Having a good day :)

So I just wanted to jot down that I am having a great day. My house is a mess, but my kids and I are hanging out painting with watercolor's anyway, and it's great. We were listening to Alecia Keyes No One on my playlist and my kids were all grooving along, Mallory loves dancing and actually has really great rhythm already, it's kind of funny. My kids know a lot of the words and I just couldn't help but be hit by the phrase "I don't worry cause everything's gonna be all right." as my kids were belting it out. I worry too much sometimes, and I'm glad that I didn't care today, because everything really is going to be all right. I have fabulous kids, a wonderful family, even if my house is a sty, I love my life. I'm grateful for my belief in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I'm grateful for the joy that comes to my life because of it.

Aaaahhhh.

So, I think as my first official blog post, I'll just mention how grateful I am for bedtime. While I love my kids dearly, there is just something that happens to them every afternoon that makes me start counting down the hours (or minutes if they are REALLY on one) to bedtime. On a bad day it starts about 4, normally around 5, and sometimes I get oh so very lucky and it doesn't actually start until 6. I don't know why they all choose this time to get all cranky. Maybe a lack of food and the smell of dinner cooking sends them into a frenzy? Doesn't entirely make sense as my kids snack all afternoon long, but whatever. I guess I'm they're just tired, though Meghan promises that she isn't tired at all (though she has no other reason why she's sobbing uncontrollably over the fact that someone said something that didn't actually change anything in her life, but she didn't like it.) Oh do I look forward to the teen years, give her 6 more years to practice her mood swings and she'll be a professional. Seems that I battle my way through getting dinner on the table, getting dinner off the table, last bits of homework, scripture reading, brushing teeth, on a nightly basis. Then the real fun starts. One of these days I'm going to just make a tape. Every 30 seconds or so I'm going to say each of these phrases...No, you already got a drink...no more snacks, you won't starve to death before breakfast...Ryan, stop hitting your sister...Olivia and RaeLeigh, stop touching each other...Yes you can go to the bathroom, just hurry, wash your hands, and get back in bed (darnit, they know I won't ever say no to that one!!)...No, you can't watch a movie and close your eyes at the same time...I said, you already got a drink...GO TO SLEEP. Do you think if I just repeat that list a few times on a tape and play it in the hall that they'd fall for it? Can you imagine how many words a day you could save by not having to say anything more than "Goodnight cute kids?" Then if you multiply that out by the week, then the year. That would leave me 1000's of extra words to nag my husband with use while chatting with my friends.

I must admit though, isn't it great to watch your kids sleep? Maybe it's just a sense of accomplishment that you were able to control them long enough that they got to that state? Maybe that beautiful peaceful look is just a gift from God. He knew you'd had a rough day, and in order to make it through the next day, you needed something that erased the grouchy thoughts that were permeating your head. Maybe He made them look so angelic so you couldn't even remember the scene just after breakfast when you came out to find your 3 and 4 year olds under the table holding the syrup bottle that they had just emptied all over each other and the floor (true story, Meghan and Ryan did that to each other a few years ago. Now I am the syrup nazi. After we're done with pancakes, it's back into hiding again) Seriously though, I am so grateful that He knows what it's like to be a parent so I think He helps us as much as He can. I guess I need to give Him a break sometimes when I sob uncontrollably to Him over the fact that someone said something that didn't actually change anything in my life, but I didn't like it. Maybe He's a little tired of it all too.