Grocery Store Madness

I was in the grocery store this afternoon. With all 5 children in tow. Thinking to myself: "What things do I need?" Needing to THINK, because the ever-so-handy list that I had diligently made was sitting on the front seat of the Suburban on the OTHER side of the parking lot. So, row by row, I pushed my cart. And row by row, it got heavier. Not with groceries. With children.

Surely there are other mothers who take their broods with them when they go places, aren't there? Surely there are other moms who save on food money because once they load the children into the cart there isn't ROOM for food?!? I'd like to believe that there are other moms who: a) stay at home because they don't want to go insane prematurely by taking their children with them; or b) mom's who drag their children around because they (the mom's) need to develop more patience.

I think I'm of the "needing patience" variety. I suppose I could do my grocery shopping all alone in the middle of the night. Would't that be nice. Actually having energy to go shopping all alone in the middle of the night. But that begs the question... "When do I sleep?!" Oh yeah. I WOULDN'T!!! By the time 7:30 PM rolls around, I am so tired from chasing children - or being chased by children - leaving the house is almost the LAST thing I want to do. Almost.

Our arrival back home signaled time for chaos to begin.

Esbe took a drink through a straw of some liquid that had been left on the table and sucked an earwig into her mouth. The earwig, not liking being sucked into someone's mouth, pinched her - prompting spitting and the ensuing cry from shock.

Sweetie Pie started wailing because someone blinked. I'm dreading puberty with her.

Bud wanted a drink, and immediately forgot how to ask politely.

Bug tipped the ironing board over on top of herself, getting stuck.

Boo got hungry, and cried because she needed to eat.

Somewhere in the middle of this, the phone rang.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to unload and put groceries away, shoo the kitten out of the house because Bug can't open the door and she's the one who brought the kitty in to show me... AND put out all the immediate fires of attention. All without loosing my temper or laughing at the bug bite or crying myself because sometimes crying is contagious... I truly believe that the Good Lord Above has a sense of humor. He wouldn't have given me five children otherwise.

Personal Relationship

I have always been taught that Prayer is just another way to develop a personal relationship with Heavenly Father. Tonight, I heard a prayer that puts MY personal relationship on a totally different - and by different, I mean... I'm not sure I have this close of a relationship with my Heavenly Father... level.

I was watching Sports Center tonight with my Hubby for our date night. One of the highlights was a Pastor in Nashville, TN who was starting the beginning of a NASCAR race with prayer (how is it that NASCAR races can start with prayer, but school can't???) The portion of his prayer that was highlighted went something like this: "Dear Lord, Thank you for my SMOKIN' HOT WIFE and my two children (insert child's name here) and (insert other child's name here) ... Bless this race to go smoothly and without accident... In Jesus Name; Boogedy, Boogedy, Boogedy, Amen." And I'm not making the boogedy, boogedy, boogedy part up.

I had no idea Jesus was named Boogedy, Boogedy, Boogedy.

All I can say is: That is ONE CLOSE RELATIONSHIP. I mean, I was always taught to talk to Heavenly Father as a friend... I'm not sure I'm there yet - having heard this prayer. I would never stand in front of a congregation and pray for my "SMOKIN' HOT" ANYBODY... Although I would laugh really hard if someone prayed like that in church. And added the Boogedy, Boogedy, Boogedy part.

Ode to the end of an Era...

Our fantastically fabulous babysitter is leaving us. She's headed to college. I don't know what we're going to do. She's been our babysitter for the last 4 years. Exclusively. Why do I love her?

She doesn't take any guff from any of the children or let them tell her things that we don't normally do.
She doesn't tolerate fighting from the children.
My house is always clean when I get home.
The TV is rarely on when I come home, instead, she's reading a book or studying.
She can drive.
The children love her. I mean... the children LOVE her!
She knows how to work my wood cookstove.
She has been the Easter Bunny to my children.
She doesn't let me pay her, no matter how hard I try.
She's my friend.
She's become part of the family.
She's someone that my children want to be like when they grow up.
She's smart and has ambition.
She's not afraid to tell me that she really DOESN'T want to hold the baby because baby is really small... but then she holds baby anyway because she can see that I need a fourth arm.
She IS my fourth arm...

I'm really going to miss her.

So... T.J. Westerberg. May the force be with you as you head off to college. I get first dibs when you get home. After your mom, that is. And I promise to send fudge and packages and call often.

When Life Takes Over

Life... a simple word with so many different meanings. For example: Life can be the beginning of something - bringing a child into the world gives it life. Or, life can be simply the things that we do on a day to day basis.

In this case, MY LIFE refers to the day to day things that I do (or don't do as the case may be...). This past week, LIFE has meant that I have spent nearly every waking moment canning and processing food for my food storage. The moments NOT spent doing that were spent either picking the food to process it, washing the food to process it, keeping the kids from eating the food that I intended to process, feeding the baby, and feeding my children. Not much of the "NOT canning and processing food" moments was spent cleaning the house.

It has, however, been productive. I have discovered that I need to take breaks. I love canning and processing food, so taking this break from the OTHER life that I lead (that of being a full time wife and Mother and Housekeeper and Chauffeur and whatever else being a Mom entails) has been good for me. I have come to realize that I rather like sitting on the couch and reading books to my children. I thoroughly enjoy preparing a good sit down meal for my family. And, I like having a clean house.

Why does it matter so much to me that I have a clean house? It has been my experience that if I want to have the Spirit of the Lord dwell in my home, I MUST have a clean house. Quite simply, He will not dwell in unclean places. That's not to say that He has been absent from our home this past week, I have done a fairly good job of making sure that things have stayed on the north side of clean, but it has been harder for me to maintain that cleanliness that I feel is required to invite the Lord to be a guest. And it shows in the way my children treat each other and how they treat themselves.

So as much as I enjoy taking this break from life, somehow I need to figure out a way to fuse the two lives together. Perhaps that's a job for Wonder Woman...