Day eight...

No formal schooling was done today. And it was perfect. It was busy, but the busyness was profitable and would have been impossible without our choice to homeschool.

At 5:45am I welcome my friends and their two children to come in. My dear, sweet friend is having her 3rd child (via a c-section) this morning and I asked to keep the kids so that both moms can be there to be grandmas instead of babysitters. We chat a few minutes, then I usher them out for their drive to the hospital, get their two littles tucked in on the couch and go snuggle back in bed for an hour.

We had the Symphony today, so we needed to be dressed, fed and out of the house by 8:15am at the latest. We had a few delays, people not wanting to sit where they were told to sit, so we finally began driving up the street at 8:20am. Traffic was unusually bad which was causing me a tad bit of stress because I coordinate our homeschool group's attendance at the Symphony, so I try to be there early enough to greet folks. We prayed for a good parking space, one that would save me from walking 8 children ages 11 to 3 across two major roads... God answered our prayers and we got a super close spot under the building we were needing to be in! The symphony was wonderful as always, the San Antonio Symphony does an amazing job with their Young People's Concert Series, we have been going for 10 years and I plan on taking my grandkids someday. No, really, I do. :)

Once we get back out onto the road I check in with my friend, and the baby has arrived and all are doing well! The name revealed, there are cheers and excitement is in the air. When I pull into the Zoo parking lot and announce a short trip in for a lovely picnic, there are more cheers. We eat, I laugh at how many strange looks I am getting and how I can see people actually counting up the children, no one dares to ask if they are all mine... funny, today I could have said no. Ha! We traipse through the Reptile House after we finish eating and load back into the car.

A couple of phone calls later, my friend hasn't made it into her own room yet, so I am keeping her kids a little while longer. Next stop, the grocery store... with 8 children... when I never even take all 6 of my own if I can help it. I give rather detailed instructions before we exit the vehicle, and I load one basket full of children who I would rather not trust to walk through the store and give Hannah my trust to steer them safely. I don't think I have ever shopped so fast, the kids are doing great but I keep noticing people counting the children and deciding to go down a different isle, I can't help but laugh. We pull up to check out and a chorus of "I need to go potty" begins, so I send the children off under the guide and protection of the oldest two (and I can see the doors from the checkout line). I chat with the cashier. I try to check out with the same person each week. I am trying to establish a testimony with her, I am praying about gospel opportunities... she is having a baby in the next few months, I think I am going to make her something and give it to her soon... how do you open the door to gospel conversations in a 2 minute window a week?

Back into the car, plans have been made for a hand-off of our loaned kids to a grandma and we proceed to the designated parking lot a few miles away. Once my friend's kids are snuggled into their grandma's car we head home. Thankfully I remember I need to go to the bank about 30 seconds before the exit, exit and make the deposit. Now, we really head home. The dogs are happy to see us, and the weather warming above 40F has found for many children happy to run outside while I put away groceries. Putting away groceries makes me realize how messy the panty has become. Noticing the mess makes me feel compelled to do something about it, so I begin pulling everything out of it and reorganizing. One look at the clock reminds me I have gotten off track and need to be making dinner so I can leave to meet with a friend for dinner.

Dinner preparations started... I question myself every time I decide to roast broccoli and cauliflower... it just takes forever to cut the little darlings up into bite-sized pieces... and then on to the salad... and finally remembering to start heating up the prepared beef tips I pulled out of the freezer. My phone rings and it is Elliott telling me an emergency meeting was called, he would be home late. My friend texts as the very same moment and asks if we are still on. A short text-a-thon ensues resulting in the rescheduling of our time and I lay down on the couch. It is at this very moment that I really feel the effects of my going the entire day without coffee. I am tempted to go to bed right then, but a 3yo and 5yo start jumping on me, and I decide to go finish making dinner out of self defense.

Kids played happily. Dinner was a success. I went out for a post-bedtime coffee with a friend. It was a crazy day, but it was a good day. Thinking ahead to the rest of the week, I think there is a small chance we will have a "normal" day Friday... tomorrow will we do our best to creatively get some schooling done... moment-by-moment...