Explanations :) Warning, its long!

So, if you follow me or check in on me, well, EVER. You probably know not to look for a post when I say I'm going to post. My New Year's resolution this year is to be more consistent, but also to be a woman of my word & to do something when I say I'm going to do it.

It's not that I do it intentionally, but I tend to get my priorities out of order most days. I'm working on that.(and working on actually loading the pictures from the memory card to the computer so I can post them, instead of just words!) Last week, Rachel's birthday week, was a lot crazier than even I could have imagined! Rachel is just as social as her mother. And her father. Really, our kids are cursed when it comes to being able to talk. Chuck & I just don't usually shut our mouths :) So, Rachel wanted to invite quite a few people to her birthday party. I did put an RSVP on the invitations, but I don't think many people pay attention to those anymore. We had a "Tangled" theme for her party -Her first "friends" party.  There were some really cute party ideas on familyfun.com. I decided it would be fun to put together a few of the crafts; hair ties & birthday lanterns for the girls, pub thug armor for the boys. I had made them so that the kids could help me with the last step to feel like they had made them. Really fun, pretty easy, no big deal. I got RSVPs for 10 kids. I got everything prepared to have 10 kids plus our 3, & a couple extra, just in case....

Apparently, no one has ANYTHING to do the week after New Years, because we had TWENTY-TWO kids all together!!! All 5 years old & younger -Not including Sara (11 mo) or my nephew, Orion (9 mo). WHEW! So, kids just kept coming. We were playing "Duck, Duck, GOOSE" while we waited & we started having to move furniture around to accommodate the game circle! I was freaking out at that point, because I knew I didn't have enough party favors to give everyone. My mom & my SIL, Teresa, started helping me cut out more pieces for the stuff, but there was just no way we could have finished everything AND let the kids do the last steps. Bah!

Chuck got home with the pizza & we had nowhere NEAR enough places for everyone to sit. SO, they sat on the floor, at the table & at the counter, while we prayed that no one would spill!

Since the party favors were quickly going down the drain, I had no idea what to do with the rest of the time we had! Chuck is my HERO. He started showing the kids really lame magic tricks. THEY LOVED IT! They though he was the coolest thing, even though he was a complete goober. They had a blast. We went totally out of order & let Rachel open gifts next. MAYHEM! All 21 kids had to stand right next to her to see what she was getting, ha ha!

The cake was supposed to be a tower they all made together (yes, everything was ready, but not put together, so she had no cake :(  ). We had cupcakes for everyone, so they ate those & sang "Happy Birthday" to Rachel. It was complete CHAOS, but it was fun. I got to know Rachel's friends from preschool better & she got to hang out with her "boyfriend," Ashton ;) ...and a couple of other boys who were vying for her attention!  I think we'll have our hands full in a few years with her!!

Anyhow, things have finally calmed down after Thanksgiving through now.
We had:

• Thanksgiving
• Sam's 4th birthday
• Chuck's finals at school
• Family Christmas parties
• Christmas Eve & Christmas
• New Years celebrations
• Rachel's 5th birthday
• Chuck starting a new semester

Probably a lot was the same for all of you! Now, I'm working on finding balance. We have WAAY too much stuff in our house, so we're sending a box to DI every week! It feels so good to let it go. I'm a sentimental person, but I can't stand having so much stuff to clean/put away/store/step on! I'm decluttering the house, my brain, our files & the computer! The last week, I have been able to work on balancing being crafty, being spiritually fed, cleaning, cooking, playing with my beautiful children, working my Mary Kay business, being best friend to my husband & getting some time to just relax, too. It has felt really good!

Sorry this was so long. Lots of Kudos to you if you made it through that, ha ha!