Today

Today was an interesting adventure. In some ways it helps me to see that I was doing okay and also how much mess little people can create, and big people.
We've been working on numbers lately. Ben struggles with them so I figured maybe I should do something about this since I say we are homeschooling so maybe I should do more of that teaching thing. So today, I gave them piggy banks and said if they put away their clothes, they would get 2 pennies and so on. I know, I'm cheap but they don't grasp value yet and so it's kind of a lesson in the making. So we went about the morning doing little chores because the car was in the shop and we were kind of homebound.
We did our Advent school stuff and colored pictures of saint Nick. In the middle of morning basket where we do it reading, somehow Ben has a nickel in his mouth and swallows it. This was the first time a kid of mine had swallowed and object with me knowing it. He started freaking out and telling me to get it out, but well that was kind of impossible. I called my mom, Keith and the pediatrician. The DR wanted him to get an X-ray to check where it was. Somehow in that time of being on the phone, a glass candle holder got broken by Ephraim. So I cleaned that up.
We did some sticker playing and the boys played with lego blocks. During the sticker play the baby found a marker that had dropped and within a glance away to the boys had what looked like a bad lipstick job all over her face.
At about 3pm the mechanic called about the car and so we packed everyone up and booked it to the edge of the neighborhood with Ben on his bike and me strollering the two younger ones. I'm all for baby wearing, but in the cold with coats and me needing to do only back carries these days, I don't have the right carrier for it. So stroller it is.
We got the car and then headed over to the Dr. Office complex to get the X-ray done. The kids were troopers and Ben got his picture as I called it. The coin had already made it down to his colon, so we were all clear for most issues. Now we just have to wait for it to pass so that it doesn't cause any issues in that department.
Keith was sweet and got Panera for dinner and then I got to run a mile on a neighbor's treadmill. So now I'm sitting here in the dark with a sleeping babe and that's just nice. Really it's my favorite part of the day when all is settled.
Today reminded me that these little folks are crazy beautiful messes. And as Ben was talking to me about his siblings and why they are here. I just said because God knew you needed an Ephraim and a Helena in your life. And it made me think God knew I needed a Ben, Ephraim and Helena too beautiful coin swallowing, marker eating, glass breaking messes.