Clean? Not so much.

We have been looking forward to this week's visit with my in-laws.  It has taken us a few days to get ready for visitors.  And when they arrived (today!), we still weren't quite ready.  

Before I get into the long, dramatic story of our day, I figured I'd show you the kids at work.  Here's Corrie, cleaning the table.  Yes, she's wearing her Disney princess swimsuit.  Doesn't everybody wear a swimsuit for cleaning day?

Ben doesn't.  He opted for the hand-me-down train outfit from Evan while he helped me with the laundry.  I folded while he kept the basket steady (and practiced his sitting at the same time). 

 

After seeing all the clean laundry, Corrie decided her swimsuit was passe'.  

She put together a purple ensemble (demolishing her folded pile of clothing) and climbed into the basket to keep her brother company. 

Evan missed all the cleaning time because he was at school.  It's fortunate, because I'm not sure if the basket would hold all three of them.  I'm sure he would have tried, though!

Anyway, I was feeling pretty good about the house - I still had plenty to do, but I was able to cross several items off my list: recycling, dusting, laundry, etc.

That was all a day or two ago.

This morning, I got the kids up, fed them breakfast, played a bit, and then it was time for Ben's nap.  I decided to give him another bottle before naptime (the boy needs to gain some weight!), so he and I cozied up on the couch while Corrie played pbskids.org.  I figured I'd have time to vacuum and make the guest bed while Ben was taking his nap and Corrie played her game.

That's when it happened.  My poor baby spit up.  Uh oh.  I caught some of it with a clean sock that happened to be on the couch.  Ben caught most of it all over himself.  And then he shared more with me.  He emptied his stomach of everything I put in it this morning.  I rushed to the kitchen, so he could finish vomiting over the tile floor instead of the carpet.  Ew.

Since Corrie was happily playing on the computer, I just stripped off all my vomit-covered clothing and left in on the kitchen floor and took Ben upstairs.  He got a bath.  I took a shower.  We ran a load of icky laundry and mopped the kitchen floor.

And then life just kept happening - errands, swimming lessons, until Emmett stopped by on his way to the airport.  He took Corrie with him to pick up his parents.  The boys and I stayed home so I could finish pumping - planning to meet them in a little bit for dinner.

Emmett called only a few minutes after he left to say that there had been an accident.  It was just a small thing - a fender bender in the truest sense of the word - but oh man, my heart was in my throat.  Since Ben was born, I find that my mind often goes to the worst case scenario.  Whenever we're driving separately, I imagine driving past an accident scene involving my husband and kids.

I reminded myself to breathe.  Stopped pumping, grabbed Ben, a bottle, Evan, etc.  Loaded them all into the car and headed out to find Emmett and Corrie.  And they were fine.  Fine, fine, fine!

Evan and I prayed and thanked God for his protection for Emmett, Corrie and the driver of the other car.  We picked up my in-laws at the airport and had a yummy dinner at Rudy's BBQ. 

I finally made up the guest bed right before bedtime.  And the vacuuming will wait till tomorrow.  Or later.  :) 

For now, I'm just thankful that my family is together.  And I'm appreciating that so much of life happens in the interruptions.  Today didn't happen like I expected it to, but it ended well.