baby magnet

So, we have a Wednesday ritual - my sister takes the triplets to preschool and then has the morning to herself. And I take care of the 2 yr. old boy and the 7 month old baby girl. We go get donuts, play at parks, go shopping, take walks, go to the library, and just stay out of the house in general. And everywhere we go, people think they're my kids. And let's just pretend that I don't correct them. :)

My sister has enough kids to share some with me.

my family could be a reality show...

Ever since my sister had triplets four years ago, I've thought that her family was unique. Not just in an 'everybody's special' kind of way, but more like 'everybody stares at them when they're in a store' kind of way. You know, I would stare too if I saw a mom pushing a 3 baby stroller down the street.

But crazy has a way of turning into normal. A new normal. And currently, my sister's new normal is 5 children; ages 4, 4, 4, 2, and 6 months. And I live in her basement. And sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night when the kids are crying (thunder and lightning, gotta go potty, or for no obvious reason at all) and I think to myself "I love this family." And then I think, "I should have turned the sound machine on to drown this out."

Recently, Kari gave me permission to blog exclusively on her family as if I were a reality-based t.v. producer. An insider perspective from an outsider's view. I asked if that included permission to characterize her family however I wanted. And then I told her that maybe she wouldn't want to read my blog. But it's okay, she said, she wouldn't have time for it anyway.

So today, we rode to the zoo in Saginaw (side note: Flint is not the only struggling town in mid-Michigan) and my sister's two-year old boy saw a huge Santa Claus on the side of the highway near Frankenmuth. Recognizing the familiar face, he yells out, "Jesus!" :)