In All the Chaos, a Little Bit of Normal

Hubby likes to disappear at times. He doesn't mention that he's going outside or anything like that. It really annoys me. I don't know why. I mean, I'm not trying to be controlling or something like that. But it would be nice if he at least would say, "Hey I'm going next door, be back in a few." He did this yesterday when the neighbor showed up at the door. He just disappeared. It made me so mad! I mean, I've been with the kids all day by myself and would like a little help, but instead, I was the one getting Little Man in bed and because Little Man is three, I kept hearing, "Where's Daddy?" And I was truthful with him when I told him that I didn't know.

Hubby did it again tonight, except this time I kind of knew what he was doing. He was taking Little Man outside to bring the trash cans in. Then I could hear them in the back yard. I figured they were picking up after Sadie Dog. Princess was just chilling on the floor with her toys. When she dozed off, I checked out the back window. What did I find, but Little Man playing in the mud! This is AMAZING! A little bit of background for you all who don't know Little Man. I don't know what happened (maybe it was his slightly OCD father), but he has a problem with getting dirty. He especially has a problem if it's a "digger shirt." (He LOVES dump trucks, diggers, and all things construction.) Last week, when he went with MeMe back to work, she took him across the street to the gas station and there was a big backhoe filling up. Little Man was in SHOCK. He was so in shock, that when the owner asked him if he wanted to climb up inside, he squeaked, "Yes, please." (Little Man is NEVER quiet!) He got "digger dirt" all over him. Surprisingly, he didn't complain that it was on his "digger shirt." I figured it was because it was dirt from a digger and diggers get dirty. So to see him playing in the mud tonight warmed my heart! I was so glad he was doing it. Okay, I'm not so glad that I now have to mop the floors because he came in the house in his muddy shoes and made a complete loop around the whole house, but I guess I can live with it, being he was actually playing in the mud! We had to wash his feet off in the bathtub. Then I saw his shirt:

You may not be able to tell, but there is dirt on the shoulder of his shirt. His shirt happens to say "Dirty Diggers." Oh boy was this one little dirty boy! He had to wash his feet and his hands, but the most surprising thing was that he wasn't complaining that his "digger shirt" was dirty!

So then, we put away his clothes and Little Man got in his digger jammies. (Did you expect anything less?) While we were in his room, I had Hubby pull the Pack 'n' Play out. Well, we also pulled out some boxes. So yeah, Little Man was going to go to bed late. At least Hubby had the forethought to bring Princess in and put her in her bouncy seat. I went out to put the laundry basket up so I can do Princess's laundry and when I came back, I found this scene:

In all the chaos that I have going on with taking Princess to Stanford this weekend, it was nice to find something so common place happening in my own household. I often think that the craziness will never end. We are constantly on the move going from appointment to appointment. It's things like finding Hubby reading to the two kiddos that remind me to slow down and count my blessings.

I've heard that you need to make your mess your message. And boy do we have a mess sometimes. But every so often, there is a moment of peace, a moment of normalcy that reminds me just how wonderful life truly is. I know people say that God doesn't give you more than you can handle, but I sometimes don't believe that's true. I feel like sometimes He does give you more than you can handle so that you remember to trust Him.

I'm so thankful for this moment of peace. It was a good reminder tonight to slow down and not take anything for granted.