I have gotten many comments about how people are appreciative of the fact that I am open and honest in my blog. You all seem to like it that I don’t sugar-coat the real happenings in our home. So in that spirit, I will now share with you some excerpts from my week….

~I yelled at my children. More than once. More than twice.

~I slapped Levi’s hand. I know this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but I am really not supposed to EVER hit/spank/slap my kids because of the feelings and memories it can dredge up. I have done very well obeying this rule until this week. And then, when we were in the middle of WinCo, I had 5 other children dancing around me and begging asking for things, and Levi touched something for the 10th time after being told not to….I slapped his hand.

~I fed my kids frozen pizza. (Although I did serve it with a side of broccoli so this might only be half-bad.)

~I hid in the pantry. Yep. I heard a storm brewing in the front room, I heard the crying start, and I heard a little voice coming down the hallway calling, “Moooooommy!” And so I hid in the pantry. Until that little voice had to change their tune to, “Daaaaaaady!” and he came out to take care of business. Then I came out of the pantry.

~I cried during a meeting with our home school coordinator. Poor lady! She asked me if this was a regular occurence or if she had done something special to cause my reaction. I assured her that yes, I actually cry very frequently these days.

~I washed only my children’s feet and called it a bath.

~I picked up the grapes that I spilled all over the kitchen floor and I served them to my children for lunch. Without washing them.

~I had a doctor’s appointment and left all 6 kiddos home with Scott. I sat in the doctor’s waiting room for an extra 15 minutes just reading a magazine. And it felt like a vacation.

~I sprayed down my stinky gym clothes with perfume and re-wore them. (Okay, this actually happened even before I had 6 children.)

~I did that “I-can’t-see-you-but-I-sure-can-reach-you-while-I-am-driving” backwards-slap on Hannah’s leg during a particularly loud crying tantrum.

~I had to assure my children that I was NOT pregnant after Levi grabbed my stomach and asked, “Baby in here, Mommy?”

~I let my children ride scooters in the house. And roller skate. Here is proof….

But, you know something? For every moment that made it onto my “bad” list, there was a moment that filled my heart with joy.

~I had a sleepover with my girls. We did hair. We told stories. We giggled. I loved every minute of it.

~Levi crawled up into my lap, lay his head on my shoulder, and snuggled with me for 3 whole minutes!

~Micah told me, “I love you, Mom.”, without me initiating it or prompting him.

~Hannah told me as I served the frozen pizza and broccoli, and as I was commenting about our stinky dinner, “I love this, Mom! I love everything you make!”

~Scott tripped and fell, landing hard on his back. Joel gathered all the kids around and had them pray together for healing.

~I made a dinner that did not prompt even one little complaint. Everyone ate it and enjoyed it. Indian food – who knew?

~Driving home one evening, my children filled the car with the sound of beautiful little voices praising our God.

I feel like I can now say that MORE than 50% of this journey is filled with joy, and LESS than 50% is filled with stress. It depends on the day, and it is still a very close contest. But I do believe that joy is winning at least 51% of the time.

“This is the day that the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”

Blessings!

Natalie