We made it to church...all 10 of us!

This morning we all made it to church...and only 35 minutes late! Besides the art and science of getting all 8 children ready to leave the house (Albert did most of the work this morning) and the labor of packing all the kids plus their required gear into two vehicles, it's an ordeal just to drop them off at thier respective Sunday School classrooms so that we can attend the service. First, we have to take the twins to the "walkers" class and fish through the diaper bag so that we can leave them with their sippy cups, diapers and wipes. Then we have to drop of Brice and go through the whole fishing routine again to come up with a size 5 diaper plus some wipes. Of course it isn't possilbe to just drop off the whole bag with anyone b/c there are so many different kids whose gear we store there...plus then what would we have for Sydney during the service? With all the babies squared away in place we then have to sign in Brandon, Jackson and Emanuel to their classes and wait for Drew to decide whether he wants to go to the Jr. high class or attend the service with us. By the time we have dropped of everyone, and we head to the sanctuary, carrying with us a long string of "pick-up" badges (basically a claim ticket to reclaim your little angel at the end of church) the musical portion of the service has long since ended and the pastor is indeed half way through the sermon.
As soon as the sermon ends (way too soon for all effort we've now put into just getting into the pew) I duck and dive past people I know who might want to stop and chat. Yes, it seems rude, but these folks only have a kid or two to retreive from Sunday School. They can afford to stop and gab for a moment. If I stop and talk, my kids might be in class until they're 40 by the time I get to the last one.I go get the twins first, as they are the toughest for me to leave in the first place. I don't want them to become frightened as they see all the other babies get picked up and wonder where I am. When I get to the door of the nursery, I see Isaiah is a mess of tears and snot. Darn. He hates to be away from me. I knew I should have just kept him with us. The teachers explain that he fell out of a chair some time ago and has been crying ever since. He stopped his tears breifly to participate in a a rousing rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" but immediately returned to crying upon completion of the song. Alexandria had a blast they tell me. I grab my babies and thier stuff and head out to get Brice. As I get to the door of his class, I see the shadow of a little guy throwing water all over himself and the classroom. Instantly, I know its him. And I am right. I collect my little boy who now has wet jeans and move on to get Brandon, Jackson and Manny. Each time I get one, another kid wanders back into the class to mingle with friends, so collecting them all and keeping them all in tow takes some time. Finally with all kids accounted for we proceed to the doors of the church. About half way there, I discover Brice missing. Oh Joy. He turns up by the water fountain.
By the time we get all the kids loaded back in the cars, Albert and I are exhausted. Our favorite "Church of the Living Room" seems like a good plan.
We still have a family trip to make to WalMart and we've debated taking the kids out to lunch. Walmart takes forever. The twins are starting to melt down and Brice lays out in the floor telling us how tired he is. We quickly scrap the lunch plans and opt instead for the $1 menu at McDonalds. I bring the babies home while Al runs
through the drive through. Thirty minutes later...naptime for all.
Last night I promised a story about Jackson and his career choices.
When Sydney was sick, I was listening to her chest every couple of hours to make sure they were still clear. Jackson was very interested and wanted to play with the stethoscope that i had. Not wanting my only stethoscope to get broken or lost, I told him that he could have one if he was a doctor. Still interested, he asked what he needed to do to become a doctor and we had a great discussion about education and the schooling he would need to practice medicine. He was super excited and kept telling me how he couldn't wait to be a doctor. This was a switch from the previous three months where he has insisted he's going to be a world famous chef. A short while later, he approached me again and asked "Mom? Should I be a doctor...or an elf?
Because elf's make really great toys!"
So, he's currently weighing his options between a chef, a doctor, or an elf!