Farewell, Pope Benedict

For nearly a week we have been battling the sickies. The females of the family have been spared while the weak men have succumbed to the runny nose, disgusting hacking cough and, most recently, fever.
Over the weekend I harbored high hopes that all these days spent resting (read: doing not much besides watching TV) would be rewarded with healthy children by the time the last day of February arrived.
After the worst night that we've had in a looong time, the last day of February has arrived....today. They are still sick. Sigh.
Today is a historical day: Pope Benedict said "Farewell" to the Vatican and his Papacy, spoke encouraging words to the Cardinals whom are tasked with electing our new Pope, and flew via helicopter to live the rest of his days out of the public eye.
Viva Papa Benedicto!!

I feel the need to impress upon my children the importance of this day (the last time this happened was over 600 years ago after all) so I made sure to acknowledge the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter on Feb. 22 by taking a virtual tour of St. Peter's Basilica (paying special attention to the Chair, of course), and making an after-breakfast craft from Catholic Cuisine.
The craft was a hit and over the next several days I searched sites and blogs looking for something special to do to explain to the kids how the process of electing a new Pope works. I had more time than usual to search since I was more or less trapped in the House of Germs and Sickness, stuck wallowing in my inability to accomplish anything on the Couch of Misery. I came across this cute conclave smoke craft on Catholic Inspired. On Monday, during my daughter's speech appointment, I took the free time to yet again look for Pope projects/activities. Lo and behold! A Cathloic-homeschooling-blogging-momma had just finished posting about the lap book she created for her children. What an amazing find, and just in time!

This morning, while trying to soothe a miserable, crying (not to mention GINORMOUS) baby, I was bound and determined to make this lap book and start the unit study. So I set to work printing, folding, and cutting. Usually I would welcome help from my "students", however I wanted to keep our stuff as snot-free as possible so I decided to go it alone.

Finally, after literally HOURS doing tasks which would have normally taken mere minutes, the lap book is complete and ready to work with. Yay!  And I get bonus points for doing it with one hand...while wiping gross noses...and obsessively washing my hands...and washing load upon load of germ-laundry......

Ours doesn't look quite as pretty as the blogger's of course, but that's okay.  And I changed it up a bit to better suit my kids.  Absolutely amazing resource.

The conclave craft will have to wait as there is no way humanly possible to accomplish anything else today.
I want them to enjoy it so I think we will wind up waiting until after we can all get a decent nights' sleep. ;)
Which feels an eternity away...