will I love quiet when I get old?

I don't think so...but it is hard to imagine getting more than the bare minimum of quiet, so I won't worry about it now. I'll just enjoy it.

Samuel and his cousin are playing video games in their room. Joseph and Aaron are at their friends' house. Emily, Abigail, Mirielle, Mali, and Margaret are over where Benjamin and Ashley are staying, having a dinner party. Ben and Ashley wanted to do something special for all the girls who helped so much with the wedding. I did point out that I also helped, and to Ben's credit, he DID say I could come, but nah, they can have some time together without the old people.

I tried to take the kids bowling today. Since I am nice, and it is vacation, I didn't try to force or encourage the older ones to come if they didn't feel like it. I took Kathryn and Evelyn and Suzanne and Sonja and Jonathan and Charlotte Claire and Camille. Well, the parking lot at the bowling alley told me loud and clear that I am not the only brilliant one who thought to take the kids to one dollar bowling. There was barely a place to park, so I figured the lanes were quite full. I had seven children who wanted to do something fun, so I took them to the Chinese buffet for lunch. It was WAY too much fun. This particular restaurant has some large round tables, so we fit there nicely. The kids know they shouldn't waste food, so they get lots of plates with just a bit of food, and they get such a kick out of it. Camille kept asking me to get her some "red buffalo",....I finally figured that she meant red JELLO.

Anyhoo, we next went to Walmart...Walmart with seven children can be either stark raving crazy, or fun, it depends on how one takes it. And it depends on how much one buys for the kids, too. Since we returned a jacket that Ben and Ashley bought Suze for Christmas, she got to pick something out...so I let the others get something too, from their Christmas money....Jon got one of those little things with all the plastic nails in it, that retains the shape of the object placed in it...the little girls got princess dolls, marked down quite cheap, and new footie jammies, Kathryn and Evelyn and Suze picked out necklaces that were on clearance, and Suze also got leggings. Sonja got a Barbie....

I met a gentleman who is serving in the U.S. Navy. He asked me if all seven of these kids are really mine,....yes, ....no twins? no....You actually gave birth to all seven? well, yes, plus a few more....what?? yes, I have sixteen....would you like to see the photo on my keychain?....he did. He was quite floored. I told him that my son just joined the Army, and he said he has been to Iraq "quite a few times with the Army..." He was with his elderly father, who was as proud as can be of him, he had a t-shirt on that proclaimed that pride. We have much to be thankful for....behind every soldier is a story, and at least one person that loves them and fears for them and hopefully prays for them....

Evelyn is back in here, she didn't want to watch the movie at Kathryn's sleepover in her room with Suzanne and Sonja...she has a show in here she likes, and it is distracting....