last day of the year....

and it has been fun so far, trying to arrange for someone to be at the church meeting hall to meet the Bouncy House People.

Every year, we have a bouncy house for the kids to play in. We watch a transmission broadcast from Brunstad, in Norway, have dinner, games, then snacks near midnight. Supervising the kids in the bouncy house is always fun, timing them and making them take turns. Yes, we separate the young boys and young girls, because we have observed that the boys are way rougher than the girls. The girls get in there and play house and dance and jump nicely, the boys are like the Hulk, or wrestlers from WWF.

So yay, I don't have to make dinner tonight!

So.....New Year's Resolutions....I hate them. But I always find myself drawn to thinking about making some....here are some I might possibly consider....

1. Match socks once a week instead of once a month.

2. Organize some stuff....

Oh, forget it. I know what happens. I can organize a cupboard, and feel on top of the world, to the point of opening it often just to admire how nice it looks....then...well, the inevitable happens....I get rushed, I shove things where they don't go just to get them put away....blah.

And the socks....they don't just get separated and divorced, the socks that live here, no, they pack up and leave. They hide under couches and beds and behind hampers and even over among the shoes.....

3. Eat more healthily. This is easy to say now, because anything can be healthier than this past week was. At least we are out of wedding cupcakes, so breakfast will be better.

4. Excercise more. I am actually going to try this one. I get so antsy after this much winter. I used to be very much in shape, long many years ago, I was in gymnastics, and I wrestled....well, only with my brothers, but still. I have dreams I do cartwheels down the beach and walk on my hands....I don't think that will happen again, although one of my nieces remembers me doing a cartwheel in this very livingroom, which had to have been within the last 19 years.

5. Spend less. This is also easy to say now, because the last few weeks have been pretty bad...with the wedding and Christmas, and buying better and yummy groceries for vacation, $$$$....

6. Read my bible more.

7. Write lots of letters to Benjamin.

8. I can't say "have more fun", because someone like me needs to have less fun.

9. Stay home more. This is less fun, but it helps me to spend less, and perhaps to organize more.

10. Cook more from scratch, be more creative in the kitchen, and take more time to plan meals. ha. ha ha.

I think we make resolutions because we want to do things better because we want more respect. We want to be loved and appreciated. And also there certainly satisfaction that comes with accomplishment. I have had years and years of my life where I so craved some of that satisfaction while the socks piled up and the refridgerator get fuller and fuller of things that needed to be weeded out and the hampers, so meaningfully divided by color, got mixed up and overflowed.....and all the time I didn't realize how much I was actually accomplishing. Now these older kids are growing up, they don't remember rooting around for a pair of matching socks, but they DO remember going off on adventures...the parks and playgrounds and fun things with their cousins....and they remember the stories I read and told them, and watching movies and singing and dancing along.....

Yes, that ever-alluding satisfaction that comes with accomplishment. When there are babies and toddlers and kids everywhere, that satisfaction comes from the small things, like getting a meal on the table that isn't just bowls of cereal. Or sometimes just getting them all tucked in at night. Then one looks at the hurricane that is supposed to be the living room, and the satisfaction ebbs away....

Ha....while I am sitting here writing this, there are fights breaking out. The younger kids are tired this morning....Jonathan bunked with Charlotte Claire because his two sisters he usually shares a room with had a sleepover with Kathryn...so kids stayed up later and got up earlier, and we all know what that means. Lots of tears. One Little Miss Charlotte Claire got upset and dumped some drawers out. So One Little Miss Charlotte Claire is spending some time on the couch, she can't get down. She needs to stop and think about being so bratty.

They are also so excited about this evening's feast, and the bouncy house.

This mama needs to get moving......(when I blog in the mornings with all the kids here, it is a joke. I stop every other sentance and give answers like, "No, I didn't check the weather yet today, but when I took Rosie out, it was warm."and, "No, you cannot have the last chocolate crunch ice cream bar...it will start a stampede.", and "I don't know why I don't like the idea of automatic Nerf assault rifles, I just don't.", and "Yes, you can probably go running, just watch for those cars, Miss Mali.", and Yes, your new webkin looks nice with that backpack.", and ,"you are right, that WAS mean of her to color on your picture..."and "I don't know what time we are going, and I don't know how many hours...")