Heavenly Father is Good to Me (1/21/18)

This is David's week on service.  I knew I would be flying solo this am for church, so I prepared as best I could the night before.  I ironed clothes and went to bed pretty early.  Generally I'd have bathed the kids too, but David was home and wanted to spend time with them.
This morning started out early... 4:55am to be exact.  Mason woke up.  He's been doing this lately and I used to be able to breastfeed him (when he'd get up around 3:30am) and lay him back down, then he'd sleep until about 6:30am.  Well, the past two weeks he's been getting up between 4:45am and 5:15am most days.  Today was one of those days.  I laid in bed until 5:15 and finally got up with him.
One of the benefits of getting up so early is I can read my scriptures when the house is nice and quiet. It's not perfect since Mason is a busy body, but it's still nice.
Mason and I enjoyed breakfast and then Porter was up by 6am.  Porter and Mason took a shower with David before he left and then I showered.  So, Mason, Porter and I were all showered by 7am.  Pretty good.  The morning was right on track to get to church on time.  Jonas woke up around 7:45am and then he was showered by 8:15am.  Unfortunately Mason would not go down for a nap and continued to eat all morning long.
Mason and I were both dressed and ready for church and I was about to start getting the other boys ready when Mason fell off a chair in the kitchen.  As he was crying I picked him up and then he threw up all over both of us.  It was 8:30am.  We leave for church at 8:45/8:50am.  I checked him to make sure he was okay, took off his clothes, wiped him off and strapped him in the highchair.  Next I cleaned myself up, got new church clothes on, cleaned up the throw up that was all over the kitchen floor and randomly sprayed around the kitchen.  Remember, this kid had just eaten a ton of food. Yum...  I mean yuck.
Next I got Mason ready and we had about 5 minutes until we absolutely had to leave to be at church on time.  Jonas and Porter were playing pearler beads.  I got Jonas ready and was asking Porter to get ready, but he really wanted to finish his project, so he didn't get dressed until too late.  By this time I'm frustrated and not being the kindest or most patient mom.  I have gotten Jonas and Mason in the car and Porter is still trying to get ready, but now he needs help with socks because he didn't want to wear the ones I put out.
Needless to stay, we fought and we were late for church.  I was furious and the thought crossed my mind to stay home.  But, that's not what I do or what I've ever done.  Church is where I go on Sunday and where I want my boys to be.  As we pull into the parking lot Jonas is crying because I brought his Spiderman stickers and he wanted me to take them back home.  He even said he'd drive the car himself and take them home.  Luckily I got him to calm down and we walked into church during the Sacrament song.  We sat in the overflow.  As we sat down the boys sat on each side of me with Mason on my lap.  They leaned against me and I put my arms around them.  I kissed them each, told them I was sorry and that I loved them.  I felt peace again.  I knew being at church was the right place to be.  It was healing for all of us.  My boys were great during Sacrament, no Gayle or Dad to help me.  But, there was an army of people around me if I did need help.  I was offered a sweet tender mercy today as my boys sat reverently during Sacrament.  There was only one small incident where Porter did something to Jonas and Jonas yelled, "Shut up Porter!".  Other than that,  it was one of the best experiences during Sacrament with my boys.
Even though David was on call/service today, he showed up after church, helped me walk the boys to the car and then enjoyed most of Sunday at home until this evening.
Mason should have fallen asleep at some point during church, but he never did.  This helped to reassure me that he was okay after his fall and it also helped him to take a good nap right after church so I could take one too.  David helped so I could nap and Porter and Jonas were quiet.
My family got to enjoy FHE together and dinner.
Then my last little blessing was a text from Adrianne offering to watch my boys tomorrow so I could run.  I had been trying to figure out what to do.  Coordinating the gym with naps and preschool is hard.  Conditions aren't great for the jogging stroller and at night sometimes I am too tired and in the back of my head I know I might have to get up super early with Mason.
All these small tender mercies to remind me that Heavenly Father is aware of me.  He knows what I need and what I can or can't handle.  I am blessed and grateful for His love.

Single's FHE (1/8/18)

Tonight was the Single's FHE for our ward.  It's held at the Gygi's home and we were invited as the guests.  We joined them for dinner and then we prepared a lesson and presented it.  It was a great evening socializing with people we generally don't get to and sharing a sweet message with them about being like Jesus and loving one another.  Bro. Gygi pointed out a picture of Jesus over the fireplace.  He asked if Porter had noticed it and Porter said, "Yes, I've been looking at it this whole time." 
All the boys were very well behaved.  They ate good dinners and played with toys.  Porter was a gentleman and offered to help Sis. Gygi.  He put out silverware for the dessert.  I'm sure seeing the dessert was an incentive to help.  I was proud of all them  Porter even said two Articles of Faith at the beginning of FHE. 
And the boys must have felt extremely comfortable because both Jonas and Porter pooped there:).