Accordion folder spill over

Well, one is wed, three head for college in two weeks, and the last of the mohicans begins her tenth grade year of home education.

It's enough to make you wonder if the "three Oreo limit" per day is really sufficient.

Okay okay, "the FOUR Oreo stack" a day.

Hi friends.

How's August treating you?

Are you sun bathing until the very end or already sharpening pencils?

I'm over here hoping beyond hope that Bob Jones online school runs a "If you've home schooled 5 kids and are on your last, we'll throw in some videos for FREE," special.

You know, a "train five get one free" kinda thing.

The hilarious thing is that just as we're heading into the homestretch I finally feel like mentally I am prepared to START having kids.

Maybe the Lord does that for us so we can prepare for grands?

But don't look at me like that, I'm THE LAST PERSON pushing grandkids.

I AM PUSHING for the stairs to actually be clutter free for five whole minutes.

And Chinese take-out once a week.

The bar is so low over here you could trip over it.

Besides, we all know that I will be the mean old one to make kids eat all their food and say, "Thank you," for every single thing, so there's that.

I'm ready for more of a scheduled day but if you tell my schedule-loving husband that I said that I will come ring your doorbell and run.

But yes, I'm ready for tea at the same time and for opportunities to spoil my new daughter in love who is the sweetest thing since double stuffed Oreos.

I'm ready for a little bit busier school days to keep my Mama heart thinking on the ones at home and not wishing for the college ones to fill the table for a while.

I know that the Bible says that Mary kept a boat-load of things in her heart and I see that ALL moms do the very same.

Though women have been said to have minds like spaghetti with one huge noodle connecting and touching every single aspect of their lives - and rightly diagnosed I might add -

Surely, we can keep piles of that noodle in different places in our minds so that the ruined home ec pizza and the failed driver's test can hang out together.

Like one ginormous accordion file folder (Do kids even remember those anymore?) with each section filling and then spilling into the next until it's so full the velcro on the front flap doesn't hold anymore.

It's actually crazy to stand at the back of a church and realize that at the end of all of this you're going to come out one son gone, one daughter gained and a whole new little family created that will make their own dinners each night.

The music is playing and the tissues are making their rounds and you are so excited you could just burst.

It's at this kind of moment we Royaltys do what we do best.

We grab the nearest one until all have been summoned into a sort of huddle and we pick the one person who is least likely to cry to pray for the whole crew.

We lock arms and lock hearts and just have to touch each other because well, we're touchy like that.

We huddle when one graduates high school, college, leaves for a missions trip, travels on a teen outreach group and apparently just before we all walk down the isle.

I cannot fully explain the peace,

Oh the peace! that washed over us all mixed with so much love and excitement that we could've RUN down that isle.

My husband took my hand and said, "This is one of those moments in life that you remember forever."

Yep.

One of those accordion folder spill overs.

And as I sat and pressed my cheek against the shoulder of my husband's suit leaving glitter from my dress in my wake,

I was SO thankful that once upon a time it was us promising to cherish each other in these very moments we were sitting in and I was still so very very grateful for him to share these moments with.

He leaned in and mentioned that it was surreal watching our oldest become a husband, and "hitting him."

I wanted to tell him that it "hit" ME many MANY Oreos ago.

And then we hugged them off to the honeymoon and got a pic back that showed me that this little red head absolutely loves our fella as much as I do.

Or even more.

Another memory for the file.

So life here is great.

Many are doing their laundry in preparation for leaving the nest for a while, hugs and Eggo waffles are abundant,

Older brothers are threatening to give younger brothers demerits in the weeks ahead,

Mom and Dad take a lot of walks to just enjoy Summer skies and each other's space in the busy,

And daughters fear they will either be bored stiff without siblings or homesick out of their minds.

And God's peace sandwiches us all into one big Royalty huddle.

So yeah, life is pretty great.