In which undergarments are optional ...

I haven't written in a few days, but finally had enough of a laughable moment that I thought I would take the time to share with all four of my devoted followers.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was fairly busy around the house. I mean with work, babies, nieces, and schooling I had more than enough to do. Typically, on Wednesday evening, I give the kids a light dinner and then we head to the gym before church. They take a kids yoga class and I swim.

 Last night was no exception, except that I had to be at church at 6:40 to practice for a special to sing on Sunday morning. While I am swimming laps, I notice something floating in the pool next to me ... I had forgotten to remove my nursing pads before entering the pool. So we will call this FAIL #1. I quickly dispose of the overly saturated pads and keep on swimming. At this point I have a "Finding Nemo" moment. You know the part where Dory keeps repeating "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" My arms are exhausted from a weight lifting class on Tuesday. I finally finish my laps and head to get dressed.

It takes me just nano-seconds to discover that my bra has not made into my gym bag.This would be FAIL #2.  Going to church in  my bathing suit doesn't seem to be a good idea, so the only other option is to put my clothes on over top of my bathing suit and go buy a bra.

Let me take a small break at this point in the story to tell you that I am now the budget-Nazi in our house and a new bra was not in the budget.

So now I am dressed over top of my wet bathing suit. I quickly dry my hair and then realize that my nursing pads that were supposed to be re-used are in the trash can by the pool. I  decide to fill my husband in on all the drama and he replies, "I have plenty of nursing pad in my gym bag" WHAT?? That just seems wrong on so many levels. I almost asked him if he had an extra bra as well, but held my tongue and thanked him for the pads.

Now with only twenty minutes, I head for the truck to get to KMart, buy a bra, change my clothes and then be at practice by 6:40. Traffic in Fred at 6:20 PM is always awful, but it's raining as well, so that makes it even worse. Stalling the truck TWICE in the middle of Rt 3 only adds to the drama, but I finally make it in one piece to the KMart parking lot. I make a mad dash to the store (not sure why. I am already wet. The rain drops couldn't possibly have made that much difference). I find a corn-flower blue bra on sale for $7.99. I am pleased with that and head to the check out.

There is only one line open. The person in front of me has only three items, but had to have them rung up separately, they also had a rewards card, AND the register would not scan anything. The cashier (with three inch long nails) typed in each number. WOW it was painful. I spent a good 10 minutes in line. When it was my turn, my total was $4.41. WHAT? I had a $7.99 bra, a pack of gum, a king size Twix bar, and  container of Milk Duds (why do I go to the gym)? The silver lining in the day was that the bra was only $.99.

I get to church with 2 minutes to spare, run in, change, and then practice. The song sounds great. Yea, I know my part. That made me happy. I finishe up practice, then go outside to help Aaron get the kids out of the Suburban. I wait and wait some more. I finally call him, only to hear Audra raisin' the roof. She is mad ... I mean, like "woman you better feed me now mad"! There has been an accident and they are stuck. They show up about 10 minutes later. I grab the kids (Aaron had to head back to work), all of whom were crying except Tavia, and taek them to there respective classes. Malaki decides that he dosen't want to go to nursery, and attaches himself to my leg. The nursery worker, pries him off and I make my escape (Audra is still yelling). At least I thought I escaped. I am stopped and asked to do nursery. I want to cry ... REALLY??? All I want to do is sit, and listen to the message ...

I figure that since I have to nurse Audra anyway, nursery was meant to be. I head over there and finally get her fed and then proceed to play with all of the babies. What a soothing salve for my frayed nerves! I had the most wonderful time. The fellowship with the ladies, and all the baby smiles gave me just what the doctor ordered.

I have decided that God knows what he is doing, even when I don't think so. He knows that I can handle one more obstacle even when I think I am going to explode. And the comfort and rest he provides in never in the way I think it should be. I am glad that he is in control and not me. I left church smiling ... and still am.

Outside my window...the grass that needs cut, the tomato steaks that need to be taken out of the garden, and the beautiful trees changing color.I am thinking...I have so much to do and that I am letting it stress me a little, but I need to get a hold of myself and be thankful for how the Lord has truly blessed me.
From the learning rooms...Nelle is learning to write her name, only when she writes it, it looks like this : eelln. Tavia is learning division and multiplication (WOW I am so proud of how well she is doing with school) . Malaki is learning to go potty (I will do a "praise Jesus" dance when this is completed.) Audra has learned that she has a voice ... man I thought she was going to be a quiet one.I am thankful for...health and life eternal, loving children, a husband who is my best friend, girl-friends that I can talk to, an amazing boss
From the kitchen...zucchini is thawing in the sink. I need to make some kind of healthy muffins for my husband ... and what to make for dinner. Steakums, in the freezer, but they are terrible for you.
I am reading....just finished "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" by Kurt and Brenda Warner. I still haven't decided what I think of it.
I am hoping...that the laundry pile will magically fold itself.I am creating... personalized canvases for my kids for ChristmasI am hearing...the springs of the trampoline and the kids incessant chatter ... and the dogs playing

Around the house...is a pinata drying One of my favorite things...right now it is dark coffee and oat and honey granola bars for breakfast.A few plans for the rest of the week...get the laundry folded, and Tavia's birthday party on SaturdayA picture thought I'm sharing with you . . . . .

Dogs in diapers and "no more slushies in the car"

Yesterday started out fairly normal.

My nieces arrived at 5:10 AM like they normally do, only, the alarm had not been turned on, so I was a little disheveled when I answered the door. Good thing it was only my brother and that the girls were agreeable with gong back to sleep.

By 8:00 AM the house was in a full blown tilter-whirl. I was informed by the Littles (Malaki & Selah) and the Middles (Nelle & Sedona) that only cereal would do for breakfast. Much to their dismay, I only had Raisin Bran and no milk. They settled for Graham crackers and peanut butter. Around 8:15 I tried to sign into my computer and noticed it was acting flaky. I tried starting internet explorer and it refused. I decided to reboot it and then it showed some error on one of the disks and insisted that I allow it to check for inconsistencies. I did, and now it is totally non-functioning.

So by 8:30, I had fed the baby, fed the five others and been rendered unable to work. Talk about a fast morning.

My sister in law showed up around 10:00 to get her girls and shortly after that my mom showed up. My mom showing up was a big surprise. She should have been at work. There was some kind of mix-up and she took the day off. I think when I heard that, you could have knocked me over with a feather. My mom never takes time off. I was secretly ecstatic. It has been forever since we have been able to spend the day together.

As all of these people were coming and going in and out of the house, Tavia's dog, Belle, scooted out of the front door to go to the bathroom. This would be perfectly okay accept that she was wearing a pull up. No, I did not make a typo. She was wearing a pull up. She ran to the edge of the yard and started to use the bathroom ... well, she thought about it. Then she looked at her back end and realized that there was a problem. Tavia, at this point was flying across the yard as quickly as she could so that she could remove the pull-up and not have to give her dog a bath. Once the pull up was successfully removed, Belle went on about her business, but not without checking her rear-end several times first. Eventually we made it out of the house and on our way to town.

We did a little shopping and then headed to the Sonic drive thru for a drink. As soon as mom mentioned it, I got a little hesitant because the kids are not supposed to have any food or drinks in the car. They promised to be super careful, so I said that this one time we would make an exception. I had to make one last stop at Target, and we would be on our way home. As we were pulling out of the parking lot at Target, Malaki starts yelling that there is a hole in the bottom of his cup. Of course there was a hole in his cup. We are in the car that we are not supposed to eat or drink in and he is drinking a RED drink. My big old suburban came to a screeching halt in the middle of the main entrance and exit road of the Target. Tavia chucked the slushy promto, and then mom, Tavia and I came rolling out of the vehicle faster than you read that last sentence. With wet wipes in hand, we systematically cleaned the entire inside of the car.

So I said that the day started normal, but normal lasted for all of 10 minutes and then the madness ensued!