the only thing nice about the stomach bug

is that you don't have to get ready. Ya know? I mean, you feel too bad to shower, which totally means you don't have to do your hair or make up. And for me, this is a nice change of pace. I totally want to bring back the spiral perm and banana clip look! It takes a long time to "tame" my freakishly wild hair!! But, I digress. I had plans to go to the outlet mall with my mom and sis on Friday evening. I was so pumped! BUT, I woke up Friday morning with a nice little stomach bug. Awesome!! Not so much. Friday evening, Eric started feeling bad too. We all went to bed around 8 pm. Then, two hours later, Levi threw up. Agghhh!!! Poor kiddo. Thank the Lord that it was just once and after cleaning everything up, he went right back to sleep and we all slept thru night. Saturday, we all lazed around the house and played, colored, slept, and did lots of other boring stuff! ;) We eventually all got better by Sunday morning and I'm thankful we were able to enjoy our afternoon. I'm praying little Maggie doesn't get anything!!!!!

Move forward to tonight. This evening was our First Annual Chili Cookout for our cul-de-sac. We have lots of new neighbors (three new houses were built this summer) and wanted to officially have a meet and greet. Eric's job was to take care of the chili. He made two big pots and put them in the deep freeze. Here's where my bad cooking skills come into play. He was trying to unthaw one of the pots on the stove over low heat. While he was showering, I decided to turn up the heat so it would get hot quicker. Um, don't do that. The whole bottom of the chili burned. BURNED. Like our whole house smelled like burnt chili. The chili was not salvagable. We had to throw it out and use the other pot. And, because Eric can't keep anything quiet, I guess I will forever be known on our street as the one who burned the chili. Sheesh! Despite the burnt chili incident, the party turned out nice. I mean, it was 90 degrees outside, but everyone seemed to have a good time! I took some pictures, so I'll try to post them tomorrow.

So, now I sit here with a full heart. Thankful that even though it still smells like burnt chili, my family is healthy. Thankful for meeting new neighbors. Thankful that my Colts won today. Thankful for texting and facebook (<3). Thankful that even thought most days I don't count my blessings, God gives me mercy and grace abundantly.