yay, vacation!!!

The kids have their spring break this week. We have a zoo membership that is expiring soon, so we will probably go there. It is interesting when the kids are all different ages. I might get one or two of the older ones who will go along and enjoy the little ones' reactions, and to help me, but most of them will just choose to stay home. I wish they would all want to go along, it is way more fun for me, but they are individuals, and don't always want to do what I want them to....I remember when they were all 13 or 14 and under, and I could just decide what to do, and drag them all along, and everyone was happy, and that was it.

Today, I am planning to stay home. I feel like we have been going, going, going, and I need to catch up on some laundry, and de-cluttering. I have lots of helpers here, ha. Actually, mean mommy that I am, before they got their baskets yesterday, I had them pitch in for a ten minute pick-up. (it was only Margaret, Kathryn, Evelyn, Suzanne, Sonja, Jon, Charlotte Claire, and Camille, the older ones had gone to their cousin's house for a few hours)...anyway, I had them help me pick up, while I vacummed, Kathryn mopped the floor quick, and we got everything all tidied up.....(when 15 people leave the house at 10:30 in the morning for church, it does not get left spic and span....at least not here)....so, I cashed in on their eagerness to get their baskets. Because I could not stand the thought of candy and clutter.

I am thinking of clearing off the top of the refridgerator today to store their baskets, it's the only place I can think of that Camille can't reach.

I am actually thinking of cleaning out a closet today, is that mean to do to kids on vacation? They will have to help me, and help with Camille. I can't even think of doing something like that when I am here with just the little ones.

Okay, my new favorite movie is "Little Miss Sunshine"....we watched it last night, again. The way the loser disfunctional family comes together through their trip without being overly sappy and sentimental....but there is some language. Not something for kids. My favorite part: when the teenage boy, Dwayne, who has taken a vow of silence for seven months now until he gets to be a pilot, writes a note to his sister that says, "go hug mom" .....it is a classic line around here....

Sonja wants me to tell Evelyn to stop singing. Evelyn says she is not singing, and Sonja says, "Well, you WERE, so stop talking to me!" Okay. With these five-little-girls-in-a-row (Margaret 12, Kathryn 11, Evelyn 9 1/2, Suzanne 8, and Sonja almost seven), they always have someone to play with, but they always have someone to fight with too. Sometimes they are like a bunch of cats. Can't just drop it and walk away. "But SHE......!!!" Then there is poor Jon, almost 5, and then MORE little girls. Charlotte Claire and Camille are 18 months apart, and they are both strong personalities, and already hit back and forth. Charlotte Claire thinks it is her job to take anything away from Camille that she shouldn't have, or that she wants herself. This hitting and fighting does not go on all the time, but sometimes it seems like it does. Then I have to crack down on them, and get them to stop and think.....and when they are getting along well, I often remind them of one of my favorite scriptures, "Oh, how good and blessed it is when brethren dwell together in unity..." and I encourage them to be the one to humble themself, and they will have grace over their life.....sometime I have to just plain separate them and forbid them from saying another word, but usually they just get over it without much fuss. (in the "Little House On the Prairie" books, Ma used to say, "Least said, soonest mended")....anyhooo, I do see a pattern here.....I ramble when I should be getting started with the day...but I did already start some laundry, change some diapers, make some bottles....