Just like every other holiday....

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday. Ours sucked here. It poured all day long leaving us cooped up in the house with four kids, three cats, and eventually a barking dog. My sister and her family came for a week's vacation arriving Saturday evening. Derick and Ezra (my oh-so missed dog) showed up last night. It is complete chaos. My sister has a three year old daughter, Abigail. If it wouldn't take me all night I would post a picture of her because she is cute as a button, but she wears me down. She is a handful to put it nicely. The one thing I am totally not used to is the dramatics, she can work it, let me tell you, and it can go on for hours. She is moved to tears by the smallest action and then can turn on a dime and cross those arms and stomp her feet and let us all know that she WILL NOT do as she is told and how dare we even suggest such nonsense. OHHH...and the lying....she can throw a story down in the drop of a hat, she doesn't miss a beat. When I found her outside with the air vent covers from the study and asked her where she got them she instantly told me...."out back in the woods". Poor Jacob looks like a deer caught in headlights when she is caught doing something and she will say Jacob made her do it when it's obvious he didn't. BUT, the kids are having a great time together and I am glad they are having this opportunity to spend some quality time, just hope they can go outdoors tomorrow. It is quite weird to have them here without Laura. My friend called the other afternoon and Jacob answered the phone and was telling her all about who was here, naming each one and then he said, "but Laura can't be here, she's not alive anymore" and then kept on talking like that was such a normal thing to say. Linsey (her sister) keeps referring to her in the present tense and I can't get a grasp on whether that is just a slip or if it is a defense mechanism. She has never seemed bothered by the fact that the sister she was so close to has passed away, spending these few days with her I am kind of feeling like she is in denial or something. It's just extremely strange. Of course, I have never had a sibling die so I don't know what is "normal" there, but I am sad for her because here she is a twelve year old with only preschoolers for company. I have tried to do some things with her, but we never had the relationship I had with her sister. Linsey and I (and everyone else) have always had issues. She is just a hard kid to be around, it's like she was born with an attitude and I don't think she likes my family much. She isn't very nice to Jacob, but she's sneaky about it. My sister is totally oblivious to the things she does and thinks she can do no wrong. I think if they don't get a clue soon the shits gonna hit the fan in a couple more years when she goes to high school, but I can't bring that up to my sister without her going off, so I just keep my mouth shut and try to keep my kids away from her. They are leaving Saturday morning so I think I can keep everyone busy enough to keep the chaos from getting out of hand for that long. Now if only the weather would cooperate.