Yesterday was possibly one of the best days I have ever had. Nothing extraordinary happened, just life. But, it was such a good day in my heart. I hadn't planned to do this post, so I'll probably forget many of the details, but I wanted to keep a record of the highlights so I can remember it forever :).
Our day started a little hectic. One of our children has been facing some medical challenges, and had yet another test scheduled for the morning. She was nervous, and I was nervous for her. We got everyone bathed, dressed, fed, dropped off with one of their favorite people to play with, and headed to our appointment. My sweet, brave girl asked me to pray with her in the parking lot before we went inside. We also texted daddy about her concerns, and he promised to be praying for her, too :). Things moved really quickly, and she was so brave. Then, we were both surprised to hear that everything had changed. The issue she'd been dealing with was completely healed. The tests didn't find any problems whatsoever. She has one follow up test at another location, which is a little more detailed, just to confirm everything, but we left so very thankful. It was fun to hear her chatter excitedly about every random subject I had never thought of on the drive to pick up her siblings :).
The other kids had had so much fun with their friend, and didn't want to leave :). But I was tired and needed to get home to finish our week long project of going through and swapping out the kids clothes for summer.
At home, we had a quick snack, which had to involve cheese, Mia's favorite, and put everyone down for nap. A few minutes later, one of hubby's brothers stopped by for something, and had brought one of his daughters. So, everyone was back up and excited to see her :). A few minutes later, as cousin was pulling out, we headed back upstairs for nap :).
I tried to get my head above water with the dishes and laundry, and by the time everyone was awake and it was time to start going through MORE clothes, I'd decided to do something fun instead ;). So, we ate lunch, did diaper duty, and headed outside with containers in hand. I'd randomly ran across a recipe for dandelion jelly, and thought the kids would enjoy "hunting" dandelions, so off we went. This activity was SO perfect for the littles! It didn't really matter if a dandelion got squished, broken, dropped, or utterly destroyed by a well meaning hand. Even little 2 year old Mia collected her fair share of petals :). And we had unknowingly chosen the perfect time to go picking. We'd had a good rain overnight, but the sun had been out all morning, making our meadow the perfect spot for big, fluffy dandelions!
We had our needed 10 cups in no time, and there were lots of giggles and pleased little faces at all their hard work.
Back at the cabin, we did diaper duty again, then got to work separating the yellow petals from the green stems. Carli stuck with me on the porch the whole time, and Ely and Mia alternated shifts, but mostly the older three played in the creek while I watched and worked from the porch.
About halfway through our job, diapers were needed, yet again, and Carli was about ready for something to eat. So, we got everyone's wet clothes off, got halfway (but good enough) redressed in dry clothes, and sat down inside to feed Carli. We were discussing supper, when the door flew open and Daddy came in!!!!! This was such a fun surprise! Hubby works alot of hours to take such good care of us, and it is rare we get to see him on a weeknight before dark! So, we were all super excited!!!
We had a quick snack with daddy, and then he got to work mowing the lawn. The kids LOVE to watch him mow!!! So, they ran in and out the kitchen screen door, while daddy mowed, and I got supper prepared. All while cooking, I was just feeling so thankful, I was fighting tears.
We ate, and I got to work on the second half of my dandelion job, while Eric and the kids worked on a new picture for ely's sketch pad. I'm not supposed to see it until it's finished, but {I think} it's a picture of a pig, tree, earthworm, bird, and a pretty blue sky ;). I was still working at the kitchen table, but the kids were overly tired. So, Eric took everyone up to bed while I separated the last few petals and boiled the water to steep them in for the night. The few minutes of quiet, and the smell of dandelion petals gave me a chance to reflect on how much fun we'd had on this little project so far. Even if the jelly ends up being less than yummy, I am so glad we decided to put our responsibilities aside for a few hours and take the chance that we might like dandelion jelly after all :).
This
week has been challenging for me in my spirit, which has made me extra tired physically. Trying to get this clothes swap out done, with my huge and awkward pregnant belly, and several nights of little sleep had gotten me grumpy. Thursday, was especially difficult for several reasons. But, even with less than two hours sleep Thursday night, and my anxiety over little girl's appointment Friday morning, Jesus had given such a good day. Like I said, nothing extraordinary or significant just by looking from the outside. But my heart and my spirit were refreshed. I had all of my favorite people home, well cared for, and happy. There was sunshine on our noses and joy in our hearts. A dandelion may technically be a weed, but today, it became my very favorite flower because of the memories it gave us, and because of the work ethic and joyful character it helped to teach three little hearts.
I got the petals steeping in water, and headed upstairs with a sleeping Carli, to find three worn out kids cuddled up against the safety of their daddy. I obviously took a few pics ;), then carried everyone to their own beds and crawled into bed myself. I was so tired, I could barely move. But I didn't mind. I was laying with my very best friend, and had just had one of the best days of my whole life. Hopefully, we'll have a post up soon about our entire dandelion jelly experience and we'll find out how it tasted!!!! Yay!
This was our day. And it was a good one :)
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