Merry Fishes to All!

We've listened to Trout Fishing in America's Merry Fishes album infinity times the past few weeks!

Today was a blur but was so nice and relaxing! Our family does a traditional gathering on Christmas Eve (because it was always the time that we exchanged gifts with our siblings) and this year was very special. For the first time in a long time ALL seven siblings were together with ALL seven of our children (so far) with ALL of our spouses and our parents. This has not happened in a while. In fact, I cannot remember a Christmas in recent memory that we have all been together. Needless to say there were tons of flashes!

It started out like a nightmare. Last evening Bug Boy vomitted all over his bedroom floor and we could not quite figure out what caused it, other than his reflux issue and food allergies. It turns out that Bugaboo jumped on his stomach a moment before the puking event, causing Bug Boy to lose his lunch (and dinner). It did not help that he had McD's for lunch and drank chocolate milk, a big no-no.

This morning, just before we left to go to my sister's house for our gathering, Bugaboo fell trying to climb the tree (third time!) and hit his face on the piano AGAIN, biting through both sides of his bottom lip. I was running an errand and was gone for FIVE minutes. Darling was supposed to be getting them in the tub then (haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet) and when I walked in the kids were in the tub and it looked like a murder scene in my kitchen. After mopping that up, packing the car and loading in the kids ( I had two extra since my niece and nephew spent the night), Bugaboo cried the WHOLE WAY to my sister's, a good forty-five minutes. When we arrived he took five minutes to slam his hand in a door and cut his hang. Then he
clung to one or both of us for the first hour. He was fairly cranky.

Once everyone arrive and mass chaos ensued (it gets DARN LOUD with our group! The husbands/wives sit in the corners with a glazed-over look on their faces while the sibs chat it up.) things were fun. The gift exchange went smoothly and we all got to see what everyone else got, a first for us. It was so nice to have all of us together! We joked and reminisced and told stories to the kids and they all ran around together and played. They love to get together with their cousins, they are as close as siblings. I feel so proud to see them all together, I realize that despite some strange issues growing up my parents are leaving us with an amazing legacy. We have a large, happy family that loves each other very much. I feel so fortunate to have that, I know not everyone does.

We are now home and I've packed to go to SIL's tomorrow. We'll spend the night, return home and then pack for Tennessee. The next few days will be crazy!

Oh, and if you get the chance, stop by Rachel's and tell her what you think about blogging...