A day in the life ...

Hello! I know it's been nearly a year, and I apologize, apparently I have been "microblogging" on my facebook page for the last year, and I notice things are very out of date here. However, I am not going to write a lengthy catch up post right now ... I would like to, as our 2009 Year in Review, but not now! I just wanted to write down the timeline and share a few stories of my last two days, because, even when I share it verbally, it is still beyond my grasp of what actually happened! In the words of my mother, "When God invites you into His Reign, you have the honor of participating and bringing others into His dance." Well, friends, if that is the case, we were dancin' up a storm!!

Tuesday
7:30pm My friend calls, needing a sitter for the following day for her 4 kids from 9:30-5:30. I agree to have them over (age 2, almost three, 5 and 6).
10:47pm Our neighbor knocks loudly on our door to let us know she will be bringing something over the next day instead of right then.
11:21pm I turn out the light for bed (don't be alarmed, it was a fluke, I am still usually up until 1 or 2am).
11:45pm Ember wakes up whimpering, David goes in to settle her down.
Wednesday
12:05am David returns from settling Ember, chats with me a bit
12:15am Ember resumes crying, I go this time, find her clutching her legs and feet while crying "owwie!". I give her a dose of ibuprofen to help with her leg aches and bring her back to bed with me to warm her up, rub her legs, and relax her back to sleep.
12:45am I wake up to David taking Ember off my chest to take her to bed.
2:20am Erin wakes up, crying with a bad ear ache (aka infection). We dose her up with ibuprofen, benedryl, and two squirts of Nasonex, and she and Daddy (who was still awake) went downstairs to watch a movie so she could forget about her ear and fall back asleep.
3:23am The doorbell rings. The same neighbor from earlier is standing on my doorstep and when I open the door, utters the inspired words: "Oh! I hope it's not too late, can I talk to your husband?" I stand there staring, because I was asleep in my dark house at 3:30am, and finally gain a bit of composure, tell her to come in out of the cold, and that I will check, informing her that they were in the basement with a movie because Erin had an ear infection and needed the distraction, but that I hoped they were sleeping. I went down to check, and David who was asleep, woke up and came upstairs to where we heard yet another bit of inspiration: "I need a ride to Taco Bell and I wondered if you could take me." Again, I think I just stared at her, disbelief and awe on my face (which is what my mother assures me is probably why she always asks to talk to my husband instead of to me - it is possible, I suppose). Biting my tongue from standing up to shout "Really?!?!", I heard her explain that she had lost her job at the gas station, and was applying for a position with the night manager at Taco Bell.
3:27am David leaves, taking neighbor to Taco Bell, I go back to bed, thinking, surely, the rest of the night will be mine to sleep.
3:50am Erin crawls in bed with me (her movie is over and she woke up because it was quiet, and of course, my bed is softer, warmer, and comfier than hers).
4:05am David returns from Taco Bell (and Dillons, where the amazing man picked up some fake diet pop for me for the next day, knowing I'd be draggin'! I love this man!).
4:33am I wake up because it is VERY toasty in my soft, comfy bed, and I'm smashed between two furnaces.
5:15am Someone wakes up down the hall, crying for a moment, but soothing back to sleep - I really almost don't care at this point.
6:45am The alarm starts going off, so I can get ready for the day ... snooze pushed.
6:55am Alarm sounds ... snooze.
7:05am Reset alarm for 7:30am.
7:30am Alarm ... snooze
7:40am Alarm sounds. I drag myself to a sitting position and fumble for my phone to call the pediatric office.
8:00am Still no answer at the ped office, so I got in the shower.
8:07am Shower done. Ped office answers phone and makes appointment for 8:30.
8:09am Wake Erin, continue throwing clothes on, drag Erin out of my bed and start throwing clothes on her.
8:23am Run out the door, hop in the car and drive to peds office, miss turn into said office, so have to turn around and come back, making us 2 minutes late.
8:32am Check into appointment, wait our turn, see Dr. Kelley, our wonderful pediatrician, who also knows and enjoys our new neighbor (on the other side), is flabbergasted by our Taco Bell neighbor story (Erin shared), and diagnoses Erin with a bad ear infection.
9:13am Leave ped office, drive to Walgreens, wait for and buy prescription and a regular Dr. Pepper (didn't know David had me stocked for the day).
9:30am My friend arrives with her two youngest kiddos, and leaves them with David (I had texted her to let her know he was here and we were on the way).
9:43am Erin and I arrive home, Erin takes her amoxicilan, David and Erin load into the car and leave for school/work.

The rest of the day was just lots of busy, crazy time with four kids under age 4 until about 2, when the older three arrived from school (of course, it was early release day!). Thankfully, we have recently organized lots of our toys into labeled tubs in Avery's room/closet, so we could bring out one at a time, and be sure the others were put away before we opened a new one. It got really loud close to 6, and I was feeling the tired creeping in, and someone found the tub of instruments. I was glad to see my friend when she arrived five minutes later! One of my favorite funny moments of the day is entitled "Four with Four Under Four":

A snapshot of the day with four children, age 3 and under might be four minutes. Our scenario looked like this: One child asks for a drink ... all four need a drink, and want different beverages and for health reasons, we need different style cups, so I find four different cups, and offer two choices of drink. Each individual of course, wanted to be served first, which, I couldn't do, but tried to work fast. Each child took 1-3 sips of their drinks, and then they rushed, as a herd, toward the living room with their cups, two had sippy cups, two did not, the two sans sippy lids, collided in a rush to set their cups in the exact same spot, of course spilling milk on themselves, Erin's new ski gloves, and the stereo, not to mention the large puddle around their feet. At this moment, they all stop in their tracks, eyes huge in horror, and almost simultaneously exclaim "Oh no! 'pill! the milk 'pilled!!" Ember was the first to unfreeze from the pack, and bolted back around the corner to the bathroom, grabbed the end of the toilet paper, and came zooming back. I had gathered a few kitchen towels and had started mopping up the "'pill" with lots of comments on where I had missed and wondering if I could see the milk. I think the length of the tp strand combined with the edge of the stereo was too much, so as Ember squatted down to help, all she had was a handful of tissue, about the size of a maple leaf. She looked a bit baffled at first, but then shrugged it off and went to work with what she had, slopping the milk further and further away from the epicenter of the original event. She looked up at me with her baby blues, and just beamed as she said "I he'p! I he'p!" Inwardly cringing, I smiled back and thanked her for helping - I mean at least she was taking some action, the others were still standing there crowing about the spill! As we finished the cleanup, the herd once again moved as one, racing into the kitchen, where they suddenly decided to undress the fridge door, stripping all magnets from its front. All that in a matter of four minutes. Wanna come over and play???