In A Whirlwind!

There are some weeks that just fly by and take my breath away! This was one of them! On top of the rotating, repetitive, redundant experiences of daily life the Chouinard family had plenty of extras this week. Some are postworthy, some are not (good old confidentiality!)

Here's a rundown

Monday:
At the Office in the morning doing Sunday Bulletins, AB minutes, Mother/Daughter Banquet prep, phone calls, "audit" meeting with OSU Rep (for our food classes), meeting with Youth Pastor to touch base on our youth, camp, and upcoming activities. All the while mommying the 4 kids who seem to be everywhere I am.
THEN....Ann's first Ballet lesson class. Mommy tried so hard not to cry and embarrass herself and everyone else. I just looked at her for 45 minutes straight and marveled in her beauty, innocence, and intent on mastering every little detail the teacher asked of her. I took pictures but to my horror, deleted them!!! I got fancy fingers on my digital camera the next day. I will take more and post next Monday. Hannah also watched and did her own little dances. The boys checked in on her once in a while, but were content to play in the play area with a new friend they made.
David's first Baseball game of the season. (He missed Opening Day due to his DI Tournament) Took pictures of that too, but they are just a faded memory...deleted. Anyone who knows David knows that he is more on the quiet and reserved side. A great wise soul inside a little kid's body. I get nervous when he plays baseball (his 5th year!) because he seems so harmless out on the field. BUT THEN WHAM.... he pulls out these plays that make the crowd go wild! Like at this game, he stole home base, slid in and just barely made it. The crowd went crazy clapping and cheering! He stands up, looks straight ahead and walks to the dugout. No big deal. He is also an excellent hitter. He also knows when to swing and when not to. And when he swings, he hits it.

Tuesday:
At the Office in the morning, this time ALONE! Whipped through a ton of stuff (and people for that matter).
Had a date with my Ann at KMart, went to the bathroom 3 times, twice for mommy (I'm pregnant!) Paul came home to watch the other kids. We bought some household goods and scoured the clothing racks. Picked out a beautiful blue dress for Hannah, a skirt for Ann (she wanted everything!), a pair of stretchy pants ($1.99!) and a sweater ($1.99!) for mommy.
Baked and cooked the night away to get ready for Home League.

Wednesday:
Hosted Home League in my home for a Spring Brunch. 15 ladies, lots of laughter, food, prayer, fun, and devotion. Ann was a little lady welcoming people as they knocked on the door. Hannah was either scoping out the food table or the newborn baby with her momma most of the time. Spent a LOT of time cleaning up after everyone left. Broke a tea cup.
Youth Activities which started with our usual discipleship lesson (Jr. Soldiers) and then we had a guest firefighter come and teach about fire safety, etc. He suited up in his entire uniform, oxygen and everything which was really cool, but his alarm kept going off and really irritating me. The kids were even screaming about it. I was worried about someone going deaf.
Parent/Teacher Conferences at the kids' school. They recieved top grades and were both cited by their teachers to be respectful, compassionate and helpful with others. Great... then we go to the part where one of my children, who shall remain nameless, is like the nutty professor. Very messy desk, very disorganized. Affecting some of his classwork!!
GRRRRR......... said mommy and daddy bear. This is a life skill issue that required major impact "catch your attention" discipline! Not so much as a spiritual or moral issue, but almost! Thing is, is that we've been working on this for a year or more, so it's no big surprise. But you know what, EVERYONE has their thing!! In fact, I have many that at 33, I'm STILL working on.

Thursday:
Promptly dropped an entire bowl (glass!) of chopped up fruit on the kitchen floor at 5:30am. Woke everyone up.
CBS Class in the morning. Obadiah and Nahum.
OB appointment. Had an ultrasound. The Dr. measured out the baby. Looks like it will be an 8 1/2 to 9 pound babe. Not bad. Bad part is the baby has quite a big head (but that's normal for our children). Is head down, but face up. Lovely. I was warned that I will be having back labor. Epirdural please! I have nothing to prove.
Set-Up and Decorating the Corps Fellowship Hall for Easter breakfast. Looks quite nice, I might add. It is such a small room though. When the whole church is in there, we're packed in like sardines, hold the mustard. But it is GOOD!
Massage Therapist appointment for my sciatic nerve. I am getting relief! But delivery will be the ultimate relief! Really though, I have no right to complain. My pregnancies have all been good and healthy with minor pain, nothing debilitating until my sciatic nerve starts acting up.
Book Fair at the kids' school. They each got to pick out a book, plus by one on their own with their allowance. Mommy LOVES books!! So they know that I am all for them LOVING books! There was an excellent selection and set up very nice.

And so now, the girls are in bed. Paul insisted I could stay home from baseball tonight to catch up on some stuff and get the girls to bed at a good time. (Thank you Paul!) We're also going to watch a movie tonight, "Doubt". I'm saving my apetite for popcorn.

When I was doing my Bible study the other day, I found this verse, or rather it found me.
About God, it says in Nahum verse 3 "His way is in the whirlwind and the storm". Sometimes it can seem that life is a whirlwind pulling thing out of us as it zips around. Or a storm that is unmanageable and unpredictable. God is IN IT. I also thought of Matthew 8, when the disciples and Jesus are in a boat, a storm comes up, Jesus is sleeping and they're freaking out. Jesus wakes up, not to coddle them and rub their backs and say "it'll be okay", but to ask them "what in the world are you so afraid of?" or "where in the world is your faith?". THEN he rebukes the storm and it all calms down. Sooo.... when life is seeming this way, I know that God is here, in control, and refining me to a deeper faith where even fear does not get hold, just HIS WAY.