Cousins Come to Stay

Awhile back Nic asked if I would watch the kids while her and Kyle went to Mexico on vacation. And this week the time has come. I have been really nervous about how I would balance 4 kids under 5 and still accomplish everything I like to accomplish in a normal day. After thinking about this for the last couple months I realized there was no way to do that and to stay happy and sane. I find myself often thinking about the quote Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling! It is not something to do if you have time it is what God gave you time for!!!! I think of this regularly my kids will only be little once and I never want to wish that away! There would be twice as many kids that needed attention and love. So the solution was to prepare myself, the house, and my family so we could all just make the most of our time all together and so far it is working beautifully. After we picked them up we grabbed lunch and came home for naps. Rigs doesn't nap anymore which makes things a little tricky but I figured we would work it out. Grace and Kinley went down about 1 and Hallie and Rigs played quietly downstairs while the girls napped. Shortly after getting them to sleep Hallie and Rigs came up dressed like this. Im sure Kyle will never forgive me but it was to darn cute not to take a picture. They were so excited that they were dressed like twins.

 After everyone was awake, a couple hours later, we headed outside. Now that Kinley is older it seems like Grace and her split off and do their thing and Hallie and Rigs do theirs although they still at times play all together. They spent a couple hours playing between the swings, sandbox, and trampoline while I did some yard work.

 This is a daily occurrence at our house...the raspberry picking

 Then we had dinner, bathed, and the kids watched a show while I got in the shower. The day went amazingly well. I was pretty surprised and pleased. Hoping today goes just as well. I went to bed last night with my heart feeling full knowing that my house was full of special little spirits quietly sleeping. But Im looking forward to tonight when Matt is home for me to snuggle once they are all asleep.

Wed was just another day of fun playing with the cousins. I was grateful it wasn't my day to drive the car pool so I didn't have to worry about hauling all the kids to pick up Hallie. The kids did pretty good keeping themselves entertained. 

 Blurry but still a cute picture that captures the love these kids have for each other.

 I bought a hammock at the beginning of summer and we have used it quite a bit. The kids used it daily and even fell out of it a couple times. 

Notice Rig's boots in this picture. He was in love with them and worn them almost all day everyday although I never let him wear them out of the house since they were pink.

Meal times, bed time, and bath time were all crazy but we made it all work and it ended up being easier than I had anticipated. Tuesday when I picked the kids up from Jill I started to feel sick. On the way down to get them I prayed with heavenly father that he would help me get through the week with all the kids knowing that Matt would be out of town. I was encouraged as the week went on and I felt more like myself. I am grateful that I was able to take care of the kids and myself with the power of a loving father in heaven that heard my cry for help and aided me through the week.