Love waking up to these smiley faces everyday. That doesn't mean that doing it is easy! Having five kids is a lot of work, noise and chaos but its also a lot of hugs, laughs and love, too. There's not a day goes by that one of my children doesn't say "I love you, Mommy!" How awesome is that. Brandon and Xander are always telling me they love me and giving me hugs. They are my big helpers. It seems like they are so "big" because they are the oldest. Brandon always seems so big to me because he's the oldest. Every once in a while I get a reminder that he's only 8... almost 9. He's so excited about his birthday coming up in 10 days. At first he didn't want to have a party but then he changed him mind. He wants to invite friends over for dinner and ice cream like we did last year. They all get so excited about birthdays. Not just theirs, they get excited any time its someone's birthday. I'm looking forward to celebrating with him.
Today the kids were playing "store." They were so cute, setting up shops and pretending to buy things from one another. Isabella had a dress shop and practically emptied out her whole closet and hung them around in her store. I love to see them using their imaginations and playing nicely together. The boys were just gathering random things to sell. They borrowed some change so they had money to buy and sell. Rosalie loves to play with her siblings. The boys will fight with Isabella sometimes but they baby Rosalie. Whatever she wants, they will generally give her. I think a lot of that has to do with the age difference. Rosalie still seems like the "baby" even though she's two and half and talks and plays with them now. They remember when she was born. She was their baby. Now Michael is their baby and he is smothered by all! They all love him and want to hold him. The boys help with him a lot. He's starting to pull up and crawl! He'll be playing toys with them in no time.
When I put the girls to bed tonight Rosalie said her usual prayer: "Thank you God for food. Thank you friends and family. Jesus name, Amen!" I gave her a hug and told her I loved her. She touched my face and said, "I love you, too, Mommy." She's so sweet. I told her as I always do, "Jesus loves you, too." She said, "Jesus loves me?" Yes, he does. The Bible says he loves all of us. As she prayed I thanked God for her. I was overwhelmed by the thought that God trusted me to be the mom of each of these children. I want to be the best mom that I can be. I'm so thankful for each of my children and that they have the opportunity to know Jesus and follow him. I pray that we will all be together in eternity.
