our newest {and biggest!} addition to the family

We are the slightly embarrassed, scared, Jon & Kate plus 8-ish looking proud owners of a new vehicle.
a 12-passenger Chevy Express 3500 -- pretty cool, huh? I bet you wish you had one too!

Since we are due to outgrow our mini-van as soon as #6 arrives on the scene, we upgraded to what I like to think of as the "maxi pad". You know :: mini van . . . maxi pad. Plus, won't that nickname make great roll-the-eyes, embarrassing childhood, weird parent stories when the kids are older? Yup, I thought so! Great for the sibling bonding, I tell you.

The kids {Superman included} are really excited!

They never have to share a row with more than 1 other kid. No more 3-kids-across backseats with lots of "He/she touched me" and fighting. Oh, I'm not naive enough to think their won't still be fighting, but at least they won't be pressed up against one of their siblings.

I, on the other had, am a little intimidated. I passed the "Chuck Sorlie School of Church Van Driving" long about the early 90's, but haven't driven anything this large and beastly for quite some time. YIKES! Watch out Roseville, here I come {for your safety, you'll be able to spot me from a mile away}! So far I've driven it down the block {to pick up Joe from preschool} and back. I did successfully park it . . . although there were no cars on either side of my chosen spot, nor was anyone parked in the spot in front of me or on either side of that spot. So really, it's not at all impressive! Not impressive at all, in fact.

Well, there's no turning back now. By about a week from now our "little" mini van will be gone and the "maxi pad" will be my only choice. I'm excited, don't get me wrong. It's just going to take a little getting used to is all. The lady that sold it to us said that I'll be used to it in no time and it really isn't all that hard to drive {but, sweet as she was, she obviously had something at stake and wanted for us to buy it from her . . . although she was one of 11 kids and her dad owned the dealership we bought it from and has for years, and a couple of the other family members work there too, so that made her quite a bit more endearing and I kind of believed her even}. Speaking of the dealer where we bought the van. They were fabulous to work with and if you ever need a car {or monstrous van!}, I'd recommend them in a second.

Alrighty, that's all! I hope you all appreciate your smallish, easy-to-drive vehicles. I sure am thankful for my super-huge one . . . even considering my trepidation.