A Typical Sunday Morning

Just like most families, our Sunday mornings have always been busy.  But, since we've moved to the mission field and have services in our home every Sunday, our morning is super-duper busy.  We try to get as much accomplished on Saturday to make things a little easier.  We iron all of our clothes and have them laid out and ready.  We decide ahead of time what will be a quick breakfast.  The coffee pot is ready to go and chocolate milks are poured and waiting in the fridge.  We do as much cleaning as possible on Saturday (sweeping, mopping, dusting)  But, with a family of 8 there are always last minute unexpected delays.  Here's a typical  Sunday Morning for us:

 When the older 3 wake up they get ready as quickly as possible so they can help the rest of the morning.  Normally we eat breakfast together for weekdays, but on Sundays it sort of happens in shifts.

 We do any last minute cleaning and putting away of toys that mysteriously made their way out through the morning.  Hhhhmm, notice anything out of place on the bookshelf?

 We serve lunch to everyone that comes on Sunday.  Patrick and I try to prepare as much as possible the night before.  But, this Sunday we made the cake that morning.  My oven has been running very hot lately and in our busy-ness we didn't keep an eye on our cake.  Oops!

Patrick puts final touches on his message.  His french is coming along wonderfully and he is doing so great!  I'm so proud of him!  He used a powerpoint type presentation where he puts the verses and main points up on the TV during the message.  That way they can see what he is saying also.  He's been preaching some great messages and I'm loving his series on prayer!

Then, I try to compliment my sweet 3 year old on her dress choice, but try to gently teach that the purple shirt doesn't match.  I showed her the ironed and ready dress and she was excited to wear it.  Whew!  

 Then, we work at taming the curly mane of my sweetie.

 Much better!

 Josh makes his selections for the songs we will be singing.  He's an excellent Song Leader!

 The girls finish up the dishes and help make sure everything is tidy.

Elisabeth puts final touches on her Sunday School Lesson and sets up the kiddie table and chairs in her room.  She made a great coloring sheet and has the songs all ready to go.  My 3 little ones are blessed with their Sunday School Teachers!

Through all this busy-ness the baby sneaks in one more nap.
I love our Sundays and it's so exciting to see God work!