Highchair Goo

It's been so long since I posted, so I had to ask myself, "what in the world have I been doing". I thought of a few things to answer that, but I have decided that it all boils down to High chair goo. Cleaning it up that is, which leads me to a few other things that have been taking up my time,so I thought I would list them, starting with...cleaning, taking care of a baby, cleaning up after that baby, cleaning up after those other three, getting those three to clean up after themselves, playing with baby, kissing baby, changing diapers, getting homework done, driving to tennis, driving to soccer, driving to dance, driving to piano, going to volleyball games, picking up from volleyball practice, feeding Cooper, cleaning the food off the floor and walls (because of Cooper), doing mountains of laundry...and then doing it again, school projects (a lot this past month), doing stuff for my church calling, enjoying having company for Thanksgiving, running errands, giving lectures on "loving one another", primary presidency meetings, cleaning the kitchen, getting kids to clean the kitchen, making chore charts, reading stories, singing songs, cleaning up piles of toys that Cooper as dumped, changing diapers again, making meals, sometimes making kids get their own meals, scripture study, Family home evening (which sometimes ends up being Family home argument), vowing to never yell again, making enough jewelry to accesorize a small country, having a huge Christmas jewelry party, decorating for Christmas, redecorating (when Coop pulls things down), training for my next triathlon, doing my friends hair for a fancy occasion, carpooling home from school, snatching a few moments with John here and there, drying tears, trying to find one solitary pen or pencil in my house, running the girls to the church for activities (25 min. drive), trying to get the grocery shopping done before the baby melts down, cleaning my floors...again, Christmas shopping, making Christmas cards, going to playgroups, figuring out how to switch from baby mode to teenage mode on a dime, kissing boo boos, listening to girl drama, advising against jumping on the furniture...again, cleaning the goo off the high chair, cleaning the goo off the baby, cleaning the goo off of myself, breaking up fights, making kids mad at me, giving hugs, putting together train tracks, enforcing consequences, witnessing tantrums, babysitting a friends kids, giving baths, cleaning up towels, giving the "no towels on the floor" lecture, getting one particular child to realize that a clean room is something that needs to occur more than once a month, doing bedtime, attempting to have a little "no-kid" time, sending a kid or two "back to bed"...and...cleaning more goo off the highchair.

I know that just about any mother in my stage of life could pretty much write that same paragraph. There are days that I don't feel like I get to sit down. Sometimes everyone wants to talk to me at once. Sometimes I am in the car with the kids all afternoon and into the evening, and sometimes between work and church stuff, me and John don't get to see each other all that much during the week. And truly, most day...by bedtime for the kids, I feel like I have run a marathon and that I need to be "off duty" for a while (too bad that occurs before bedtime and not after). But...I also feel more joy than can be expressed when my tiny baby puts his chubby little arms around my neck, or when he grins at me and babbles some wonderful babytalk. When my 5 year old tells me that he loves my hair and that I am the prettiest mommy ever, or I hear him say a prayer where he remembers to bless everyone and everything under the sun, this also brings me joy. I find true contentment in seeing the amazing students my girls are, and seeing how they deal with the pressures in their lives. I see the good decisions that they make, the good examples they set, the kindness they show, and I couldn't be happier. There are moments when I look around the room and see these five people that belong to me and I know that this is what I want to be doing. Of course I could be snapped out of that dream of contentment by a little "She looked at me weird", or "He's sitting in my spot"...but at least it occurred. I just thought I should write some of this down...because I know that someday when things calm down...I will miss all this craziness (I think). I wouldn't trade my life with my husband and 4 kids for anything. This is the life I always dreamed of...believe it or not. I love these five people so much. Highchair goo and all.