Whatever #5 had earlier this week he's passed to me, and I've got some sinus pressure that's nothing to joke about. He ended up throwing up a day or two after he got the nasal issues, so I wasn't looking forward to today. It went well anyway. Fortunately, #1 stayed home sick and was able to watch #5 for a little while so I could take an afternoon nap. I'm feeling a little better this evening, so I'm hopeful that I'm on the mend and will avoid the more unpleasant symptoms.
Today the kids had a fort-building contest, and I got to be the judge. #5 built his fort in the living room, with chairs and blankets draped over the couch. His offered a sizable flap door that I could almost fit in without getting a major static hair charge. There was a blanket and books on the floor with a reading light, and the couch somehow had enough head room for an adult to comfortably take a nap on it (and I did - just to "test the amenities" - as a judge you know). He even had one spot at the end of the couch where you could get out from under the blanket fort to watch TV still!
His competitors, sister #3 and #4, decided to team up and build their fort in #3's bedroom. Theirs was a more complex fort with three mini rooms - one for #3 beside her bed, complete with a blanket to lay on, pillows, her favorite stuffed animals, and a reading lamp, one room they called "the guest room" that had a blanket and a pillow, and #4's room, which was technically the same space as the "guest room" but with her own pillow and blanket and a little night light. The problem with their design was that the blankets were so low to the ground that even slithering on my belly my hair was rubbing the blankets and building up static. There really wasn't much space, despite taking up 1/3 of her bedroom, and I certainly couldn't have slept in there. I think if it was just #4's portion of the fort she might have won, but they tried to expand too much and didn't shore up the ceiling enough to make the space really comfortable.
So #5 won the fort building contest. He was pretty happy about it until the girls kicked him out of their fort. At bedtime he asked me if we can do a fort building contest every day. I told him I don't mind judging a new fort every day, but in order to qualify, daily chores have to be done first. He was alright with that. His daily chores are simple things, like putting away the clean dishes, or moving the laundry from the washer to the dryer, or from the dryer to the laundry basket, or picking up his bedroom. Tonight he asked if he could sleep in his fort in the living room. He's under there now with his reading light on playing a game and softly singing to himself from time to time. The girls are also sleeping in their fort tonight. They're pretty proud of their accomplishments. I'm impressed. Maybe they have more blankets that I did growing up, but they've made bigger forts then I ever did as a child. Bravo kids! Good job today with fort building!
I got four new eggs from the hens today (after tossing two broken ones). I'll add these to the incubator tomorrow. I'm not sure which hen is laying the speckled eggs, but they're pretty!