Just a reminder

Ill have you know that I spent a good hour or so last night writing this post only to have my phone die on me and it all erase! Ugh so frustrating! So here I am again repeating myself, only... just to myself I guess ;) In my house we have lots of things. I have come to realize that if it weren't for two groups of these "things", all my other "lots of things" wouldn't exist. That probably doesn't make any sense to you so let me explain. First, in my house we have lots of kids. That is how we planned it. Joel and I knew we always wanted a big family. Subsequently with lots of kids we have lots of toys, lots of clothes, thus lots of laundry (seriously... it never ends! someone please come up with affordable disposable clothes), lots of chaos, lots of food, lots of dishes, lots of messes, lots of hugs, lots of kisses, lots of school work, lots of quarrels, lots of sorrys, lots of well... you get the point. Second, we have lots of pets. Not to many, however some days I feel like we have a zoo. We have one dog, two cats, a bearded lizard, and a bazillion fish (which by the way when one dies we usually get two to replace the one... why?! I don't know). With these pets come lots of care, lots of hair.. literally everywhere, lots of messes in the yard that the "lots of kids" don't want anything to do with, lots of food to buy, lots of bowls to fill each day, lots of scratches in my couch, lots of scratches on my banister, lots of scratches on my deck, lots of comfort, lots of security, and so much more! Although some of these things are not ideal things to have, I wouldn't trade them for anything. I have come to accept them all, because to remove one would inevitably remove the source from where they came. Neither of the two I am willing to give up... ever! So the inspiration for my post comes from my daughter Brianna. She is my 7 year old little "mommy". If you want a good image of her in your head just picture Merida from Disneys "brave" and you've got it. That is straight down to the wild, crazy curly hair :) She is full of spunk and uniqueness. She is hilarious and completely off the wall. So it came as no surprise to me last night when I saw her write a note and tape it to her forehead. In fact, it seemed so usual for her that I didn't even check or ask what the note said. I went about getting kiddos ready for bed. I tucked them in and scratched their backs. By the time I had gotten around to Brianna she was passed out. I pulled the covers over her feet and went about my evening routine. As always, I check back in on the kids one last time before turning in myself. It was then, when I leaned over to give her a kiss, that I saw it. That same note still taped to my little firecrackers head. I shined my light on it to read what it said. "Hold Noctis". Now, noctis is our lizard, and unfortunately probably doesn't get as much attention as he should. I jumped back in my mind to earlier that night when my 12 year old, Jereme, had come to me and asked if we could set an alarm to remind them to hold Noctis. I was dealing with another child on the toilet and totally forgot. Brianna, however, knew exactly what to do. Write it down and stick it to her forehead! I looked again at the note and gently took it off and taped it to her headboard, kissed her and shut the door. It was then that I began to think about how we as adults try to ,day in and day out, remember the important things to get done. We set alarms, write sticky notes, tie strings around our fingers, tell others to remind us, set aside a specific time, or switch our watch to the opposite hand (love you mom!). We know that there is so much to do in a day, and our brains can only remember so much. So the question I ask you is "what are you setting your reminders for?" There are "lots of things" to do in a day, but do we get the most important things done? Or do we focus so much on the important and not so important that we forget what should be at the top of our list? Do my kids know I love them? Did I tell them at least once today how special they are? Do they know how lost I would be with out them? Did I tell them how beautiful they were? Did I comfort them in their times of need? Did I connect with God today? Did I ask him for advice in my life, and then listen for the answer? Did I let my husband know how happy I was when he got home? Does he know that he is just as important as the kids? Did I take care of the needs of my family? Did my animals get attention? Did their needs get taken care of? Did I treat them with love and like one of Gods creations? Did I check in with my loved ones? Do my parents know how much I love them? If I didn't do these things, then what was the point of my day?! Surely not just to do laundry and be a chauffeur. If I fail at these things, nothing else matters! So do what you must to remember the truly important things. Tie a string around your finger until you say your prayers, write a sticky note to tell your children how beautiful and special they are, set an alarm to greet your husband at the door with a kiss and a welcome home, switch your watch to the other hand until you call and check up on family, or even tape a note to your head until you spend quality time with your animals! Do what ever it takes. Do it today! Life is so unpredictable and uncertain that we can't forget to do the most important things in each day. Your life will change, and so will those around you. And you'd be surprised at how much you accomplish in a day when the "most important" come first! Just a side note... this morning when I saw Brianna, that same note was again stuck to her forehead! It worked though, Noctis got held :D