Currently

So I hit this blog with full force when I began it a few weeks back.  I was inspired and excited.  Believe it or not, I still am!  Unfortunately, my available time for computer use is so much less these days and so I'm finding it hard to grab a moment or two just to type anything.  Even those who email me have gotten far less attention and response and I feel guilty about it ... but I know that my time is being spent in good ways, so I don't feel too guilty.

Basically, we have family living with us right now.  I mean, sure, there's my husband and our five kids and the dog.  That's family enough.  In addition, we have two other adult family members and three additional children in the house at the moment.  This is not a permanent condition, but it does require quite a bit to host all these extra bodies in the way that I feel is necessary for the well-being of everyone under the roof.

So with twelve of us (humans) here, it's harder to keep up with regular things like laundry and dishes.  Confession: when our family moved from New England in 2008, we started using paper plates as a tip from other people who were showing their house for sale in an attempt to keep dirty dishes to a minimum for last minutes showings ... two-and-a-half years and an entirely new state later, we are still using paper plates for most meals.

I don't really care whether you perceive this as wasteful or efficient, it works for us in this season of life and I don't see us changing things up for a while.  I'm okay with that.  We still generate plenty of dirty dishes without dirtying up plates.  Cups alone are enough to drive me bonkers!  Oh why, oh why, can they not use a cup, rinse it and use it all day?  The evening cup-gathering routine is ridiculous and usually yields about 25 cups.  That was before additional family moved in.

Anyway, keeping up with regular things is made more difficult with additional people in the house and it's all I can do to continue educating our children while the extended family's children wait to begin attending local public schools.  Things are chaotic, you might imagine with eight children.

To those of you readers who are/were part of a large 8-children family (or more), God bless you!  You certainly have learned much about sharing, tolerance and patience because of the life you were given.  And soon, maybe these eight children will know something about that.

It's funny, because it was always pretty overwhelming around here with five children and now, when this family moves into their own home in a couple weeks, five is going to seem quiet and calm for a little bit.  It's amazing how perspectives change when put into different situations.

Maybe by reading this post you're starting to see that I've lost my mind.  My chain of thought is erratic because I've been interrupted with various noises (or worse to a Mom's ears, some silences where there should not be) and I keep having to check on things and refocus.  Chain or train?  I seem to struggle with popular phrases ... I don't know why.

The good news is that I'm loving this time in our lives.  Maybe I'm behind in every chore, maybe I can only dream about quiet moments during the 15-minute sleep spurts I get (slight exaggeration) and maybe my time for writing and creative thinking have dwindled to practically nothing, but God is blessing me like crazy during this time of distraction.

I am surrounded by family and friends who are just covering us in prayers, my kids are having their usual transitional troubles, but aren't at their worst by far, and my husband is by my side through all this time of insanity.  How can I see this as a negative?  I feel more exhilarated than I've felt in a long time and just -- Yay! God! -- I don't know what else to say.

Until the next spare moment .... :)