I get by with a little help from my....everyone!

Happy Sunday, Friends!!  Today was a pretty good day.  I was able to get a lot accomplished today.  Not as much as I would have liked, of course, but a lot nonetheless. And how did I do it?  Well, with a little help from my friends!

The fabulous S.K. came over after church and played with Nicolyn while I tackled the ever-growing mountains of laundry around my house.  The wonderful M.W. took care of Bryant at t-ball practice and even drove him home afterwards so I didn't have to drag Lynnie and her rash to the ballpark and have her out in the heat for 2 hours.  The beautiful Becca took care of the kids at church so I could attend a seminar about financial planning and writing a will and all of that incredibly important stuff that Mike and I need to do sooner than later.

I have been thinking about blog-worthy topics.  This one keeps popping up in my head.  How are perfect moms able to do all they do and seemingly do it with no help?  Well, I definitely haven't figured it out.

As I've mentioned before, I have a very high maintenance daughter.  I am not able to get a lot done when she's underfoot, either because she just turns right around and undoes it all or she doesn't let me do it in the first place.  My mother-in-law tells me stories of how she'd be cooking dinner and vacuuming her house and that kind of thing with a kid on her hip.  That worked for me when Lynnie was really small, but it doesn't work anymore....mainly because my back won't allow it.  But also because I'm frankly not willing to do it. 

I really miss having my family in town.  They lived close by when Bry was a baby, and they were invaluable.  My mom didn't have to work, so she was our on call sitter whenever Bry was sick and couldn't go to daycare or Mike and I needed a date night or I had a meeting at church or whatever the case.  She had a room stocked full of diapers and clothes and bottles and everything else Bry needed.  Her house was his second home.  I was devastated when they left.  Not only was I going to miss having seeing my parents all the time, but I was going to have to start paying for babysitting!

Mike's family is in town, but they live a good 40 minutes away and all work.  Even so, my mother and sister-in-law make it to nearly every one of Bryant's t-ball games.  My father-in-law has even made it to a couple, despite his crazy work schedule.  They also come to every awards assembly, church performance, and birthday party that they possibly can.  My sister-in-law has been particularly awesome about keeping Lynnie for me while I go help out with Bryant's class during the week.  They are the type of people who will be there to help with whatever, whether it be cleaning or packing or yard work, if they can at all, and I appreciate them so so so much! In fact, my sis-in-law is keeping the kids overnight next weekend so Mike and I can go to Orlando.  It will be the first night I've spent away from Nicolyn, and I am ridiculously excited!

And then there are my ah-mazing friends and church family.  Several of the teens from church just adore Bryant and Lynnie (and, almost more importantly, my kids adore them!) and volunteer to come over and play with them so I can get stuff done.  S.K. comes with me every Wednesday night and wrangles Lynnie so I can help get everything prepped and cooked and set out for our church's Wednesday Night Dinner ministry.  One of my babysitters has even called me and asked if she could take Lynnie to the beach with her (while Bry was in school) just because she wanted to spend time with her.  (Um, heck yes you can give me a few hours to myself!)  Another one of my sitters who also happens to attend the Bible study I host at my house on Monday nights comes over a few hours before it starts so I can get the house in order and get dinner ready before everyone else gets here.  Several friends at church have offered to take my kids for a few hours over the weekend so Mike and I can have time together to just hang out or do work around the house.  I mean, wow!

And that brings me to Mike.  He helps me a ton by playing with the kids when he's home. I can always tell when he's had a wacky work schedule or put in a lot of overtime because my house is in even worse shape than normal.  And that doesn't count all of the things he helps me with like taking out the trash, unloading the dishwasher, or sweeping and mopping.  He may grumble the entire time he's helping out, but he pretty much does it if I ask him to (and every once in awhile when I don't!).  I have NO IDEA how military wives and single mothers stay sane and accomplish anything at all.  I am truly in awe of military families and appreciate all of you and the sacrifices you make for my freedom.

I'm blessed by so many different people giving their time and energy to help me out, and I haven't even mentioned the financial blessings! My church family sends any leftovers from Wednesday night dinners home with me and another girl almost every week - that helps more than you can imagine, my grandparents helped us buy our new-to-us vehicles when the tree crushed our other ones 2 years ago, my parents and Mike's parents are always buying our kids clothes and toys and video games and just plain spoiling them rotten, Mike's parents pay for our cable just because they want us to be able to have it, and Mike's parents also paid for almost all of Bryant's t-ball needs - the fees, his equipment, nearly everything.  And we're also blessed with "just because" gifts from both of our families as well.

So this post needs to be renamed - I actually get by with a LOT of help from everyone!  Thank you all for blessing me and helping me the way you do.  I wouldn't "get by" without you!

So this pic has nothing to do with anything I've written, but it's a great photo bomb, and I just had to share it with you!  It was a double date night at the Sharks game on Saturday night (YAY for free tickets from Office Depot)!!!

Here are the frustrating and awesome parts of my day - I'm sure it's why you're still reading!  Hahaha  :-)

Frustrating:  1). Lynnie still has her diaper rash.  It's significantly better, but it's still there.  2). While I did get a lot of laundry done, I was really hoping to get a lot more done around the house.  Even though she had someone to play with her all afternoon, Lynnie still showed her Diva side a lot.  3).  Mike and I have some seriously important decisions to make, specifically in case anything bad happens to both of us.  And we need to get it legal and in writing, which will cost money.  It's always frustrating to hear you need to pay for something!  ;-)  4). Right now I'm feeling something that I think is pretty typical for moms in general.  Even though I appreciate the people who helped me take care of my kids today, I feel guilty that I did not spend more time with them.  And I feel guilty that my housework STILL isn't finished.  I feel like I live in an endless cycle of guilt sometimes.  If I'm getting my housework done, my kids suffer.  If I'm spending a lot of times with my kids, my cleaning doesn't get done.  I know it's ridiculous.  I really do know that, but it is what's frustrating me at the moment so I felt I should write it.

Awesome:  1.  I was able to fold, organize, and put away 3 laundry baskets worth of clothes in addition to 3 loads I washed today!!!!  I put away so many of my kids' clothes that I had to go through their closets and take out stuff that doesn't fit them anymore because I ran out of hangers!  2.  While it's frustrating that Mike and I have some serious and seriously hard decisions to make, the seminar was really interesting and informative.  I'm glad I was able to go.  3.  I got to play with my kids on the church playground for a few minutes before the seminar started.  The sound of their laughter is the sweetest sound I have ever heard, and it makes my heart smile. 4.  I was told by a couple of different people at church today that they enjoy reading my blog and that it is encouraging.  That totally made my day! :-)