3 moms, 16 kids

Gee, that nearly sounds like a reality tv show.  Well, it's not a show, but it is reality!  Between myself and 2 of my good friends, we have 16 children.  5 sets of twins and 6 singletons.  Age range-nearly 11 years to 6 months old.  10 boys, 6 girls.  So what's it like when we get together?

Total chaos fun!!  Children interacting with each other, learning to get along, learning to cater to the little ones, learning that their moms sure do talk a lot and tell them to go away and find something or someone to play with!  We eat a lot of food, make a bunch of messes, and I for one give a lot of thanks for these terrific families we have come to know and love.  On Tuesday we all had the opportunity to get together......and hey, we only had 11 kids in attendance!!  What a breeze!

Laurel was in heaven oogling over HArrison.  She kept on smiling and laughing as he pulled her hair!

He was pretty smiley too...how could he not with three sweet girls giving him their affections?!

And how cool is it to have friends that just like to hang out...even if it's just on the wall of the yard with feet  perched on a rock.  They were awaiting the arrival of Catherine, Cloe, Seth, Sam and Harrison......

And how cool is it to build your very own outdoor fort made for as many friends as can squeeze in?  Lunch time still felt like playtime.....and considering how much they ate off their plates, I think they actually forgot that it WAS lunch time!  Oh well, no matter....

Because we bribed them to eat a little bit more so that they could earn the coveted McCarthy Special-AKA bombpops!!!  Not pictured are the 6 month old and 9 month old twins.....and of course all the big kids that were in school......

As a young mother, I hoped and prayed that I would find what Anne of Green Gables called 'kindred spirits'.  Heather and Autumn.....I can't imagine this journey without you!  You are comedic relief when needed, a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear to call on, and kindred spirits in this journey of raising our terrific kiddos. I look forward to years of pictures like these!