Sunday Mornings

So this morning I was up and out of bed at 8am with a determination to get everyone and everything ready for church before 11:15 so we could get there in time for the kids' primary program, despite feeling like going back to sleep and letting my body get over its cold.

After...

* a batch of burnt cookies - I had remembered this morning that I'd forgotten to get a treat for the "contest winners" in my class. I had all the names of the presidents of the Church on the chalkboard and they were supposed to put them in order. Two of the 8 kids in my class got them all in order correctly and I was supposed to bring their treats...last week! I couldn't forget again this week, so I hurriedly pulled out the tub of premade cookie dough (thanks, Pillsbury!) and threw in a batch...which was left in the oven a little too long and got partially burned on the bottom.

* discovering my mascara was broken - The cookies were left in there a tad too long because when the timer was going off I was in the middle of pulling out the mascara wand, only to find out that the "scraper" thingy (what IS that called?!) had come off and my mascara was a complete glob of black sticky mess. I have to admit I thought for a brief moment about scraping off the black mess and trying to use the wand anyway, and when I realized that wouldn't really work, I even more briefly thought about going mascaraless (PLEASE! I may feel like death, but I really shouldn't look it!), but then I remembered I'd heard the timer go off and ran to get the cookies out. When I came back into the bathroom I scoured my boxes of bathroom supplies hoping I'd have an extra emergency-mascara, and I did!! It was old, and a bit thin, but at least I looked like I had eyelashes!

* two girls with a burn each - I'd received a HUGE box of clothes for James from my awesome sis-in-law a week ago, but I'd never ironed the clothes. At 11:10 I was getting James ready and noticed that the shirts in his closet were all wrinkled, so I pulled out the iron and quickly ironed his shirt, but since it isn't safe to leave a hot iron out for babies to knock over, I placed it on the bathroom shelf (not the counter) for it to cool. I guess I needed to mention to my girls that irons, even if not plugged in, can still be hot, and as they reached past the iron for something they each got a burn on the arm. I was inspecting Becky's burn when Jane came in and said almost the exact same thing: "Mom! The iron is hot and I burned my arm!"

* a bloody nose - my kids love to jump onto the couch so they can fight over the "best" seat (which changes daily). Sean had put on a church movie for the kids to keep them quiet while I tried to get myself ready (he was leaving for a meeting and thought I could use the help of the tube). The next thing I hear is screaming, which got louder as the hurtee and hurter came closer to my room. Jane was crying so much I asked Becky what had happened, to find out that as they both jumped onto the couch for the movie Becky's foot hit Jane in the nose, which resulted in a bloody nose. Not being able to think clearly with my head infected with cold bugs, I couldn't remember which to do: lean her head back or forward. I settled with a "keep your head straight" and had her hold a tissue to her nose.

* 4 attempts at french braiding - Jane's hair is completely straight. Good luck to anyone trying to get it to move in a different direction without the end result being a bunch of bald spots. You'd think, with hair as thick as hers, there wouldn't EVER be bald spots, but bald spots there were and I finally gave up. She left the house with two ponytails instead.

* a cut finger - somehow Alex cut his finger while trying to open his yogurt.

* a mess of yogurt - When James is done eating it's his favorite thing to play with the remainder of his food items. He'll scrape as much out of that yogurt container as he can to eat, and the rest is dug out with his hand to "paint" on the table. Since we've had ant troubles, I couldn't just leave it there to clean up later. Of course, a toddler can't have anything on his hands without getting it in his hair! So during sacrament today I was carefully pulling his hair apart from the yogurt sticky mess and getting it out as best I could.

* a marked up toddler - two days ago James drew on one side of himself with a blue permanent marker. Today, being Sunday, he thought it best to match the other side with black.

* an empty stomach - really, after all that, who has time to eat?

...we finally got into the car at 11:23am. I don't know how it happened - it must be a modern miracle - that we got to church 3 miles away (me seated on the pew with James and the kids on the stand at their assigned places) before the opening song was sung. I truly believe the Lord stopped time for me.

The primary program went off without a hitch and the kids were, of course, kids! And they were great. We laughed and smiled as they said their parts and sang with gusto. The best part was Alex playing with his seat, swinging his arms around, making his hand talk like a duck, and making funny faces.

After Sacrament Sean taught my class so I could come home and rest. He truly does take such great care of me. I love that man!