Moving Day

My sister had the cutest little starter home, and she said that she would never move.  She said she'd fit them in somehow.  And she would have.  But, after the twins and then her newborn, her little single child family was suddenly a group of 4.  Their house was a two-bedroom, and with two boys and two girls, something had to give.  By God's providence a dream house (that they had drooled over a year ago and not been able to afford) had come back on the market, and this time, it was possible.  Still by His providence, their offer was accepted--just weeks after their newborn was born (actually, I think it was the week after he was born!)  

I was called by a sister today, attempting to move (houses) with an 8 week old and two-year-old twins, and her oldest, who is seven.  I dashed over, grabbed the kiddos (not the infant) and drove home [we live 30 seconds down the road].  Bilbo (11) started reading to twin A and Rosie (8) took twin B to the front yard to go down a Fisher Price slide.  The 7 year old was simply off somewhere with the rest of my kids, playing.  Oh yes--I had set them up with water colors outside and they were painting  rocks (that's where they were).  I started chopping celery for my sister's chicken salad for dinner.

Then I got another call.  There was an infant crying.  My desperate sister needed me to come hold the baby!  Ummm...yes, I have a 14 year old as well on hand (everyone else was gone at baseball games and friends' houses).  So, I gave orders: kids, you're all babysitting!  Gimli was officially in charge.  Rosie had twin B and Bilbo had twin A.  We were good.  I drove back to my sister's house and I held an 8 week old angel for about an hour while my postpartum sister scoured her tubs and sinks so the kids could all have a bath in a sanitized bathroom in their new house that night.

I held that little ball of fluff until the bathrooms were clean and the twin cribs were assembled by my brother-in-law.  Then I passed my little nephew back to his mama and I ran home to grab that dinner I was working on, and the kids.

My (sister's) sweet little twins toddled up to their home for the first time.  I hope I never forget the vision of my young, beautiful sister walking her twin's in and saying "come into our new home! This is our new home!"  I wondered how many years they would live there.  Will I see wedding showers in that home?  The 7-year-old showed Rosie around the entire house in about 3 minutes.  They squealed and ran and jumped.

I came home and fed my own children, then we took baths, my boys (yes) cleaned for me, and I read books to my little ones.  Sam needed to go to bed.  So did Eowyn.

My big boys are waiting for Dad and Aragorn to come home from a game that they almost won.

Home.  It's a big word.  Moving is a big deal.  I didn't want to fail to record today's milestone in my sister's life.  I'm so honored to have been part of it.