My Little Life

Know what I love most about holidays? The family time. The time I get to just hang out with my family. Every year we go up to the Mr.'s family's hunting land, where there is a shack to protect us from the elements...no running water, but EGADS!!! they just got electricity! What a blessed invention electricity is. Anyway, if I'm going to be honest, going to "The Land" isn't one of my favorite things to do. The whole "peeing in the woods" thing doesn't entertain me much and then there's the whole "cramming 50 people into a small space" thing...not necessarily my favorite, but the kids love it. I think it's got something to do with the fact that they can run wild through acres and acres of land and get muddy and dirty and no one yells at them for doing so. We kind of expect it. This year, I was particularly dreading it, what with the 87 feet of snow on the ground that has been melting ferociously down to 80 feet which means...

*Sigh* All I wanted was to get a photo of my nicely dressed kids on Easter (minus their biggest bro, who was at his dad's for the holiday). Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is...just take a look: I wanted a photo of my kids all together...only Baby Girl wasn't having anything to do with it. But, WAIT!! If you look close, there she is: My efforts were futile, and I gave up as soon as this happened (dang baby bros, always gotta be goofy...but I think it's kinda cute! And, I think they are too...): Then, Uncle J joined in the fun (i.e. torture) and mercilessly teased Belle (but, as you can see, she didn't really mind too much!): At long last, I attempted to stage a family photo: *Groan* I give up.

Every so often, I need to pull up my big Mama panties and do something I'd rather not. Clean up puke...decide what to do with a sippy cup full of milk that was found under the couch after months of hiding...dye Easter Eggs...make cut-out Christmas cookies...carve pumpkins. Moment of honesty here: I can NOT find the strength (or big enough panties) to actually carry out those last two. Early on in my mothering career, I took one for the team and did it...but now? Now with 5 kids vying for knives and flinging slimy pumpkin seeds all over and the rolling/rolling/rolling out of cookies? I decided that it takes years off my life...and I figure, when my kids grow up, that they'll appreciate me thinking of them long term and realizing that they'd rather have their good ol ' mom around for a few extra years than carving a stupid pumpkin. ( Shhhh ...don't burst my bubble, let me believe this one. Sigh . Okay, maybe this year I'll have to dig deep to f...