A Normal Wednesday

This is what I am thinking today as I finally sit down to rest. This is my debriefing. 

Sometimes my kids play so hard I am amazed. Their imagination is going so nonstop I think that soon smoke will be coming out their ears. I have now gotten to the ripe old age in which I say things like, "I don't know where they get all that energy!" It's exhausting to be old with munchkins running around. This is how I feel today. Tired, but happy to have munchkins. 

Tonight as Jimmy was serving everyone their food, he warned everyone that they were driving him crazy and that if they weren't careful he would drop them all off at the bus station. I hadn't heard that one but I totally appreciated the sentiment. Libby proceded to pray for our meal and added "please help dad to feel less like dropping us off at the bus station." 

Things didn't really get much better and at the end of this chaotic dinner during which multiple people were talking simultaneously and the baby was cranky and rubbing carrots and applesauce all over herself, I pleaded with everyone to please, for me, try and be quiet for 60 seconds. I told them I needed to know they were capable of it. Well, it took restarting about 3 times, but they were quiet. And I thought they would say, after doing it, "Wow, Mom! That was so great! We like the peacefulness of quiet!"  But instead I got "so-and-so was reading" and "she was eating so it doesn't count" and such. Oh well. One day maybe they will appreciate quiet. 

And paper. Today I realized we're are nearing the end of a huge box of paper we bought at Sams. We go through so much paper, home schooling 5 kids...with one of them being quite the artist and pulling everyone else along with her. I'm making copies of math drills, coloring pages, Jimmys printing out leases or property information sheets...the amount of paper we go through is staggering. The Alleys do NOT live in a paperless world. 

Jimmy got home from running Jackson to youth group tonight to find all the rest in the driveway. He started playing basketball and they sat and watched him. We have a crowd of kids. A big enough crowd to cheer on a basketball game. This is how Jimmy related it to me later. That he was proud to have a crowd. It is very humbling and fulfilling. 

Then we played "airplane" and Libby was the stewardess. I asked Penelope where she was going ("California") and if she had business there?  ("Yes, and also in Alaska") Then I turned to Juliet. I asked her where she was going ("Florida!") and then I said, "Are you going to make some money there?" And she said, "I am going to make quarters!" 

And now that I've read my bible, written a blog, and told the kids to brush their teeth and get ready for bed (I let them play so I could steal quiet minutes), I'm going to try and make a dent in the mounds of laundry that could, if need be, be fashioned into enough cloth to cover the Great Wall of China.

How we got to six...and quit

When Jimmy and I were hanging, "just friends,"

We were in his truck headed to Walmart (again!)

While talking he accidentally implied 

That one day we'd have kids when we go for a drive

I acted like I didn't get what he said

But of course I filed it away in my head

This guy wanted kids, and quite a few

Which for me, was something I already knew

A wedding was planned, and we tied the knot

We talked about starting a family a lot

And before very long I was reading the books

Jackson was born and we were hooked. 

For over two years it was just us and Jax

We still gave our concerts and played on our Macs. 

Then a sweet girl, though quite overdue

I thought we'd take a break (I didn't have a clue)

That in less than two years I'd do it again

A boy! A new brother, let's call it a win. 

After his labor I said, not lying,

"I don't wanna do that again for a really long time!"

Yet a little bit more than 18 months later,

Julie's at it again, contractions and labor. 

My baby girl came, a small one, petite. 

But having them close I would not repeat. 

You see two in diapers and one barely trained

Made this mother feel like a poop gravy train. 

I had two of each, my mind wanted to quit

But my heart wouldn't have it. That wasn't it. 

So a couple years later I had news to dump. 

I called mom and told her, then promptly hung up. 

Let her chew on that for a while-

We would become a family with five. 

New Years Eve brought us girl number three. 

She was beautiful, quiet, our angel baby. 

Three years later, our kids growing up,

We felt full and finished. We'd had enough. 

Well just about the time we considered "getting fixed"

Surprise! I am pregnant with babe number six. 

I hoped for a girl, it just seemed the best

The boys being a little older than the rest. 

And after nine months of discomfort and pain,

Violet Joy was born, the caboose of our train.

And while I always said I wanted seven kids,

My new dream was to never be pregnant again. 

Even though for a time I thought we'd never stop,

Jimmy's decided to close up shop. 

In fact he's more than decided, the deed has been done.

A new stage of our family has now begun. 

No longer building, we now will maintain

The chaos, education, and hearts of our train. 

God has blessed us with more than I ever could think.

(Though at times total insanity is on the brink!)

So that's how we went from zero to six

Two boys and four girls and a dog in the mix.

I'm thankful and proud, feeling joyful no less,

I'm content and at home in this beautiful mess.