Monday!

Why are Mondays so.... Monday-ish??

As far as Mondays go, today was pretty much a bummer.  Sigh.  So, now I'm going to complain a bit, and then I'm going to be thankful, so hold on for the end of the post...

The "badness" started in the middle of the night when Hannah was awake and fussy off and on for an hour or two (it's hard to keep track in the wee hours!).  Keith and I took turns trying to get her settled down.  I finally thought maybe it was her ears or teeth and Keith gave her Advil.  That finally seemed to do the trick.  But the damage was done.  I was tired!  On top of that, I had a bad dream that pointed out some unresolved crud in my heart.  :-(

So, I slept in, which I guess I needed, but that put our day behind schedule.  Then, I made the (rebellious) mistake of checking the weather and email before spending any time with Jesus, and then it was too late.  Duh.

After that it was a series of mis-haps, mistakes, and mayhem...

- Logan woke up with the sure conviction that he, in fact, was in charge and I definitely wasn't.

- I was feeling grumpy and out-of-sorts.  I ended up getting angry at the kids and yelling and it was pretty ugly around here.  By the time we were done with breakfast and chores, I knew we had to back up and take care of stuff.  So we spent some time talking, repenting and praying.  After a discipline session with Logan, I sent him back to bed and told him we were going to pretend that we were starting the day all over. 

- Logan and Caleb were HYPER.  Made me want to never feed them another gram of sugar again.  Ever.

- It was raining and cold today.

- I tried three times to start a fire in the stove and it never did take off - until Keith came home and dumped something very flammable and stinky on it.  So I was cold a good bit of the morning.

- Caleb has a runny nose and his first instinct is to snort.  Gross!  Then when he does blow, he leaves dirty tissues everywhere.  Grrr.  Tomorrow I'm going to charge him $.10 for every snort and every tissue laying around.  Money talks to that boy!

- Caleb "shared" his runny nose with Josiah, who is taking it to another level and is pretty miserable tonight.  More on that later.

- Logan broke a stapler and I found a section of staples - sharp side up - on the dining room floor.

- Caleb broke a cool little car we just got at a garage sale on Sat.

- Keith had a rough morning and then took a night shift at the ambulance tonight.  We hardly had any time to talk, which left me feeling rather dis-connected, but we did talk on the phone tonight, so that's good.

- Josiah didn't take a nap today.  (I gave up around 3:30 or so.)

- I had to discipline Josiah a bajillion times today for a particular behaviour that we're trying to irradicate.

-I dug a small piece of plastic out of Hannah's mouth tonight - I'm guessing it was from the broken car.

- I sent Josiah to go pee this evening and when I went in there a bit later, I found pee All Over the floor.  He claimed he was trying to go in the potty, and I think I believe him.  Not 100% sure.

- Josiah has already been half awake and crying three times tonight.  I feel like just not going to bed at all because I'm afraid I won't get any sleep anyway.  He did this about 3 or 4 weeks ago when he had a cold.  He woke up crying and inconsolable about 9 times during the night.  And, ironically, that was also a night when Keith was doing a night shift and I hardly got any sleep.  

So.  That's the garbage.  As I was thinking about this post earlier this evening, I realized that even with all the junk today, I still have a long list of things to be thankful for, if I just stop and look for them.  So, here's the good stuff that I'm thankful for:

- Hannah didn't choke on anything today.  (That girl puts Everything in her mouth!)  Of course, I have no idea what all she ate off of the floor! :-)

- My boys forgave me for my anger and harsh words.

- Supper was delicious (and came from the freezer, so it was very little work!)

- No one stepped on the staples!

- For the first time since Thursday or Friday, every dirty dish was either washed or in the dishwasher tonight.  (We came close a few times over the weekend, but never got around to that one pan that was soaking...)

- Kisses.  From my handsome hubby and precious little boys .

- I was finally able to start the laundry tonight - after wanting to do it all day.

- Josiah is actually having fewer accidents and starting to tell me when he needs to go.

- And, he hasn't pooped in his underwear for a few days.  He's been going in his diaper when I put him down for a nap.  Works for now I guess.  

- Hannah really is a good baby.

- Caleb was very willing to lay down with Josiah tonight so I could get Hannah to bed.  

- Caleb can be a very compassionate big brother.

- Logan got himself and Caleb a bed-time snack without any help from me.

- Logan and Caleb willingly cleaned up toys, etc. while I was getting Hannah to bed.

- With the two "littles" asleep, we were able to do some reading that we didn't get done today.  And we were in a much better frame of mind than when we tried this afternoon.  Instead of "I don't like this book!", I heard, "Read more!"

- In spite of hyperness and bad attitudes, the boys actually did quite well on their school work today.

- I was able to sweep the floor and put away some miscellaneous stuff this afternoon.  Yay.  Let's hear it for sweeping!

- This afternoon, Keith and I watched part of a Beth Moore video that we watched in our ladies' Sunday School class yesterday.  (I got there late and didn't get to see the whole thing, so I borrowed it.)  It is So Good!  It's from her Bible study series called, "Breaking Free" and the session is titled "God's Unfailing Love."  I think I should write a whole post about that, but we'll see.  I have so much growing to do, but she offers so much hope!

- My Father God, loves me!!!!

- Yeah, there's a small mountain of laundry, but hey, we have clothes to wear! And I have four precious kids to make them dirty!

- Caleb and Logan can do chores!  Today Caleb sorted the laundry and Logan cleaned the bathroom counter and sink.

- Tomorrow we get to start swimming lessons.  We're all excited.  And I'm a little nervous about getting us all out the door by 9:10!!

- Any day now, "my" new computer (a refurbished MacBook) will be arriving.  And I won't ever have to use this stinking, old, dinosaur of a PC any more!  Oops, this was supposed to be the thankful list.  Let's see...  I've been very thankful for it's years - or was that months - of somewhat faithful service.  And for the friend who put it together and gave it to us!

- Tomorrow night I get to go to a Stampin' Up party.  Just me.  No kidlets.  Just grown-up ladies, who can carry on grown-up conversations.  And after that, a prayer time with some ladies from church.  What could be better!

So, as you see, I really do have many things to be thankful for!  I just need to remember them and thank my Completely Gracious and Good Heavenly Father!  

Now, my question is, do I go to bed and try to get some sleep, or just sit here at the computer and work all night.  Josiah has already been awake and crying 4 - no, make that 5 - times and it's only 11:45.  He "barks" like a seal and his nose is all stuffy.  He's been laying on the living room floor for the past while.  Poor little guy!  

If you've read all the way to the end, congratulations.  You're a true friend - or very bored!  :-)  And now I will quit rambling!!