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Brunswick , Georgia, United States
I am a child of God, a wife and mother. I have been truly blessed with a wonderful and loving family; they made me who I am today. I have meet some great friends over the past few years, and without them, I wouldn't have made it though some of the hardest times in my life. I decided to start this blog because there are so many things that I want to share with those that I love. From the smiles that I get from my beautiful children each morning, to times where I can't seem to get out of bed. Enjoy!

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Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Can't We Just Have A Nice QUIET Family Dinner???




No, the answer is no. The answer is no because there are four children in my house. The answer is no because all four of these beautiful angels have beautifully made lungs and working mouths that make a great amount of noise. Nothing is quiet here. Nothing.  
Tonight in particular was very noisy and not much of a "nice QUIET family dinner."  

It started off like any other night, us rushing home, doing homework, practicing spelling words debating if I was going to bathe the children or which child would get the bath tonight, cooking tacos (because at least one night of the week our children will need to eat something other than PB&J's) and trying to decide what chore I was going to neglect so that I could watch some trash TV once the children went to bed. Who needs folded clothes anyway? 

Tonight was a little different because we had a scheduled visit from one of our team members for our foster agency. She's fantastic and lots of fun to hang out with...plus she's one heck of a rock star when it comes to supporting us. :-) While meeting with her, I realized that I needed to feed the children and decided to go ahead and feed them while we finished up talking... we would join them shortly. 

While she and I finished up our meeting, Ben was in the kitchen dishing out extra helpings of tacos like one only does when your children inhale them faster that you can make them. 

The visit ended and I turned to join my sweet precious children at the table.... to my surprise, the table was clear...with no trace of the taco massacre that was my kitchen 5 minutes before. Everything was quiet. Everything was calm. If you are a parent, you know that is the worst sound if you know your children aren't sleeping. Silence in a house of 4 children can only mean trouble. Silence in a house of 4 children means they were up to something. But I was hungry and tired, I just wanted to sit. 

Ben and I finally sit down tacos in front of us and bow our heads to say grace. Hand in hand he begins.... SMACK! Something slams into the window near our table. Giggles echo from the other rooms. SMACK, SMACK, SMACK!!! Sounds from all around us. More giggles bellow from the hallway and into the living room. Looking around we see Nerf bullets flying around our heads and bouncing off all surfaces. Ben and I look at each other and bow our heads again to finish our prayer. They wouldn't dare aim at us intentionally...right?

 While eating, we hear feet scurry across our floor and heads bob and weave to stay out of sight. Giggles giving away their hiding places as they plan their next move. Whispers between the three as they navigate to better advantage points. As bullets whistled past our ears, and the fact that they were improving in their accuracy... Ben and I knew that we would have to make a move. 


Look at these faces! Don't they project innocence?  Don't be fooled, it's all a lie. The three of them developed a plan to take over the parents tonight. They full on premeditated an ambush. The nerve of these children. 

But man, they are dang cute. 

Ben made the first move and attempted to take the small one as a hostage, as the three bolted the little one got away only because Ben's socks made for poor traction on our floors full of dust. The three retreated into the bedroom not occupied with the remaining air weapons. We quickly gathered all needed supplies to succeed in our mission. I grabbed the biggest, baddest one we had, loaded the bullets as fast a possible while the giggling continued in the other room.  Me, giggling in my head about how we are about to spank their bottoms by giving them a taste of their own medicine. I finished loading my Mack Daddy Nerf and returned to my seat at the table. 


There I was. Sitting with my one taco that I still hadn't eaten, my air weapon of destruction with 20 loaded bullets ready to take out my own flesh and blood and sweet Anna cup just staring at me. I couldn't quite tell if she was pleading me not to attack my children or urging me on. Of course, I decided she was telling me to go for it! That sweet smile didn't fool me, I always knew she was the feisty one. 
The sound of a door opening and more whispers coming from the hallway. I prepared myself. I waited from them to come closer.... but no more sounds. I turned...
and come face to face with the small one. THEY SENT OUT THE SMALL ONE!!! They sacrificed the youngest to test out Mama Bear. I looked into that sweet little face and smiled. That sweet little face smiled back.... then raised his weapon... and pulled the trigger before I could put up my hand.  OH NO HE DIDN'T! 

Thank goodness he is a bad shot when face to face with Mama Bear. He took off running back to his safety.  Not for long... not for long. 



Within seconds the three come rolling out fully loaded and ready for a battle. Little did they know that we were ready and waiting for them. We unleashed without mercy and unloaded every bullet we had. I can't tell you how many foam bullets buzzed passed my face during this long suspenseful battle. Ten minute later, I'm in a corner breathing hard, trying to gather some stray bullets to re-load my gun and as I look up, ALL THREE children are aiming at me. I knew this was my moment, I didn't have many bullets left and knew that I needed to make a move or they would know they won. (One can NEVER allow their children to win a  Nerf battle!) I stood and began firing. I gave my warrior cry and channeled Rambo as I unloaded the remaining bullets from the chamber.  The laughter roaring now in our four walls, children rolling on the floor, my side hurting from laughing so hard, and the smiles on everyone's faces answered my original question.  

There's no way that I would ever trade tonight for the nice, quiet, family dinner I was looking for in the beginning. 

I was looking for the wrong thing tonight. I was looking for the easy night. The one where everyone does what they're supposed to do. The one where everyone is where they're supposed to be. They one that your don't remember in a few days.  

Instead my children organized a way to get our attention. They developed a plan to remind us of the fun and joy that comes with having a family, regardless if there is actually a "family" dinner.  (Everyone in the FAMILY ate...that counts as a "family dinner" right?)

It doesn't matter that we didn't sit together and eat at the same time, it matters that we spent the time together laughing, smiling and playing.  There are many times that I forget how important these things are for our children and for me. Many days, I get through the day by checking things off my list of To-do's and I forget to just stop and enjoy family moments. Tonight taught me to look for these moments and instead of moving on to the next To-do item, jump in on the fun and know that my children will remember these times.