So much for the bon-bons and soap operas. Hollie is a Saint.

I always knew my wife's job was tough, but I had stayed home a couple days so I thought I knew what it was like. Today, I stayed home sick because I had no voice and felt completely miserable. Kinley, Ella, Reese, and Cole are also still sick just getting to the end of their colds. In addition to the kids and I, Hollie is still fighting a cold.

I heard Hollie get up with Tate, get her breakfast, fix her hair, and send her off to school. I fell back asleep, guessing that Hollie was relaxing downstairs while the twins and Ella watch some morning PBS. I woke up a couple hours later, and laid in bed waiting for Cole to come up for his nap. The door opened, but instead of Cole it was Hollie with arm fulls of laundry, shirts hung and pants folded. I guess she wasn't relaxing.

I went downstairs and the kitchen was already clean from breakfast. Kinley was up and moving, so I asked her if she wanted to go to school. She said yes, so I started to make her a sandwich. In the time it took me to make a sandwich, Hollie got Kinley dressed, fixed her hair, and packed the rest of her lunch. I took Kinley to school, came home, and did a couple emails for work. I was exhausted, so I went back to bed. I laid in bed for a couple hours resting, listening to everything downstairs.

In addition to the typical commotion, I heard Hollie cuddling with each of the sick kids and taking care of their needs. I was pretty tired of their whining after a week of sick kids, so I was amazed that she could listen to them and cuddle them. I drifted to sleep for a few minutes and woke up when Kinley got home from school.

I listened to Hollie do 3 days worth of homework with Kinley, which took more than an hour. I wish I had that kind of patience. Not wanting to face the real world, I laid in bed coughing for a few more minutes. Around 4:00, I felt up to coming downstairs. I expected to come down to a kitchen mess and kids running around.

I walked downstairs and not only was the kitchen clean, but Hollie had found the time to paint a small trainset that is shaped liked letters for Cole's room. I stared at the craft project in the clean kitchen not sure what to do. I didn't hear the kids, so I looked around. I found them all laying peacefully wrapped in blankets getting ready to watch Arthur.

Quiet Kids, A Clean House, Laundry, Craft Projects! All this on top of housefull of sick people. That was way more than 3 miracles, so Hollie is officially a Saint!