Christmas Eve!!!

So this warms my heart. Suzanne loves to wear this "mu-mu". It was my mother's. My mother has been gone for three years in July....and it seems like just yesterday we went to her house and she was wearing this. It was HER. She dressed very nicely when we took her out and about, in fact the image of her standing there by the door , all dressed up, with her purse dangling from her arm, when I pulled up with the van full of kids, is one of my fondest memories. She would come out and greet the kids and sometimes my dad would come out and say hello. ( I always felt bad if the baby or toddler would cry at Grampa. He could be silly)(He usually gave me money to take them to lunch)(And he usually loaded up the van with detergent and cereal and hot cocoa mix and peanutbutter and toothpaste). I really really miss them, especially around Christmas time. Anyways, when Suzanne wears this, it warms my heart. There is a good spirit here today. Emily is making crepes, and Kathryn is making strawberry compote to go over them. I made some good coffee this morning, ground from whole bean DunkinDonuts coffee. Not that things are smooth and easy, I had to go across the street and get Rosie-the-bad-dog. She likes to play with their dog, and she will NOT listen to me when I call her. So I put on Sam's boots and trudged over there....ugh. And Charlotte Claire got into the gum in my purse, and Camille stole Evelyn's ringpop. Now the little ones are riding their ride-ons around the loop of the kitchen/living room. It is tolerable when they go through the living room, but the noise on the tile.....there are three of them, and Sonja is accompanying them by jogging along side. At least Rosie-The-Bad-Dog is outside right now.

And the kitchen is a mess! Mirielle made a huge batch of fudge last night, then a batch of peanutbutter fudge. And Emily made those cream puffs, and the chili, and I made the marinade for the chicken, and put it all in zip lock bags. But a kitchen cannot look like a magazine kitchen when it is being used to feed lots of people. When it is just me, I clean as I go so I don't have a big mess when I am done. But they are different, and as long as they clean up eventually, I can live with it. When you think about it, I have 5 adults living in this house right now with Paul and I. Emily, Abigail, Benjamin, Mirielle, and Joseph. Benjamin made himself spaghetti in the middle of the night the other night. And Joseph is always making himself these creations with cheese. So I basically have to give up the way I want things done, to an extent. I have to give them freedom to learn and experiment and make things nice for us. And it does involve a suffering. I don't want to just boss everyone around to the littlest detail. That's why it is so interesting to have older kids. They don't have diapers or bottles but they do still wake up in the night (to make spaghetti), and they do give me a run for my money, if anyone says THAT anymore...

Well, the ride on fun is not fun for Charlotte Claire right now, Suzanne has the tractor she wants.....and there are tears....