House bound

Finn is finally doing a bit better today. He still has a bit of a fever and a bad cough, but the antibiotics seem to have taken care of the bacteria. We went back to the doctor's office yesterday because he was not doing well at all. He was a hot mess, literally. When they needed a drop of blood it took two of us to hold him down. He was diagnosed with a bad case of bronchitis, and Lily's lungs were not clear either. So she is inhaling the cortisone now too.
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The last few days there was a lot of this ...

and all of us took it easy, resting and napping.


This morning somebody was finally smiling again ...

and ready for some play time.

Here the knight is involved in playful banter with the pink unicorn ...

before they both retreated inside the castle.

Tomorrow it will be back to the doctor's (Finn), and maybe even back to Kindergarten (Lily). And on Thursday we will celebrate! It is Auntie Ulli's birthday and she will come here for a little party. It's also Thanksgiving (in the US). We spent Canadian Thanksgiving on the road driving back home from Rostock, so we will have a turkey dinner with all the fixings when Ulli comes. Preparations are in full swing. Since Finn and Lily are well enough again to call each other names and fight over toys I think we will venture out to the store later to buy a turkey and some other necessities.

The cranberry sauce is already made. If you are looking for an easy recipe, I have one for you! All you need are fresh cranberries, orange juice and sugar. The recipe called for 12 oz cranberries (about 350g), a cup of OJ (250ml) and a cup of white sugar. I replaced that with 3/4c raw cane sugar since I don't like my food so sweet and I'm trying to avoid refined sugar when I can. Dissolve the sugar in the juice over medium heat, add the cranberries and cook until they pop (about 10 min), stirring with a spoon. I smashed them with the spoon to get a smoother consistency. The sauce will thicken some more as it cools. It is great with venison, Swedish meat balls, turkey or simply as a cranberry spread on toast, peanut butter sandwiches, pancakes and waffles.

Of course, getting out of the house presents its own challenges. Finn and Lily would live in PJs if they could. Getting them dressed is a major undertaking sometimes, and not only because they don't WANT to get dressed. I was thrilled to learn they now make "skinny jeans" for boys, but even those don't really help when you are 5 years old and weigh 35 pounds (less than Lily, by the way). Finn can only wear pants with adjustable waist bands, but he hates having so much fabric bunched up and says the buttons scratch him etc. If he was a girl I'd go for the leggings and dress look, but as it is - the neverending search for pants that won't fall off him continues.