Thanking God for Chloe, literally.

It's been a long week. Tate starting school, which I thought would be stressful, was the least of my concerns. Especially once Anna's house decided to fill with water. Given the amount of time that I've put in to Anna's stuff, my house has been sadly neglected. The dishes piled up in the sink. The trash actually piled up on the floor (in a bag, at least, because I did that). Apparently, it was much too difficult to take the trash bag out to the trash can. Several loads of clean laundry sat on one of the couches for about 5 days even though 5 people who are perfectly capable of folding the clothes live here (besides me). 4 CC practices, 5 soccer practices, 2 soccer games. Big kids all fighting colds. Jake started his semester which includes learning a new computer program so he's been spending most of his time in the bedroom with the door closed. Last night I had a dream about the house being covered in piles of things to clean & go through but no matter what I did or who I asked to do it, the piles just kept multiplying! It was horrifying.

As it seems that not only do I have to be here if I want things done, I also have to be the one to delegate the tasks, I was getting very frustrated and overwhelmed. (Thus the nightmare) Yesterday when I got home at around 7, I had Tate and Anna's boys. Carter was fussy & tired. Tate was hungry. They were all dirty. I was having anxiety about Anna's house. What I thought that I would find is a dirty kitchen, a pile of unfolded laundry and a bunch of hungry, grumpy, tired, sick big kids. To put a plug in for Tanner before I get to Chloe, he had picked up both Kaleb and Chloe, figured out something to eat, figured out how to fix the kid computer, he and Jenna helped me unload the car when I got home and bathe Tate & Ry and get them dressed in their pjs. The truth is, I'm always thankful for Tanner because I know that he's been a pretty easy Teen to have around, he was an easy baby & kid AND, most of all, he's a super big brother.

Sometimes I'm glad that I only have one girl. When I hear about sister fighting, girl drama and dating dilemmas, I think "Yes! I only got one of those & she's a toughy!" And then there's days like yesterday. I came home to a clean kitchen - even the pots and pans. Chloe. All of the clothes got folded and put in people's rooms. Chloe. A homemade birthday card for an upcoming birthday party. Chloe. A carefully thought out birthday gift plan because she listened not to the "I wants" but to the actions that spoke to the "I needs" of the friend. Chloe. Not a word of complaint. Not a grumble of "I always do the dishes" or "You idiot boys could have at least gotten your clothes out of this pile". And when I informed her that her 17 month old roommate was back she said "Ok. I kind of missed him." As a fellow female, she saw the needs, read the mood and took care of business. Thank You Heavenly Father for sending me her!