Tired...but good :)

I am so tired that I don't even know if I can make any sense of what is in my head...but I feel compelled to try. So many ordinary things happen every day and when I sit down at night to wonder why I am so tired I have a hard time recounting them. So tonight, I want to remember the good and the not so great, of this day.

This morning was a typical Sunday morning. I got up and started getting ready for church. Then I woke up Eliot, who had Sundaymorningitis again. Elise woke up easily and was ready to go. Adrienne was up and dressed like always with no complaints. As I was trying to finish my make-up, Elise needed help with her tights, so while I was helping her, Eliot tried to sneak in the bathroom for a shower that should have been had the night before. After convincing him that I was not done in the bathroom and he would have to shower downstairs, Adrienne came in to help Elise finish dressing... where am I going with this? I'm not sure...it was just another typical morning in the Anderson house. Finally, we left in two cars and arrived with enough time to spare for me to open doors and turn lights on in the children's ministry wing, and for Eliot to consume a half-dozen donut holes.

We sat in a pew: Eliot, me, Elise, Adrienne...Scott rarely comes to church with us... it doesn't work for Eliot to be anywhere near either of his sisters... don't know how many years this will be a problem, but pretty sure it will be a while. Elise colored throughout most of the service, pausing briefly to have me look up the scripture reading with her. Eliot managed to stay awake and later I found out that pretty much everything about the service this morning ticked off Adrienne, so all in all a relatively uneventful service.

After worship, I went to teach and the kids went to classes. Except for Adrienne who went to the Mill to work on homework. This year has been so odd for her- she's not interested in anything that's offered for her age and I think she's tired of volunteering with kids. Although, I am going to try to talk her into helping me with the kindergarten cherub choir in May! Eliot's favorite kids were in Sunday School this morning so he had fun playing games with them and helping them throughout the morning. Elise's shepherd was gone today, so after I couldn't get her off my leg, I told her she was old enough to be her own shepherd today. Tonight during her bath, she told me "Thanks Mommy for letting me be my own shepherd today. Can I do that every week?" No Elise... we actually have to follow the rules...

After Sunday School, Adrienne came back and took the kids home while I stayed and finished up lessons and classes. When I got home, everyone had finished lunch and Scott, Eliot and Elise were watching a new favorite "Fat Albert". Scott was leaving soon to do a concert in Fremont and Elise and Eliot and I were going to go to our mission church, Spirit of Hope, to watch their kids musical. Adrienne was staying behind to work on homework. I also promised we could go to Dairy Queen after the show. Before we left, the kids helped vacuum and do dishes and Elise talked Adrienne into helping her play some piano. I finally cleaned off the piano yesterday and I guess Elise noticed. She hasn't touched the piano in a few months, so they had a little 'refreshing' to do. Maybe we'll be able to be a little more consistent, but I'm not making any promises.

As we were driving to Spirit of Hope, Eliot was watching a movie on his i-pod and Elise was reading Junie B. Jones to us. Every so often she would stop and spell a word, "What does that spell mommy?" We arrived and were immediately greeted and whisked into the worship space by a team of eager greeters! The show was nice. Less than a dozen kids participated in the program, but it was short and sweet and cute. Afterwards, we were served cookies and milk and Elise hung out with her good friend, Annika, and then talked Pastor Rhonda into taking her home to show her their baby chickens. Well, it didn't really take much talking...as soon as she knew Elise wanted to come, she was invited. So, Elise happily went home with Annika while Eliot and I started our drive back to our house. Along the way, Eliot tried to get a hold of his friend to set-up a basketball game, but was not getting anywhere. I decided I would go run a couple of errands, so we stopped at home to get a couple of things and to drop Eliot off. As I was gathering my stuff together, he had made a new plan...drop him off at Irving to play basketball with a couple of other friends. So, I did, and ran my errands and came back to pick him up. We came home to have dinner and then we all went to pick Elise up, even Scott came with us! We got to see the 28 chickens that they are raising and then went to DQ for a treat. On the way, Eliot became frustrated with his phone and well,...he wasn't happy...

We ended up leaving DQ abruptly as Elise had to go potty and they don't have a bathroom, and then Elise and Eliot played outside at home; Scott and Adrienne went on a quest for a printer cartridge; Elise came in for a bath; Eliot came in and did laundry; Adrienne got home and made lunches; and everyone went to bed. But, not before I got so tired that I didn't think I was going to make it until bedtime. I needed everyone to do their own thing, go to bed and let me ponder over the days moments...like I said, tired, but good.