building cars

When Holly and I had Jane and Savannah we did everything together. We shopped together, ate a lot of meals together, and went on fun adventures together. Almost daily. Then we added Max and Benjamin to the mix. Somehow we still managed to do most everything together. We fit nicely into Holly's van, and with no kids in school and Mom working every other day we had a pretty flexible schedule. On any given day all 7 of us could be found at Costco, Target, Smith's Marketplace, The Gateway, Fashion Place Mall (to fill our pound gift certificates at Sees) or any other local establishment. It was a little comical. Sure it got hectic but we realized that the time would soon come when it would no longer be feasible to load into one car and go wherever we wanted, any time we wanted.

The birth of Ruby brought a lot of joy, and also the realization that if we wanted to all drive somewhere together that two cars were necessary. Unless Mom didn't join us, then we would cram all five kids into the car and be on our happy way. Now, this isn't to say that we didn't encounter our challenges toting around 5 kids 5 and under, but we tried to focus on how lucky we were to live so close to each other.

Then Jacob came a long. Not only could we not fit into one car, but with the girls in school on alternate schedules and Mom working every day we had to accept the realty that our pick up and go days were over. But this was also the introduction to a new way of doing things. Grandma would call to arrange Grandma/Granddaughter dates and sleepovers or to pick the girls up from ballet, or to watch Savannah at her tumbling class. Finally this last week she decided that the boys were old enough (or that she was brave enough) to have them accompany her on a Grandma/Grandson date. The destination? Home Depot to make wooden race cars. The result? Total success!!

Sure, we have six kids between the two of us, and sure that can be a little crazy. But I'm so grateful to live close enough to family that we can take part in each other's lives. It's a blessing for sure.