot for. 
Alas, today everyone is healthy and happy.  We're building towards the climax of the Christmas season and then planning for next December 18th.  Happy late Birthday D!  And thank you God for the gift of health.