Moms are wise.

Mine, I think, would be an owl if she were an animal because of all that she seems to know.
Here are 3 tips of wisdom that I learned today (ya know how they say you learn something new everyday, well I learned somethingS!!)

1. did you know that rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol or something like that) takes ink out of clothes?!?!?! WELL you're welcome, because now you do. rub/wipe/drip/wet it onto the spot, rub/pat the area, and VOILA it'll come right out.

2. FORCE YOUR KIDS TO LEARN TO PLAY SPORTS. Even if you're one of those people who says they don't care about their child being the most popular or going with what's mainstream, DO THIS FOR YOUR CHILDREN. It makes their middle school/ elementary education so much easier. When kids are accepted socially, they perform better in the educational sphere and it sets them up for better success and higher self-esteem in highschool, which, in turn can make them more successful in the "real (adult) world." So, JUST DO IT. Make them get off of their ipods, ipads, nooks, and laptops and go bounce a basketball or hit tennis balls against your wall outside. What've they got to lose?! Plus being more active will make them tired so they go to bed earlier. WIN-WIN.

3. FAMILY. PRAYERS. There is no better way to tie together a busy day of 5 different sports practices, carpools, busy work days, crazy homework loads, and all the other events that take place in a day than with a few shared moments of prayer. We usually do family dinners, too, but these prayers are good on those nights when we have to eat dinner at different times because of various meetings, appetaties, etc. Everyone has a turn to offer up a few intentions and thanksgivings, which helps us all to stay in touch with eachother's lives, and we're also glorifying God and bringing His presence into lasting family memories. More on that, but later. It's late and I'm really tired.

Those kids....

Little kids can be SO SO SO BAD!
I really hope I wasn't as bad as my siblings sometimes are...but I'm pretty sure I was a bit worse.

Sometimes, though, they're so bad but you can't help laugh at them.
And then they see you laughing and won't take you seriously #thestruggle.

Caramel syrup is delicious.
It's one of my guilty pleasures....it's great on coffee, gluten-free brownies. oatmeal, cereal, chocolate, icecream, a spoon. You name it, I'm sure you could eat caramel with it!

So today I bought Hershey's caramel syrup at the store and, of course, the little kids were all basically drooling pools and as gap-mouthed as codfish when I pulled it out of the bag.
(It's a Laville family special. Our jaws just slack open whenever there's a TV on or something delicious to eat..)
But it was 9 A.M. and I was NOT about to give them any of that till after lunch (which I calmly informed them of).
But them being kids, it being a rare delicious sugary item, and mom not being home, they had some anyway. About half the bottle.

Walk into the laundry room to pick up some socks and walk back out to see the fridge halfway open with the door moving and 6 feet poking out. One jumps, the door bumps open more widely, and CRASH! the caramel syrup busts open onto the wooden floor and starts oozing EVERYWHERE.

Caramel syrup is disgusting.
It just gets into every little nook and cranny and squeezes itself into the cracks you can't reach, like, say under the fridge splash guard..

After that crash I just stood there, dazed for a second that they'd just busted open a bottle of possibly the hardest thing to clean up ever and rejoicing that mom hadn't been home to freak out about it (she would...)
And then I just started busting out laughing because the looks on those little 9, 7, and 4 year old faces were PRICELESS. It was hilarious and I was trying to be all stern and fussy but I just couldn't help myself...

Sometimes you just gotta loosen up and laugh a little. Life is funny!
If we take ourselves so seriously all the time then we end up all glum and boring (or worse, bored!) and forget that shit happens. We clean up, duct-tape over, glue-back together whatever little messes we may make (big ones too) and survive. Sometimes you've just gotta laugh at yourself.

Well, kids, y'all one that battle. And reminded me it's okay to disrespect authority every once in a while. (I'm kidding... the moral is that bad things happen when you disrespect your elders)
And resident roaches, you're welcome.

la petite soeur

The baby of the family is undeniably everyone's favorite...
and she knows it.
Maybe it's the constant fawning over her by 9 doting family members and attention she gets out in public..
maybe.
And ya know what?
she does not like it. 
As of late this little precious, sassy 3 year old has just taken the cake with little one liners and instances of tough love toward the rest of us.
Hard to resist that cute little person
but the things she says...

I brought her on a trip to the grocery store recently, and I was chasing her down the aisle because she refused to sit in the buggy and thought it was a great idea to fill her hands and shirt with the jelly bellies from the dispenser...
Picture teenager running after toddler down the candy aisle as other people are trying to shop and avoid getting caught in the way of the chase..
and the toddler saying, loudly, "I'M NOT YOURS!"
I don't know where she got that from.....
but the looks on some of those people's faces..
"I'M NOT YOURS! LET ME PLAY, I'M NOT YOURS! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

I mean, it's bad enough getting THE LOOK from disproving older women, men, teens, sorority girls, college people, whoever... you name it, when we're out in public together, they think she's mine.
Now, though, she's acting like I'm trying to kidnap her or something.....

"I'm NOT yours! I'm NOT yours! I'm NOT yours! I'm NOT yours!" she continued shouting as I chased her down the aisle, and believe it or not, the cashiers and bag boys and other shoppers were looking slightly concerned..
So I did, naturally, what any older sister would do. I grabbed that little mess and put my hand over her mouth and tried to look serious as I was nearly dying and beat red with embarrassed laughter and didn't let go of her the rest of our trip.

That child....

It's been a long time

Since I came around, 
been a long time
but I'm back in town. 
This time I'm not leaving......

Dear non-readers, cyberspace, people randomly clicking and ending up on this blog.... I'm back.

Even though I wasn't ever really HERE here to begin with... but whatever. I started this but never really wrote much, poor bebeh blog, but I'm here now.

I started this blog intending to provide a cameo into the life of a large family and be hilarious and witty yadayadayada but that didn't exactly workout with the whole my being a student and very active eldest member OF a large family. So naturally, I tried to convince my mom to blog about our life (she's about the wisest person I know and I think would be very informative to other people raising families) but she's a little too busy being a real mom... No offense to those other supermoms out there.

Reminds me of this:

It's hanging on our fridge.
So, without much further ado, here is a weblog of my life as the eldest of 8 kids growing up in suburban America. Enjoy.