if they tried! People often joke with me that we should have our own TV show. You know, they've seen the Duggars, and Jon & Kate and I guess it just makes sense that a family with a bunch of kids should have a show. Usually, I just shrug it off and don't think much about it. But nights like tonight....(picture me, shaking my head back and forth). Let's see how well I can describe the scene. It's about 6:30pm which is our normal sit down and eat time. Several of the kids were already sitting down. I was busy in the kitchen getting kids served up. My daughter E was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, with her legs spread eagle singing, or perhaps humming, at the top of her lungs. She was completely unconscious of anyone else around her. My son J was chasing Cosmo (our new puppy) all around the house, and by chasing, picture a Cops top speed chase. J is super fast. But Cosmo is faster. It was the kind of chase that went from the living room, to the dining room, around the kitchen island, under the kitchen table, weaved through the stools at the kitchen counter, and back to the living room to start all over again. My daughter R (11) was yapping incessantly in my ear about how Obama cut NASA, and now how was she EVER going to become an astronaut! She continued with her monologue about how amazing space, and astronomy, and the solar system is. (All wonderful to hear...just the timing thing, you know?) Right about then Oliver got home from work, and seeing the J & Cosmo fiasco (now, seriously, most Dad's would holler at their sons about the chaos & not running in the house, and calming the dog down, etc....right?) he jumps right in the middle of it and starts kicking a tennis ball around for Cosmo to chase. Above the hullabaloo (is that even a word? I'm not sure.) I could make out my sons J & A arguing at the dinner table over whose 100th day of school cheerio necklace was whose. I can just bet you that there was saliva from at least 3 kids on that necklace. At that particular moment, I just stopped. Sometimes those kinds of moments send me over the edge. But tonight, I threw my head back and laughed one of the heartiest laughs that my belly has enjoyed in a long time. Tonight...I LOVED the chaos.
Right now, my kids favorite movie is Cheaper by the Dozen. They have watched it over and over and over again. They love Steve Martin's funny antics. They love the jokes by all the kids. They've taken to calling each other "FedEx" (if you've seen the movie, you'll get it....and if not, well...watch the movie!). And they all get a little serious when FedEx goes missing and the whole family pulls together to find him.
I guess, my point is, that even though I don't consider our family extraordinary, we are extraordinary in our own way. Every family is. Everyone has their own form of chaos, and their own moments that you just want to capture in your heart and hold onto for forever. I'm just grateful for my chaos. Who'd want it any other way? (okay, let's be honest....if we were rich and I could afford a cook, a housekeeper, and maybe even a live in nanny...I might want it that way!)
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What a wonderful tribute to your family. I love those moments when you recognize just how wonderful the mayhem and normalcy is. I got that choked up feeling when you mentioned wanting to remember that moment forever. I feel that way frequently - never want to take the small and simple things for granted. Have you heard Trace Atkins song "You're Gonna Miss This?". Applicable to your post I think.
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