Remember that time??

Dear heavens.  What a week.  And it's only Thursday.

Tuesday morning I took the four oldest to the dentist.  Ran to Target while waiting for them because Son (#1) needed something for school.  When I got back, they told me they'd had to pull one of Son's (#4) teeth.  Hmmm.

You know it's going to be an interesting day when your dentist is the one to tell you that your son had a baby tooth stuck to the side of a permanent tooth.  And you had no idea.

What can I say?  I plead eight kids.

So from there we headed back to school.  Dropped Son (#1) off and as I was parking, he came out the door, waving me in.  I rolled down the window,  "WHAT??"  I was headed to meet Little Man at the park with Grandmother, who had field trip duty while I was at the dentist with the big kids.

"Um. Mom," Son (#1) begins. . ."my passport is expired."

Now it was my turn.  "WHAAAAT?"

Because this was Tuesday.  And Wednesday evening?  He was leaving to drive down to Dallas.  And Thursday morning EARLY?  He was flying out of Dallas for a mission trip to Mexico over Spring Break.

So it began.

Even just 48 hours later, I look back with amazement.  Our sweet friend at school got online, found out where he needed to go, got him an appointment, and helped him gather the necessary paper work.    Son and I headed out to get him last minute trip stuff, passport photos, and he got his truck ready for the drive to Dallas. Tuesday night we gathered as a family to pray for his safety and God's provision.

This letting go stuff is hard.

He's 18.  But by the time he left at 6 AM yesterday morning ALONE to drive to Dallas and find the downtown rush passport office?  I was a bit nervous about the whole thing.

And you know what?  He did great.  Made the trip without difficulty.  Got to where he needed to be an hour before his appointment.  Had all of the right documentation.  Met my cousin for lunch (thanks, Daniel!), went back to pick up the new passport, shopped at Cabelas, ate dinner, went to a movie, and met up with the mission team last night.

This morning?  They are on their flight to Mexico.

Here at the troops, the other kids are off to school, the Coach is in Virginia at a conference, and tomorrow is Daughter's (#6) ELEVENTH birthday.  Oh my word.  And Spring Break will commence shortly.

These days are exhausting.  But OH the memories we are making.  And someday. . .when Son (#1) has kids of his own. . . we'll all be sitting around talking about his mission trips and the adventures he's had and one of us will say, "Remember that time you realized your passport was expired the day before you were leaving for Mexico??"

My heart is full.

And grateful.

And I need a nap.

Happy Thursday!