HAJ

Since this is our last post, I am going to make it super long but hopefully not boring!

In a family, you are supposed to love everyone equally even when they get on your nerves. You're not supposed to choose favorites in a family. All of your siblings are supposed to be considered some of your "best friends". In my family though, I definitely have my favorite sibling. Don't get me wrong, I love the rest of my siblings just as much. But, I don't know what I would do if this child wasn't in my life. This child just happens to be Jan Woodward.

After Joy went to Kindergarten and before my mom got her part-time job, she started to get lonely at home. I mean who wouldn't after having some child home with them for 16 years? When my mom had originally asked my dad if they could have another one, he had said no because our family was already big enough. Well, after some serious talks and coaxing from my mom he gave in. I remember the day when she announced she was pregnant. She had taken all of us out to the family room and we were sitting on the floor while she and my dad were on the couch. We thought she was going to tell us somebody was really sick or something along those lines. Then she shocked all of us when she announced that we were going to have another baby girl. All of us started cheering and hugging them. It was like we had won the world series in a game or something. She then told us that the baby was going to be named Jan Karissa Woodward.

I was so excited because those that know me well......know that I have this obsession with babies. I don't know what it is but they are the cutest things on this earth. When my mom had the baby, she needed help with the baby because she had to take care of the rest of the kids also. I was the first one to always volunteer to help. I used to sit in the rocking chair with her and rock her to sleep. I loved picking out her clothes because she wasn't at the age where she could tell me no. I'd always help giving bathes and feeding her. I guess her and I have such a strong bond because in a weird way I was like her second mom. I really took responsibility with watching this sibling. Whether is was staying home with her while my mom went to a game with the other kids or playing with her outside. I can't believe that she is 5 years old and already in Kindergarten. The time has passed so much. I have seen her grow up like nobody's business.

So many things have happened with Jan that I don't even know where to start ha. Well, I'm going to tell some stories then. One Easter, we all went outside to have our little Easter egg hunt. Everybody found the eggs and we had filled our baskets full. I had put my basket down to go play basketball with the boys. A couple minutes later I look over and see Jan taking all of the eggs out of my bag and putting them into hers. I asked her what she was doing and she replies with, "I'm finding eggs"....it was so cute I couldn't get mad. The next was when one day my mom was going to the store and had asked some of us if we wanted anything. We all told her what we wanted and all you hear from Jan's bedroom is her screaming, "I want heels"!!!! My mom was just like okay.....as she was walking out the door, Jan comes sprinting from her room yelling, "Don't forget my heels, they are very important"! It's hard to believe the things kids say at age 4. Another story is when one day her and I were at home. She came in my room so we were sitting there watching a Disney movie. I had to leave the room to go cook food and yes, I admit I was in the kitchen for quite some time. Before I left though, I specifically said, "Jan, do NOT touch anything in my room". I come back in my room and all of drawers in my dresser and organizer were thrown open with all my stuff over the floor. I asked her, "Jan, didn't I say not to touch anything" and she goes, "Umm.....I don't remember that part". I was laughing so hard I couldn't even stay mad at her.

Jan is also known as Haj. This is because at the beginning of Kindergarten, we thought she might have had a problem with writing her name. My mom opened up her packet of papers and it has "Haj" written all over them. So my mom goes, "Jan, who is "Haj"? I think you have the wrong papers". So she sent them back to the teacher with a note and the teacher replied saying that no...that's how Jan writes her name. So Jan would write her name backwards and her "n's" would look like "h's". So we just started calling her Haj.

She got a hold of my camera and told me this was her "scary" face aha.

This is her crazy dance she was doing on the way down to the beach.

My mom made her a turkey and cheese sandwich (her 2 fav things ever) and we come back in to find her asleep on top of it ahah.

She thought she was a diva in those glasses and this is her pet dog since my parents wouldn't get her a real one.

I had to add this cause she's just so cute ha.

She told me she wanted to make the same face Jill did when she would get in trouble ha.

We told her to go get gloves and bring them to the kitchen....she comes back with them on her feet telling us she was a duck.

She wanted to be a swimmer like the rest of her siblings.

The other night I came out to the family room only to find her passed out next to my brother's dog on the ground. If this isn't the cutest thing ever aha.

Thick Skin

Whenever my family and I go out, we act like perfect little angels. We put on this persona that we never have problems. If you think that my family never has fights, well you are so wrong! Not a day goes by when one sibling doesn't complain about another.

Having an older brother and younger sister has definitely taught be to have a thick skin. Our fights have definitely been the worst out of everybody in the family. When Jill and I used to share a room, I seriously thought that somedays one of us was not going to come out alive. We would fight over the stupidest things too. I would simply ask her to pick the trash off the ground and she would respond with "I didn't put it there". In my house, I don't usually hold my tongue like I do with people outside of my family. So of course I would say something back and it would turn into a wrestling match on the floor. If it wasn't a wrestling match then it would be verbal. She doesn't do it anymore but she would always bring up my weight. I would get so mad at her, I would have to walk out of the house. When she and I fight now, I just laugh at her because frankly I could care less.

My older brother and I would have really bad fights too. I have some funny stories to go along with them though. The first, it was just a regular day in the house. Little kids running around, parents yelling, birds chirping.  My brother and I got into this discussion about something. Whatever I said though pissed him off to the max. Next thing I know, he is chasing me outside in his boxers. I climb up this tree to get away from him and of course he follows. I'm not quite sure how I got out of that one...might have been my blood curdling screams that brought my mom to my safety. The second, John and I were in the car. This was before we could drive so my family was coming back from some get together. I said something to him again that set him off. When we hit the driveway, I bolted for the door. He came right after me so I ended up sprinting around these trees that we had in our front yard. He almost had me when he tripped over the tree root. He ended up spraining his ankle but I was too busy thanking my lucky stars (with an occasional chuckle). Lastly, my brother ran cross country and track so yes he was fast. Whenever I made him mad outside, he would chase me....and I knew there was no hope. So right away I would go into a fetal position on the ground which in return would make him fall over me. This was great and all until he got back up and punched me.

Having two siblings that I would always fight with has taught me to not really care about what people say. Also,  rough housing with my brother has taught me to stand up for myself. I'm not saying that I would ever pick a fight with someone but if they hit me....I'm not sure what I would do ha. Probably go into fetal position, just kidding. I would totally show them who's boss ha.

Bored? No, not me.

I know all of us have sat at home bored with nothing to do. Waiting for that text or call inviting you to do something. In a big family, I wish for those times. My family has something going on 24/7.

Everybody in my family does sports. It's something that I could honestly never see my life without. I have been playing sports ever since I could walk, it's in my blood. It all started with the swim team at age 5 and sky rocketed from there. The trend has gone through the rest of my siblings. They all swim and play other sports. We constantly have practice or a game to go to. Over the weekends, my Saturdays are usually filled with either a swim meet or soccer games. I never get tired of this though, I love going to the games and watching my siblings succeed. Plus, I want them to have those memories of their big sister being at their games cheering them on from the sidelines. I want them to know I support them in everything they do.

On to the not so fun stuff. The laundry in my house NEVER goes away. Luckily, we have a laundry room now where we can shut the door ha. Seriously though, once we get one load done someone else has brought another. Another thing that is constantly piling up is the dishes. In my family, we do not own a dishwasher. You never say that you are bored in my family because my mom will find something you can do. It is more than likely one of the two things that I just typed. So I have just learned to go back to my room, shut the door, and hope my parents forget I'm there. If not, then I'm screwed and it's clothes all night.

Oh and I changed up my playlist. Just to prove that not all of my music is country haha

Money

In a big family, we use a lot of money. We use money on doctor's appointments, sports, clothes, etc. We are constantly watching what we spend money on and seeing if there is a way to spend less of it. My sister cuts coupons out of the Sunday paper to help us for when we go grocery shopping. That payment is outrageous every time we go. Another way to help out my family with the money problem is the rule that my mom made. The rule is that when you turn 16, you have to find a job whether it's over the school year or the summer. So, the job that I got was to be a lifeguard. What's not to love....yelling at kids, at a pool, and I get a really nice tan by the end of the summer. This has really helped my family out because now that I have my own money, I don't have to ask them for money for gas. I pay for my own gas which in return has made me really conscious of how I spend my money these days. Another reason for the job is to help pay for college. My parents agreed to pay all of our tuition as long as we pay for our books. In my opinion that's a really good trade off ha. So, yes having to watch money stinks but then again it is making the kids in my family more responsible.

Responsibility

I think being the eldest girl in a family you are given more responsibility than any of the other siblings. At least this is the case in my family. I have always had more responsibility than my older brother. I'm my mom's right hand almost all of the time. She counts on me for helping out with a lot of things. Sometimes having so much responsibility sucks but after thinking of everything that my parents have done for me, I realize I just need to suck it up and do it.

Some of the responsibilities I have as the eldest girl are to watch the kids. When my mom leaves to go for a meeting or a doctors appointment, she leaves the rest of the kids with me. It is my responsibility to watch and make sure they are staying safe. When they go outside, even if I don't go out there with them. I will check on them a lot during the time they are out. It will be my butt on the line if anything should happen to them. Plus, I don't know what I would do with myself if something actually did. Another thing I have to do if my mom is gone is to cook them something to eat. Whether it's chicken nuggets for Jan or mac/cheese for the rest of the kids.

Another one of my responsibilities is driving. I am asked so many times to go pick of this or that child from school. When I don't have soccer I am more than likely going to pick my brother up from school to help my mom out. She has enough on her plate than having to go out when I'm right there and can get him easily. If it's not picking him up then it's picking up the other two girls from their school. It's not just school that I have to do, I also take them to a lot of their sporting events. On multiple occasions I have had to take Jeff and his friend to Sports Quest for their soccer practice. Which honestly I don't mind because I love sports, so it's not a big deal having to sit and watch their practice. I don't know how some people were allowed to get a license. They are freaking crazy drivers. Whenever I have my siblings or anyone for that matter in the car with me, I'm extra careful when driving. It's my responsibility to get them from point A to B in the same condition I picked them up in.

Having a big family requires team work to get stuff done. I'm not going to sit here and say I never complain about all of the stuff I have to do. That would be the biggest lie ever. In a big family you realize that it's not all about YOU, you can't be selfish. You have to help out your family to get stuff done. As I have gotten older, I have realized that by having so many responsibilities that it has helped me in the long run.

The Norm

In a big family, we do a lot of things that other families might not consider "normal". But hey, I'm sure every family has things that they do that others may not. I guess it's like to each their own.

You have the kids that get really excited for the summer because they go on vacations. Their family has rented some big beach house or they are taking a road trip. In my family, we don't really go on vacations. We have never rented a beach house. We have never traveled as a whole family to another state. I honestly can't remember the last time my family has taken a long vacation. Yes, I have gone places but that has been with friends or school. After thinking about it, I really don't have a problem with it. Growing up in a large family, I do a ton of other things with them. I feel like those things I do make up for the vacations. The fact that in a big family, you can't get everything that you want.

Another thing that we consider "normal" is going to the grocery store every couple of weeks. Some families make trips every once and awhile. With mine we go and sometimes fill almost two carts full of stuff. When my dad comes back home we create an assemble line that goes from the car to the kitchen. It definitely makes the process a lot faster.

My family doesn't eat dinner together. The only time we really eat together is during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everybody is always on different schedules that we just can't find the time. I don't find this weird either. Actually I find it more enjoyable to sit with like one sibling and eat with them rather than the others. When my family gets together there is usually always bickering and fighting. Everything could be going great and you stare at one of them wrong. The rest of the dinner goes downhill from there.

Like I said earlier in my posts, my family added two bathrooms to my house. This has helped somewhat but we still fight over them. We will all be in the car coming back from like a game or something and out of nowhere someone will yell, "I call bathroom first". Then another will yell, "I call the second bathroom". I hope you don't have to go really bad because if you don't call a bathroom, you will be waiting. Another is the shower. We all call for those too. If you're last to get to it then you will be showering with cold water because all the hot water will have been used up. I find it completely normal to fight over the bathroom and shower. I haven't really heard any of my other friends say they do this.

Everybody always asks me how I survive in a big family. It's normal to me, I don't think twice about having so many siblings anymore. They are the people that made me who I am today. Everyday brings new experiences in my family, some great and some not. I wouldn't change it  for the world though.

FOOD!

Today,  I walked into the kitchen looking around for something to cook. I opened up the pantry and the shelves were empty, except for the abnormally large amount of canned goods we have. Disappointed at finding nothing, I walked to the refrigerator hoping that there would be something in there to satisfy my hunger. Feeling optimistic I opened the fridge only to find leftovers and eggs. I then reached for the freezer hoping by chance there was something and once again I was let down. I just ended up going to Subway.

My family goes through enormous amounts of food. Every couple of weeks we have to go to the store to replenish our stock. The food products that my family goes through the fastest are milk, cheese, bread, and breakfast items. Most people think that this is crazy but it's just a normal day in the Woodward house to not have anything to eat. Whenever I invite people over to my house I always call my mom up to see if we have any food before they come over. I just feel bad when I invite them over and we want a snack but I have nothing to give them. I mean unless they want salsa because that's one thing that we never seem to run out of.

When we do have food in the house you better be sure to get it when you can. When my mom calls everybody in for dinner, you better get your butt in there right away. If you casually walk in 15 minutes later, there will more than likely be no food left. The kids in my house are vultures. They will eat everything and anything. My mom really has no sympathy for us if it happens. She will then say to go make ourselves a peanut butter and jelly sandwich......or in my case just peanut butter. Also, if there is a food product that you plan on eating at another date then you better hide it. I have learned this lesson the hard way. On multiple occasions in the morning, I would go to the kitchen to get my breakfast bar. Well, they would somehow mysteriously disappear over night. I have gotten to the point now where I put them in my closet. Yes, it is weird but you do what you have to to survive in a big family!

Like I stated above, DO NOT leave food unattended in my house. You will come back thinking it will be there and it won't. I promise you that one. For example, the other day I was cooking my favorite food....french fries! I preheated the oven because who really wants to wait forever for your food to be cooked. The oven did its thing while I put the fries on a baking sheet. I then popped them in for 20 minutes. The french fry aroma started to fill the house. I'm not gonna lie, I started to get hype that they were almost done. I walked into the kitchen and pulled them out of the oven. I left them on the stove for like 10 seconds....okay I tend to exaggerate so more like 10 minutes. I came back in and BAM just like that my taters were gone. I was so ticked. No one messes with my fries. Low and behold I found the culprits though. They were my dad and Jan. To be honest, I'm really not sure if I can ever forgive them. It might take awhile. So, the moral of the story is to not leave food you want to eat around a big family.

"Everybody Needs Somebody to Lean On"

Are you ever in a situation where you need to talk to someone or vent to them? Of course, it is only natural to have to do these things. Yeah, I guess you could go to one of your friends. Lets be honest though, most of the time the things you need to vent about are school, work, and friends. So, I usually end up talking to someone in my family. That's definitely one of the perks of having such a big family is that I always have someone that I can talk to and lean on.

My mom is the number one person I go to when I need to talk. I guess with me being the oldest girl and always helping my mom with stuff, we have a closer bond than some of my other siblings do with her. I can talk to her about anything. I go to her to talk about school, sports, life, college, work, and friends. You name it and I have probably talked to her about it. It doesn't matter what time of the day it is, I can count on her to be there for me. Sometimes when I get home really late from a game and don't expect to see anyone up, she will be the person sitting at the kitchen table wanting to hear about my day. When I have days where nothing seems to go my way, I can always count on her to be there to listen. When I tell her my problems, no matter how big or small, I feel as if they just vanish. I'm not a person that likes hugs as most of you know. But, I always give my mom a hug everyday because I honestly don't know what I would do without her.

My brother, John, and I seemed to drift apart from each other when to high school. I didn't really talk to him about anything. When I became a lifeguard and started working at the same pool as him, we started to talk a lot more. After work, he and I would go to Walmart because he would always need something for fishing. This would be the time that we talked about stuff or he would give me advice. For example, the other week when he came home we took one of our trips to Walmart. On the way there, we started to talk about college. I told him how I'm nervous but excited at the same time. He gave me some great advice. He told me that when I go to college, I need to make the most of it. That college is something we aren't going to forget. It's something that I have to do and I can't flake out on it so I need to give it all I have. He told me to make the most of every minute there, get good grades, join a lot of different clubs and activities, go to parties, and have fun. He even told me to check out some sororities for the heck of it. That being nervous in my first year was normal but this is my time to be outgoing and to meet new people. After having this talk with him, I am so hype for college! I cannot wait until next year.

I can't believe I am saying this, but yes, I even talk to Jill. I know everybody thinks that I hate this poor child. But it is not true, I promise it isn't! I'm just not all affectionate towards people like she is. Jill and I actually talk about a lot of things on our way to school. When I put on an outfit I always go to her first to see what she will say. I mean she is definitely the fashion diva in my house so I trust her opinion. I know I would be in soccer shorts and a t-shirt everyday if I had the chance. Truth be told, I talk to her about guys too. Even though she is younger than me, she gives me great advice in this area. Bradford and her have been going out for awhile now so what she tells me must not all be crap.

No offense to my other siblings but I can't really talk to them about stuff yet. Yes, I talk to my brother, Jeff, about soccer but other than that not really anything else. It's okay though because I know when they get to the age where they need someone to talk to that they have seven people to choose from.

Space

I pull into my driveway, cut my lights off, and turn the engine off. Thinking to myself as I get out of the car, "yes...finally home and ready to have some silence". I unlock the door only to hear my mom and siblings talking or sometimes yelling depending on their mood. I walk by saying hello but only thinking that I have a couple of steps left until I get to my bedroom. I quickly enter and shut the door. I let out a huge sigh of relief and lay down on my bed. But, to my dismay I hear from a distance the sounds of shoes...coming towards my room. Just as I thought, a couple of seconds later there is a knock at my door. I soon realize that no, I will not be left alone.

When you have a huge family, you will never be alone. That scenario above happens to me on a daily occasion. It doesn't matter what room of the house you go in, there will always be someone in there with you. To fix this problem, my family decided to add on to our house. Everyone thought that this would be a great idea by giving people more space. Okay yeah, so we went through the whole process and I finally got my own room after what.....14 years of sharing one? I was ecstatic about having my own room to go to when I wanted to be alone, to decorate which ever way I wanted, and the most important part to have a lock on my door. I thought that I would finally have a chance to get away from everybody when needed. I was wrong on so many levels.

I have more people come to my room these days than I did when I shared a room. For instance, the other day I was in my room. The next thing I know, my dad has invited himself into my room. He walks over to my window to only open it up and stare out it. I ask him, "What are you looking at and why do you have to look at it through my window"? He responds by saying, "Well, your room is in the back of the house and there is this cat that I want to look out in the backyard". That was such a ridiculous excuse for coming into my room. I just wanted him to leave but no, he then decided to wipe the condensation off of my window for what seemed like eternity. The most frustrating part about this is the fact that he leaves my window and door open when he leaves. If you open my door when you come in, the least you can do is close it when you leave.

It's not just your room that they barge into. It's also other rooms in the house. For example, the bathroom. The sacred place that you go to have privacy. The place that you think to yourself, "no one will bother me in here".  If you say that in my house then you are WRONG. My family can't even wait until you are done with the shower before they feel the urge to come in and have to grab something. If it's not having to get something out of there then they like to mess with you. On several occasions, I thought that I would be alone in the shower. Well my lovely brother, John, proved that thought wrong. When you are in the shower, you can't hear anything especially if you are singing like I do. My brother decided to sneak in and thought that it would be funny to stick one of his reptiles, might I add it was a snake, in the shower with me. Of course I let out this bloodcurdling scream and all I hear is laughter. That wasn't the end of his shenanigans though. Another time while I thought I was alone in the bathroom while taking yet another shower. He came in once again but this time only to have red dye in a huge bowl. He then proceeded to throw it over the top of the shower. Needless to say I did not think that it was funny at that moment but now I look back on it and you just have to laugh about stuff like that.

So for all of you that are only kids or have one sibling, appreciate the space that you have and that you can take showers in peace. I am rarely ever home alone without someone else there with me.

Why Not Change It Up?

While writing my last post, I became inspired to write on a new topic! I thought of this when writing the portion about my brother and how it was so easy to write about him. I have now decided to write about my family because there is so much to say about having such a big family. I know this decision has probably devastated some of you. But have no fear, I will keep the playlist on here for all you country music lovers!

Some of you may or may not know that I have a huge family. I am one of six children. I have an older brother, John Woodward, who is 20 and attends Virginia Tech. Then it is me and I am the second oldest. My younger sister, Jill Woodward, is 15 and she goes to Bird with me. Then next after her is Jeff Woodward who is 13 and attends Salem Church Middle School. After Jeff is Joy Woodward who is 10 and attends Bellwood Elementary. Finally, is Jan Woodward who is five and also attends Bellwood. Oh and we can't forget about the lovely people that brought my siblings and I into this world, my parents, Kathy and David Woodward.

Big families always seem to get a lot of attention. If it is not the staring then we get a lot of questions and comments. Some of them are not very intelligent. For instance, one person asked me "Are you guys really siblings"?  I did not know how to answer that question without sounding mean because from the picture above, I think that it answers itself? Oh and how can I forget about the infamous comment that everybody likes to make. When I tell people how many siblings I have they just love to say "Well we know what your parents were doing". Are you kidding me? I REALLY do not want to hear that nor have that mental image forever burned in my memory! Thanks, but those comments can really be kept to yourself. Lastly, throughout the rest of my blogs, I hope to show the pros and cons of having a huge family. Hopefully, along the way I will be able to provide some comic relief with my stories too!

Addicting Much?

When our class was first told about having to write blogs, I was not excited at all. I had no clue what to blog about. Most people were able to figure out what they wanted to blog about by the end of the class. I started to brainstorm about things that I do all of the time. Sports were the first thing that came to mind. Honestly, I could not tell you why one player was better than the next though. I finally came to the conclusion that country music was what I was going to blog about. It's definitely something that I listen to all of the time.

Believe it or not, up until a couple of years ago I never listened to country music. It was definitely not the first radio station that I would change it to. It all started the summer  before my Sophomore year. I had just become a lifeguard and was working at the pool with my brother. We would always come in an hour before opening to clean and in that time we would listen to music. Since my brother always pulled the "seniority" card on me, he would decide the station. His music of choice was country. I wasn't all for it at first. But, then I came to find out that country music is very addicting. I would find myself singing or humming the lyrics while on stand. Or when it was just my brother and I at the pool, I would belt out the words like I was the artist and he was my audience. I think what makes it so addicting is that it is a different genre of music altogether. It has a different rhythm and tone compared to other music. Country uses a variety of instruments: violin, banjo, piano, guitar, etc. Country has songs that range from being really mellow to something you can listen to at a party.For instance, "Red Solo Cup" by Toby Keith is a great party song (you might not like it but believe me, the lyrics will get stuck in your head). Most country songs bring this calmness over you and all you want to do is just picture yourself "knee deep in the water somewhere" like the Zac Brown Band would say. Country songs tell a story whether it be about finding love or losing love.

Whenever anybody hears that you like country music, they automatically assume that you are a "redneck". But that accusation is false because there are so many diverse groups of people that listen to country. It could range from your teacher, to a police officer, or even a professional athlete that enjoys this music. Unfortunately, many people won't even give it a chance. Maybe by the end of my blogs, some of you will start to enjoy country music the way I do.