20 years...

Hubby and I have been married 20 years now.  Friends of mine sent their condolences to hubby...  but added that he certainly can't complain about the years being dull!

Sooooo... how do you celebrate 20 years with a houseful of teens?  We solved that dilema.  Gadget Girl cut her hair.  REALLY cut her hair...  Ten minutes before hubby arrived home to head out for dinner, I had a hysterical, crying child with a funny looking head of hair.  What to do?  Walk out on the crying child or postpone 20th anniversary dinner?  Ok... I'm a sucker for tears.  And hubby didn't cry when I told him we'd be leaving a little late.  He did stomp around a bit and mutter my name in vain under his breath, but no tears.  I can handle stomping.  A couple hours later, the hair was reasonably mended, the kids were fed and we finally got to leave....  Hmmmm... yeah.... Never a dull moment around our house!

A few days later, the long anticipated prom arrived.  Oldest child looked beautiful!  In all her preadolescent dreams, she never anticipated going to her junior (or senior) prom 8 months pregnant.  Boy... I sure didn't either!  But she had a wonderful time.  Her feet got tired from all the dancing!

Gadget Girl helped out with the horse-drawn carriage rides as a groom.  She's on the far right with the new hair do... 

As we were snapping photos at the prom, hubby and I did a quick kid count.  Youngest was sleeping over at a friends house, Sassy Girl was spending the night with Nana and Boppa and oldest two were busy with prom.  We had a second chance at going out for our anniversary!  The second celebration was relaxed and unhurried.  I guess 20 years comes with plenty of time for second chances.  Or, perhaps, without second chances, we never could have made it 20 years...

A few more quick things that have made me smile in the past weeks...

One day, the teacher I am working with left early for a class.  A few minutes after she left, a child came back from the restroom with an answer for me.  (An answer?  I didn't remember asking any questions....)  But she had a very serious message to relay.  Miss G. was still in the office and she wanted this kiddo to tell me that I was "mag...ni...fi...cent!"  Love it!  What fun to see the utter seriousness of a child trying to pronounce such a long and wonderful word :o)

Our family almost always eats dinner together.  Sometimes it is rushed and busy with people heading off in different directions.  But last week, we had an evening with all 4 girls sitting around the table for half an hour after everyone finished.  Laughing, talking, sharing.  Sassy girl was giggling & giggling at her sisters and adding her cheery, "bo!  bo!  bo!" to the chatter.  It was wonderful!

And oldest child sorted all eight loads of clean laundry one day.  Without being asked!  She just wanted to give me a hand!

And, band.  On Tuesday, our conductor stopped mid-song to laugh at the trombone section.  (I know we're goofy, but most of our joking around is between songs.)  This song was a doozy.  I guess our looks of extreme focus and utter determination to hit the right notes was pretty commical....  Gotta love a band that can laugh together!

Well... I have to run!  Have a good day!  Enjoy laughs about little things!