Love the Laughter

A little disclaimer:  all the action mentioned happened 2*19*11, but I wanted to post it now.  :)

I love it when my house is packed with teenagers & I hear laughter coming from upstairs.  The playful arguing, the shrill shrieks of someone getting hit hard in sting pong, the silence for a few minutes as they are scarfing down food, but it's the laughter that gets me every time.

It takes me back... It's 1988, we're listening to Boston's 'Peace of Mind', eating Cool Ranch Doritos & M&Ms, and all us girls are watching the guys shoot pool.  (You do know that you don't play pool, you shoot it. My dad hated it when we said playing pool.)  After we were done playing upstairs we would go outside & swim in our pool.  From March to November we would swim.  Thank goodness my dad said that if we were going to have a pool we were going to use it.  Great memories! 

I guess that's why I love having my house full of kids.  Yes they are messy & they'll eat you out of house & home, but it's the memories they are making that make it worth it.  One thing I've tried to tell my kids is to make as many good (doing positive things) memories as you can because once high school is over you can never get that time back.

Oh, I hear someone singing 'Living on a Prayer'.  That one takes me back too!  Sorry, squirrel.

I wish I could go back and tell my parents thank you for everything they did for me and my friends.  They helped me have a wonderful high school experience, and I hope it's a legacy that I can pass onto my children.  But for now, I'm just going to love the laughter.

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley