Life is not a bed of tulips or is it?

I had to laugh a few months back when I read a post from NieNie's Dialogues.  It   included her daily schedule with exact precision.  While every minute of her day was perfectly in order, I compared it to mine and realized that mine is organized chaos.  Every day here with our fabulous five is an adventure.

  Here is a sampling of what a typical day of mine entails... please remember tomorrow will be entirely different.
5:45 AM wake
5:55- take Stockton to weights
6:05-6:45 mop kitchen floor,  wake Seleck for early morning seminary,  prep breakfast, make four sack lunches, and fold laundry
6:45 Hurry Seleck out the door, wake Madsen (our resident bear) and pick up Stock from weights.
7:00 cook breakfast for Madsen and Stockton, read scriptures-- encourage them to hurry and get ready
7:30 Wake Emma, honk the horn to let Madsen and Stock know I am waiting
7:40- take boys to school
7:50 Do Emma's hair, feed she and Maleck breakfast, get Maleck in the tub
8:25 take Emma to school
8:30 have a quick shower, get ready, clean up kitchen mess, do morning bed check
9:00 drop Maleck off at a buddy's house go to to Emma's class to volunteer
10:00 return home- work on free lance article- deadline is today
11:30 pick up Maleck from buddy's house, eat lunch with Maleck, read with him and help him with his homework.
12:30 drop Maleck off to school
12:45-1:30 Finish up free lance article
1:30 Chiropractor appointment for me
2:40 drop off Stock's baseball gear, pick up Madsen
2:50- write blog post for KEPT, visit with Seleck and Madsen
3:45- take Madsen to Rigby's office for baseball practice, pick up Emma and Maleck as they are walking home.
4:00 drop Emma off to baseball game to meet a friend, run errands for Travis, take Maleck and friend Noah for ice cream- I had some too Yum!
5:00 Drop some Rugby info off to Seleck's practice- head to baseball game
5-8 watch Stock's baseball game- love watching this kid play ball!
8- 10:30  PM  return home to make dinner, do homework, fold laundry, get kids to bed. Visit with Rigby for a moment (after working an 8 hour day, he coached Madsen's little league team's practice, and attended 2 church meetings)
10:30 pm tuck ins, kiss Maleck's rash, give Emma tylenol for her toothache, encourage Madsen to be disciplined, encourage Seleck to get to bed... thank Stockton for reminding me about scriptures in the morning....Write this blog post 
11:30 pm crawl into bed with Rigby set alarm for 6 AM

Believe it or not I have learned to stop and smell the "tulips" everyday.  I treasure every hug, "thank you," and "I love you" our fab five render.  I love sleepy eyes and messy hair in the morning.  I love hearing about each of our children's days at night- the good and the bad.  I love tuck ins with prayers of gratitude and I am delighted when I finally can cuddle up to Rigby and fall asleep.

Being a mother is a lot of hard work, but I cherish the "tulip" moments.  The moments that burst with beauty and joy if only for a season.  I love being a mom.  I love being their mom.  So tonight I go to bed exhausted, but grateful for my very own "bed of tulips!"

Sweet Dreams
xoxo
Barnwood and Tulips.