Day 1 with the half-dozen:

Day 1 of the weekend babysitting job is almost over...and it's been a wonderful 24 hours. The children have been so cooperative, helpful, and loving! The only sad thing about today is that Aaron couldn't be with us. He's on-call for work this weekend and stayed at our place last night so he didn't have to drive 45 minutes to work this morning. He worked all day and should be here soon...

After one day with the kids, I've learned that:
I'm Annaliese's (2) new best friend, Bradley (5) and Rebbekah (almost 8) always argue over who gets to sit next to me on the couch when we watch Christmas movies, Matthew (11) is my biggest helper who keeps the house spotless (without me asking), and Ashleigh (13) is the great big sister who keeps everyone in line.

When I tucked the older girls into bed last night, I asked them who would be the first one awake this morning. I guessed Annaliese, but they assured me that she would sleep in. Oh, how I wish that were true.

My day began at 6am when I heard the sound of Annaliese coughing through the baby monitor. She has a little cold, so I figured her medicine from the night before had worn off. After a few minutes of constant coughing, I decided to get up and give her another dose of cough medicine. She gratefully drank it (evidently it tastes like "bubbledum!") and I thought she'd go back to sleep. It was 6am, after all.

I crawled back into bed but couldn't fall asleep again. Her coughing persisted. After about 20 minutes she got quiet and I thought she was asleep...until I heard this little ditty through the monitor (translation in parenthasis):

God ow fada, (God our Father)
God ow fada, (God our Father)
Wonce agin (Once again)
Wonce agin (Once again)
Tank you fo ow bessings, (Thank you for our blessings)
Tank you fo ow bessings, (Thank you for our blessings)
Aaaaaaaamen! (Amen)
Aaaaaaaamen! (Amen)

I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard. I wished Aaron was with me so he could get a taste of what I experience everyday. He has experience with children and he's great with them, but I feel like he never gets to experience the silly little things they do that make me love them so much. Maybe Annaliese will wake us up with another cute song in the morning. At 9am this time.

Aaron just got here...and he's already the new favorite babysitter. When Bradley showed Aaron that he lost a tooth yesterday (yes, I was the "tooth fairy" last night!), Aaron asked him how much money he got.

"A whole dollar!" exclaimed Brad.

"Ooooh," said Aaron. "What are you going to buy with your dollar?"

"I dunno," said Brad.

"Well, if I got a dollar from the tooth fairy, I'd buy candy," Aaron said. "You see," he explained, "if you eat candy, then your teeth will rot and fall out and you'll get MORE money!"

Only my husband would think of a plan like that.

"Don't listen to a word he says," I said quickly. "He's just kidding." Then I shot him the evil eye. Having children with this man is going to be one of the most fun/challenging/fulfilling/exhausting adventures of my life. I can't wait! Well, actually, I can wait a few more years...but you know what I mean :)

The kids are in the other room asking Aaron a million questions, so I'm off to poke fun. I'm anxious to see what tomorrow brings...