I am going to list blessings and accomplishments of today so I can combat the craziness that tried to rear its head. Craziness seems to be a recurring theme in my posts, hence the blog's title: CRAZY happy family. :) But, really, the emphasis needs to be like this: crazy HAPPY family. Because we are happy, despite all the craziness. So the blessings and accomplishments of today show what turns the CRAZY into crazy, and the happy into HAPPY, if that makes any sense.
1) My husband rescued me as I was drowning in toddler screams-he grabbed my hand, pulled me out of the deep, and sent me sailing off to where I am sitting now....in a lamplit Starbucks, comfy in an armchair with my laptop and a pumpkin spice latte. Relaxing more with each moment...they may have to wake me up when the store closes....
2) I initiated my treadmill this morning! I spent thirty good minutes of alternate walking/running while watching "Mommy tv". ("No, kids, I am NOT turning on cartoons. If you want to be in here, you have to watch Mommy tv. And, no, you may not be on the treadmill WITH me. And, please do not bring any toys into my room. None." Lol) When I was done, I looked down and wondered, "What is wrong with my shirt? Why is it all wet?"--and then laughed as I realized. I must have done a good workout-yeah!! Size 10, here I come!
3) I got a shower. If you're a mom, you know this is an accomplishment worthy of listing. I'm not talking about racing your last Guinness World Record of 2 min. 31 sec. for the quickest "mom-clean" ever. I'm talking about a shooowwweerrr, in which there is no hot water left.
4) I got to do my Bible reading before the kids were up again, which means that the CRAZY was bearable later in the afternoon, because God and I were on speaking terms, in fellowship, and I could easily call on Him when I was desperate for sanity. You notice I said "do my Bible reading"...I was going to say "read my Bible", but in reality I looked up the Bible online and read it before checking anything else on the internet like my email or facebook. So,if I put God first, and it is God's Word I'm reading, even if it's online, it still counts, right? Lol, of course I know it does....it just feels a little weird not holding my actual Bible in my hands.....:)
5) For the first time, I took the kids into McDonalds WITHOUT the stroller and it was successful. To see my 1 and 2 yr old holding tiny hands was adorable beyond words.
6) Also for the first time, I let all four of my kids play in the Kids Area of the library while I printed out government and insurance forms at the computer---and they were quiet and good for half an hour! I'm sad to be leaving the little snuggly baby stage, but for going out in public, I can tell we're almost where I can take them in without them being attached to some restraint(i.e. stroller, harness, my hand...). But, I'm not going to go into what happened after that happy half hour was up. Suffice it to say, I have a two year old......we went home as fast as we could.
7) Me and Gabe made progress in rearranging our house. Spent a good hour or two loading and unloading bins of Bible study books, art books, music books, schoolbooks, dvds, videos, cds, cassette tapes, and hauling them up and downstairs. We are literally turning our house upside down to move school upstairs, a bedroom downstairs, switching upstairs bedrooms, redecorating.....it just has to get messy before it gets cleaner, but today we made PROGRESS!
8) A quick phone call to my pastor's wife, who prayed for me over the phone, encouraged me and saved my sanity for the afternoon segment of my day. Then, when my husband got home, he rescued me again. So, you see, God is with me, sending the right people to help at the right time. 
Well, I'm going to go for now. Wanted to note: my editor mother made mention that in one post I was practicing going to bed early and in the next post it was after midnight when I was writing.....LOL, I find that amusing. But if you know me, old habits are hard to break. Before I die, I will learn to be on time, to go to bed early, and stop biting my fingernails. But I will never stop loving ice cream...I'll just walk it off on the treadmill! :D 

Today is a holiday and it has truly been simply that. The whole day has been relaxed and pleasant. Just our family. This morning I made a big pancake breakfast and we brought everybody around the big table(even the babies in their booster seats-over carpet, cringe!). Over breakfast, Richard read Psalm 136. We did something new with it. Psalm 136 is an interesting psalm that is really a Hebrew song of praise and worship to the One and Only True God. Each verse begins by naming something wonderful God had done. The second half of each verse all the way through is like a song refrain: "for his mercy endureth for ever." So we treated it like that. Daddy read the first part of the verse and I got the kids to chorus in with "for his mercy endureth for ever." It was a great way to listen to all the things God has done, to help the kids memorize part of Scripture, and to join in the "thankfulness" reading. The littler ones thought it was a great game, but they were learning! After breakfast, we made place mats for the afternoon's big dinner. We got out the crayons and white paper and designed beautiful picures. Then I dunked each person's hand in brown paint and stamped it in the middle of the paper to make a turkey. I gave it a blue painted dot of an eye, and crayoned in orange feet and beak and a red "gobbler". Richard & I even joined in; it was fun. We let them dry all day so they could be our place mats for dinner. Then the kids helped me put colored marshmallows in the jello I mixed up. James got to put the first handful in since the marshmallows were his idea. :) Richard played hockey with the kids in the garage in the afternoon.
When all was ready, we had a lovely candlelit dinner. It really was very good and lots of fun. This is how the placemats and candles worked: James lost his placemat so I gave him mine; hence I had none. Jane poked a hole through Grace's placemat. The girls trashed theirs over dinner. We found James' after dinner upstairs. Richard breathed too hard and blew one candle out right after prayer. James thought it was hilarious and wanted to blow out the other one. We let him try and he couldn't get his breath big enough. Finally, after spitting on everything in sight, he got close and took a big, bad wolf breath. Out it went, to a whole table full of cheers.We asked each of the kids what they were thankful for: Gabe was thankful for everything(typical 7 yr old, lol), then he changed it to say he was thankful Dad was home and thankful that God let our whole family love Him. James was thankful for his new Calgary Flames hockey stick and ball and puck. Grace was thankful for candles. :) And Jane, well, we assumed she was thankful for food, because she was stuffing everything she saw into her mouth, ignoring it all. She also tried to blow out the candles, but I don't think her breath went past her plate.
Well, it is time to go eat the first successful batch of pumpkin pies I've ever made from scratch. Actually, I don't plan to eat the whole batch, just one piece. For a schoolteacher, that was a terrible sentence, I admit. Okay, on to the pie....

A lamplit living room, a candle burning, peace and quiet, a clean house, sleeping children, husband home on holiday......a very nice way to welcome Thanksgiving Day(Canadian). Yes, I must admit, it's past midnight....but you notice I mentioned peace and quiet?-an hour ago that was not the case. :D Since there is no school or work tomorrow, we let the kids go pile in the girls' room and watch a movie to go to sleep. James and Jane were out. But Gabe and Grace, our two night owl movie-holics, lasted a loooong time! Then Grace decided to join Mommy and Daddy to put on a "cute show", and boy did she perform. Sweet as sugar, cute little blondie, wrapping herself around our fingers. Decided she was hungry(at eleven o' clock), and she wanted 'moatmeal'(oatmeal) and cranberry sauce. To prevent another kitchen cleanup we decided to feed her ourselves. She had Mommy spooning oatmeal and Daddy spooning cranberry sauce, sitting there as pretty as you please. Princess treatment indeed! She can never claim she is not loved. 
What a relaxing weekend we have had, such a blessing and change from our busy week. Richard began a new session of hockey Friday night. He plays at eleven so he doesn't have to take away from family time. We miss watching him play, but it's really hard to maneuver four kids in a hockey rink anyway, so I don't mind too much. When they're older...
Saturday we had a great sibling family Thanksgiving dinner. We got family pictures. The cousins had so much fun; they're all the right ages to play together. They tried to put on a Christmas play with "Superman commercials". It was a big, funny, jumbled up mess, but fun conversation piece for the grown ups. Let's just say Gabe, H, and C are all oldest children and strong leaders....have you ever heard the phrase "too many cooks in the kitchen"?-um, yeah....hilarious to watch.
I made an observation that family tends to like similar foods. So family dinners present a fascinating blend of foods that everyone enjoys, cooked just the way everyone likes. There's an element there that is not present at a church potluck. Being related makes a big difference. It's sort of like hearing a trio or quartet sing that is made up of sisters or brothers; that family thing is huge.
Well, it IS late and I have a houseful of munchkins who will awaken earlier than I like to admit, eager to play games, make Thanksgiving crafts, and "help" make jello and pumpkin pie. And of course eat everything in sight. I would like to wish all you who are Canadian "Happy Thanksgiving"; and to the rest of you, yours will be here in a month! :D

BEGIN MY DAY in a little bit of time with God, or plunge right into my day & save Bible time for later? I think the events of my day would have been the same regardless. But I truly feel that I could have changed the course of some things if I would have just grabbed onto a little bitty meeting with God first thing--much in the same way as I cling to my husband for those last few moments before he must jump out of bed to head off to work each morning. Savoring that little moment with him helps me start my day in a good mood. Well, I needed to savor a few moments with my Saviour this morning, too. But I had such an early, big, long, busy day planned that I thought I would just have to put it off. I know you don't HAVE to read your Bible first thing, but yet, it is almost like that morning connection with your husband, it just sets the tone, the mood. And, boy, do I wish I could rewind this day and do it again, starting right there, with a few moments begging the Saviour to stay with me(like I do with Richard, only he has to leave anyway, lol. I tell him every morning that I don't want him to go to work, but he seems to think he has to be responsible and please his boss or something. :D) and asking God to give me strength. Because I really needed it. If I were to recount the events of today for you, you would blow a deep breath of exhaustion, frustration, and stress just READING the account! So, I won't bother, as it really doesn't matter anymore. Oh, mind you, there were blessings scattered all in there, which I will share in a minute, just reminders that God loved me and cared. But I definitely did this day in my own strength and regretted it. I literally felt like I fought my way through this day. Not the brawling kind of fighting(though there were moments I would have relished an all-out brawl), but the kind of fighting one does struggling for their survival as they swim their way upstream against all obstacles. I fought 1 year olds, 2 year olds, 3 year olds, 1/2/3 year olds all at the same time, tiredness, emotions, phone companies, banks, restaurants, downtown confusion at rush hour, you name it. And in my own strength I wore myself out. When I finally got home, my husband calmly comforted me, graciously lending a listening ear and a patient demeanor. Finally, I excused myself to go spend that much needed time with the Lord. And He, too, was patient. And forgiving. He graciously showed me in His Word what He would have showed me this morning to give me strength for what He knew was ahead in my day. He was there this morning: I wasn't. But I will be tomorrow. Because if tomorrow has anything in it relatively close to what was in today, I don't want to do it without Him!
~And now, those sweet little blessings that He did scatter throughout my day to make it bearable:
*Gracie at the park, on her knees way under the slide:"I'm hiding, Mommy!" "Oh! Where is Grace? I can't find her. Where is Grace?"--and her tiny voice piping up, "Where IS me?" 
*At a moment of highest stress, James throwing his arms around me, saying, "I love you, Mommy. You my boy!"(He hears us call him 'our boy', so to him, that's a great compliment. Anyone in his favor is 'his boy'. :D)
*Gabriel being a good boy and such a help all day.
*When my blinker light bulb goes out on my van in heavy traffic and almost causes a couple wrecks, and I'm turned around somewhere downtown, I pull into a shop that looks autobody-ish. I explain that I need to fix my blinker, but I don't know if this is even the right place to be or how to put the new bulb in. He takes pity on me and has his guy test it, check out the problem, and fix it. Realizing I may be in for a big bill since I had help fixing it, I take a deep breath and head inside to see how many arms and legs I'm forfeiting. He excuses himself from his other customer, smiles kindly, and says, "Got five bucks?" That's it, that's all he charged me! What a nice guy. I must have looked really helpless. God is so good. 
*I got to pop in and surprise a lady in my church this morning, which was fun.
*I had a great time at MOPS this morning, my first time going, met some new friends, and got a little chance to witness to them indirectly(at that point, my morning and attitude were still positive, fyi. :D)
*I had a lovely little visit with James' preschool director, this wonderful lady from South Africa. I felt a connection with her, and I know it's the Lord, because she knows I'm saved and seems to open up and talk to me. I found out that we had a common interest in that she is the AWANAS Cubbies director at her church, and I used to be the Cubbies director at my old church as well. Just talking to her was a pleasant part of my day. 
*I had an off-the-wall phone conversaton with another American here in Calgary, and she was so funny it just cheered me right up at the end of the day. I like interesting people. :)

Well, I think that I am going to go snuggle up in my bed and sleep away today, rising early to spend time with both my husband AND my Saviour tomorrow morning!

    Yay! We sold our Envoy SUV. What a blessing from God at a good time. We had a pleasantly busy and productive morning, the kids and I. Now it has settled down to a quiet time, so I thought I would write while I could, as it is going to get busy again very soon. 
    I love when I've gotten enough sleep and am able to rise cheerfully with the children in the morning. I am learning, slowly but surely, not to stay up till all hours trying to 'get things done', because all it does is put me off to a tired, headachey, late start the next day. Then, while I'm trying to catch a few more winks, the babies are able to get into things and undo it all. Vicious cycle. Which I'm trying to break. I couldn't believe it: last night me and Richard were in bed at 9:30. That is an amazing fact in itself. Then this morning the kids and I got up & ready early. I got a lot of housework done. Now they've had lunch & baths & are down for naps. 
    Gabriel is doing his schoolwork here beside me, working independently on his math. I'm happy he is now big enough to work on his own half of the time. Doing his worksheets, writing, math, spelling. Of course, the other half of the time is my teaching time: listening to his reading, reading to him, looking up & learning history and science together, teaching him piano & music theory, doing activities. But this quiet time when the babies are napping is his 'busywork' time. He is able to concentrate better. Often, we do our reading in the evenings, after the babies are in bed. It is like 'our time'. We like to play games, too. His current favorites are Uno, Checkers, and Concentration. I want to get Parcheesi (Parchesi?), too. I think he'd like that one.
Gracie got a little one-on-one ABC time this morning too. She liked that. We made lots of A's, B's, and C's and then looked for all the ones that were the same. For about half an hour after I left, she was still there with her paper and a blue crayon(blue is her favorite color), trying to trace the letters. I still am working on James' workbook with him too, even though he goes to preschool. I want to be the one to teach him to read. He gets so excited when he does it right. I hear this shriek, "I DID IT, MOMMY! WOOK!" Speaking of his "L's", if he's not able to say them by next year, I'm pleased that they have speech and hearing testing at his preschool and have a specialist right there at preschool to work with the kids who need help. He's 3 1/2, and sometimes I wonder if he's hearing the sounds properly. I have a sister who had deep earwax issues with her hearing at age 3, maybe he does too. 
Well, it spent the morning snowing. The kids were SO excited. They begged and begged to go out in it. We dug into our winter box and I bundled everyone up. They headed out the back door and I got all geared up to get my floors done while they were outside. Not so. Bang! Bang! Boo Hoo! "I want in, Mommy! I'm cold!" (Well, if you'd leave your mittens and hat on....:D) "Aw, come on, guys, you've only been out there five minutes. You're fine, go play for a bit longer, come on." Finally, after another five minutes of that, I took pity on them and brought them all back in to the warm house. So much for that. I need a big barn out back for them to play in during winter! Big loft and haystack and swing, set up a playhouse in there. Yes, a barn. That is the answer. I'll ask Richard to build one this evening. :D
Okay, I am hearing strange bumps and bangs from my "sleeping" children. They must be "sleepwalking". Ha Ha. Something tells me there's a 3 year old behind it.....Signing off for now!

Hmmm...let me review the calendar of events....New Year's-January 1, Christmas-December 25, American Thanksgiving-4th Thursday of November, Canadian Thanksgiving-October 8, FIRST DAY OF SNOW?--OCTOBER 2 ?!?! Yes, it's true. I was just feeling the end of Summer and immensely enjoying Fall. Then all of a sudden it began to snow! Today. Very odd. I will have to scramble to find winterwear, take a deep breath, and settle in for the next nine months of cold weather. Here we go!!!!

My husband just asked me, "So when did you sit down and relax today?", when I recounted my busy day for him. Well, THIS is my sit-down, right now, 10:30 p.m. Everything is finally quiet. I still have a ton to do, but I needed some 'me time' first. A snack and my computer, ahhh!
We were going all day, but it was a fun day too. We got to go to the chiropractor this morning. I like going there, because I have what Dr. Findlay calls the "Mommy slouch", so when I get adjusted, it feels so good to be able to stand back up straight(or at least that's what it feels like). And Gabriel, James, Grace, and Jane were all very well-behaved in there today. Gabe, being 7, knows how to behave in a doctor's office & in public; but the others, being 3, 2, & 1, are all in that learning stage. So I've been working with them on sitting nicely, not taking shoes and socks off, not stripping naked(Baby Jane, who just learned how to undress herself, oh joy!), not trying out all Dr. Don's chiropractical equipment, not running circles around him while he's adjusting someone, not racing up and down the hall, not raising and lowering the office blinds....you get the picture. All of those things happened at the first visit a couple of weeks ago. If one starts, the other babies seem to take the cue and join in, and Mommy is turning circles trying to keep up and keep order. It may sound crazy, but really and truly, I do maintain control most days. But THAT particular first visit at the chiro was quite the extreme. By the time we left there, Mama was mad. I didn't say  much, only they better wait until their daddy got home!....After a big talk with Daddy that night, the rest of our visits have been MUCH calmer. Now, they walk in and all four of them sit down, sit still, and wait their turn to get adjusted. It's so cute, when they leave, they all wave and say, "Bye, Dr. Don!" Baby Jane is the cutest: she won't leave, she just follows him around waving, "Bye, Docta' Don! Bye, Docta' Don!", till I have to haul her off. The ladies at the reception get a kick out of the chorus of "Bye! Bye!" from all the babies. And Gabriel is such a big help with them and a gentleman to open doors for us.
I got to have a picnic with my nieces today. It was so much fun for the kids to be able to play with their cousins at the park. They were playing ball and swinging on the tire swing; belting out Sunday School songs at the tops of their little voices. Climbing trees, playing tag. And while we were there, Grandma called! I put her on speaker and they all got to yell out 'hi' to Grandma. We all sure miss you, Mom and Dad B.!
Well, I guess I oughta straighten up my house before bed and get things ready for school in the morning. Got another busy day tomorrow!