one's (not) on the way
When I was growing up, we only listened to country music in our house. My dad was a big fan of Willie Nelson, my mom loved Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, and I remember our record rack being full of other favorites such as John Denver, the Oakridge Boys and Alabama. This morning I had an old Loretta Lynn song going through my mind, "One's on the Way". I don't remember the whole song, but it's basically about a chaotic house full of kids, and the demands on the mom. It goes something like, "One needs a huggin, and one needs a cookie, and one's on the way" and "One needs a spankin, and one needs a changin, and one's on the way". Ooh, I just found a video on youtube. Right now I have seven kids in the house. My sister (aka Bitzy the Clown) went to Russia on a missions trip. She'll be visiting orphanages, spreading joy and the love of Jesus with children. While she's gone, her kids are here. Two nieces, ages 15 and 13, and a nephew, age 11 are with us. The girls have to go back early because they're involved in a youth theater program and need to be there for auditions. My nephew will be with us for two more weeks. We're having lots of fun with them. I'm enjoying having 7 kids in the house! But this morning I had to laugh as that song went through my head. In our case, it was more like
One needs a calculator, one needs a tissue. One needs a changin, one needs a towel, one needs some Motrin, one needs a nap, one needs a pancake....
The difference here is there's not one on the way! And really, it's not so chaotic. It's going really well. The older cousins help the younger ones, and everyone has been getting along great. It's been so nice to have a little piece of home here with us. Sadly, tomorrow is our last day with the girls. Then they'll spend the weekend with their uncle (their dad's brother) before flying home to California on Sunday morning. It's nice to have a house full. We're enjoying every minute together. We spent time at the Mall of America after we picked them up from the airport, going on rides and celebrating Brooklyn's birthday. We've played the game "Mafia" a lot, gone for walks and bike rides, church, library, done some cooking and smoothie making, they all helped Joe mow the lawn, they're doing school together, board games, Wii, and just enjoying being together. I even let them sneak into the corn field behind our house one day. They're great kids to have around. I think our house will be strangely quiet when they're gone.