Pleasantly Surprised!

Yesterday was a day I was looking forward to. And dreading. I guess both of those feelings don't really co-exist but they did. Yesterday was the BIG day. The day we all, all 7 of us, packed up and went to the city to eye appointments and shopping. Jay and I both needed to have our eyes checked (I wear glasses and go every 2 years, Jay has never been while we have been married!) and I decided it was time to get the boys' eyes checked, too. Imagine almost 1 1/2 hours in an optometrist office. With 5 kids. Potential for unruly behaviour! But, they were fantastic! Well, I did need to use all of my pursuasive powers to convince the boys to do as the doctor asked. But they cooperated. Turns out Pepe has an astigmatism (slightly more than mine but nothing that requires glasses - yet) and AJ is far-sighted (slightly more than they expect to see at this time but nothing that requires glasses - yet). But those 1 /2 hours were totally great. We prepared by bringing stuff for them to do but the ladies at the office put on 'Madagascar' and the kids were content. 12 o'clock rolled around and it was off to lunch. We went to the food court at the mall and luckily found tables for all of us. Not an easy task when you need 7 spots! Jay ordered a family-sized pizza and they all ate contentedly. After lunch, it was off to Wal-Mart to shop for Christmas presents. Not for them. For their cousins. And, though there was potential for total selfish "I want that" tantrums (they did ask but no tantrums. Mom's "no" means "no".), they choose their gifts and away we went. We packed them all back up and off to the grocery store we went after a couple other quick mom-only stops. The girls fell asleep so the boys and I went in and completed the task as quickly as we could. Which was really about an hour. Not so quick when you are sitting in the van. Finally, after one more mom-only, it was back home. 7 1/2 hours later. Everyone was happy. No one was crying. No arguments occured. Could a mother be any more proud of her family than I was yesterday? Maybe it is because we take them out so seldom. Especially at -20C! But I enjoyed my day yesterday more than I expected. The kids were amazing. The tasks were completed. How nice it is to be pleasantly surprised.