Thanks to my kids!

As I said in an earlier post, Dan and I have gotten in to running... well, training for marathons is no small feat, and it surely takes a lot of time... Back in the 'old days', we had to call in outside babysitters (Dan's mom) for our long runs. Now since we have 2 very capable girls old enough to babysit, we can go at our leisure, and be assured that all will be well. It really means the world to us to have this opportunity for many reasons, some of which being our time spent alone together (definitely #1!), the benefit of exercise (MUCH needed after birthing 7 kids...), time to just 'experience' the changes of seasons, time to pray, time to think about the kids and our lives, time to be thankful, time to be quiet (NEVER happens at home.. :), time to push our bodies (and minds) further than we thought they could go, and so many more... Well, after our marathon in May, we decided to take the kids out to Cracker Barrell as a reward for all their 'help' with our training. We got the usual reaction as we told the hostess that we needed a table for 9... 'uh, well, let me go see if we can rearrange some tables to accomodate you'... When our waitress came to the table, she was beside herself at the size of our family. Every time she came back to the table for something, she would comment on how good our kids were, how quiet they were, how amazed that we could have 7... and finally at the end of our visit she says, 'I am going home to ask my husband what we did wrong...'. Well, I know what we go through on a daily basis, and that all days aren't quite as perfect as that dinner experience was, but I smiled to myself and thought, 'You know, she is right. What a great bunch of kids. As tough as some times get, what would we ever do without them?' Thanks, guys, for being you and for being teriffic! I love you, Mum