Cheaper by the Dozen

I ended up babysitting eight kiddos last week, including my two. It was a cousin-tastic kind of day. To be fair, two are teenagers, so they helped considerably. I thought my mind would be boggled and perhaps it was a little bit by the end of the day, but truthfully, I enjoyed it. I certainly heard phrases like “I’m hungry…I need to go the bathroom…I want a drink…I’m hungry again” more times than I care for in one day. But I think I kind of like the “cheaper by the dozen” lifestyle.
It was a busy day, but it was packed with smiles and fun. Eight little smiling faces made sure of that, and the teenagers were more helpful than ever before, because after all, they kind of have to be with that many kids around!
The four little boys explored and went on many missions to the tree house, and the girls played dolls and held the real-life baby. Occasionally, they came out to spy on each other or prank one another. We even had a picnic lunch. They built a new fort on a hill, and at the end of the day, we made a campfire. That was the best idea I had all year. That campfire provided hours of fun as they boys scoured the yard for sticks to throw in.
I’m not too big on New Year’s resolutions but I just so happened to accomplish something I’ve been longing to do on New Year’s Eve. We finally found a good deal on a storage shed and got it delivered, something I’ve been putting off for quite awhile. What a relief it is to get it done.
As a bonus, my “shed” was really a custom-built playhouse that was no doubt built by some loving grandpa years ago. It looks like a little log cabin with a porch, so my son loves it. There’s plenty of room for storage and a little fun-space too. The porch is Tucker’s new “base” of operations. So I guess we officially have four “forts/tree houses” now.
We stayed home that night, dog tired from carrying boxes to the new shed, but we got the most excellent firework show we could ever ask for by walking outside and looking all around us at midnight. The sky was filled with huge, beautiful firework shows, and we had an almost 360 view of 4 or 5 neighboring properties. Daddy popped a few little ones for us too, which Tucker thoroughly enjoyed.
Happy New Year! Mine’s been pretty productive so far. Gotta go now…my son’s a calling, and I think it’s time to go build the first fort of the New Year!