1/3 of a Receipt

I'd love to turn in my receipt for reimbursement, but I can't...Jeffrey ate it!

Does that give you any idea what our trip to Costco was like today?

Usually I can go to Costco and the kids do great. I can even take all six, get funny looks, and have almost an enjoyable trip. But not today. Toady's trip pretty much secured my place in the worst mother of the year book. Had some one handed me a roll of duct tape, I would have used it.

At one point, we were waiting in line for hotdogs and there were two other carts of toddlers. My kids were screaming, pulling on each other...eating the receipts...and the other kids were just quiet...staring. To those mothers, I'm sorry, I truly hope that your children miraculously forget what they've seen and never copy it.

As I was leaving the store all I could think was, "If that's what kids at Yellowstone Church are like, I'm never going there!" I don't want to put that kind of pressure on my kids (especially the 2 & 3 year old). I am thankful that I was able to speak calmly to my children...until we reached the van...and can only hope that people saw past the kids and saw a tired, frazzled mother that was dealing with her kids. I did get speedy service at checkout, the food court, and the receipt checker...who was content to mark only 1/3 of a receipt.

Productivity

In a house like ours, we do laundry 'round the clock. I have helped other people get a handle on their laundry with a schedule, but myself...nothing. If I walk by the washing machine and it is not running, I start another load. Clean, folded clothes tend to pile up in bedrooms, waiting to be put away. The putting away part is my least favorite. Otherwise, I really enjoy laundry. It is something I can finish in a short amount of time...except that it is never really done.

So today, I am doing little girls laundry, because it seems that they are running out of underwear. I was baffled by that because I just did their laundry last Wednesday. They should have had enough. As I sorted the laundry, and found the muddy pants that should have been washed on Saturday, and the spaghetti shirt that I should have sprayed as soon as it came off sweet Morgan's body, I found the clean clothes. Yes, It seems that my littlest helper (on who is willing to help!) took clean clothes out of her drawer...where I had actually put them...and put them still folded into her dirty laundry basket. If they hadn't been at the bottom underneath all the dirty ones, I probably would have just put them back in the drawer. However, I am now washing "clean" clothes. This does not sound very productive!

I'll Be Your Helper...

Today I was caring for three extra children for my wonderful friend, Jill, who had her tonsils removed last Wednesday. I have not told her all of Mike's story of when he had his tonsils out. It was not pretty - actually ended up with three surgeries. Also, we do not recommend having your deviated septum repaired at the same time. Would have been fine, but was uncomfortable.

Okay, rabbit trail...

So while three extra kids may sound like a lot...making nine in my home...it really is quieter and less work. They all play together so well that they pretty much disappear and reappear when they want food. For a fun activity, Kyle, Jill's husband, got some free tickets to Disney Playhouse Live. Because of schedules, that would mean that I would be taking five children to see an overly enthusiastic event by myself. Thankfully Kyle rescued me and came with us.

As we were driving there, I was doling out instructions...

"We will go to the bathroom when we get there, and everyone will stay together."

"We will not buy snacks"

"We will not buy drinks"

"We will not buy souvenirs"

"We will have fun"

Doesn't that sound like fun?

I also told the kids that they needed to be big helpers and stay with their buddy...love the buddy system. Here is the rest of our conversation...

Brittany: "Miss Jennifer, I'm the oldest of all the kids. I'll be your helper."

Taryn: "I'm the next oldest, I'll be your helper too."

Meredith: "I won't."

Great, thanks Meredith. Good thing you let me know ahead of time.

And this is why Jill takes the pictures and not me...

Snack

Why, if I feed my kids breakfast at 7:30 am, do they ask for a snack at 8:24 am?

Are you in Your Comfort Zone?

It's about stepping out of it...being willing to see people as Jesus sees them.