IPhone :: All Apps Suddenly Disappeared When Trying To Check Weather

Yesterday while listening to a podcast, I decided to check the weather. I clicked the home button and scrolled over to where the app is, and to my horror, all my apps were gone. I have ios5, but not the most recent update. When I check system storage in settings it shows that there is space being taken up by the apps, but there is nothing showing in the app count that shows up on that screen. I tried doing a hard reboot, I tried downloading a new app to see if it would bring them back and nothing works. I even tried enabling restrictions and disabling restrictions as well and no luck. I think I have a backup from a couple of weeks ago, but if I have to go that route, won't it erase my current text messages and pics? I'm wondering if I create a backup of the phone in its current state if that would reload the apps when I restore from this backup. This is not a jailbroken phone.