A Movie and Dinner at an Inside Restaurant

Saturday morning I sweetly knelt down beside the chair Josh was sitting in and laid my head on his shoulder. I then sweetly asked, could we please go somewhere? Anywhere???? I was just at that point. Other than church Wednesday night I had spent every second of the week in the house with my kids. It was time to go to somewhere! So, my kind and loving husband, who spent all week going nonstop, agreed that we could go somewhere. Where did I want to go? To the movies!!

We embarked for the movie theater and got there late. (Shocking, I know.) So, we decided to go get something to eat and catch the next show. The kids wanted Cracker Barrel. Yummy! But could we do this? Could we eat at an "inside" restaurant as my kids call it AND sit through a movie? We decided to try. Because really, we can't get two feet from a Cracker Barrel and not eat at it. It's just not possible. As we sat down and enjoyed our meal I was completely in awe. I have actually raised little people who can be taken into civilization and eat at "inside" restaurants and carry on conversations. A-mazing! I was even proud of my healthy side choice of baby carrots until I googled the recipe and discovered they are cooked in sugar, honey and bacon grease. Oh well. Let's go back to being proud of my kids. :)

We went to a movie y'all! And we saw the whole thing! With the exception of a brief moment of panic when I had to walk a flight of stairs to get Kate, it went great. You see, Josh had taken Kate with him to get popcorn and drinks and when he came back he was bearing a tray. Did you know they have trays at the movies? Well, they do and it was huge and Josh put it in my lap so he could take Eli to the bathroom. Kate took advantage of that moment to take a stroll up the stairs in the stadium seating and I had to figure out where to put the tray to be able to get up and catch her. BUT...other than that, it was all good. :)

I am bragging on this experience because it was less than two years ago that we had a VERY different experience at the movies. If you're bored and have nothing else to do you can read about it here. I hope this gives hope to all mothers of babies and toddlers, that you too will one day be able to leave the house again.:)




July 2008 Sarah's Birthday


Yesterday I had a day when I really wanted to quit my job. But, I've already done that!! Then, I have days at home of non-stop cleaning and screaming,fussing kids and I think, 'maybe I should work longer hours!' Well, it's been a while since I've blogged and I just wanted to update everyone and let them know I'VE LOST MY MIND!!!! Ok, so maybe y'all have known that for a while, but I feel I've reached a level of craziness that is a new development.

It all started less than a month ago when I decided that instead of having another party for Sarah's birthday (her mammy had one for her in P.C.) that we should just take her and some of her friends to the movies because she had been wanting to go. Sounds easy enough right? No decorations, messy treats or hours of cleanup. HA! Me and Josh packed up two vehicles (we only have enough room for our crew in one) and headed to Pearl, MS (a 45 minute drive, I promise EVERYTHING is 45minutes from our house)for a night at the movies. Josh had Kate and Eli and I had Sarah and her friends Jacey and Brittany.We jammed on the way although I think I probably jammed the most.It's kind of embarrassing when you know the Jonas Brother's song better than the kids. We got there and had supper at McDonalds. We had bought our tickets before hand which was a good thing because you know what it's like getting kids to leave the playground. Of course we got there late and we had to have all of the concessions even though we had just eaten. So, there's me and Josh, an 11 month old in a stroller, a 3 year old, a 6,7, and 9 year old, 2 HUGE tubs of popcorn, 6 (yes I said 6) drinks, and a box of goobers. ( I felt I had earned some goobers!) As I took out my cell phone and pager to silence them I thougt 'I have become one of THOSE people.' You know THOSE people with the cell phones and the babies at the movies. How did that happen?

Well, about 10 minutes into the movie all 4 kids needed to go to the bathroom. I was glad that at least it was a group trip and they didn't decide they needed to go at 4 different times. A few minutes after we got back things got a little scary on the screen and Eli jumped in my lap and said "I'm ready to get outta this place." We made it a few more minutes and Josh had to take Kate out. Then Eli decided he needed another bathroom break. Josh was pushing Kate in the foyer and after Eli went I stayed with Kate so Josh could go. That's what happens when you have 6 drinks!!!!!!!!! J/K. I took Eli back in and we made it through the rest of the movie. But, as soon as it was over everybody needed to go to the bathroom again. So we headed back. I threw away the leftover popcorn but I held onto mine and Josh's drinks. One, I figured the more caffeine we had the better, and two, those drinks had cost more than our supper! All was fine until we were leaving the bathroom and one of the cups collapsed in my hand and spilled all over the floor and mine and Sarah's feet. Fabulous. It was really the right way to end the night. I can't tell you much about the movie but I can describe the bathroom in detail...

Despite that little experience I again had the idealistic dream that I could take all three of my kids to Target (an hour and a half trip) by myself to do back to school shopping. Oh my gracious! Somebody has been slipping me some crazy juice! All I will say is that we made it home, the kids are in bed, and I'm rocking myself in the La-Z-Boy!

The other day I stayed home to try and do some major cleaning. At the end of the day I took the trash to the dump and then went to the convenience store to pick up some pizzas. Some guy was sitting on a bench outside and he gave me some kind of look. It wasn't until I got back in the car that I realized how bad I looked. I hadn't bathed, brushed my teeth, or brushed my hair. Honestly, I was one beard short of looking like the unabomber! I told Josh that's what he has to look forward to when I'm home all the time!

In the last week I've had a situation where I've been discussing the process of having someone committed with a family. That is not a funny situation, but I must say that I'm not so sure who I am to be trying to have other people committed. I feel like I should watch my back because if I have anymore days like the one where I was pulled over on the side of the road beating my seats because I was convinced there was a mouse the men in the white coats might be coming for me. And when people come to visit and they politely whisper in the hallway, "What pushed her over the edge?" they may speculate it was the stress of my job or the challenges of being a preacher's wife, but Josh will have to tell them "It was the dirty clothes. She just couldn't handle it anymore."

So there you go, I'm certifiable!!