My Little Tasmanian Devils

I walked into my living room to find this situation.  No, my home had not been burglarized.  It had been  played in by my children.  


My children who are cute but resemble offspring of the spinning Tasmanian Devil in Looney Tunes.  Leaving destruction and mayhem in their wake.


A storm delayed our plans for the pool yesterday.  So instead my children spun from room to room destroying, I mean playing.  While I frantically tried to keep some sort of order, I didn't get too worked up about it.  They were mostly laughing with each other.  They were mostly getting along.  And that is priceless and so totally worth the mess to me.


That's the great thing about my little devils.  They are easily pleased and entertained.


Once the rain and clouds broke, we went for a walk to the grocery store with a quick stop at the Dollar Store.  The kids loved spending their $2 on junk treasures they very slowly carefully picked out.

Back at home, the kids enjoyed the hell out of ice cold water from a hose and a baby pool.  The baby pool which I have had since my oldest was, well, a baby.  Sure they find new ways to jump off the top of the slide and rig up a mini trampoline to enhance it and make it a little less baby.  

I am amazed at how they manage to still have so much fun with it.


They do have fun together.  Do not be alarmed however, they are normal children.  I broke up two potential fist fights between the older boys, gave the baby a million time outs for spitting on everyone, a baseball was thrown at one child which resulted in a bloody lip, their new favorite insult is to call each other a doofus and there are about five thousand other examples of how normal they are.


But what I love about my kids is at the end of the day they love each other and have fun.  And ask to sleep in the same room slumber party style.

Just in case you forgot what the Looney Tunes "Taz" was like, here you go:

Silly Things (and a Top Moment of 2011)

It's been quite a year...
Looking back through pictures  I can tell you a few things for sure:
My family loves eye black.

I am not afraid to get real.
Here are a few of the not-so-top moments of 2011 too.

My Nick Nolte moment.

This one happened last week when JT said "stand together with your arms at your sides so I can take a picture."  We are good listeners, but it's really not the most flattering picture.

Life is FUNNY.

Life is silly too.  And we need to do silly things.  

My sister isn't known for being silly.  She is the serious big sister caretaker, get it done kind of gal.  My whole life I have looked to her for approval, love and what to do to get things done.  This past summer she turned 40 and we celebrated with a trip to Hilton Head together, with the rest of our families.  Our kids enjoyed the beach, the ocean (minus the damn jellyfish attacks), the fancy house, the great food....but when I asked Lucy what her favorite part of the trip was, she said it was "when you and Aunt Dana jumped in the pool with your clothes on."  Okay? Really?  Cuz that was free.  But it wasn't just free, it was silly.  

Silly and free and fun.

And unexpected.  Me jumping in the pool, silly, but maybe they all saw it coming (I am not known as the serious sister, shocking I know).  But my big sister Dana jumping in fully clothed and at night?  That shit is crazy.  And simply fun and wonderful.  

That is why it is a top moment for me from 2011.