Instant family of 4 children with a dog!

3 Days after Christmas, Andrew and I got the honor of watching 4 little munchkins for 5 whole days! Robert just turned 8 in Dec, Noel just turned 6 in Dec as well, Daniel is 3 1/2 and Anna was 1 in Oct. I babysit them on a regular basis, so I knew what I was "in for". They are without a doubt the most well-behaved children I have ever met. Their parents really understand the idea of shepherding a child's heart and how to have a home of peace. Their Dad is a coach at the A.F. Academy and had training and meets in Cali for 10days. This Fall they asked us about watching their children so that Kelly, the mom, could go for part of the trip. I, of course, was fine with the idea. Andrew was okay with it, but a little nervous.

On the morning of the 28th Kelly left. We had done an overnight as "practice" in the Fall and the kids shed so many tears when the parents left! This time, there were no tears, just hugs and kisses. We managed to go grocery shopping 2x, get to church EARLY!, go sledding 2x, do numerous loads of laundry, go to a coin museum, read countless books, supervise and teach school (they are homeschooled), go out to dinner once and last but not least, not have anyone get hurt! Kelly arrived home on night of the 1st to a quiet and clean house! I, of course, had gotten sick from the kids (they had colds before we arrived) but was otherwise still sane!

It was pretty funny to picture this being our potential lives in a matter of years......Picture us driving down the road in our Honda Pilot, SUV with 4 kids - 2 in car seats, 1 in a booster and 1 big enough to be without a booster plus the dog!!! It didn't make us not want children, but it did make us VERY glad that they usually come one at a time! :) We both are already praying for the grace, wisdom and strength to shepherd our future children's hearts.