Our experience with the Swine Flu

Well, we managed to catch the Swine Flu. On Monday, my Gracie tested positive for the virus. I had two more at home with the same symptoms, and by Wednesday, my husband had come down with it also. So, it has been a pretty miserable week in the Wanna Be home. I don't have any deep thoughts to share on it. However, several people have asked about our symptoms so I thought I'd just "share our testimony". (I am writing from deep within the Bible belt, and we do so love a good testimony.)

All four cases started with a sore throat and tiredness. Then it quickly went into a fever. The fevers ranged from 101 to 103 and pretty much lasted for four straight days. It could be reduced with Tylenol or Ibuprofen, but it wasn't completely knocked out. My three girls and my hubby felt miserable. Everyone had very bad headaches and were not able to get out of bed for the first several days. I think this was the first time my Rosie had ever had a headache. About every five minutes, she would look up at me and say, "Mommy my head hurts." It was so pitiful, and nothing seemed to really help. They had all the typical flu symptoms such as body aches and a mild cough. There was some nausea, but that seemed related primarily to the high fevers. Then, around day four of their infections they started feeling a little better, and by day five they were out of bed. They are still weak and achy and have a lingering cough, but the worst symptoms seemed to last for about five days. I am still a little concerned about Katie Bug's cough, but at least she's up and playing.

Our family doctor tells me that the CDC has found that people are still passing on the virus 7 to 10 days after all of their symptoms have gone. Also, that people are contagious up to 3 days before they get the fever. In other words, you can get infected by people who appear perfectly healthy. After hearing this and watching my family suffer so much, I would definitely recommend getting vaccinated. It's no fun getting shots, but this thing can really take you down. I figure that by the time the virus has fully run its course through our whole family, we will have been out of work/ school/ life in general for close to two weeks.

On a side note, neither my son nor I ever got sick. I think we may have had a mild cases earlier in the year, and I am really hoping and praying that I'm right. (The doctor said once you have the virus, then you're immune to it.)

Well, I better go put my nurse's hat back on. The sick-o's are getting hungry. (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, when they start getting better they get really cranky!!! Ugh!)

Process Art

Years ago my sister, Amy, gave the family a lesson in “process art”. The general gist of the technique is to focus on the process of creating the art rather than on the finished product. It is a lot of fun and is the reason I still enjoy painting. I can paint for the sake of painting, and I don’t have to worry it about it “turning out”. I don’t really have the skills to paint anything life-like, but, surprisingly, I usually really like my finished piece.

Tonight I painted with my son, and that term, “process art”, and the memories of my sister kept bouncing around in my head.

Then, I was called away by the knee-huggers to read bed time stories. I read a couple of books then started in on Go Dog Go. My littlest was soon asleep, leaving my kindergartener and me to linger over the book alone. As I read, I started pointing out the words that I knew she could read alone. She smiled and snuggled in closer as she sounded out the words. I could tell that this was a magical moment for her. She could read the words in a real book! Lying there, I tried to soak in all of her joy. I knew it would be many months before she could decode every word in that book, but tonight we celebrated because Katie Bug can read “dog” and “is”. I was reminded again how sweet it is to take joy in the process.

The Path

My heart is hurting today as I try to reason out my inability to love the way I aspire to. Why is it that my God who loves me and seeks me and redeems me... has left me still such a flawed individual? The truth is that this walk with Christ is often difficult and overwhelming for me. He has beckoned me to follow down a road that I do not know. It is the road of true transformation, and it is a treacherous way- not graded for the faint of heart.

There are times that I feel like I'm doing well- that I've traveled this road long enough to meet new obstacles with skill and grace, but then I find myself slipping and falling, crashing into the jagged rocks below. Schedules get squeezed or money gets tight or tragedy happens, and I react badly to the ones I love. I am mean and selfish, and then ashamed and saddened. I am left in a heap covered in scrapes and bruises wishing I had chosen my steps more wisely. So often I travel unaware of my own weaknesses. I plow ahead down the path, confident that I can reach the summit alone, until I am down on the ground again, nursing my wounds and searching for my healer.

My Jesus, how do I learn to walk with you... to be led by You?

How do I become one who speaks Your words and lives Your love?

I do not know. This is a road I have not been down before. But You invited me here, so I will continue walking it. I confess that I am not skilled or strong or wise, but my hope is in you, my leader, my guide. Lead me further on, down the path that leads from old to new, selfishness to selflessness, from a dim understanding. . . to a face-to-face encounter.

⁶ And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Phil 1:6 (NLT)

New Year's Resolution

"Happy New Year!"

I love New Year's day. The feeling of a fresh start, the challenge of writing my new resolutions-it simply makes me giddy. It may sound cheesy, but its true. Each New Year is a clean slate, cleared of the past and wide open to possibilities.

Now, as you read this you may be thinking, "It really has been a long time since this chick updated her blog", but stop right there. It's still 90 degrees outside and the mosquitoes are still going strong. I'm actually celebrating the the new academic year.

I'm excited about starting a fresh year. Last year we barely hobbled across the finish line. By June we were all tired of school and generally uninspired. I don't want to carry that same attitude into this school year. So at the end of July, I got out my pen and went to work writing resolutions.

My resolution was this: the wanna be, her five-star husband, and her four reluctant children are going to go on a schedule. (It's similar to a diet, but a little more unpleasant.) We would wake up early and have the majority of our time planned out.

Let's pause here and state for the record that this is not a normal act for he WannaBe. I am a creative, global thinker. I do not like things to be repetitive or linear. I get bored easily, and I have a tendency to buck anything that feels too rigid to me. But for the sake of my few remaining brain cells and the continued integrity of our homeschool, I felt compelled to create a schedule for my family. And...

It's been great. We are on week two, and everyone has adjusted well. My children have actually thanked me for creating the schedule (never at six in the morning, which is the new wake up time, but sometime in the day after the initial shock has worn off) ! Now, I have time for a quiet time every morning and free time every afternoon. I actually feel far more relaxed on a schedule than I've ever felt without one. At the end of each day I know I have gotten done everything I needed to, and I can stop worrying. It's lovely.

I hope to post back in six weeks and report our continued success, but for now we're taking it one step at a time.

So, Happy New Year to you! I wish all of you homeschool moms out there a great start to a wonderful new year. May God bless all of your efforts!

An Anniverary

My post was just accidentally deleted, and I don't have the energy to write it again. But today is a significant date.

My precious sister died 2 years ago today. So, I wrote about that day and about my sister, Amy.

I love you, Amy. Thank you for seeing me. Thank you for loving me. I miss you.

Exposed

"my home is not presentable, but you are welcome here. My life is not composed, but you are invited in... i will pray for you, i will share with you, you- you are my friend."

If you came to my door today, you would have looked in to chaos. I dropped a lot of balls today in my proverbial juggling act. There was just too much to juggle. My little ones have the stomach flu. The three year old is clingy and attitudes are plummeting all around. It's the beginning of summer and the kids are stuck inside, quarantined. Yet, If you rang my doorbell, I would have let you in (as long as you weren't concerned about the wretched virus that's haunting our house).

And if you would have come in, all of my inadequacies would have been visible in one quick scan of the room. I wish I could hide all of that- to keep you, or anyone else, from seeing. I wish I felt comfortable with a pretty facade, but I don't. I want to be real- as my God is real. I want to give you what I have- even if the package is a little rumpled. So, I open up my door. I'm very glad to see you! (But deep down I still thinks it sucks that I'm not perfect- maybe one day.)

Break a few eggs

It's been a long time since my last blog, and I've missed writing.  I've written a post many times in my head, but haven't made it to the computer.  I blame it all on the TV.  We got the new digital converter and a slightly better antenna, and now I'm drawn to that flickering light like a moth on a hot summer night.  EEk- how quickly, I surrender my time over to twaddle.  Oh, well- at least now I could tell you what happened on American Idle last night.  That's a real achievement (tongue in cheek).

Anyways, I took these sweet pictures a week or so ago of my littlest one.  All my kids love helping in the kitchen as, I suppose, most kids do.    Creating something wonderful and spending time with mommy ...  that's a magical combination for the knee-huggers of this world!

The highlight of baking is always breaking the eggs.  It's an exciting job- a grown-up job.  And without the encouragement from another mom, I would never  have let my preschoolers do such a thing.  It's just far too messy.  But when my older two where in preschool, a mother at M.O.P.S.  shared about the fun she had with her kids in the kitchen.  She suggested giving our little ones a small bowl to break the eggs into and letting them do all the cracking.  (You can easily pick out any stray shells before you add it to your recipe.)  I took the advice to heart and ten years later- my little ones are still crackin' up over baking.

It is a small reminder to me to slow down.  The delight it gives my 3 and 5 year old to crack an egg- far out weighs the convenience of cracking them myself.  With a little patience, I can turn a task to finish... into a moment to remember.   

Happy mothering to you all today!