what a day.

oh, what a day.

1.  jakob told me at 5pm last night that he needed black pants for band the next day.  shopping is hard in this small town...

2.  jakob told me at 7:30am that he had a concert at 8:15am... we were rushed getting everyone dressed.

3.  during the concert, i took a picture and the man next to me whispered, "Did you know that your daughter just left the auditorium?" 

4.  i spent a LONG time looking all around the school for a missing 5 year old in a black and white striped shirt-- all of the middle school teachers in the hallways were helping me search.

5.  we found leah, sitting with friends of ours in the auditorium.

6.  lily saw me looking for leah and started screaming, "I want my MOMMY!"  It was loud and lasted the whole time she was running towards me out of the gym, during the patriotic assemble.

7.  I had leah and lily in the hallway for an hour, while the assembly commenced and couldn't leave because todd had my keys in the auditorium.

8.  AFTER the assembly, i dropped leah off at preschool with a promise of spankings when she got home, and I headed to the dmv.  nice, nice mommy.

9.  both little girls fell asleep on my way there.

10.  i didn't have the right paperwork AND i have to re-take the drivers test BEFORE i can get an Oregon licence.  The lady said you need to know specific Oregon laws, like how much alcohol you can have before being illegal.  BLAH!  I left without accomplishing my task. HATE THAT.

11.  had to drop anna's lunch off at her school.  pick leah up.  go home for an hour.  wake up eve and return to the elementary school for another assembly.

12.  the kids were better this time.  not easy, but better.  i brought lollipops.

13. i had an hour after the assembly before school let out.

14. went home, put the kids to bed, went to the bus stop to wait for my girls... they never came.  woke the little girls up from naps, called the Elementary School and had them looking all around for my lost girls.  drove to the middle school and found all 4 of my big kids waiting there for me.  called the elementary school back to say "All is well."  anna insists she told me they were walking home today.  {i wondered if i could start a child hunt at the highschool and have every person in this town thinking i have way too many kids?!}

15.  dropped the girls off at activity days.  got a cell call from the professor reminding me to call about my "using a cell phonewhile i drive in oregon" ticket.  found out i'm currently in contempt of court with a higher fine and i need to head to the court house tomorrow morning.  BLAH.  i would have known the cell phone law if I would have taken my oregon driver's test earlier, huh?

16.  took the littlest girls and the boys to the donut shop.  tried to look around at a Vintage House Parts store, but they said NO KIDS.  i have no idea why?  now, my girls are wearing rain boots and neither have socks on or hair done...  my baby has had no real nap, and she is still smiling-- what a trooper.  {wish i could say the same for the mother.}

17.  got jakob's hair cut at a small town, a bit weird, barber shop.

18.  picked up the big girls-- anna was so excited that she learned how to knit.  ellie cried for an hour and threw her knitting needles across the room, because she can't do it.  she broke a needle and cried some more.

19.  todd cooked dinner- ramen noodles and veggies.

20.  todd and drew went to the church by 6.  at 7 i took jakob to the church and drove drew home.  i sat in the car talking to sweet friends in the church parking lot... whining all about my cranky day.  (grateful for friends, embarrassed for my complaining)
21.  home, cranky bedtime for kiddos, i stayed up too late trying to buy some 25% off clearance clothes from crazy 8 for christmas.

22.  leah woke up at 5am with a sore throat.

23.  eve woke up at 5:30am to eat and stay awake (that actually is REALLY good for her).
24.  i went back onto crazy 8 to reorder stuff... all night long it haunted me that i bought leah size 5 things instead of size 6... and, i forgot church shoes-- she has none.
25.  i'm sitting here typing as my life awakens around me-- and i have a prayer in my heart...
PLEASE, help me make this a better day than yesterday!!
amen. 

ps.  as i read over this post i wonder... what will my kids remember about today?

will they remember that i was there, with the little kids, trying to be present, trying to show them that they are loved and remembered and just as special as a child without 6 siblings?

will they remember a cranky mom or donuts?

will they remember the fun of older siblings, or being dragged from school to school during nap time?

will they remember that i got them black pants or that i read the paper at the beginning of the school year and still didn't buy them until the night before?

every day is wide open with choices of how we spend our time...

i have consecrated my moments to mothering, loving, and building God's kingdom.

i'm not sure how well i did yesterday.

but, everything i did was well-intentioned.

thank God i'm not "done" yet.

still learning from the vetrans.