My Weekend As a Mom of 7

This weekend, we helped out some friends who went out of town. They have four kids who are good friends with our kids. Still, 7 kids 8 years old and under? I actually had a dream that I was babysitting the Duggers the night before we left. Seriously.

We agreed to stay at their house so the older kids wouldn't miss school on Friday, plus their house is larger than ours and can easily accommodate lots of sleeping bodies.

There was so much going on, Jason hardly touched the toys I brought for him. He was in awe of the kids running all over the place and the dogs were a constant source of entertainment. They gave each other lots and lots of kisses.


Every time I picked him up, his belly and legs were covered in dog hair. He was my little Sasquatch this weekend.


Since we couldn't go anywhere in one vehicle, we spent a lot of time in the pool. The "waterslide" was a big favorite.


And towels turned into capes when it was time to dry off.


Mike helped everyone make paper airplanes, which the kids colored...


...and launched from the upstairs balcony...


...then they'd race downstairs to get their planes to do it all again. This went on for almost an hour.


The big kids built contraptions with Legos...


...and slept in forts.


The little kids dressed up and put on shows.


Every night after cleaning up the massive mess all over the house, everyone settled down with a movie and popcorn. (This gave Mike and me a chance to breathe before tackling bedtime. And yes, that is Jason sitting on a couch. NO he didn't get left there, Mike just put him there for the picture.)


The older kids took turns reading the Bible to the other kids at bedtime.


And the weekend would have just been boring without a medical emergency. The 8 year old little girl stuck her foot in a boot and was stung by a scorpion. After calling 911 (who transferred me to poison control) I knew what danger signs to look for throughout the day. Turns out, after the initial screams from the excruciating pain, everything was fine.

The scorpion escaped in the chaos, so Mike assigned Ryan and his friend to be "Scorpion Hunters." They took their job very seriously.


I learned this weekend that a family of nine produces a lot of dishes. And laundry. And piles of abandoned toys.

And the amount of food I would go through with seven kids? Whoa, mama. We would be broke. My feet have been so sore from standing in the kitchen all weekend. Dishing out meals and snacks, cleaning up meals and snacks, filling drink cups, loading the dishwasher, wiping down counters and the Bumbo seat which posed as a highchair...not to mention walking all over their huge house chasing down this kid or that kids...holy cow. I need a foot rub!

But I survived. Mike survived. We even brought the broad to church and arrived at the service with time to spare!

All in all, even though there were some tears and fighting, everyone had fun. It was like a giant slumber party. And just like after any good slumber party, I am exhausted.