shall we stroll down memory lane?

I think I'm going to be one of those old people that young people just don't understand: living in the past. Maybe I won't bore people in REAL life, maybe I'll just blog about it. See, once upon a time, I was knee deep in small children. I had babies and toddlers and kids and teenagers, all at the same time. New drivers and diaper changes, orthodontist appointments and infant check-ups. High schoolers who needed to be picked up from basketball or volleyball practice, juggled with a breastfeeding baby. There were days when the whole lot of them had to be buckled into the big van and brought along, just to pick one of them up from something...play practice, maybe. Life was a continuous game of changing priorities, based on diaper blow-outs, temper tantrums, or perhaps two small children painting their room with Desitin. Now, my life is relatively quiet, aside from the grandchildren visits. But humor me as I post a few pics from the past...eleven years ago, this was the first day of school. The older kids: Samuel was 14, Aaron 17, Molly 15, Margaret was 12, Miss Kathryn in the front was 11.

(Emily was 24, Abigail 22, Benjamin 20, Mariel 19, and Joseph 18, they are not pictured) The second trip kids, the elementary students were:

Evelyn 10, Suzanne 8, Sonja 7, and Jonathan 5. At home with me during the day:

Miss Charlotte Claire, 3, and Miss Camille Anaya, almost two...and Rosie, the dum-dum sheepdog. I'm pretty sure they all still lived at home, but since I'm old, ha, I can't quite recall...Emily might have been in Norway for a year at that point. But still, there were a LOT of kids here, and by that time, having only two home during the day, my life was getting quite a bit easier, in many regards. So these nine kids would get off the bus each day, have their snacks and do their homework without trying to sneak the tv on for a few hours of WORD GIRL, never fight or hog all the yogurts, put their school clothes neatly in the hampers and change into play clothes. They gladly emptied the dishwasher, took Rosie for a walk, and helped with dinner. Did I fool you?