This. This picture says it all: normal. OUR normal.

I grew up in a house full of girls and one younger brother (who turned out to be awesome, I might add; we raised him well). Now I’m raising a house full of boys with one little sister.

And she’s sitting in the middle of the fort-building, lightsaber-weilding, swimming-noodle-war. Just looking at me.

I wonder what she’s thinking.

Mama? Are they ever going to calm down?

Mama? Why are they SO loud?

Mama? They’re kind of fun to watch.

Mama? They’re crazy.

And probably Mama…I LOVE them.

I always wanted older brothers. When I married into the Larsen family, I got tons of awesome brothers instantly. But starting out with all these boys of my own, from babies to now, has been quite the adventure.

I’m always asking Mike, “Should they be doing that?” And usually his answer is, “Yep, yep, they’re boys. That’s normal.” I once saw a sign that said ‘Boy (noun): a noise with dirt on it.’

Normal for us is things like:

Going out and digging in a huge hole daily in our backyard for a trampoline so it can be as safe as possible — because we already had two broken arms last year (and they were completely unrelated to trampolines)…

Levi not having a volume control button…EVER… ‘nough said…

Zachary asking for his vitamins every morning (he wants his ‘Kiddie Boost’ immune system drops because he thinks it’ll make him more like his cat)…

Pillow fights, sock wars, gun duels, nerf battles, and even who-can-throw-the-other-kid-the-farthest…

Mike asking things like, “Is there any blood? No? Well, then he’s not hurt.”

Owen walking in circles around you while he talks to you because that’s usually the best way for him to vocalize and communicate effectively (sensory processing — and yes, sometimes we feel like owls)…

Hearing a constant barrage of homemade sound effects for every sound you could ever imagine…

Squawking, squawking, and more squawking from Bria…and then more squawking…

Somebody walking in and seeing me *trying* to do a Yoga Booty Ballet DVD, taking one look at the TV and exclaiming, “Mama, those girls are NOT modest” and then having me fail at explaining how some girls exercise in sports bras…

Kicking, punching, jabbing, smacking, and pinching to show brotherly ‘love’…

Puddles of yellow on the toilet seat, next to the toilet seat, on the wall, on the floor — pretty much everywhere BUT inside the toilet bowl…

Benjamin yelling, “Aaaaaaand ACTION!” as he directs his siblings in all of his movies, which almost always end up about zombies or monsters in some way…

Zachary crying…again…because of something nature calls The Pecking Order…

Me ‘ooh’ing and ‘ahh’ing over the adorable, girly things Bria gets to be dressed up in on Sundays for church — and then presenting her to all the boys and having them do the same thing…

Laughing fits over Just Dance competitions on the Wii… (You don’t want Mike on your team…shh…I didn’t say that; to be fair, you don’t want me on your team, either)…

Yelling… Yeah, we yell…dangit…

Benjamin wanting to pull all-nighters and thinking he can sleep way in just because he’s homeschooled (“That’s the whole reason we homeschool, Mama.” Um, no, it’s not, Squirt.)…

Lots of happy tail wags from the dogs and loud purrs from the cats…and messes to go along with…

Bandaids. LOTS and LOTS of Bandaids.

Bloody noses…yep, lots of those too…

Me wishing I could have some Me time…and staying up too late at night to try to fit some in…

Vacuuming, sweeping, and vacuuming again, but having Bria STILL be able to use her pincer-like thumb and forefinger expertise to pick up the teensiest, tiniest speck of something off the floor — and of course snacking on it…

Mike pulling muscles in his legs — twice — when he tried to race one of his boys…

Things breaking — ALWAYS things breaking — glasses, toys, dishes, furniture, windshields (HOW many times did we say to not climb on the car??!!)…

Levi making EVERYONE laugh — A LOT — generally when doing something or saying something kinda naughty…

Minecraft and Roblox and playing with friends…

Everyone wanting bedtime stories read to them, and even the kids reading them to each other (melt)…

Dirty dishes, dirty diapers, dirty tables, dirty windows, dirty laundry, dirty anything and everything…

Owen mastering some extravagant new block-building creation program on the computer (that he spent hours and hours making)…

Food. The absolutely insane amounts of food eaten in this household (2 dozen eggs for breakfast — easily. We need chickens.)…

Running to play practice, running to a homeschool field trip, running to a dentist appointment, running errands, running to church, running to scouts, running to a play group, running to a singing event, and of course Mike always running to work or Rotary and Scoutmaster stuff and volunteer stuff and community stuff and everything else…

Trying to slow down and not run so much…

…and tons, tons more, filled with a combination of hugs and kisses and I Love You’s and I Don’t Like You Right Now’s and smiles and tears and laughs and screams and energy and exhaustion and everything in between…

Yeah. That’s a start on what our Normal is.

And I wouldn’t change one ounce of it.