clean house versus happy home?

The plan....It was the day before "back to school", I had soo much to do to get the boys ready. I had big plans to completely clean the house from top to bottom, organise all the clothes etc, prepare a lovely dinner and make homemade cookies. I wanted the children to be bathed early, pj's on, and I wanted Mark to be able to give them a blessing, we would read stories,sing songs, kiss them and tuck them into bed early so they would be well rested and ready for an early morning. That was my plan!!!! What actually happened?..... I offered to babysit for my favorite little 4 month old twin boys. I figured I could still get everything I wanted done, while helping our cousins out at the same time. Sooo....... I tried to clean as best I could amidst the craziness of 6 little people. Every time I got one project done, The toddlers had created a new one for me to tackle! The older two were tearing the couch apart to make a fort, while little Owen jumped on the oven door like a trampolene! Milo the dog made a suspicious puddle, while one of the babies let me know it was time for another bottle. It was certainly busy!!! By evening I was starting to get a bit frazzled, I could not make the meal I had planned on, because the oven door would not close properly (due to the previous jumping incident) we ended up eating taco bell! I was trying to fold up the mountain of laundry while Ava kept knocking over each pile. There were no warm chewy homemade cookies, and the children were not bathed and they did not smell of coconut lotion. (more like dried mud and smelly socks). Nothing had gone at all like I had hoped for. Almost at the end of my patience, I snapped at Mark... lets just get the blessings done! Mark pulled over a chair into the living room and began saying the prayer... I could barely hear him because Owen was hitting Ava over the head with the tv remote. I was about to completely lose it and give up on the whole idea, when something amazing happened............. I looked over at Kyle, he was quietly sniffling to himself in the corner of the couch. I ushered him over to my lap and asked him why he was crying. He told me he felt very happy inside and it was giving him "happy tears". He said his heart felt warm. He was feeling the spirit! Everything changed in that instant! Suddenly it didn't matter to me that the house was a mess, the oven was broken, we didn't have the perfect meal or fresh cookies, none of that was important any more. All that mattered were the precious little people who have been entrusted to our care. Their feelings, their happiness. For amidst the craziness, the loudness, the chaos.... Four little people are growing. They are watching us, They are following our example, they are building their own character and gaining a testimony of their own. I am grateful for yet another lesson taught by my child.