Simply Siberia: A day in the life...

Today started off like every other day...

On my run the birds were softly singing, the cool breeze gently moved across the open fields, the wind mills were slowly making their rotations, and the sun was shining bright in the morning sky. Ahh what a refreshing run! This is going to be a great peaceful day!

I came in to make breakfast for my family ( we are staying at my brothers house in Weatherford, OK) since this would be one of the last days we would have with them in awhile. At breakfast my sister in law, Charity, asked if I would watch the girls, (Gracie, 5, and Anna, 2) while they went to visitation because Gracie was a little sick. I didn't mind at all! I thought to myself, I can pack up our things, clean up the house, and get everything ready to leave tonight. And right as they were about to walk out the door she realized the boys (Davey,8 & Jon, 6 3/4) needed to stay too so they could make some visits to a few families from the church. Charity asked if the girls could get a bath and the boys needed to clean their room.

Sure, not a problem! How hard could it be to watch five kiddos for a few hours?
Piece of cake!
We said our farewells and off they went.
Okay, now to clean up breakfast.

"Aunt Amber, can we eat our food from last night? asked Jon.
No, Jon, we can eat that for lunch, you just ate breakfast! I said.
Okay, well when can we have a snack?
Later, bud. Why don't you play with baby Jacob while I get ready for the day.
Alright, well I'm really thirsty, said Jon. Then Davey piped in yeah me too! Then Anna and Gracie follow with their request for a drop of water. Drinks could wait while I cleaned up the kitchen.

Mentally I'm thinking, hurry and get ready, put girls in bath tub, make sure boys clean their room, bathe Jacob, pack up clothes and clean the girls room. I gave the boys some instruction to clean their room and keep an eye on Jacob, while the girls were watching a cartoon.
All seemed well so I went go get ready.
Then the knock came at the bathroom door...
"Aunt Amber, Aunt Amber"...
Jon was informing me that baby Jacob was getting a little fussy. As I'm doing my best to break record speed to get ready, I come out and pick up Jacob and lay him on the floor to play and find the boys distracted by the girly cartoon on the TV, so I redirect them to their room and tell the girls when the show is over that they will take a bath (they cheer for bath time) and the boys will go outside to play. "Okay" they all say.
Okay, I thought to myself.

After the show, the girls came in to take their bath, and the boys went outside to play. Jacob starts getting a little fussy since no one is playing with him and he's getting bored. Five minutes go by, and Jon comes inside.

"Aunt Amber, I'm thirsty."
I tell him to go play and when it's time to come inside they can get a drink then. And Jon goes back outside. Two minutes pass...Jon comes back inside.

"Aunt Amber, I have to go to the bathroom."
Okay, then go back outside and play.
"Okay!"

I go and get Jacob ready for his bath, grab his clothes, diaper and towel. Wash Jacob really quick, and pull him out. Tell the girls to play a little while longer in the bath and I'll be back to wash them. Feed Jacob. Dress Jacob. Put Jacob in bed to sleep...

I run back into the bathroom to wash the girls and I hear Jacob crying. In the middle of this, who comes back inside? You guessed it-- Jon.

"Aunt Amber, our friends are outside can we play with them?"
Yes, go play.
Out goes Jon.

I run back and put Jacob's paci back and run back to the bathroom.
"Where are our clothes?" asked Gracie.
Run back to their room, grab their clothes and towels and begin the wash process. Had a fun time playing with them in the tub. We laughed, we cried, we hugged. It was a memorable experience. :)

Jon comes back in... "Aunt Amber, when's lunch? I'm thirsty." Jacob begins fussing again as I'm trying to get the girls dressed and answer Jon. "Lunch is later, I'll get you a snack and yes, you can have a water from outside."

Jon comes back in. "Aunt Amber can our friends have a snack?"
Yes, go play!!

You get the picture. Jon came in almost every five minutes. By now I'm thinking, I'll be lucky to get anything accomplished today!

Jacob finally gives in and falls asleep. One down. I got the girls dressed and fixed their hair with pretty bows and sent them to color. By now it's 12:30 and I have managed to begin cleaning and packing. Jon comes in (surprise surprise) and asks about lunch followed by Davey. Then Gracie realizes she's "starving so bad" too.
Okay lunch.

I find some iced coffee in the fridge, some liquid energy sounded great. It tasted a little watery since it was from yesterday, but in the moment of desperation anything would work!

I find poor Anna in the hallway fussing and I asked her what was wrong.
" I don't want to get a pankin (spanking)."
Anna, you're not going to get a spanking. Com eat and take a nap.
"Okay," she sputtered out with tears in her eyes.

Lunch was a success. Then I cleaned up lunch, and even put some cookies in the oven. Each kid got a cookie, then the girls went to bed. The boys were reluctant to go back outside and play, but they did.

Sixty seconds later...
Jon came back inside goes to the bathroom, and Davey comes in yelling for his brother.
Jon lets me know that he doesn't like having accidents, so he came inside to go potty.

Finally they go back outside to play and there's a peace and quiet in the house. I had about a solid thirty minutes of time to get everything done. It's amazing what one can do in a small amount of time when you realize you may not get another minute to yourself. I was able to get all packed, lay out clothes for Sunday, and finished all the cleaning I wanted to do and then some! I felt like Super Aunt!! Then around 1:30 the rest of the family got home and all was well. :)

I know most of you are thinking to yourselves, sounds like your typical day, especially if you have multiple children. I definitely gained a new respect for my sister in law who does this same thing everyday along with home schooling, being a pastor's wife, and fighting her allergies ( which usually leave her pretty sick.) I also became thankful, that the Lord gave us one child and not four all at once. :)

So my quiet day turned into a crazy fun one. It was kinda fun to try to balance out my priorities of what needed to get done first and what could wait. Of course feeding and bathing the children took priority then the cleaning followed. Which was hard for me, I really wanted to clean up our mess and get organized first.

I will definitely miss my nephews and nieces as we hit the road on Tuesday. We may get to see them only one more time before we move to Russia this fall. We have had a lot of fun with them this week, and I'm grateful for every minute I get to spend with them! Even when they come in every two minutes to ask questions, I will miss that!

So to all you mamas out there (especially with more than one baby), my hat is off to you. Children are truly a blessing from the Lord!

Meet my nephews and nieces from the Corley side of our family!