Some of the TOP (the good, bad, and ugly... not necessarily in that order) from the summer:
Disasters:
The kids have loved having a hose at their disposal to cool off. They spray just about everything, love using it on the trampoline... I looked out one day to see the hose trailing into the tent in the backyard. I shouted out for Reuben to get it out of there! Too late! Jon had to go shop-vac it out... (I think he said he filled the vac at least three times).
My brother and his family were due to arrive to spend a few days with us so I was trying to get the house to a manageable state. Reuben and Jordan had been playing with water in the back but managed to get themselves pretty dirty (also tracked on my clean floor) so I threw them into the bathtub. I checked back, after awhile, to discover the floor flooded (nothing new- happens almost every bath that the younger boys have together) and Reuben standing in the toilet! I, angrily, started to get them bathed but was distracted by Molly who had taken diaper cream and smeared it over the face of the boys' bureau. As I cleaned that up, I returned to the bathroom and sent Jordan to go get dressed, as I cleaned the room up a bit... I checked on him to find that he had taken the diaper cream and smeared it all over himself... back to the bathroom!
We went to visit our friends in Sussex last week. The first night, as we were getting the kids ready for bed, I left Molly in the bathroom to brush her teeth and went out to the van to retrieve something that had been forgotten. I came back in, sent Katie in to check on Molly; she quickly came back out, quite excited... Molly had put the plug in the sink, had the taps full on, and water was running all over the counters, and flooding the floor! Thankfully, our friends are the picture of grace and forgiveness (and he is a plumber who has seen his fair share of messes).
Power Plays:
As one of our challenges (we picked one for most of the days we were home this summer), we celebrated Christmas. We read the Christmas story from Luke 2, the kids made decorations and hung them from the fake tree in the living room, we sang carols, the kids wished people they met a "Merry Christmas," we picked names and went Dollar store shopping for each other, and I made snowman cupcakes that we decorated together.
The gift Katie got was finger flashlights... she lent each of them out and the kids ran around, chasing each other, yelling about "chasing the light" (the VBC theme this year). Later, Katie was looking at her lights and covered one up, explaining that when we sin, our light is covered so people can't see it, but when we ask God for forgiveness, He takes the sin away and then we can shine the light of Jesus around so people can see it. Well, the kids played some more and then went to bed. A little while later, Caleb called, "Mom! Dad! Jordan wants to become a Christian... I've already prayed with him." Jon went to investigate... he asked Jordan what he wanted ("Jesus' light to be in him") and made sure he knew what that meant, and prayed with him. Now, Jordan's been telling everyone that he's a Christian. What made a great thing even greater is the confidence that Caleb and Katie showed in speaking their faith to their brother.
Victories:
We have been in diapers for almost ten years now... and usually more than one kid at a time. Even when we'd get a kid day trained, for the boys, we'd usually have at least a year (usually more) before they'd get night trained. Now, after a year of having to change two beds almost every morning (we tried pull-ups but they soaked the beds anyway), the younger boys are now dry in the mornings! And, Molly has also been trained this summer (with the occasional accident) and can get through the night dry! Believe me, for a house of six kids, cutting the diaper expense by at least half and shaving off two loads of laundry each day, is BIG!
