brotherly, motherly love

i consider myself pretty darn lucky to have married into a big family of (mostly) boys. growing up, it was just me and my younger sister, and i kinda always wondered what it might be like to have some fellas around in the mix. matt comes from a family of 7, with 5 brothers and one sister, all of them are pretty close in age, too. there's dan, kari, matt, ben, josh, jeremy and ed, or "dude" as he is known in the family.

in a recent email exchange with my mother in law, i became even more impressed with her superwoman-supermama-like abilities. we were chatting about pregnancy, and all the stuff that comes along with it. and from what i could tell, the pregnancy part of things seemed to really be a breeze for her. in fact, i often get the feeling the whole darn thing was pretty easy for her. she's one of those women who is just an absolute patient pro at motherhood. i think because she just loved it so, so much.

and how could she not? look at those faces!

in later years though, when little sweet babies grew up into young boys, you'd think maybe she could have gone nuts, or found herself completely exhausted. just imagine- all those boys being boys! but my mother in law would never tell it like that. she loved having all those kids, loved every minute of it. and reminiscing stories to this day, you can tell she'd go right back in time if she had the opportunity.

raised in wyoming, matt tells stories of how they used to catch black widows and scorpions and bring them home and hide them in the house. they'd take off on their bikes and be gone for hours at a time, not telling mom a thing. they'd go through gallons of milk in a day. and don't even get matt started on how soda was such a hot commodity. he was maybe 10 or so at the time, and he thought he'd come up with a brilliant solution to hide a couple of cans of soda in the back of the toilet, reserving them all for himself whenever his little heart should desire. little did he know, his younger brother, ben, was onto him and when matt confidently strutted his way in one day to fetch himself a can o'coke, guess what! no cokes! ben was somewhere enjoying them, along with the last laugh too, i bet.

it's the funny stories like this that make me ask matt, "wasn't it just so much fun, growing up with all those siblings?!", to which he jokingly replies, "um, no!". but the truth is, it was. just think of all the all the memories- the birthdays, the christmas times at grandmas, the fishing trips, and most importantly, the friendships + bonds they have between them. 

i'm lucky to call them all family today, and wish that i had known them way back when.

sending a very special happy birthday today to my brother in law, ben. matt and i wish we could be there to take you out for a birthday dinner full of laughs and good times. have a slice of cake for us!

we love you!

Comments

[jenifer]

i love that photo of the two boys with their trucker hats on fishing - so awesome.

[SeaBird]

I loved reading this post - what a wonderful tribute to a seemingly wonderful mother-in-law (wow - I thought that was an oxymoron!).

[cindy]

Hi Jenny -- Wow! That's so nice of you to say Miss Freckelwonder! I think you give me too, too much credit . . . but you're right about my wanting to go back in time. I often wish I could spend just one more day with all seven of my munchkins as little kids again. I'd take time to just enjoy. Love, damudda

[Alison]

What a lovely post, and such fab photos too.
Happy Birthday to Ben.
love Alison x

[Ben]

This was the best gift of all! Thanks
Ben

[Scribbler]

I love those old pictures like that, particularly from the 70s. Gotta love the era!

[joanna goddard]

such amazing photos. also i LOVE your shop. i have just discovered you and i'm so glad i have! joanna