Delightful

Whew -- what a morning! My one word to sum it all us is...Delightful. Delightful - you may ask if I was without my 4 children, but no, we were out and about. They were so good and we enjoyed being together.

We started out with a visit to the dentist for the older 2 and myself. I'd originally arranged to have the little two go to their aunt's, but that didn't work out. Elizabeth sat in the ladybug chair and chattered away while Jessica cleaned my teeth. Matthew, of course, was no problem in his car seat. Jonathan and Caroline got their teeth cleaned at the same time that I did. Great news - no cavities! We love our dentist - he's so nice. Dr. Davis happened to notice that Matthew enjoys sucking on his middle two fingers (I say he's working on his Spiderman webslinging hands!). Dr. Davis said he sucked his middle two fingers as well, but didn't ever need orthodontics...there is still hope for us!

Our dentist is next door to Senior Helpers, a company that provides in-home assistance for elderly folks. This is owned by dear friends of our family -- and also employes a couple of family members. We stopped in there so I could feed Matthew. Remember, the fewer amount of times that I have to buckle and unbuckle is a big objective in planning our day. The kids were again - delightful!

Then we headed out to Fazoli's for lunch. I debated long and hard over whether or not to do this. I'd not taken all 4 out to eat...in fact, there is not much that I do with all 4 kiddos. I tend to run errands after dropping Caroline at school. Caroline had a free kid's meal from perfect attendance at school and there wouldn't be a playground to deny them from since we'd have to get Caroline to school. It was again -- DELIGHTFUL! There was a woman who came up to me and said, "Wow, are all these your kids?! You've got your hands full!" This is a common thing I hear. My usual response is, "Yes, but we love it!" I ordered our lunch and we made our way to a booth. Matthew was asleep, I got a high chair for Elizabeth and the older two were perched in their seats anxiously awaiting their meals. They both love the breadsticks -- really, who doesn't love breadsticks!! The staff at Fazoli's were wonderful and brought our meal out to us. I also learned that they no longer walk around to offer breadsticks, but you need to go up to the counter to request more. The manager did bring us more -- so nice! We talked and enjoyed a lovely lunch together. We finished up, packed up the leftovers, refilled our drinks and headed out to the van for our last buckling.

Looking back to a year ago when we'd first found out that we were going to be having a fourth child, I was a mess. I didn't think I could do it, I felt overwhelmed with 3 kiddos, how could I manage having a 4th along with having Caroline starting Kindergarten? So many things that I didn't think I could do. Actually, I was right. I couldn't and can't do it -- but God has enabled me to be a stay-at-home mom and to do my job for His glory. A dear friend, who is also a mother of 4 children that are 5 1/2 years apart gave me this verse:

Isaiah 41:13 For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

There have been so many times in this past year when I've felt overwhelmed, but I have been reminded of this verse. God has taken my right hand, taken away my fear and helped me! So much so, that I can take my 4 kids out in public and have a delightful time with them. God is so good.