The McMullen's arrived today at about 8:15 - way too early for both Tammy and me. Got the kids ready for swimming lessons and packed everybody up in the van to head to Penn. People think I'm an absolute freak show when I walk into that place with 5 kids. It's funny, too, because you can see them comparing the kids, trying to figure out how old they are. If they really stare for a good long time I'll finally just let them off the hook and say "they're not all mine" or something - Abby and Allison would have to be twins for it to even be a possibility, and if you haven't seen them together, here you go:

So, as you can see, being siblings, let alone twins, isn't even a remote possibility. It's pretty amusing to watch people try to figure it out.

After swimming we ran some errands - yes, I took 5 kids out in public. And if you are one of the many people who witnessed this spectacle, I apologize. It was a wonderful reminder of why I tend to stay home every Thursday. While possible, going out with that many children of that size, maturity level and degree of obedience is just not advisable. It's one thing if you can keep them all contained, like in one shopping cart, but they're just getting too darned big for that. Then you have kids sitting on other kids and kids complaining about other kids body parts touching them - it's much more pleasant to just let them run wild and bother all of the other shoppers than have to listen to all that myself.

So, after running to PIT, Bed Bath & Beyond, Old Navy and Target, I drove immediately home and locked myself in a closet for half an hour. Ok, not really, but I was tempted. Instead, I fed them. Then I locked them in a closet for half an hour. Just kidding.

We had special guests at church tonight - Rajendran and Emanuel told their stories of how they came to know Jesus and what ministry they are doing now with the Bible League. Raj is the husband of my very good friend Prema (I stayed with Prema and her sister Aroma when I was in India last Spring - this photo shows Aroma, me, Prema and Raj) and the leader of the Bible League in Southern India. He's an outstanding man with the most amazing testimony you may ever hear. He was literally possessed by demons at one point in his life when he was practicing Hinduism. As a follower of Christ he's helped lead tens of thousands of people to faith in Christ - he's unbelieveable - and one of the kindest, nicest, funniest people you'd ever meet. Both Raj and Emmanuel spoke very well, despite the fact that they were very nervous to speak to such a large crowd of people in such a large room...Hearing them speak made me want so badly to go back again.

Today is the day Ellen (Adam's sister) was to have her surgery. Adam received a call this afternoon that the surgery didn't go as planned - they didn't believe they could accomplish what they wanted to by going ahead with the procedure. I'm not really sure what that means at this point - still waiting for more information. Please keep her and the family in your prayers.