A Quick Prayer

The girls are having a pretend picnic in the living room now as I clean up the kitchen, and I just overheard the sweetest little blessing.

Ella asked Kate to say the prayer over their pretend food, and they all bowed their heads. Kate then said, "De-uh Lood, I hope God has a good day!" .... and they all said Amen.

As Promised....

I headed to the airport today with four very excited little girls. Because I was the only adult until we picked Scott up, I made them wear their monkey backpacks. Our little crew caused quite a stir all over the airport..... but I think it was mostly the monkey backpacks and leashes because the girls were very well behaved!

We arrived early enough to have a little snack before moving over to the arrival area at the top of the escalators.
Once we got to our final waiting point we chatted with a few strangers, and one kind lady offered to be our photographer for the "first sighting". I was grateful, but the girls all charged like a bunch of bulls the moment they saw Daddy and there really weren't great photo opportunities.

After patiently waiting for all four of the girls to squeeze Daddy tight, I stepped in and demanded a turn.

While waiting for baggage the girls sat around and hung on Scott's every word.... I have no idea what he was telling them here, but they were all very entertained by him.
We've had a fabulous first day back together as a family of 6. Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes while Scott was away! These pictures don't do this day justice... we are so blessed!

Our Little Firecrackers

I have learned a great deal about myself and my children over the last year. I have learned things about my husband that I might never have had the opportunity had he been here with me instead of half way around the world in Iraq. I can tell from reading messages he's sent that Scott has learned a great deal too. Last year I had no idea how things would turn out (*who ever does, really*), but I am pleased to report that Scott is finally making his way home to us and we did okay while he was away! No, we did better than okay, and so did he!!

So on this momentous, for us anyway, 4th of July, I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to all those who serve our country in defense of freedom! We won't forget your sacrifices nor those of your families who love and support you through until you come home. And may we never, ever forget those who have made the ultimate sacrifice!

To my sweet husband who has been dearly missed this past year... the girls and I are very eagerly awaiting your arrival home to the states and even more so home to us!

And to our sweet little firecrackers, Ella, Maggie, Kate, and Sarah, thank you for giving me a reason to keep going every day, for making me laugh, and helping me to get through this time without your Daddy! I wouldn't have made it without you gals.... even though you did occasionally make me think I was going to loose my mind, and boy will I be glad to have my parenting partner back! whew!

Happy Independence Day and God Bless the USA!

Change

If I had written a post yesterday it would most likely have been titled, "Off to the Nut House I Go". The entire day was a real doozie. At one point in the mid afternoon I had two children seated at the table begging for cereal and simultaneously singing two different songs loudly, one standing at my feet with her pants around her ankles demanding assistance, and the fourth little nut trying to climb up the bookshelves to get to her makeup herself after a solid thirty minutes of begging for it and being denied while the two dueling musicians sang. There was a great deal of screaming, crying, whining, and fighting..... and some of it was from the girls.

The funny joke about me heading to the nut house was not so very funny last night after I spent almost an hour getting Sarah off to bed. She screamed at me for a solid 20 minutes about her pajamas, her legs itching, and the fact that it was not snowing outside! In her defense, she was not feeling well, and I could tell that her skin really was itching... I felt miserable for her, but I was completely unable to help her. (She had all the lotion, benadryl, tylenol, etc that she was allowed to have already.) I felt helpless with her writhing in my arms once she finally selected a pair of pjs, settled into my lap, and fell asleep. She was pitiful, and by the end so was I.

Then today, everyone woke up on the right side of the bed. No one was sick so I suppose that was the main contributing factor to all the good cheer. Things went smoothly and with very minor whining. We ran errands, went out to lunch, played hard, and the house wasn't even totally destroyed in the process.

It really makes my head spin to think about how drastically things change from one day to the next here in our household.

We completely forgot to turn on the television for most of today so there was no Inaugural viewing. I never mentioned the changes taking place in our country to the girls so they remain oblivious for now.

I can't help but wonder about the changes that will be taking place in our nation in the days, weeks, and months ahead. I will be praying for our new president and his family as they make the transition and beyond..... praying that these changes will be good ones, that they will be guided and protected by God.

I'll also send up some prayers that tomorrow won't be another one of those days where I sense a trip to the nut house in my immediate future.

Praying for My Girls

I had a wonderful, lovely break being away for the weekend with 10 other fabulous triplet moms. I'm feeling refreshed, renewed, and ready to continue on with this most important of jobs... motherhood.

Before I left for the weekend I read a post over at Angie's blog about praying for our children. I have accepted this challenge, times 4, and now she's got a button I can post here so that you can all go check it out and pray for your children this week as well.

I think praying for the girls is one of the most important things that I can do for them as their mother, and I love her idea of praying these specific scriptures for them throughout the day. Check it out!