It is always difficult to come down from the high of a really great weekend. On Saturday morning, Zoe woke up early and headed to a volleyball tournament in Sussex. Then we picked her up and took the whole family to Fredericton for a conference that was being held in our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. For Mr. Level-Headed and I, we eagerly attend these conferences because it is an opportunity to connect with dear friends from all the Atlantic provinces and to be spiritually nourished, uplifted and enlightened. For the kids, it is nothing but one gigantic party! Can you imagine staying in a hotel with some of your bestest and most wildest friends? There was swimming, there was X-Boxing, there was prank-your-sister-and-lock-her-out-of-the-room, there was get-back-at-your-snotty-nosed-brothers-and-make-them-pay, there was pizza, there was pop, and there was a whole lot of running and squealing.
When we returned home Sunday afternoon, everyone was exhausted! Mr. Level-Headed took a nap, I read a book, and the kids watched a movie. Everything was going pretty good until the boys broke out into one rip-roaring fist fight and mama decided that everyone had had enough screen time for the day. There was whining, there was crying, there was bickering and there was a whole lot of teasing. Feeling the resolve, the hope, and the energy that had been restored to me from our spiritual feast of a weekend fading quickly and noticing that it was only 7pm, I ordered everyone into my bed. I asked Avery, the only cooperative one of the bunch, to choose a book, and then we snuggled up beneath my warm, cosy duvet.
The whining continued:
Ugh! Not the Hobbit!
I know everything about this book!
Ahhhh! He's touching me!
He's breathing on me!
Then the giggles erupted:
She's tickling me!
He's making faces at me.
In spite of their interruptions, I kept on reading. Eventually, everyone quieted down. They snuggled deeper within the blankets, and they moved in closer to one another. Then nothing short of a miracle happened: one by one my not-so-little kids fell asleep. I was shocked, and very excited with this unexpected turn of events. Zoe went first, then Elliot and finally, Avery. With their warm, quiet bodies sleeping soundly beside me, I continued to read. I did not want this moment to end, and so I finished reading the lengthy chapter. Between the rhythm of my words and their slumbering breaths, my peace was restored. I looked upon their sweet faces and could not remember the last time I had put them all to sleep in my bed with a bedtime story. I did not move for the longest time. I sat there soaking up the beauty of this moment, reflecting upon the joy my family brings me, and thanking Heavenly Father for one more opportunity, and quite possibly my last, to put all of my babies to sleep.
This is going to be a fantastic week! I just know it.
Due to the nature of teenagers, I thought it best not to include a picture of the sleeping Baby Girl. :)
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