Day Thirty-Five, A Family Buffet

Today was my worse day by far...I couldn't breathe at all without breathing treatments and my lungs were aching and burning so bad I couldn't stand it.  My doctor had me come in for an hour to do a vitamin IV.  This is where she gives me an IV full of all kinds of vitamins (which is especially helpful since I'm not eating much).  I haven't lost any weight this week and have actually gained a couple pounds since starting my antibiotics.  They are making me very bloated and I suspect the weight is just water weight, but it is still discouraging.

After the IV, I came home and slept for several hours. When I got up I started preparing my meals for the co-op.  I'm switching my days to Monday, so I actually have to do meals Friday and this Monday.  Therefore I decided to do both meals at once...Upside Down Pizza and Tuscany Pork Tenderloin.  Thursday afternoon I started working on cooking up all the hamburger for the Upside Down Pizza.  I realized that our fridge was so packed with leftovers that the food was seriously going to go bad if I didn't do something.

I grabbed all kinds of dishes and warmed up everything, set up spoons and plates in an assembly line fashion and called the kids to dinner.  They were stunned, "What is this?"  I told them we were having a "Restaurant Buffet" night.  They absolutely loved it and there was so much to choose from.  When Tim walked in, he said, "Oh a buffet" pronouncing the "t" at the end...Then Dakota proceeded to argue with Tim on the pronunciation for quite some time.  I tried to keep my eye rolling to a minimum.  I was too sick to get out of my PJ's or to even read my love dare today, but I will pick back up where I left off as soon as I can.

I do really felt like I spent my day making my others happy though...I cheered up my brother and sister who are going through their own struggles and although I couldn't pull off a full "Restaurant Night" for the kids, I was able to do something special for them too.  After dinner I became incredibly dizzy and almost fainted.  I am getting weaker by the minute it seems and the antibiotic isn't doing the trick.  I made it to the couch when my family started complaining about having to clean up after the buffet.  I was really hurt and lost it.  For the first time in months I yelled at them that they didn't understand what I am going through and went up to my room and locked the door.  There was no way I could clean up after dinner and I was really offended.

I got over it pretty quickly and Dakota came and knocked on the door.  I let him in and he asked me, "Are you ever going to get better?  You are sick all the time!"  I told him that I honestly didn't know if I was going to get better, but I had every hope and that I am trying the absolute best I can.  I don't know if that was the answer he wanted, but it is the only one that I had.  After getting all the kids to bed, Tim came and held me so tight for hours.  I didn't apologize for yelling, he made it clear I didn't need to.

I get a lot of compliments on how clean the house is especially for having so many children.  The truth is, cleaning comes quite hard to me...it is not natural at all.  If you too, are domestically challenged or overwhelmed with your house, I have a recommendation that has helped me.  It is a called "Motivated Moms" and was recommended to me last year by a friend.  I really love it!  It is a planner that tells you what you need to do on a daily basis to keep your whole house clean, it also includes things like to order Rx's, change air filters, all that stuff you may forget in the middle of chaos.  It's only $8 and you download it immediately and print it off.  It has really helped me and my family keep the house on track.  I've included a link to the "Motivated Mom's" website on my blog.  She is a Christian home schooling mom as well and I love to support stay at home moms!