No school today because of the extremely cold temperatures. Four of my six kids were awake by 5am and the tiniest one was refusing to be quiet. I finally sent them downstairs to watch tv. I think I'll have some tired kids today. My mom jokingly texted me that today was National Dad's Take Boys to Work Day. Steve didn't go for it :/
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For many of us the great danger

is not that we will renounce our faith.

It is that we will become so busy and distracted and rushed

that we will settle for a mediocre version of it.

~John Ortberg

I stayed home with Sophia again yesterday. I attacked the disorder downstairs. I now have a clean, organized house again. Plus, my little one and I got some much needed snuggling and playing time.
I forgot how stressed and overwhelmed I feel when my house is in chaos. It took a few days to put it back in order but now I feel able to relax a bit.

After the kids got home and finished their homework, we played for a while. I even enjoyed cooking again last night (stromboli - It's one of Steve's favorites!) Because I was able to give the kids the attentention they needed, they played by themselves later in the evening and weren't so needy. So Steve and I turned on some music and sang along together. Sounds weird, I know. But it was so fun.

If you come to my house, you'll almost always hear the Christian radio station because it's the one I like to listen to and the words that I'd like instilled in my children's hearts.But catch me on a relaxing night with my hubby and you'll find that I have a really eclectic taste in music. Oddly enough, so does Steve. Last night found us sitting by ourselves singing along to everything.......from Casting Crowns, to Poison, to Sawyer Brown, to Simon & Garfunkel, to Billy Joel, to Elvis, to Journey......and everything in between. You get the idea :)

I usually feel like there's so much that needs to be done that I don't take the time to just sit and relax. I need to do it more often. Even when I'm sitting, I'm thinking about all the things I should be doing.

Maybe it's time to make a few changes again.
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I set my alarm for 5:30am so I could work on my bible study.
Glitch #1 - I'm out of creamer for my coffee.
Glitch #2 - Sophia woke up and wanted cereal.
Glitch #3 - Taylor woke up and needed help with the homework she didn't finish last night.
Glitch #4 - Riley woke up and started arguing with Taylor.

I don't sense that my studying is going to be accomplished this morning.
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I feel much better now that there is some order back in our house. I stayed home with Sophia today and was able to clean the kitchen, dining room, office, bathroom, the boys' room and my bedroom. I also tackled quite a few piles of laundry before I took Brittney, Zeke, Sophia and Taylor to the orthodontist this afternoon. Taylor got her expander removed and Brittney had her braces tightened. Taylor's piano lesson was cancelled for today. Steve took Riley and Anthony to basketball practice tonight. It would just be too easy if they actually had practice at the same place and time ;)
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It's 8pm now and Anthony, Zeke and Taylor are their beds. Sophia is in her PJ's in my bed watching Dora. Riley should be getting home from basketball practice any minute now and Brittney went with my sister to a Pampered Chef party. It's temporarily quiet here. I think I'll read for a few minutes. I wonder if I'll pick an interesting fiction book or finish the adoption/attachment book? The first time I picked it up, I only made it through chapter one. This time, I've made it half way through before I had to stop for a while. I think it's probably time to finish it - or at least get a bit farther :)
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This morning I thought that I'd get up early and watch a little TV while folding clothes and drinking coffee before church. Instead, I got:

• a clingy, crying 3 year old who had been woken up way too early by loud siblings,
• a note on the board that said "Riley had the tv remote in his room and he should be punished!!!".
• Riley complaining that Brittney came into his room in the middle of the night and started hitting him because she thought he stole the remote. Which, upon further investigation, it turned out Sophia had taken into his room and he wasn't even aware of it because she did it after he was already asleep.
• Brittney had taken the "lost" remote into her room and locked her door when she went to bed. So this morning, I had to knock on her door and wake up the world's crabbiest 14 year old in order to get it.
• When I finally had the remote in my hands, I discovered someone had taken a scissors and cut off a majority of the buttons. The worst part is, I'm not even sure who to blame! Disgruntled 14 year old Brittney could have easily done it last night when she was mad. Tired & crabby 11 year old Riley might have done it impulsively yesterday and now doesn't want to get in trouble. Taylor might have done it just because she was bored - she'd definitely lie about it. Zeke could have done it if he found some scissors and wanted to see what he could cut (although I think it would have taken more dexterity then he has to cut the tiny buttons). Anthony could have done it just because he's so impulsive (but he wouldn't lie about it - he would just say "I did it but it's not my fault!") Even cute little Sophia could have done it. She's pretty good with scissors when she wants to be. In the past, I've found lots of Barbie hair that she and Taylor decided to trim.

I think that's why I haven't been blogging much. Yes, I've been busy. But the reality is that I don't want to complain too much and that's what I feel like doing lately.

Although I did have a great day on Friday when I let myself relax for a while. I didn't have to work so I drove to Sioux Falls and spent an hour in the morning with my therapist, who is amazing. Then I came back to Brookings and spent most of the afternoon having coffee with my mom and a great friend. We got to Chocolatte at 2pm and I didn't leave until almost 5pm! Then I went home, got supper ready for the kids and had an impromptu visit from Sophia's mommy Rachel, Ben and their friend. As soon as they left, I headed to a friend's house for a 'whine and wine party'. It wasn't really a party; someone just called it that and the name stuck. We had all had a rough life week and decided we needed to just sit around and chat. I couldn't have asked for a better ending to the week!
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Yes, I am still here. No, I haven't forgotten how to blog. Yes, life is a bit hectic. No, I didn't get much sleep last night. But since I need to be at work in a half hour and I still need to drop off Sophia, I think I'll get off the computer and down some more coffee ;)
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I'm taking the day off on Thursday, sort of. I won't be working at Headstart but I'll still have Early Headstart for Sophia at 8:30am, an appointment in Sioux Falls at 2pm, a BIAC meeting at 5:30pm and a wrap-up Guatemala meeting at 7pm.

But somewhere in the middle of the day, I hope to post some pictures and stories from the trip.
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Meanwhile, here's one of my favorite pictures of my oldest and my youngest.

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Taylor Says

On the way out of Brittney's gymnastics meet tonight, I pointed out the beautiful moon to Taylor. Her only comment was, "Yep. Looks like a big toenail."
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MOM and BRITTNEY

 As  im  lising to my mom's favorite song then sophia said "Mommy's song!" I said "Yes it is mommys song."Sophia said"I miss mommy.":( I told her  mommy will be home soon and I will take care of you and dad will take care of Anthony and Zeke. And we are ALWASY LATE 4  school.


















                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                             
by TAYLOR ANNE WILKINS 

Update

This post is done by Steve

Well the team made it to the airport in Sioux Falls and got everything checked in.  They got a bite to eat, and then boarded a plane for Chicago.  Once in Chicago they had a layover before boarding their next flight to Houston.  There was a delay in getting off the ground in Chicago, so the next text I received was that they had arrived in Houston, were had 10 minutes before their plane for Guatemala left.  I said a quick prayer and waited to hear more.  The next text read "ran the entire length of the Houston airport with only two walkways, and now sitting on the plane for Guat City and this would be the last I hear from them till they arrive back in Houston"

On the home front, things have been going well....sort of.  Last night at work, i was not felling the best and carried over to today, plus I had forgot my phone at work, so other than e-mail, I had no phone.  So thanks to my mother in law and mom for helping out today, and for stopping by and getting my phone from work.  I sleep most of the day today, and now I'm laying in bed doing this post, wishing I felt better. 

Also about 5 oclock this afternoon, Taylor comes running in my room saying someone was at the door, so I drag my rear-end out of bed to see who is there.  Its the Bus barn manager telling me there was some confusion to where Zeke was to be dropped of.  When Tricia called they were to drop Zeke off a the club till tuesday, the teacher were telling them he was to go home and the club next week.  Since my phone was still on silent from work, they had tried calling to make sure before they did anything with him.  I told him Thank You and he said the Zeke would be home shortly.  I told hime that was fine.  Zeke loves his bus driver, and if she would drive to Florida and back, he would happily go with her.

Well the weekend has offically started and the kids just went with my mom to DQ for dessert after supper, so will try and update again this weekend.

Just a quick note to say thank you to all our friends and family for your support of our missions trip to Guatemala! Brittney, Holly, Larry and Janet, Jon, Wylie and I are headed to the airport this morning with 14 large suitcases full of shoes, jump ropes, soccer balls, stuffed animals and crafts for the kids in Zacapa. Things that we hardly think about will mean so much to them. I promise to actually get on FB again and post pictures once we're home ;)
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I already have lots of cool stories just from the trip preparation and fundraising. I won't have access to a computer while we're gone but I will be journaling on paper. I'll try to get some of that transposed onto the blog or maybe I'll just scan them in and let you read them that way ;)
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Lord willing, talk to you on Jan 9th!
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