setting the stage

So what is it like in a house with four kids? I am sure that our house seems like complete mayhem to some people. We have a 12-year-old, an 8-year-old, a CRAZY 3-year-old, and a baby. (Yes he is. His birthday isn't until next week so shut it and let me enjoy this last week as the mother of an infant!) We are loud and completely nuts. Our boys, who couldn't be more different if they tried, are always going in different directions. Admittedly, it is a little nutty around here at times.

I figure it's a little like my dad wanting to live in the Southwest. He moved to Texas a few months ago and he loves it. He goes out hiking the various mountains and seeing all the sights in what seems to me to be the middle of nowhere. And as much as I can see that he enjoys it there, desert life just isn't something I would choose for myself if given many other options. The pictures he sends are beautiful in their own way and I know he would like to see us end up in that area of the country...but the heat! Every time I talked to him this summer I would ask him what the temperature was, knowing that it would be a triple-digit number. There would be a moment of silence when he told me and then he would say, "But it's a dry heat!" Which, to him, makes all the difference.

I've always wanted a big family. I know that it isn't for everyone. We get by on little sleep. The noise can be overwhelming, the homework neverending. The laundry! Oh, but the laundry is insane. I spend more time in the kitchen than I care to think about. Someone always needs something and someone else (Zander, cough, cough) is always getting into something he shouldn't. My entire house is cluttered and the decorative style could really only be classified as "Early primitive Lego"...but there is laughter and there is love in abundance. There is always someone with whom to read, watch a movie, snuggle, play a game, and just simply be. It is crazy in this house for certain...but it's a calm crazy and we wouldn't have it any other way.