I was blown away

I struggle at times with a declining faith in humankind in general. I get rather disillusioned with the dishonesty I see and just people treating one another badly in general. On Friday, November 16th I had such a great moment that renewed my hope in our society just a little. It didn't take a big event, just a small act of kindness.

Going shopping with four kids is no picnic and the norm is for me to get stared at, and of course the comments such as "are they all yours?" and "you have your hands full!" Yep I do. These comments don't bother me anymore although I still fight off the urge to say "no they aren't all mine, I just like to bring extras with me cause it's SO fun shopping with kids." Anyway, not once until the other day has anyone offered to help me when I struggled. For the most part my kids are very well behaved. However, it's hard to control when the baby will get fussy or IF Zachary, who is very much 2 will decide to pull a 2 year old trick. Eric and Mark are usually fine beyond the expected asking for every.single.thing.they.see. So, I'm at the cash register. I had gathered my groceries with Ben in my arms because he decided the cart just wasn't working for him and was crying his sweet little eyes out. Pushing the cart with Zack and Mark pushing a large load of groceries. I was unloading my stuff onto the check stand as fast as possible while holding a squirmy baby but the man behind me didn't glare because I was going too slow. He didn't comment on how many kids I have, he didn't say "WOW, ALL boys?" he said, "You take care of that baby and let me help you." I was blown away because as I mentioned this has never happened before. It made my entire day. I must have thanked that man 7 times while he was unloading my groceries. I still can't believe it but I was so happy to see someone helping another person. I hope I see more of this. How refreshing and really really helpful this man was to me!

Conversation of the Day

From Mark --

Me "I love you Mark"

Mark "Mommy, I don't like pretty words... and love is a pretty word."

Me "So what kind of words do you like" (fighting back laughter)

Mark "Cool words"

Me "ohhhhhh what kind of words are cool?" (still stifling laughter--he was oh so serious)

Mark "like race cars, and stuff"

I'm shaking my head typing this. I guess the quest to be "cool" has begun... at four...

To end the conversation I laughed and said "well, buddy, I can't help it. I love you." and he was silent.

Ack!

It's been forever since I posted here... I did mention I wasn't good at keeping a blog/journal right?

Anyway, huge things have been going on!! Well, one big huge thing... we bought a house. I love it! It's much bigger than the rental and almost brand new! It was built in 2006 but a musician bought it and she travels all over playing her music so I know she wasn't here most of the year she owned the house. http://www.lynnearriale.com/ Anyway it is beautiful! I love it here!e

Other new things :) Eric is loving school! The transition switching was so smooth! He is reading more words every day. It is so fun to watch that develop. Mark loves his new Pre K too! In fact, we were having trouble at the old school with crying, etc. but for some reason not at this one. YAY! Zack is talking up a storm! I think he is probably caught up to his age level now. It appears once again, mommy was worried for nothing. Benjamin is crawling all over and he can go from sitting to crawling and back to sitting again. He's just growing too fast!

Thanksgiving is coming soon and we are going to Georgia to visit some good friends! I am so excited to be in the Atlanta area for a few days. I just love it there. I love it here too, of course, but I sometimes miss Georgia.

That's about all that's going on with life right now. Just busy as always, chaotic, but I love it all!