You know you have a large family when…

It’s been a crazy but wonderful holiday season at the Sayer/Giles home.

Thing with GMA are moving forward.  My good friend Rick Egan filmed five video segments the producers requested this morning and we are submitting them tomorrow.  They will narrow the field to a top ten next week – so stay tuned to find out what happens.

We had eight kids at our house for Christmas this year and it has been a blast.  I have to say, last Christmas was the worst I’ve ever had… and this Christmas was probably my best ever.

In spite of the fact that the storms have ripped the siding off the house, the water heater is leaking and the presents under the tree were lean to say the least.

It was all about having the man of my dreams, my soul mate and best friend by my side – and these amazing kids who mean the world to us!!!!

Patrick is so good to me and is adjusting well to having this huge crazy family!  When I read the following about big families though, I laughed my head off and decided I had to share them with you.

You know you have a large family when…

The combined mileage on your cars is 1,000,000 miles (and you haven’t left your suburb in seven years).

Your children have so many T.V’s, computers, stereos and blow dryers, you single-handedly keep the utility company in business.

No one invites you over for Sunday dinner anymore.

You have a laundromat in your basement (it’s open all night and you still can’t find an empty machine).

Santa has to use a “wide load” sleigh and 16 reindeer to haul everything down to you.

Your monthly grocery store receipt is 4 figures (the commodities market rallies every time you go shopping.

You use a whole box of oatmeal and whole loaf of bread to make breakfast.

Your driveway looks like a used car lot.

The breakdown of the dishwasher is a family crisis second only to running out of toilet paper.

By the time you’re 18, you have considerably more parenting experience than many young parents you know.

Two hotel rooms and two cars are considered normal for long trips.

You wonder why milk even comes in 1-quart containers.

There is an extra person at the dinner table and you don’t notice until halfway through the meal– because that person is six people down the row from you.

The orthodontist loves your family.

Your father can no longer remember your name so he has to go through everyone else’s before he gets to yours.

You’ve considered a career as a lawyer, as arguing comes naturally to you.

Your main staple diet growing up consisted of spaghetti, lasagna, stew, casseroles, or anything else that could be easily cooked in huge batches.

Sitting on the toilet is having a 3-minute break from the crowd.

In order to get a piping-hot shower in the morning, you have to wake up around 3:00 am.

Upon hearing your last name, your new teacher on the first day of high school looks darkly at you and intones meaningfully,  ”Oh, another one.”

You know where the bathroom is in any major store you visit.

Your grocery budget is higher than your house payment.

You know what to use to remove lipstick, shortening, and marker from any surface.

You are certain one of your kids is sneaking rolls of toilet paper out of the house and selling them because you know there is no way they could be using that much of it, even if there ARE a lot of bottoms in your house.

When you go to order fast food, you order 6 hamburgers, one with ketchup only, one plain, one with no pickles or onions, two with no pickles, onions or mustard, and one with nothing but cheese, plus one fish sandwich, one chicken sandwich, one large hamburger, and one large hamburger with bacon. You then have to repeat yourself three times so the person at the window can get it right.

You can quote entire pages from Dr. Seuss without having to pause to think about it.

You know, and are thankful, that when they get too old to send to their rooms, that possession of the car keys gives you the ultimate power!

When the first two kids move out, you can’t believe how much smaller your family feels.

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I borrowed some of these ideas from:

http://www.caramia.us/human-nature/you-know-youre-from-a-large-family-when/

Laura Wheeler at   http://www.megafamilies.com/index.php/large-families/large-family-humor/mother-of-many.html

by Cherly Moeller More at www.momlaughs.blogspot.com

Check them out to read more.