This is how we roll...

You know you are big family when this is your ride.

Never really in a million years did I picture myself tooling around town in what my kids lovingly call our "custom van."  My in-laws sold it to us last week and gave us a beyond generous deal.  It actually works out really nicely--all the baseball equipment fits in the back, the kids can spread out and the kids fighting in the back are so FAR back I can't hear them.


It is strange that my minivan is now our small family car.  It is strange to be driving a vehicle that seems just a bit smaller than my house.  Seriously.  But it works.


When we decided to have our third child people raised their eyebrows and said "oh, good for you" or "you're brave."  Followed by laughter.  We didn't know that many people with three kids.  


When we decided to have our fourth child people raised their eyebrows and didn't say anything.  Maybe it was because as I mentioned our house isn't much bigger than a custom van.  Maybe it was because it was at the height of the recession.  Maybe it was because Octo-mom was all over the news.  But people didn't say anything.


Now when I go out with all the kids people say "you're a saint" which I believe is code for "you're crazy."  I hear "are they all yours?" and "you've got your hands full" at least twice a day.  


Sometimes I feel like I am crazy, but it works.  Tim and I said we wanted 10 years of toddlers in the house and we have had that.  But honestly we didn't really think about what all those years of teenagers would look like.


Our little house is jam packed full of lots of noise, it is never clean, toys are everywhere.  It is also jam packed with so much music, laughter and love.  It works.
And way in the back of the van they aren't always fighting.