8 kids.

Texas recently experienced a northern Idaho-like ice/snow storm. 

For the last two weeks of January, Lee rotated with his dad in McKinney. Rather than commute the hour each way, we opted to make a family vacation out of it. We spent the first week with the Ragsdales, and the second with the Grahams. I had been previously hired to babysit my Aunt n Uncle's Six kids for the first week of February so Lee headed home alone...that was the week it snowed...

My dear aunty had outlined the daily schedule for her kiddos for me. Her kids span from age 13 down to age 1. Essentially I had 2 Grahams, 2 Evas and some older kids too! She had even arranged that the two youngest kids would play over at a friends house during school hours which left me free to go play with my family (who lives five min away). It was a nice plan. 

The parents left Monday morning, I picked everyone from school and lessons, and during dinner it started raining. Then is sleeted all night. It was quit a raging storm, even for Texas standards. I was awake for a large part of the night listening to the baby monitor (I have to say that I hate those things. I have never used one and found it extremely hard to sleep with) listening to the storm against the window, and watching the clock until 6 am. The school posts whether it will cancel by that time and so I got up and checked the website. 15 mins later, the school called with an automated message of the cancellation and assuring that school would resume the next day. Then Graham came sneaking in wanting to snuggle at 7. Dallas came and asked if they could watch TV at 7:30. Everyone was up and hungry by 8. Whatever happened to sleeping in on a snow day?

We woke up to a good 1/2-3/4 inch of solid ice covered in fresh morning snow! The rest of the week continued in a similar fashion. Every day school was cancelled, but presumed to open again the next day. It kept us all in suspense man! The temp never got warm enough to melt the snow and ice on everything. Texans were in a pickle since we were not equipped to deal with the roads! Everyone just stayed home.We spent the bulk of the daytime with my family that week. It certainly helped me with taking care of all the kiddos and I even got to take a couple naps. It was loads of cousinly fun. Luckily, Graham is potty trained but the little boy his age is not yet, so that only made for 3 kids in diapers during the last week of my first trimester! haha, it sounds worse that it was. I only threw up a little bit ;)

I love my cousins and I love a house full of kids. Even 8 kids full. But give them to me one at a time, please.