I Swear It's Better Than Lipton's Chicken Noodle!

I had my middle sister and her three kids over to take a group portrait with my kids for my mum's upcoming 60th birthday (shhh).

Needless to say, they were all over the studio, except for my sister's middle son whi is an angel. When the photographer told him to sit on his big sister's bum as she was lying on her tummy, he was hesitant at first. After his mum and I told him it was okay, he did it with aplomb, just like a cowboy.

Of course, it had to be one of mine who was the most uncooperative. Baby Boy was too distracted by the photographer's props, demanding to hold one or six. And middle son scowled through the latter half of the shoot.

We got a few good ones, picked one where all but my youngest nephew was laughing. My sister put it best: Mum will appreciate the gift for what it is AND for the effort we put in. I went out a few days before and got each kid a solid coloured shirt (each one different) and they wore jeans and bare feet. So cute.

My neice wasn't feeling well. She came in my door all crotchety and when I went to kiss her, I noticed the tell-tale sign. When she's sick, her breath can kill a moose. Nothing I did for her was right.

I called my brother-in-law earlier in the week to see what I could make them for dinner (these guys aren't adventurous eaters. My mum says if it's frozen and in a box, they'll eat it). "Stir fry," he said. "(My sister) makes it all the time." Knowing these kids will eat pasta, I thought I'd make the stir fry with Shanghai noodles. My neice looked at what my kids were eating and stated she won't eat the meat or the vegetables. She agreed to have the pasta with some tomato sauce. But when I put it in front of her, she took the tiniest bite and announced, "It tastes horrible and it smells like poo. Cook me something else." Yeah, well, I'm not a short order cook, no matter how much I love you. So I replied, "That's dinner and now the kitchen is closed. Help yourself to a bowl of Cheerios. You hurt my feelings."

I wasn't her favourite aunt.