10 kids - WHAT?!

I have a neighbor who I consider to be a really good friend. This really good friend has 6 amazing kids!

She and her DH decided, spur of the moment - sort of, to take a trip to Cancun, MX. They are so deserving of this trip and when she asked if I'd assist in watching her angels, I readily agreed! I'm not the only "surrogate" for the week - there are 3 of us, all taking turns! Right now just happens to be my turn! So at this moment, I am the mother of 10, yes TEN, children - all under the age of 13!! I am finding a new respect for moms of big families! I thought my 4 were a handful - I can't imagine having any more! So here's a run down of what we've done so far! When everyone arrived, I sat them down and laid out some ground rules! I told them that dinner would be at 6 and not before, I explained that they needed to keep track of their things, I showed them their rooms, and that was it! They jumped right in and helped. Every child got their homework done - and get this, the big kids were helping the little kids do their homework! WOW!!

Then it was dinner - again, big kids helped serve little ones and everyone had plenty to eat!

Bath time - I had so many helpers and within an hour, 8 of the 10 had baths (hair washed and all). 8pm - bed time - they were out!!

Wow, that wasn't so bad! This morning, 6:30 came early - but I wasn't going to be deterred! I got up and made pancakes! Because I had everyone lay their clothes out on the couch last night - getting dressed was a cinch! By 7:30 prayers were said, lunches made, and we were just waiting on the ride to school! Now it's quiet - I'm down to 2 kids until 10:30 when I have to pick up 3 more and take them to the dentist (these would be my own kids). But right now -I'm loving the silence!

So, pray for me - I have 24 hours to go. I can do it! Big families aren't so bad! This is sort of fun! Man, why did Tim get snipped?! (j/k!)