Life inside our home..

Ever wonder what life is like inside a home with six kids? Actually, not as hard as you might imagine. I often tell people that it's not three times as hard as two, or even twice as hard as three. In fact, in many ways, I believe it's easier. Yes, there is lots of energy inside our home. Yes, I have many, many, many loads of laundry to do each week (about 15-20 loads). And yes, I have a hard time finding time for "me" and what I like to do, but on the upside... I have the satisfaction of watching six little people turn into pretty darn good big people. My kids play together, work together and sometimes fight together (gasp!!). They've learned the hard lessons of a big family... that sometimes it's not about them, that sometimes they have to wait, to share, to forgive, to love someone who is not being very lovable... all things that will serve them well in life. Will they decide to have a big family? I'm not sure. I hope so. Because if they have lots of kids, I will have lots of grandkids!! :)

As an introduction, here are our kids. We have kids ranging from 15 on down. So we have the distinct pleasure of doing the teenager stuff (i.e. hormones, mood swings) while dealing with pre-teen stuff (i.e. hormones, mood swings), a tornado of a toddler and a newborn. Yep, fun stuff! I just keep thinking that this, too, shall pass. To be honest, it's really pretty good. We have some very happy, active, healthy kids who like a variety of activities and do well in school. We do have our hormonal moments (including me), but it's smoother than I would have ever predicted.

As a child, I wanted kids. In fact, I wanted lots of kids... but not this many. I always thought four was good. I liked four. I met Jeremy in 1989 and he, too, liked four. But then they were just so darn cute and so much fun. Each is very unique, with their own little quirks and strengths. They each bring something new and different to the table. Sometimes I question our wisdom. Most days I'm very tired. Especially right now, with two little boys in tow. But I know what the pay offs will be, and they are huge! We figure in ten years, we'll be having grandbabies! Can you imagine!!

So that's some of what goes on here. I'll fill you in more as it happens. Right now, I have a 13 year old home sick, making soup in the kitchen, Noah tearing apart the house, toys scattered everywhere and Adam crying because he needs to be fed. I have four loads of laundry waiting to be washed, two loads waiting to be folded, a checkbook to balance and bills to be paid. We have guests coming over for dinner tonight, soccer practice and piano lessons. Oh, and have I mentioned that I have a home based business? Um, yeah... Welcome to my crazy, fun, busy life!