Sunday church day in photos

Okay so today is Sunday. And today, JB had to work. Big surprise. Sorry, don't mean to sound frustrated, but we have been frustrated with the amount of Sundays he has been working. (We are very hopeful this is going to get better soon!)

So here I go to church and getting four kids ready and out the door. I opted for second service simply because I had to pick up a prescription from the Walmart Pharmacy that wouldn't be ready until well after first service would conclude. I always try to time my "town runs" to get multiple things done. I try to NEVER come to town two times in one day.

So we are doing well and ready to load the van at 9:50am. This is with the hope that we will actually pull out at 10:00am. (I am compulsively on time). This will land us at church at 10:30am for a 10:45am start.

At 9:50am, I learn the following things:

• Abigail has gotten on a wet swing and totally soaked her backside mere seconds before it is time to go. 
• (I opt to not care and hope it dries by the time we get to church.)
• Sidge decided to climb over a makeshift kennel I had made for Arabelle at the bottom of our stairs to use an unoccupied toilet.  
• (She is due to have puppies any day and this is a "safe" area I have created until we build a whelping box.)
• Isaac is in his seat in the van but has forgotten his water bottle. 
• (I send him back into the house as water bottles are a mandatory requirement for travel in my world. There is always a child complaining of unbearable thirst while we are out, and I refuse to buy water!)
• Hannah was actually completely ready and dressed appropriately and in the van.
• (It's a miracle!)

I had a big white bleach spot on my jeans but just could not find my other pair of jeans. White spot is shown in picture below:



I decided not to care about the bleach spot and wear a t-shirt and just be okay with my casual look at church. However, once at church, I decided to put my kids-ministry-pick-up-sticker right on top of the bleach spot! (I always stick this sticker on my pants to prevent losing it by the time we pick up the kids.)

Perfection and problem solved! Check it out below:



I sat down in service simply so happy to be in a soft, comfy chair with children all in their classrooms. It was a great service, and I was just so happy to have an hour to myself with God! I was sitting next to and behind fellow mothers-of-four whose children are now considerably older than mine. They totally felt my relief.

After church, I headed to Walmart to pick up my prescription. It was not ready :( Since Walmart is usually not my happy place, I decided to make the best of it. First up: we were going to find CHEAP water bottles. I found these:



I used to buy "top notch" water bottles that would stand the test of time. The problem is, the kids lose these like they are going out of style. I have instead decided to switch my strategy and go with cheap bottles that may break but will probably be lost before they are broken.

One of the "problems" I have encountered with four little kids of opposite genders is that they all want to look at toys. But with two boys and two girls, they want to be on two different aisles. Here I am taking pictures of them on opposite aisles as I stand at the end poking my head back and forth between the two aisles:





FYI: I do not buy my kids ANY TOYS. Unless it is for a special occasion (birthday or Christmas or reward), toys MUST be purchased with your own money. This really solves the "Can you buy this?" problem!

(Although Hannah doesn't seem to remember this rule very well and picks out incredibly expensive items she needs regularly.)

Okay so the end to my day was a good one. While standing in the check-out line, my good friend Erin pulls up in the lane next to me. She has two daughters who my girls just LOVE. (Ironically they pair up with the opposite ages that are closest to them based on personality.) Erin says, and her words came out as if in slow motion:

WOULD
YOUR
GIRLS
LIKE
TO
COME
OVER
AND
PLAY?

and then in equally slow motion she said:

AND
I
CAN
BRING
THEM
HOME?

Sweet Jesus! Miracles do happen!!

The weather is cruddy, and I knew I had to get back to the farm and have the boys help me move sheep so not having the girls to occupy (or "help") was like music to me ears.

FYI, my no sugar thing hasn't been going so well. So Sidge asked me, with the girls not with us, if he could try this new snack as we were checking out. He loves Hershey's so I let him try them, and I decided to "try" them with him.

The verdict: we were NOT fans. Hard to believe I wouldn't be a fan of these but they were just TOO RICH for both of us. (And that is hard to do with Sidge, my fellow chocolate lover, and myself.) Not for me. Won't ever get them again.

Not that I should anyway. I'm supposed to be not eating sugar. :(