Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Flu Hit Our Home!

What a week we had last week! February 15-16 we had a women's conference at our church and as Saturday came to a close, I remember thinking how drained I felt. I went home and slept the rest of the afternoon, but went to bed feeling pretty good. Sunday morning came, and I knew things were not going to go well! I felt horrible. Before I had a chance to put my feet on the floor, my son came in and said, "Mommy, I'm sick!"
"Me, too!" I replied. I don't remember much after that! The week went by like a blur. I couldn't get out of bed. I lost 3 lbs. the first day, just from being too tired to eat. I tossed and turned all night in the bed, having to re-position myself because of the pain I'd feel if I stayed in the same position too long (which was about 30 minutes!) Somehow, I got through the week with absolutely no medicine, and on day 3, I thought it was behind me. Then I did three loads of laundry (I had not done laundry in over two weeks and it HAD to be done!) Needless to say, I ended up back in bed that night with a fever of 101.3. I'd been tricked!
Poor Thomas pretty much laid on the sofa and watched television. No complaints there. But he was miserable, too. Luckily, we were able to get his dad to come over and take care of him a little bit, and bring food. A week and a day later, we are almost back to normal. Just really run down and ready to get back on schedule.
The real story here is Anna, my five year-old. Think about the things that a five year-old could get into if they had free reign on the house!! What did she do? Crafts! She had the best time, between coming up to check on me, taking care of her brother, and doing just about every craft you can imagine. At the end of the week, I told her she could use any of the craft stuff whenever she wanted since she had done such a good job during the week just keeping herself busy and cleaning up when she was done (mostly!) She was so proud of that, she has been telling everyone we see! So I thought I'd share some of her work. Before we got sick, she made this Valentine's day card for my sister:














She used stamps, ribbon, star embellishments, sequins, photos, and markers. I had to stop her at the seashells and cotton balls. Those will have to go on another project that doesn't have to survive the machine at the post office. At some point in my delirium, I remember her bringing some play doh things to me and telling some great stories. It was dark in the room and my head hurt too bad to lift up to see her work. The next day I could see them in the daylight:























The first one is a monkey, with blue and yellow flip-flops, sitting on a chair. She had a picture to go by, but still really good for a five year old. The second is obviously a cow, and I had to share because I got an "udderly" great laugh when I saw it. It's funny the things that a small girl will notice. I'm not too surprised, since I will never forget when she was maybe three years old and pointed to a woman's tennis shoes in line at Whole Foods and announced that she has shoes just like me. I hadn't worn those shoes in at least a couple of months, but sure enough, they were the same exact kind. But here is my favorite one EVER. When Anna was 3 years and 4 months, we were in the living room. I was drinking from my favorite cup:

Anna was busy doing something- she's always doodling- and I
didn't pay much attention. And then she gave me this drawing:


Isn't that amazing? I didn't get pictures of all her artwork from the sick week, but I am so glad she is who she is. Any other kid, and I'd have ended up with a burned down house, but instead I got artwork! She's been at it for quite a while, and does a little more everyday. I am so glad that she has the opportunity to improve her craft every day since she has tons of free time after schoolwork is finished. Just another benefit to homeschooling, I guess!

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