Our Big Crazy Family

Life Together

2012-02-01T06:36:00.001-05:00

Here is a photo from the last newsletter we sent out. It has K.D. trying on bee keeper clothing, Miss Bookworm celebrating her 16th bday, Anna singing in a church event, CrazyMom on her laptop, Little Foot ice skating on a lake, F.G. doing homework, Ed playing indoor soccer, and Buddy ice fishing. Lots of fun memories just from life happening.

Bagels in Africa

2012-01-30T21:51:00.000-05:00

CrazyMom and I have a lot to do to prepare for the family move to Africa. When I got home from work today, I saw that CrazyMom had another checkmark done on her to-do list:

✓ Figure out how to have bagels for the family.

There cooling on the counter was a rack full of homemade bagels. The complicated process involved broiling, then boiling, and then some more baking. The results were great, however.

Now I just wonder if it will work in Africa when we are living at 7,500 feet . . .

Beep, Beep, Beep

2012-01-21T20:56:00.000-05:00

To get the full effect of this post, please play this video every few seconds.

Microwave beeping

You may recall a post from September about CrazyMom’s difficulty with waiting 30 seconds for her coffee to heat in the microwave – or for the sink to fill with water. :-( She simply has too much to do.

Since that time we have purchased a new microwave (are you still playing the video?) in our efforts to prepare the house to sell. One of the features of this new microwave is that it beep, beep, beeps at you until you go and retrieve whatever is in it – like CrazyMom’s coffee.

30 seconds is still too long for CrazyMom to wait for her coffee to heat, but now people will bring her the warmed cup of coffee just so that they can stop the microwave from beep, beep, beeping.

All busy moms deserve to have others serve them every once in awhile and a beep, beep, beeping microwave is just the thing to help others remember to do it.

If you will excuse me now, I have to go deliver a warm cup of coffee . . .

Predicted Failure by My Kids

2012-01-07T17:09:00.000-05:00

Lots of times I get home from work 15 min or so before a meal and I help myself to whatever is laying around. It does not matter if it is cookies, chips, or carrots.

“Can I have one, too,” I then hear from a child when I am snitching.

“Nope. It might spoil your appetite,” is my reply in accordance with CrazyMom’s rule of no snacks before a meal.

“But you are having one,” the child will protest even though they already know what I will say.

“Yeah, but I am dad.”

Even though I have lots of years of proof that snitching before a meal will clearly not spoil my appetite, this is one of those awkward do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do type of moments, so I made a New Year’s resolution to stop snitching - sort of.

Clearly my children do not think I will be able to do this because they have seen me standing in the pantry eating potato chips too many times. As evidence of their prediction of my failure, I submit this photo. When the chips got laid out today for lunch, I saw this written on one of the bags.

They are right, of course. In fact, they know that my New Year’s resolution is not to stop snitching, but only to stop snitching in front of them.

Packing Christmas Away

2012-01-02T11:25:00.000-05:00

After 19 Christmas celebrations together, CrazyMom and I did something different. We purged and packed the decorations rather than simply putting them away.

Lord willing, we will be celebrating Christmas next year in Kenya. To prepare for this, we gathered up all of our Christmas decorations from around the house and laid them out on the table and kitchen counters. The nine of us stood around and decided what to get rid of, what to put into long-term storage, and what we would take with us to Kenya.

The special Christmas box that will go to Kenya with us.

We started the process with about 10 boxes of stuff. Way too much for any home, to be sure, but there has never been any real motivation to purge. We got rid of half of the stuff and ended up with four boxes for long-term storage and one precious box to take with us.

I was really proud of the kids and how willing they were to throw things out. As you can imagine, with 9 people in the family somebody wants just about every item. Yet, people willingly parted with lots of decorations. When the sentimental ties were strong, however, we found a place for the item in a box that will still be a part of our family.

There will be many more good-byes in the coming months and hopefully they will go as well as today.

By the way, if anybody is looking to acquire some Christmas decorations . . .

Two Hands

2011-12-29T23:58:00.002-05:00

I make plenty of mistakes - like saying that my oldest girls did not sound very good when they were playing the piano with injured hands. (You can see that post here.) They sound great now and we enjoyed the Christmas season more because of the music they were able to add to our home.

Way to go girls!

P.S. In case you missed it, both of the girls injured a hand playing soccer. This prevented Miss Bookworm from playing the violin and Ed from playing the piano. But they each had a hand to contribute to playing the piano together.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

2011-12-05T21:19:00.000-05:00

[Note: This article was from our November newsletter that we sent out. I meant to post it at Thanksgiving, but I forgot. You can see the whole newsletter here.]

“But I want hot peppers without olives,” one of the kids complained as they surveyed the four different kinds of pizza CrazyMom had made for dinner. This provided a great opportunity to have the kids remember all of the times they had eaten pizza when there was only one option – and they were perfectly happy. “Somehow, having options breeds discontentment,” I was telling them. When our silly discontentment is brought to our attention, however, it is not that hard to make the shift to being thankful.

This is the essence of Thanksgiving for me – taking the time to set aside my silly discontentedness and refocus on what I have to be thankful for – a loving God, my family, clean water, health care, ample food, and a heated home as winter sets in.

And as often happens when we reflect anew on God’s goodness in our lives, our attention somehow shifts off of us and onto others. So as we all rejoice in Him this Thanksgiving, may God grant us renewed strength to minister to those He has brought our way in life.

Public Bathrooms

2011-12-03T20:11:00.000-05:00

The sign I dream of.

Knock, knock, knock.

“You have got to be kidding,” I thought.

I had just stepped out of the shower when someone knocked on the bathroom door.

Now, I only spend 15-20 minutes a day in the master bathroom, which is less than 1.5% of the day. Since my children spend even less time in the master bath than I do, one might think that we never cross paths there.

And yet somehow the probability of someone knocking on the bath door (or just coming in) during the 1.5% of the day that I am there is nearly 100%.

Even on a day like today when I was taking a shower during an off-peak time. It was well after the morning rush hour of teeth brushing and it was not even during the evening rush hour with the kids’ showers.

How in the world does someone need to come into the master bath at 11:15am on a Saturday morning?

“Who is it?” I asked with poorly veiled irritation.

“It is Anna,” came the reply. “I need to empty the trash.”

I can’t wait until we get to Kenya where we will have half of the bathrooms that we have now. I guess I will just have to go with this sign on my bathroom door.

When Lending a Hand Isn’t Helpful

2011-11-28T08:57:00.000-05:00

The other day I heard particularly bad music coming from the piano in our living room. While we don’t have a Mozart in our home, our children normally play better than what I was hearing. When I went to investigate, this is what I found.

Despite the fact that our soccer seasons are long gone, our soccer injuries live on. Miss Bookworm had surgery the other day on her wrist to sew back together some torn cartilage. Ed was still complaining about her ankles so we sent her to the doctor and she came back with a wrist brace since her thumb could do things that no thumb with all ligaments attached ought to be able to do. We are hoping that things will heal without her going to the operating room as well.

So, piano playing is out for both of them – or so I thought. Wanting to still work on their Christmas music, they got together and each played with their good hand. Although they work well together in many different ways, I think that doing a duet on a solo piano piece is not one of those ways.

At least they can still play soccer.

[Note: When I had the girls sit down this morning so I could take a photo for this post, they played “Carol of the Bells” and it sounded particularly good. I guess a little practice goes a long way!]

Banned Birthday Cookies

2011-10-23T17:25:00.001-05:00

“To Mr. CrazyD,

Please do NOT eat these cookies. It is my birthday. They are for my friends at soccer.

Thank you,

F.G.”

I was about to enjoy a just-before-dinner snack when I noticed the above note taped to the top of the lid that I was holding in my hand. I had just come home from work and found a container of CrazyMom’s chocolate chip cookies on the counter.

It was one of those crisis moments in my life. A thousand thoughts flashed through my head – nobody is around – but they are her birthday cookies – but I bet there are enough – but what if she ends up a cookie short at soccer practice?

Ah, the dilemmas we face in life.

After one more delicious whiff, I reluctantly put the lid back on the container.

F.G. protecting her last two birthday cookies.

“F.G.,” I said on the way to soccer practice. “If somebody asks you for a second cookie, you had better tell them no or I won’t let you play in the next soccer game,” I said it my most serious tone, which, unfortunately, is also my teasing tone.

“But what if the coach asks for a second cookie and I don’t give it to him? Maybe he won’t let me play then,” said F.G. with a grin from ear to ear.

“Either way you lose,” chimed in Ed. “You might as well make dad happy instead of coach.”

“He will let you play,” I reassured F.G. “He is not as mean as I am.”

When I pulled up after practice to pick up F.G., the coach came up to the car to let me know how much he enjoyed finishing off the cookies.

Good thing for F.G. he was just kidding.

Crazy Mom’s Ways

2011-10-21T19:05:00.000-05:00

“Look, there’s a rest area in one mile. Anyone have to go to the bathroom?” avid-coffee-drinker CrazyMom asked. CrazyMom, Miss Bookworm, Ed and I were in the car headed to Taylor University for the day for our 20-year reunion.

“No,” came the response from everyone else in the car.

“Are you sure? We won’t be stopping for another hour and a half,” avid-coffee-drinker CrazyMom said.

“I’m fine,” said each of the girls.

“Well, maybe we’ll pull over anyway,” said CrazyMom as she migrated to the right lane to exit at the rest area.

When we have seven children in the car, CrazyMom can hide the fact that we need to stop for a bathroom break because of her since there is always a child that has to go. But when there are just a few of us in the car, it is a different story.

Otherwise I Would Have to Play by Myself

2011-10-11T19:33:00.000-05:00

Anna with one of her friends.

“Anna, you sure make friends easily,” Grandpa was saying as he left an older kid’s soccer game with her. Instead of watching her sibling’s game, Anna had made a new friend and played with that friend the whole time. Grandpa, like most people we know, was amazed at how social Anna is and how she can make a friend (child or adult) wherever she goes.

“Well, I have to be able to make friends,” Anna replied. “Otherwise I would have to play by myself.”

The logic is so simple I am sure she was wondering why Grandpa could not have figured it out for himself.

Too Small to Ignore - Another Free Book!

2011-10-04T21:45:00.001-05:00

First of all, congrats to last week's winner of "One Million Arrows."

This week we are giving away the book "Too Small to Ignore" by Dr. Wess Stafford who is the president and CEO of Compassion International. Another good book to cause us to reflect afresh on the importance of each child around the world.

Special note to all of my Canadian blog readers: Yes you may enter to win! I will ship you the book even if you live in Canada. :-)

Note: This form is no longer available since this drawing is now over.

Anna in the Rain

2011-10-04T21:39:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday was a very windy, cold, and drizzly day. Despite the weather conditions and despite being dragged all over town to different soccer games, Anna still managed to enjoy herself. She is certainly one happy child.

Win a free book! “One Million Arrows”

2011-09-28T15:16:00.001-05:00

Readers of this blog will know that one of the themes in our lives is getting rid of stuff so we can get the family out the door to Africa. What better way to get rid of stuff than to give it away?

This week’s giveaway: “One Million Arrows: Raising Your Children to Change the World” by Julie Ferwerda

This is a brand new book off of CrazyMom’s bookshelf. She loved the book so much that she bought multiple copies to give away, but she still has one new copy left. She informed me that she is not giving away her personal copy because it is one book that she is definitely planning on taking to Africa with her.

You can read more about the book here: http://onemillionarrows.com/

Enter to win this book by completing the form below. I will randomly choose a winner next Wednesday and then get in touch with you so that I can mail you the book.

Note: This form is no longer available since this drawing is now over.

CrazyMom and 30 second waits don’t mix

2011-09-22T21:34:00.000-05:00

“CrazyMom, can you come here!” I was saying very loudly trying unsuccessfully to make it sound like I was not yelling. “Quickly!” I added in a tone trying to convey to CrazyMom TO COME RIGHT NOW without the piano teacher, who was in our living room, thinking there was anything strange going on.

But something strange was going on, and I think the piano teacher knew it. How on earth can the planets align so that a calm, cool-headed guy like myself ends up sticking my head out of our room while hiding my dripping and under-clothed body while yelling for my wife because there is milky white water running all over the bathroom counter and flooding the floor?

Well, the planets get this way because CrazyMom has too much to do.

Riddle: Where is the best place to find CrazyMom’s coffee?

Answer: In the microwave.

You see, rather than waiting for the 30 seconds that it takes for the microwave to reheat her coffee, she figures she has just enough time to do this, which leads to that, which leads to the other thing. This means that a half hour later when she is looking for her coffee, she finds it cold again in the microwave. So she sets the microwave for another 30 seconds, which is just enough time to do this, which leads to that . . .

So tonight I came home a total mess because a student threw a can of white paint on me to help promote school spirit – one of those teaching things. Anyway, I went upstairs and started soaking my shirt in the sink. While I was in the shower, CrazyMom arrived on the scene and decided to flush and refill the water in the sink since there was so much paint. Of course, it takes about 30 seconds to refill the sink, which is just enough time to do this, which leads to that . . .

When I turned off the shower, heard the water running, and saw that CrazyMom was long gone, I knew there was a problem. Dashing to the bedroom door, I started yelling. CrazyMom arrived in a flash and we started soaking up the water.

“Don’t worry about the counter,” I told CrazyMom when she started mopping up the mess there. “We have to get it off the floor so it does not soak through to the ceiling below.”

As I said it, Miss Bookworm showed up at the bathroom door. “Um, water is coming through the ceiling downstairs,” she said.

Unlucky there.

So, here is the stack of stools to hold the fan to blow in the hole to dry up the water that came through the floor.

Oh, and one more thing. I just went and checked the microwave. Sure enough there is a cup of cold coffee there.

Impediments to Downsizing: Birthdays with CONCRETE

2011-09-18T22:29:00.000-05:00

CrazyMom was explaining to me what we were giving to Little Foot for his birthday and the word CONCRETE came out of her mouth. She was saying something about a tether ball, an old tire, and CONCRETE, but it was hard for me to decipher what she was saying anymore. All I could think about was CONCRETE.

Nearly every hour of every day I am thinking about what we can get rid of. With a target date of July to move to Africa to teach there, I am obsessed with downsizing. Adding a tire filled with four 80lb bags of CONCRETE with a 10-foot pole sticking out of is obviously an impediment to downsizing.

“CONCRETE! How will I be able to get rid of this?" I thought. "I can’t throw it in the trash. Can I find a dump that will take tires? Will they still take the tire if it is filled with CONCRETE?” My head was swimming and I felt nauseous.

CrazyMom was able to calm me down, however. She reminded me that we still have a year of life with our children here in America. Birthdays will still come and we need to make them special for our kids.

She was right, of course. But still, I hope F.G.’s birthday in October does not involve any more CONCRETE.

Adding an eye bolt to the top of the pole.

Filling the tire with CONCRETE.

We duct tapped the pole to the basketball hoop and the truck to hold it in place while the CONCRETE set up.

Little Foot leaving his permanent legacy in the CONCRETE.

Playing tether ball!

Losing Teeth - Natural and Unnatural Causes

2011-09-13T18:58:00.000-05:00

As you can see, Anna currently is missing both of her front teeth. The first one came out the natural way. The second, well, I will let her tell you how it happened.

Saying No, Saying Yes

2011-09-12T21:11:00.000-05:00

Since we have a blog, we have been invited to do many different things. Some things you run from as fast as you can - like some TV show called Wife Swap. Others you join in because it seems like simple fun. We received an email that someone had put our blog up for a Top 25 Big Family blog list. Feel free to vote for our blog (or one of the other great blogs you will see there) by clicking on the icon on the top left of our blog. You can't miss the icon; it is pink. It will be fun for me to see some other big family blogs that are not on my normal reading list. Yay, blogging!

Garage Sale Lesson

2011-09-05T06:44:00.000-05:00

"Mommy, can I get this please?" the little girl was saying with the sweetest eyes as she held a new treasure that she had found at our garage sale.

"No," her mom said flatly. Then she added, "We don't even own a VCR player," with a hint of disgust in her voice.

Our garage sale on Saturday was a HUGE success. We sold tons of stuff - literally. However, this little girl was the closest we came to selling one of about 50 VHS tapes.

At the end of the day we filled the pickup truck with the VHS tapes and a lot of other stuff that did not sell and tried to drop it all off at Am Vets. Am Vets took just about everything we had in the truck, but they wouldn't take the VHS tapes. Lesson learned - the only new home you can find for a VHS tape is the landfill.

Photos of the Kids and Us

2011-08-12T23:26:00.000-05:00

A few shots of the kids with us (or the dog) on our trip.

CrazyD with the older girls in the Black Hills on the Cathedral Spires trail.

K.D. with Sodo in a KOA in Dubois, WY.

Crazy Mom and Little Foot at the Chasm Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Crazy Mom and Buddy at the top of the Rockies near the Alpine Visitor Center.

Anna and Crazy Mom on a trail near Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.

CrazyD and Crazy Mom on the trail to the Calypso Cascades in the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Eye of the Needle

2011-08-09T17:11:00.002-05:00

The Eye of the Needle

When we were in the Black Hills, we drove up the Needles Highway to the top where there was the Eye of the Needle. While it was fun for a minute to look at the Eye of the Needle, it was fun for hours to climb around on the rocks up there. Our plans for the day changed because we lingered so long enjoying the moment.

Near Blowout - Again

2011-08-08T22:46:00.000-05:00

If you saw the post from a few days ago, you know we nearly had the right rear tire blowout on us. Well, the same thing happened again. This time we were headed off for a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park when Aunt K. saw a problem with our left rear tire when she was driving behind us. Even though I now have two new tires on the back of my van, I am frequently checking the inside of my tires. I am sure people at gas stations are wondering why I get down on my hands and knees to do such a thorough inspection of my tires.

Campsite Searching

2011-08-05T16:47:00.000-05:00

It was late in the day, the kids were hungry, and we were at a gas station in the middle of Fort Collins trying to figure out what we were going to do. I was trying to avoid spending a night in the Wal-Mart parking lot when we were on the doorstep of the Rockies.

Planning on camping at a KOA in Laramie, we had arrived there mid-afternoon. But when we pulled into the place and saw that it resembled a gravel parking lot with the roar of I-80 50 yards away, we decided to move on to Fort Collins. There were KOA’s in the Fort Collins area, but they were firm on charging an extra $5 per child, which really adds up for a family like ours.

Fortunately, someone at the gas station was from the area and she told us to drive up Poudre Canyon just north of town. Part of the canyon is a national forest and they had campsites there, she told us. So we struck out and before the sun dipped below the horizon we ended up in a beautiful campsite. We even got to cook burgers over the fire while listening to the soothing roar of the mountain stream just yards away.

Stunning

2011-08-05T08:28:00.000-05:00

"Dad!" Miss Bookworm excitedly said as she came back down the trail towards me. "You have got to come over here and take a picture. It is the perfect spot." We were on a hike up from Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Well, here is the picture I took. The Rocky Mountains are simply stunning.

By the way, these posts about our trip are not in order. Sorry about that. I just post whatever I feel like either from that day or some day before.

Feeding the Family

2011-08-04T16:00:00.002-05:00

While we may be bleeding at the gas pump, CrazyMom has been saving us a ton of money by feeding the family out of the RV. I am not exactly sure how the process works, but I know it involves a very small RV fridge that you only open if you are prepared to spend an hour repacking it. It also involves a sizable pantry located under our bed. While the inner workings are a mystery to me, the results are plain to see. From a sloppy joe dinner overlooking the Badlands to a creekside taco feast along a brook in the Black Hills, we have been eating well – and cheaply.

Near Blowout

2011-08-03T16:35:00.003-05:00

“Why is that truck honking at us?” a kid asked from the back seat.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Probably because I am driving too slow.”

It was our only full day in the Badlands and we had just gotten on the road to see the sights when this Custer Gas truck started honking at us. I pulled over to let him pass, but instead he pulled up beside me.

“Something is wrong with your right rear tire,” the trucker yelled through his open window.

I hopped out and went to look at it. The tire looked perfectly fine to me and I was about to get back in the van when the guy showed up at my side.

“It’s something on the inside,” he said.

Getting down on our knees, we looked under the van and saw the problem. I was moments away from a blowout. I would have never noticed the bulge and nobody else could have seen it when I was pulling the travel trailer.

Feeling very fortunate indeed, we cautiously headed off to the nearest tire store, which we found out about from our favorite trucker.

Of Trust and Rattlesnakes

2011-08-02T15:55:00.000-05:00

So a few days back we were hiking in the Bandlands when we saw a sign warning us of rattlesnakes. F.G. got really nervous.

“Trust me,” I said, “the rattlesnakes won’t get you.”

After some coaxing and reassuring, I finally got F.G. to take a picture with the sign acting like she was scared.

As you have probably already guessed, later that day we were hiking and saw a rattlesnake. Good thing the snake did not bite F.G. or she would probably never trust me again.

Unheeded Advice

2011-08-01T22:29:00.000-05:00

“Get to the campsite early,” Mr. V was telling us. Mr. and Mrs. V had spent a year on the road camping and Crazy Mom and I were asking them what nuggets of wisdom they could pass along to us as we embarked on our own trip. The get-there-early advice was certainly sound.

Just three days later we experienced first hand the perils of ignoring this advice. With only 5 hours to travel that day, we felt like we had plenty of time. This led us to make a number of bad decisions.

Bad decision #1: Cook pancakes and sausage for breakfast after sleeping in for an extra hour.

Bad decision #2: Rather than take off for our new site (in the Badlands), go visit the Ingalls Homestead.

Bad decision #3: Get sucked into lingering at the Ingalls homestead because the kids are having so much fun.

Bad decision #4: Being nice to the guy from Australia who talked to us for a half-hour right as we were trying to pull out of the campsite.

After all of these bad decisions, we could have still made it to the campsite before nightfall if all had gone well. Unfortunately, I had to buy a new jack for the front of the RV and it did not fit into the old hole, leading to an additional delay at a car shop.

Then, as we crossed into the Badlands there was a nasty front passing through. The wind was blowing so hard we pulled over in a rest area and parked next to a semi to it could break the wind for us.

All of this resulted in arriving at the campsite well after dark. Visiting the dumping station and setting up camp in the dark with a tired and crabby crew meant we violated the quiet hours of the camp, I am sure. The one good thing is that the storm caused a spectacular sunset as we passed through the Badlands to get to our campsite.

Sunset in the Badlands

2011-07-27T18:10:00.001-05:00

Minor Trailer Troubles – So Far

2011-07-26T22:59:00.000-05:00

Setting off on a road trip with an RV is implicitly agreeing to have some troubles along the way. One just hopes that the troubles are minor and are not trip killers. On our shake down trip a few months ago the RV brakes failed, but I have had no trouble with them since getting them fixed. I have also been battling a leak in a joint going into the gas tank, which I filled with some gas-tank putty to no avail. Now I keep dosing the joint with some gas resistant sealant with some success.

Then tonight as we were setting up camp the jack on the front of the RV tightened up. I cranked a little harder and heard the some gears pop. After finding that a single spoke on one of the metal gears had broken off, I decided to remove the jack. Flipping it upside down, I poured motor oil into it to try to keep the rest of the system moving freely to take stress off of the damaged gear. I will find out tomorrow if I can crank up the RV to get it back on the van. I did not have the heart to try it tonight.

After cleaning up from the job, I thought that I ought to write a post about RV troubles. When I entered the RV to sit down to start in on the post, Crazy Mom had another repair waiting for me. A support bar had come off when she and Ed were trying to set it. It was an easy fix, but I have to admit that it makes be nervous about what all will break tomorrow.

UPDATE: I got the RV back on the van, but the jack failed in the process. I had to get a new jack . . . and stop by a car shop to grind a larger hole in the frame so it would fit.

Friends are Friends Forever

2011-07-25T23:40:00.000-05:00

I heard the “Friends are Friends Forever” song so often when I was in high school that a wave of nausea would sweep over me every time it was played. It has been decades since I have thought of the song, but it came to mind a few days ago when my family got to visit some old friends on our trip. Even though 11 years had passed since we had seen them last, we were able to slip right back into meaningful friendship. I suppose this is what Anne of Green Gables calls “kindred spirits.” In some ways our paths have departed over the years with us having seven children and they having one. But in many more significant ways our paths are the same – each striving to live for the Lord.

Mr. V giving some instructions before we launch into Lake Michigan.

Crazy Mom off to gather together her ducklings.

Going downtown for ice cream.

The gang at breakfast.

A dream deferred; a dream realized

2011-07-21T19:59:00.000-05:00

Cruising down the highway, I looked to my left and saw the perfect country home passing by. The wrap-around porch, the lane lined with trees, and the well-manicured garden caused me to wince. I glanced over at Crazy Mom and we exchanged a knowing glance – this was a dream deferred.

That was a year ago, only a few weeks after we had made the formal commitment to move to Kenya to teach at a school for the children of missionaries. While we were thrilled to be going, we were also experiencing feelings of loss as we were laying aside things once dreamed of.

Then, last November we received a call that our departure date for Africa had been pushed back a year to the summer of 2012. While we were initially disappointed, it did allow for us to lay plans for another dream that we had always talked about but never done – a big camping trip out west.

We are now living that dream. A few days ago our family played along the shore of Lake Superior as we camped in the Upper Peninsula. The days to come should be exciting as they carry us farther and farther west.

The race is on.


Buddy skipping rocks.

Enjoying the sunset

Basement Living

2011-07-15T14:21:00.000-05:00

by Miss Bookworm

Living in a basement - even a nicely furnished basement - with a family of nine was a squeeze. A tight squeeze. When we decided to rent a basement to live in for a few weeks while attending a conference (about Third Culture Kids) in New York, we knew that it might be tight. But I think we all would agree that the biggest problem was the bathroom. The single bathroom. The one and only bathroom. Every morning when it came time to brush teeth, the result was usually about four people stuffed inside the bathroom brushing their teeth with several more outside of the bathroom door clamoring for the ones inside to hurry up and finish because we had to leave in five minutes.

Aside from the “one bathroom” problem, another struggle was the beds. There were only four, and while we had brought air mattresses in anticipation of this problem, two of them ended up having holes. In Dad’s spare time, he either worked on fixing the air mattresses (to no avail) or he did work on his laptop (to slightly better results). Each night everyone would go to sleep on nicely pressurized beds (freshly pumped up), and each morning at least two would be flattened to the extent that their occupants were essentially lying on the ground.

Now, you can decide which is more uncomfortable - the situation with the beds or the fact that we ate all of our meals at two different tables. One table was pretty normal, but it only seated four. The other was a coffee table and the seating required two people to sit on the couch and three to sit on some tripod lawn chairs that we had (thankfully!) brought along.

Oh well, the point of our stay in NY was not to be living in extreme comfort. On the contrary, we were all too busy widening our perspectives to spend much time in the basement anyway. It was a fun two weeks, and we all learned a bunch.

Bench Captains

2011-06-16T17:28:00.000-05:00

Bicker, bicker, bicker. And them some more bickering.

I was getting in the van a couple of Sundays ago and the kids were bickering about who should sit where. For some reason, when we hop in the car with four or fewer kids, there never seems to be a problem. But when all seven are there, things often don’t go well.

Tired of these frequent life-is-unfair-if-I-have-to-sit-here events, I spent that drive trying to come up with a new “system for success.” (One of my favorite things to do as a father of a big family is to try to come up with a “system for success” that makes a problem go away. You may recall the shoe bins, for example.)

After hearing the kids voice their preferences/complaints, the “system for success” struck me – bench captains. Here are the new rules for engagement for child van loading.

The three oldest kids are bench captains who are in charge of the bench that they are currently sitting in. Each bench captain has assigned to them one younger child who is a permanent part of their team. Every time we get into the van, the teams rotate benches. If a younger child has an issue/question about where someone is sitting, they may only talk to their bench captain about it. The bench captains can confer about things as needed, but the only time an issue goes to the car captain (a.k.a. Dad) is when the bench captains can’t agree. (I am happy to report that no appeals have been made to the car captain yet.)

This is the gist of it, although there are several other minor rules such as “If you arrive at the van and think that someone is in your seat, don’t get in the van and tell them. Rather, wait for your bench captain to arrive and make your appeal to them.” Or, on the more technical side, there is this beauty of a rule: “Due to the fact that Anna sits in a car seat in the middle bench making things a little tight, any small child whose current turn is the middle bench can exercise their option to sit in the back bench instead. Exercising this option does not count as their ‘turn’ in the back, and therefore will result in them sitting in the back bench twice in a row.”

Last Sunday we all got in the car and I turned to CrazyMom and said, “Did you notice that?”

“Notice what?” she asked.

“We just got in the car and there was not a single comment about where anybody was sitting.”

Needless to say, I am in love with my bench captains.

P.S. Now, for all of you who think that we are short circuiting the learning process by putting in place rules to follow rather than teaching our kids how to act upon underlying principles such as thinking of others before thinking of yourself, you are right. However, in my defense I would like to point out that with seven kids in my home, I have approximately 253 other opportunities per day to teach principle-based conduct. Besides, I think the only lesson that they were learning from my “teaching” before was “Gee, Dad can get mad really fast when we are getting in the car.”

Camping Memories

2011-06-03T22:11:00.000-05:00

The launch to our trip was just as stressful as the "pre-camping memories" with the chainsaw and the blocked traffic. When we set off, I quickly realized that the trailer brakes were not working. Stopping on a hot blacktop parking lot, I tried to fix them, but to no avail. Since we had sturdy brakes on the van, we decided to press on. About every 20 minutes or so I would have another idea of what could be wrong with the brakes and I would pull over and try something else. My roadside trouble shooting came to an end, however, when I shorted out the lights on the trailer. I realized that if I did not stop trying to fix the brakes soon, I was likely to set the thing on fire - possibly on purpose. Luckily we were close to the campsite by this point and were able to make it there safely. A trip to Advanced Auto Parts and a new fuse #17 saved the day and the rest of the trip was great.

Pre-Camping Memories

2011-05-27T17:50:00.000-05:00

Camping is a great way to make family memories – both good and bad. I was reminded of that today when I found myself on a break from work wearing a dress shirt and tie in my front yard getting more and more sawdust stuck to my sweaty face because I was standing on my tiptoes swinging a chainsaw above my head trying to cut off the branch that was keeping me from backing my travel trailer up the driveway which was why my van was blocking both directions of traffic on the road in front of my house.

Can’t the memory making start after we get on the road?

I Guess I Do Want to Go!

2011-05-22T21:11:00.000-05:00

The younger kids often get dragged to many events for the older kids – particularly soccer games. On Saturday morning KD walked into Ed’s bedroom and asked, “Ed, is there a soccer game today?”

“Yes, there is,” Ed replied.

Overwhelmed with disappointment, Kd groaned, “Oh, man,” and began sinking to the floor.

“But you are not going,” said Ed.

“Really?” asked KD with hope restored.

“Nope. You are going to a wedding instead!” said Ed, dealing the crushing blow with some delight.

“Oh, no!” said KD as he felt a new ginormous weight on his shoulders. “Please, Ed, can’t I go to the soccer game with you?”

Piano Recital

2011-05-01T11:50:00.000-05:00

Here are a few excerpts from Ed and Buddy's piano recital from a few weeks back.

Easter

2011-04-24T15:37:00.000-05:00

The Joy of Big Family Games

2011-04-16T19:30:00.000-05:00

“So what are some of the challenges of having a big family?” the woman on the other end of the phone was asking me. I was surprised that what flooded my mind was the good things about big family life. I stammered around and finally said, “Shoes. They are everywhere.”

Lame. I know.

But it made me wonder what the kids would say about what they did not like about big family life, so the next morning I asked them. They, too, had a similar response and started talking about the good stuff. Every one of them said the same thing for the best thing about having a big family.

So what is the best thing about big family life?

Playing games.

When I probed a little further, what I discovered was that it was not just being able to play any game, but games that require multiple kids – ball freeze tag, four square, dodge ball, soccer, and knockout. These are the types of games that many kids only get to play at recess but big family kids can play all night long.

So, when you are thinking about whether or not to adopt a child (or another child), just remember that the joy of big family games may just be a child away.

The Downer of Having a Downsizing Dad

2011-04-03T18:48:00.000-05:00

“Dad! I want to buy these walkie-talkies!” K.D. said excitedly as we walked by a display in our local Home Depot.

“Do you have enough money to buy them?” I asked, hoping that he would not.

“Yes! And I want to buy these,” he said as he longingly looked over the slick packaging. Little Foot was also taken in and started lobbying for K.D. to be able to buy them.

“But I don’t want any more stuff. We are trying to get to Africa and we need to be getting rid of stuff, not buying stuff,” I said with a hint of frustration over the prospect of buying something that was not biodegradable and a hint of guilt about being such a downer of a dad.

“But Dad! F.G. won’t let us play with hers and you won’t let us play with the ones you have,” they started complaining as if playing with walkie-talkies was an inalienable right put forth in our constitution.

Then the idea hit me.

“I’ll tell you what. I will let you boys buy walkie-talkies if you can fill two laundry baskets full of stuff you are willing to get rid of.”

The deal was on. When we got home, they scurried off to their room with the two laundry baskets I gave them. When the baskets were full, I sat down to order a pair online when I had another thought. Why do I want another pair of walkie-talkies in my house?

“Hey K.D.,” I said. “I’ll sell you my walkie-talkies.”

Now, I know that you are thinking I am a bad father. After all, I charged two laundry baskets full of stuff for the right to pay me money for some used walkie-talkies. Maybe you are right, but please don’t tell my kids that this is not how the real world works. Anna is so excited about the program that she filled a laundry basket full of stuff to get rid of and she doesn’t even know what she wants to buy yet.

Obssessed Son Plans His Future

2011-03-03T21:14:00.000-05:00

One of our sons is obsessed with football. Tonight he spent an hour playing a football card game that he got for his birthday. Since he did not have anybody to play with him, he played by himself imagining that one team was OSU and the other was LSU. He also played the role of announcer with phrases like "OSU throws the long bomb for 75 yards!" or "Touchdown, LSU!" coming from the family room all night.

After brushing his teeth before bed, he asked, "Dad, do you know how to work out?" He wants to start working out to make sure he is ready for the pros.

When I was tucking him into bed, he asked, "Dad, you know how someone can intercept the ball and run it back for a touchdown to win the game? Well, when I do that, what should I say on TV? What should I say about God?"

"Well, maybe you could say that you are thankful to God for the talents that He has given you," I said.

He thought that over and it seemed pretty good to him. Then he asked, "Will that also go out on the radio?"

Women are So Hard to Understand

2011-02-24T23:34:00.000-05:00

Pop Quiz: It is almost 10 o'clock at night and CrazyMom says, "I don't have ice cream for K.D.'s birthday party tomorrow. I have to run to the store." Which of the following best describes what is about to happen?

A: CrazyMom will run out to the store and buy ice cream and be back in 10 minutes.
B: CrayzMom will run out to the store and buy 25 bags of groceries and be back in 1.5 hours.

Well, I know the answer is B because CrazyMom just got back from the store and here is what she bought. Actually, she bought more than this, but this is all that I could fit on the counter.

I also wonder what she means when she says, "Why are you taking pictures of the groceries rather then helping me put them away?" While I don't know exactly what it means, I think it has something to do with me being in trouble.

CrazyMom is in the Kitchen

2011-02-12T21:26:00.000-05:00

It is a typical Saturday night in our house with CrazyMom out in the kitchen preparing Sunday lunch and me back in my office “working.” I often think that we should just eat out after church so CrazyMom does not have to cook on Saturday nights, but that is just because I am ignorant of the cost difference. Take, for example, the Sunday meal that CrazyMom served the family a few weeks back.

“So, how much did this meal cost?” I asked when we sat down, thinking the number could be large and it might have just been easier to eat out.

After a moment of doing some mental math, CrazyMom said, “About $8.”

Eight dollars? I was stunned. Never again will I suggest the lazy path of eating out.

By the way, here is the breakdown of the cost of the meal:
$2.50 for the 1/4 of the ginormous turkey CrazyMom bought on sale at Thanksgiving.
$0.00 for the potatoes from the garden of CrazyMom’s brother.
$2.00 for the stuffing
$0.00 for the gravy - thank you Mr. Turkey
$2.00 for the broccoli
$1.50 for 2/3 of a gallon of milk

What Broke Today?

2011-02-04T22:44:00.000-05:00

“What broke today?” is what I ought to say when I walk in the door from work. I think that would be better for my emotional state than walking in, dropping my bag, and collapsing in a chair just to have CrazyMom or one of the kids then come to rouse me to go fix what broke that day.

Note: We do not have destructive kids. It is just that most of our owner manuals say, “Not intended for commercial use.”

After arriving home late last night due to parent conferences, CrazyMom informed me that the dryer broke that day. In a house of nine, this gets classified as a code orange emergency. Longing to go to bed, I dragged myself into the laundry room just to find that none of the routine checks fixed the dryer. Unlucky there.

Google led me to open up the back of the unit to look for the most likely culprit – the thermal fuse. My cynical Google friends were right that the fuse had been hidden from me in order to try to get me to call service for a $10 part. Depressed, I headed for bed.

On my way to bed I passed through the kitchen. “Honey, the faucet on the kitchen sink . . . “ CrazyMom trailed off when she saw the look in my eyes. “I suppose this is not a good time to bring that up, huh?”

Tonight, after being broken for 24 hours and no part ordered yet, CrazyMom reclassified the dryer as a code red emergency. Dreaming of an easy fix, I decided to check the power to the unit. The dryer was spinning but not drying, but still, just one leg of the 220 could be down. I would have missed the problem if it were not for Miss Bookworm who was under the impression that I needed a flashlight. As she shined the flashlight on the socket I could see into the holes and noticed that something did not look quite right. Upon further inspection, this is what I found.

How does the back break out of the socket in the wall when nobody has touched the plug in over a year? Well, it just does.

Now, about that faucet . . .

Annual Christmas Tree Cutting

2011-01-22T14:23:00.000-05:00

So this may have happened at the end of November, but better late than never, I figure. Every year we go to the same place to cut down our Christmas tree, so it is one of those events that must be documented. Here we are standing next to the best tree on the lot.

This year we also added the new sport of "Christmas Tree Dashing" to the mix.

You Learn Something New Every Day

2011-01-17T21:21:00.000-05:00

Do you know how spray paint cans have something in them that rattles around to help mix up the paint? Well, my whole life I thought is was a steel ball. Buddy was curious about what was in there as well so he cut one open today. It turns out that it is a glass marble. Who knew?

A Christmas Wish for You

2010-12-27T18:49:00.001-05:00

(This was one of the "articles" from our Christmas letter. If you did not receive a copy and would like one, send me an email at welovebigfamilies@gmail.com and I will send you one.)

On a warm evening a few days before Thanksgiving the family and I headed outside to hang some Christmas lights. As dusk was giving way to darkness, I found myself up on a ladder hanging our wreath on a familiar hook, as I have done every year for the last eight years. “OK,” I called down to those on the ground, “plug it in.” As the wreath lights came to life bathing all that was around me in a warm glow, I was surprised by the wave of emotion that swept over me. It was the same feeling I get when crawling into my own bed after having traveled too far for too long. It was a sense of peace and rest. It was a sense of home.

That the glow of Christmas lights could bring forth such strong emotions stemming from a sea of countless memories of Christmas’s past should not have surprised me, I suppose. Christmas, with its blending of faith and family through rich traditions, embodies all of the same qualities that a sense of home does.

So as I go through this Christmas season looking for those moments of home amidst the hustle and bustle, I will be wishing that you would be able to find a sense of peace and rest this season. The theme of peace could be heard long ago when the angels declared to the shepherds in the field that night, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:14)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T07:39:00.000-05:00

Four Square Mania

2010-12-07T17:21:00.005-05:00

There are lots of advantages to having a large family - like being able to run two grids when you step outside to the driveway to play four square. Over thanksgiving break, we had a lot of four-square fun by having one square be the top division (or the pros) and the other be the lower division (or the minors). When someone lost in the pro square, he or she went all the way back to the lowest spot in the minors and the person in the top spot in the minors got called up to the pros. You will see in the video how Anna rides a hot streak all the way to the top. Go Anna!

Lighting the Town Tree

2010-12-05T13:02:00.000-05:00

F.G. won a coloring contest and got to light the town Christmas tree along with two other winners from different age divisions. It was great to bundle up, head out to the town "square," and be a part of the official tree-lighting ceremony. Here you see F.G. with Louie the Lightning Bug - the official mascot of the power company that sponsored the tree. If you notice, the switch is up so F.G. had already done the deed.

Here is F.G. alongside her winning entry.

And, of course, the tree!

My Thieving Rascal

2010-12-03T18:33:00.000-05:00

“Buddy!” I exclaimed. “What do you think you are doing?”

My wonderful chef of a mother had just baked homemade granola bars and had brought some to Miss Bookworm, Buddy and I as we labored over our studies. Once again Buddy had tried to take the rest of my bar after his was gone. Guiltily running across the room, Buddy stood head down awaiting what was sure to come. Fortunately for him, a slight diversion aroused Miss Bookworm's attention.

“No! Sodo! No! Ed Look!” she cried.

Turning around I saw in a flash that my prized possession, which moments before had almost been taken from me by Buddy was now being stolen again. The naughty rascal was merrily chomping away when I reached in the slobbery dungeon to grab the now spoiled loot. Trying not to laugh, we dealt with the thief. Buddy was a great accomplice in the theft.

(Editor's Note: Please welcome Ed as a new author on this blog!)

A Great Video from Project Hopeful

2010-12-01T12:49:00.001-05:00

We are fans of Project Hopeful. It is an organization that is involved in "educating, encouraging, and enabling families adopting children with HIV/AIDS." They just released a great short video which is especially relevant today since it is World AIDS Day.

Mixed Up About Mixed Vegetables

2010-11-29T20:21:00.003-05:00

"Hey Mom, can I eat this for lunch today? I was standing in the kitchen, holding what appeared to me to be a can of vegetable soup.

"Vegetables?" Mom queried. "What else?"

I, in my disconnected state took this to mean that I needed some vegetables in my lunch.

"It's vegetable soup," I replied. "It has vegetables."

Mom proceeded to stare at me in the way that informs me that it is time for me to engage my brain. I busted up laughing. What I held in my hands was not a can of vegetable soup, as I had presumed, but a can of mixed vegetables. What a riot.

(Editor's Note: Please welcome Miss Bookworm as a new author on this blog!)

A Thanksgiving Video

2010-11-26T10:18:00.001-05:00

Thankful for . . . Technology!

2010-11-25T11:22:00.000-05:00

There are lots of things to be thankful for this thanksgiving - God, country, and family to name the big three. But let's not forget about technology! The turkey-day tech fest began while GrandpaD and GrandmaD were still in the air on the way to our house. Even though they were flying privately, they let me know how I could track them online while they were still in the air. I was thrilled that I could see just about everything related to their flight - that they had left early, where they were in the air, that they were diverting north a little to get around some weather, and their estimated time of arrival. Here is a screen shot.

Ahh, the wonders of modern technology. As we sit back and enjoy the old traditions of today it will also be good to enjoy the new tradition of googling any question that comes up during the day.

A House Divided - OSU vs. Iowa

2010-11-22T20:15:00.001-05:00

OSU had a big game against Iowa last Saturday, as most of you know. Rather than having the wonderful experience of sitting down with the family and rooting for OSU, I had to navigate the difficult waters of watching the game with an Iowa fan.

It all started a few years ago when my Iowa-born father was in town for an OSU/Iowa game (OK, I was born in Iowa as well). He engaged the unethical practice of trying to brainwash some young minds to root for Iowa. When that did not work, he turned to bribery. Most of my kids were able to say no to the temptation, but two fell to the dark side. Anna has mostly recovered from it all (notice she is shrugging in the photo and is wearing an OSU jersey but Iowa sweats) while poor K.D. has had to suffer through year after year of losses to OSU while donning Grandpa-provided game gear. I was doing my best to comfort him while they interviewed Coach Tressel, but it was hard after all.

But now that we have this game behind us, we can all root together for OSU against Michigan and Iowa against Minnesota. Oh, wait. My sister and her family are in Minnesota . . .

P.S. A very special thanks to our friends who donated an old tube TV to the cause so we did not have to watch the game on our only surviving TV which is a measly 10".

TV Saga

2010-11-22T19:37:00.000-05:00

Note: It is not really football if you can never see the football.

Haste Makes Waste

2010-10-27T19:38:00.000-05:00

“Um, Hi.” It was CrazyMom on the phone and I could tell that something was not right. I was driving home from F.G. and Buddy’s soccer game with five kids and two grandparents in the car. CrazyMom had beaten me home from a soccer practice and was supposed to be getting dinner on the table.

“You know how GranpaF said he wanted to buy dinner. Maybe you should go ahead and do that,” she said.

That morning we had been in Hocking Hills camping with GrandmaF and GrandpaF. We made it back to our house with 1 hour to spare before we had to head out to a soccer game and a practice. GrandpaF had offered to buy dinner after the game to make things easier, but CrazyMom and I thought we would be able to get the kids to bed earlier after our big weekend if we ate at home.

So in that 60 minutes of unpacking, taking showers, and getting the kids in uniforms we added into the mix cooking dinner. Everything was going according to plan until CrazyMom got home with the two girls from practice to find the house full of smoke. It turns out that a burner had been left on under dinner, on high.

After several days with all of the windows open day and night, we finally called our insurance company. After days and days of professional cleaning, the smell has subsided and we are optimistic that by the time all the work is completed, the smell will be gone.

Oh yeah. Turning the burner off was not the only thing we forgot to do that fateful night. We also forgot that K.D. and LittleFoot had a soccer game in addition to F.G. and Buddy’s game. Oh, well. I guess you can’t remember everything.

Rainbow in the Sky

2010-10-26T17:49:00.000-05:00

We all just ran out in the drizzle to take a picture of this rainbow in the sky. It was fun that you could see both ends of the rainbow. If you look close, you can see that there was actually a double rainbow.

Camping at Hocking Hills

2010-10-23T21:39:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago GrandmaF and GrandpaF came out to see us and we went camping in Hocking Hills. The leaves were turning, which made the whole area delightful. Also, the days were warm while the nights were cool. It was the perfect fall weather for camping. We had a lot of fun while camping, but one of the highlights was when GrandmaF and GrandpaF headed back home . . . in the RV! One less thing to get rid of before heading to Africa!

Rift Valley Academy Video

2010-10-02T06:40:00.000-05:00

Since some of you may not be on our email list, I wanted to share a video that I shared with the list. Africa Inland Mission (our mission agency) has this video on their website about Rift Valley Academy. This is the school in Kenya that, Lord willing, we will be teaching at in less than a year. In just 7 minutes it does a great job of not only giving you a feel for RVA, but also for seeing the impact that the school is having in enabling the work of missionaries in Africa.

Click here for the RVA video.

Click here to check out RVA's website.

I keep thinking that the excitement about the move to Kenya may fade a little here in our home, but it has not. It seems like it is hard to string together two hours in a row where the move is not mentioned. It is a fun time for the family as we dream about the future.

The Breaking of Bathroom Use Policies

2010-09-18T21:08:00.000-05:00

“Why don’t you take a little rest when you go up to change?” suggested CrazyMom. I had just gotten home from work last night (Friday) and it had been a long week for me. CrazyMom knew I was dog-tired and, as always, was looking out for me.

So I did.

Well, the rejuvenated me then stayed up too late. But I knew that I would be able to sleep in on Saturday morning because the first of three soccer games was not until 9am (sleeping in is a relative term, I know).

Because of our big family we have certain fair use policies about when and under what circumstances certain bathrooms can be used. I would like to note that these policies state that if a child has to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, our master bath is off limits.

But rules are meant to be broken.

When K.D. needed to make a run to the bathroom this morning at 6am, the kids’ bathroom was already in use – yes, we have lines for the bathroom even before it is time for the kids to get up. He hung out as long as he could, but then the situation went to code red. According to policy, the next bathroom that should be investigated for availability is down on the main floor, but since the situation was now critical, K.D. burst into our room. So much for sleeping in.

While I am excited about our upcoming move to Kenya to teach, it is moments like these that make me think about some of the lifestyle changes that lie ahead for us – like moving from a home with four toilets to a home with two. Maybe we should also sign up to be dorm parents. Surely there would be more bathrooms in a dorm.

Winning First Dibs on the Leftovers

2010-09-17T21:09:00.001-05:00

Ah, the leftover meal. We pull everything out of the fridge, line it up on the counter, fix plates like short order cooks, and then pop them one-by-one into the microwave. There are two main issues that we face in this whole process. The first is that if you heat a plate in the microwave for 90 seconds, then by the time the 7th kid’s plate goes into the microwave, so much time has already passed that the first kid is already back in line waiting to have another plate of food warmed. This can make for an experience worse then cooking.

But that is not the real issue. The real issue is that the kids who are first through the line take all of the good stuff much to the dismay of the kids later in the line. So CrazyMom solved the problem tonight by having a drawing. Yes, the kids drew numbers from a hat to see the order in which they would go through the line.

And the winner was . . . Buddy. Here is Buddy with a plate full of the best of the leftovers.

An “Adequate” Education

2010-09-16T19:57:00.000-05:00

“I believe that [Miss Bookworm’s] educational experience will be adequate to meet State Standards,” states the recent letter we received from the Executive Director of Business and School Improvement for our local school district. As a family that home schools some of our children, we are required to notify our local school district each year of our decision to home school and to provide a curriculum outline. Then we always get a response that the education we are providing our children at home is “adequate.” It makes me chuckle a little since I suspect that they think that no homeschooling family in our district can provide an education that is better than adequate. I am not complaining, however. I am pleased that we have the right to educate each of our children in the way that we think is best for them – including picking a writing teacher from Canada, having a heavy dose of two-column proofs in Geometry, and taking a literature-based approach in history. We love homeschooling - even if it is only seen as “adequate” by the state.

Lame Tooth Fairy

2010-09-09T06:17:00.000-05:00

"Hey, Anna! Did the Tooth Fairy come last night?" Buddy just asked Anna at breakfast.

"No," replied Anna. "The Tooth Fairy sometimes takes two days to come."

Yes, Anna lost a tooth last night. Yes, she put it under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Yes, we forgot about it.

Maybe the Tooth Fairy will be able to remember tonight. But if the Tooth Fairy forgets again, at least Anna understands how things work in large families.

Yes, We’ve Got Problems

2010-09-05T20:27:00.000-05:00

When I sat down in church today, a 5-year-old girl I knew was sitting in the pew in front of me.

“Hi! How are you?” I asked.

“I fell on my scooter yesterday and I got these,” she replied pointing to her legs that were stretched out in front of her on the pew. Visible through her white tights were two band aids on her left knee and one on her right.

“Band aids! Oh, my! Were you bleeding?”

“Yes, and I also got this,” she said as she held out her arm to show another scratch on her wrist like it was a trophy.

“That looks pretty bad. Was your mom watching you when you were scootering?” I asked. Of course, I already knew the answer. I know how large families work and she was the youngest of four kids.

“No, she wasn’t there!”

“How about your dad? Was he watching you while you were scootering?” I was focusing hard to keep a straight face.

“No, he wasn’t there either.”

“So neither of your parents was there?”

“No, and I had to go inside to get them and it hurt because I had to bend my knees.”

“Well, let me tell you something. We had a scootering accident at our house yesterday and there were not any parents outside either,” I confided.

“Really!” she said in a totally shocked voice. “You guys have the same problems we do?”

I nearly lost it. “Yes, we have the same problems you do.”

Little Foot Turns Nine

2010-09-02T22:03:00.000-05:00

Turning nine is a big deal in our house. Since we have so many kids, we usually don't invite friends over for birthday parties. After all, every day is a party in our crazy home. But the planets happened to align the year Miss Bookworm turned nine and we had a friend party for her. Since then it has become a tradition that every child who turns nine gets a friend birthday party. We had a total of 17 nine year old boys at our house recently to celebrate and it was a fun (and energetic) time.

CrazyMom had the opportunity to make an ice cream cake for Little Foot for a celebration with grandparents, cupcakes for a classroom celebration, and then the cake for the official birthday party. It certainly takes a lot of cooking for all of that celebrating.

My Missing Jeans

2010-08-31T19:56:00.002-05:00

“Um, Hon . . .” I said sheepishly. “Can you help me find my jeans?”

The whole family was supposed to be headed out the door in about 10 minutes and here I was begging CrazyMom to help my find my pants. It is always rather humiliating for me to have to go to CrazyMom with such requests – the type of requests that our kids make of her all day long.

She started up the steps quizzing me along the way.

“Did you look in your dresser?”

“Yes,” I replied. (I mean, come on hon. How bad am I?)

“Did you look in the pile of clean clothes by your dresser?”

“Yes,” I said, wincing because I knew that the clothes had been there a week and I had not put them away yet.

“How about the laundry?”

“Yes, I checked the laundry.”

Upon entering our room, CrazyMom went straight to my unpacked suitcase from a trip two weeks ago, reached into the bottom of it and pulled out my missing jeans. She held them out to me with an I-am-so-good-and-you-know-I-am-so-good-so-I-don’t-have-to-let-the-kids-know-about-this-like-you-would-have-to look.

“Thanks,” I said truly appreciative and in awe of how CrazyMom always knows where everything is. But I also wondered if she knew the whole time where my pants were but just wanted to be there for this moment.

You know, I guess part of me is looking forward to selling most of what we have as we go off to Africa. Maybe with so much less stuff even I will be able to find things like CrazyMom.

Back to School!

2010-08-29T21:04:00.000-05:00

Soccer is Back!

2010-08-21T21:34:00.000-05:00

Today was the opening day for the new soccer season with two teams playing five games. What a great day for soccer!

The Smokies

2010-08-18T21:31:00.001-05:00

Last week Grandma and Grandpa hosted us in the Smokies. It was wonderful. Lots of hiking, playing in mountain streams, and seeing bears. I highly recommend that all of you start planing a vacation trip to the Smokies.

If the above slide show does not work, try this link.

Hey, Blog Readers!

2010-08-16T10:22:00.000-05:00

If you have read our big news, then you know we are looking to move to Africa, Lord willing, next summer. CrazyMom and I are putting together an email list where we will occasionally send out updates about this move in our lives. We will certainly still be sharing about some things here on the blog, but the updates will provide another avenue of a slightly different nature to find out what is going on. If you would like to receive updates from us, then simply send us an email at welovebigfamilies [at] gmail [dot] com and we will add you to our list. Also, it would be great if you shared a little bit about yourself with us so we can get to know you more.

We look forward to having many of you along for the ride as we look ahead to Africa!

Trip to Rift Valley Academy

2010-07-24T07:13:00.000-05:00

On the last day of school this year I attended graduation in the morning where I am teaching and then headed to the airport to go to Africa. As I was sitting with the faculty on the senior quad watching the graduation ceremony, I simultaneously felt more distant and more present. Thinking about my imminent departure made me acutely aware of all of the details around me.

The purpose of my trip was to visit Rift Valley Academy – a large boarding school in Kenya for the children of missionaries all over Africa. Maybe it was an indicator of my lack of faith, but I was hesitant to head off to candidate week with Africa Inland Mission the next week without having the opportunity to stand on campus and see firsthand the work that the Lord is doing there. So I asked if I could “stop by” to check things out.

The trip was wonderful in so many ways. I had the chance to see the campus and meet a lot of faculty, staff, and students. It was a study of similarities and contrasts for me as I could not help comparing all of the different aspects of RVA to where I am currently teaching.

Here are a few photos of my trip that should help you get a feel for the school.

Above is the main administration building. In front you can see a commemorative rock that was placed there on their 100 year anniversary.

This is the main academic quad.

A math classroom. Go Math!

A chem classroom. Go Science! (OK, so I am partial to math and science.)

Look! They even have computer labs. (Note the nice thin client solution.)

Here is a second grade classroom.

Here is a rugby field. The school is on a mountain so a field like this has a retaining wall on the left and an apparent cliff on the right. In the distance is the Rift Valley. It was great to be there during the rainy season when things were green. Things get pretty brown during the dry season.

One last shot of a walkway on campus. Not much is flat and with the 100 year history, they have a lot of beautiful trees on campus.

Big News. Really Big News.

2010-07-21T12:33:00.000-05:00

No, we are not adopting.

It is always good to state that right up front and even though I do, I suspect I will still be congratulated sometime soon about our upcoming adoption.

This time it is news of a different nature. No sense in beating around the bush – CrazyMom and I have joined a mission agency (Africa Inland Mission) and, Lord willing, our family will move to Africa next summer.

Now some of you are probably thinking that you always suspected something like this. After all, we are crazy. Others are probably shocked because you never really believed we were crazy. Now you know better.

But, in fact, while it is a bit scary for us, it does not seem crazy at all. It simply seems like the next step that the Lord is asking us to take.

Now you may have a few questions about all of this –Why Africa? What will you be doing there? Have you been consuming illegal substances? Some of these answers can be found at our website here and others I will try to answer over the next few days as I post here.

Update Sidebar Photos

2010-07-20T10:13:00.000-05:00

Yes. Finally. I have been hearing complaints for over a year that I have not updated the sidebar photos on our blog. I did not think that is had been all that long, but when I just went back to look I see that it was all the way back in April of 2008. (You can see the old photos here.) After putting it off for so long, it was a little embarrassing how quickly we were able to step out back and snap the photos. I just wish CrazyMom had not been around. Then I could have told her how I labored all morning long on the project!

Here are the new and old photos for posterity's sake.

Our Anniversary

2010-07-18T14:53:00.000-05:00

It was our anniversary the other night and CrazyMom and I went out for dinner. I am inclined to say, "With as many kids as we have underfoot, it is good to get out of the house for some time alone," but that would not be honest. Sure we have lots of kids, but they are not what keep CrazyMom and I from connecting. If anything, their demands often bring us together - around the dinner table or around the campfire. What keeps us from connecting is the to-do list. So the more accurate statement is, "With as many things as I have on my to-do list, it is good to get out of the house for some time alone."

During my burn-the-to-do-list night, CrazyMom and I saw some wild things. We went to an area where there were lots of restaurants and shops on a night when the weather was inviting people to be outside. If you have ever seen one of those nature shows with exotic birds that do crazy calls and gestures in order to attract a mate, then you can imagine the scene. Not only were many people dressed like they were looking for a mate, but when they were standing around talking to the people in their small groups their eyes were constantly scanning the crowds looking for that perfect person.

There is no question that their methodology is fraught with peril - shorts that don't quite cover one's cheeks is not a good indicator of lasting love. Yet I do hope they find the person for which they are looking. As I sat there with my bride of 17 years, I know that I have and it has made all the difference in the world.

Our Second Home

2010-07-05T07:24:00.000-05:00

I am sitting around a campfire right now off somewhere in PA. Our family came here for some extended family reunions and opted for a campsite rather than renting two hotel rooms each night. It has been great, but it has caused me to reflect on our second home.

When I hear that someone has a second home the image that comes to mind is some nice place in a vacation-type spot – in the mountains, on a lake, or near the ocean. Sure the home may be a little smaller than their first home, but it is one of those magical places filled with so many positive family memories.

A few weeks ago when I was in New York State, I had the chance to talk with a missionary who worked with remote people groups in northern Kenya. When he was in Kenya, there were several other missionaries working in his general area and every once in awhile they would travel to the same spot to get together. He had a photo of a “village” with a couple of stick and mud homes of the local African tribe and then there were a handful of Coleman tents that the missionaries were camping in while they were meeting. The local Africa people thought the missionaries were so rich. All the missionaries had, after all, two homes.

Now I had never thought of our family tent as a second home, but I guess it is. It is a little smaller than our first home, but is often in a vacation spot and it is filled with so many positive family memories. I just needed to get a little African perspective on things in order to fully appreciate my second home.

Buddy’s Birthday

2010-07-01T21:34:00.000-05:00

Buddy’s Birthday

We have been on the go for the last three weeks. Between Africa, New York state, and Michigan, I have only spent two nights in my bed since the madness began. While I hope to catch all of you up on these trips and what is going on in our lives soon, first things first – Buddy had a birthday.

Since we were on the road, we celebrated Buddy’s birthday in a hotel. Just to give you an idea of what kind of eleven-year-old boy Buddy is, here are a few shots of him in the pool.

The Cannon Ball

The Belly Smacker

The Back Smacker

The Gang

CrazyMom is amazing, as you know. Even though we were on the road, she had a homemade cake for Buddy. It was not her finest creation (you can see her princess cake here), but pretty impressive given all that was going on in our lives.

Buddy got some great presents – like this kitchen appliance. It is not every boy that asks for a dehydrator for his birthday.

Happy birthday, Buddy!

Soccer-Frenzied Weekend

2010-06-08T12:29:00.001-05:00

Our soccer-free weekend last weekend led to a soccer-frenzied weekend this weekend with six soccer games over the three days. One of the highlights was that the team that Miss Bookworm and Ed are on won their tournament. F.G. and Buddy also did well at the end of their season and were able to play in the all-star game.

Soccer-Free Saturday

2010-05-31T20:02:00.000-05:00

Since it is a holiday weekend, we had a soccer-free Saturday. It was wonderful. I just love it when our kids have large chunks of unscheduled time where they can play and create without adult programming. The weather was gorgeous, which resulted in lots of quality time in the yard.

Miss Bookworm and Ed making a castle.

Another Day, Another Cause

2010-05-06T20:23:00.001-05:00

Mother’s Day, Sweetest Day, Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day – the list goes on and on for the special days we create for the things we care about. Well, May 7th is a day that is close to my heart; it is World AIDS Orphan Day.

It is staggering to try to come to terms with the number of children who are orphaned by AIDS in our world and who themselves may be HIV+. So on this day I ask not that you try to come to terms with all of them, but rather to come to terms with just one story – the story of Tenagne and her nephew.

Tenagne and her nephew's story

In this world there are children who are HIV+ and children who are not, but that is not the divide that I think about. I think about the divide between those who receive medicine and those who do not. When I was in Ethiopia, CrazyMom and I stood in the midst of over 50 children at the AHOPE orphanage for HIV+ children. The children were so full of life as they enjoyed ice cream on a bright sunny day. They also were the lucky ones. Of all of the children in the country with the double misfortune of being orphaned by AIDS and being HIV+ themselves, these few somehow made it to AHOPE. And making it to AHOPE meant receiving life-giving medicine – and the hope of a mom and dad.

Impromptu Togetherness

2010-05-01T06:07:00.000-05:00

The other day we were walking back from an ice cream shop when the kids draped their arms over each other and started walking as a group. There was a lot of fun positive energy radiating from them, which made for one of those common but magical moments. Sure, the kids can bicker and squabble and all of that, but just as often they create an atmosphere of togetherness that CrazyMom and I can't create on our own.

Made in Pakistan

2010-04-26T21:39:00.000-05:00

As a big soccer family, we are in the full swing of the spring soccer season. As I lug a bag of soccer balls to the field and back nearly every day, I have noticed that all of the soccer balls are made in Pakistan. Now I don’t know exactly how the balls were made, but the image I can’t shake from my mind is one that I came across a few years back. It was a photo of a young Honduran boy – maybe 8 years old - who had fallen asleep at a dilapidated worktable as he was stitching softballs. His clothes were indistinguishable from the dirt around him. He was holding a softball in one hand and a needle in another, but he was sound asleep. My heart went out to the boy.

The photo moved me enough that I hung it up in my classroom for a few years. Now, every time I pick up a softball I think about that boy. Did I get a better price on the softball by shifting the cost to that young boy?

But those were softballs, and we don’t play much softball in our house. But tonight I decided to do a quick search about all of the “Made in Pakistan” soccer balls in my home. The top Google hits were not encouraging. It seems like getting children to sew things for us Americans is not limited to Central America.

My searches made me feel uncomfortable enough that I decided to look for some fair trade soccer balls. They were easy enough to find, but they cost more. (At Amazon.com you can search “soccer balls” and compare that to “fair trade soccer balls”.)

So what will I do the next time I need a soccer ball?

I hope I put my money where my mouth is.

Striving

2010-04-12T22:00:00.002-05:00

I have been reflecting on the verb “to strive” of late. In part, I suppose, because I find myself striving so much. When my head hits the pillow at night, I simply switch from physically striving to mentally striving as I turn over new ideas in my mind. Now, while the fine line between working hard and being a workaholic is lost on me, I am smart enough to know that it matters what you are striving for. I am one who is not prone to strive for worldly things - gold, glory, and girls as Ray, a missionary in Ethiopia, once told me.

Or so I thought.

On the way home from church yesterday we were listening to “Peter and the Sword of Mercy” on CD. Having spent the morning thinking over my motives, I started a conversation around motives at lunch.

“So kids. What do you think motivates the bad guys in this story?” I asked.

“They want the Sword of Mercy!” K.D. said excitedly.

“But why?”

“So they can get the star stuff,” said K.D.

“But why do they want the star stuff?”

“Because they want to rule the world!” said Little Foot.

“Yes, they do. They want to rule the world. They want the power to make everybody do what they want them to do,” I said.

But seeking power is not my vice.

I have been telling myself, “so whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.” If it is for God’s glory, then I had better do a fantastic job, I tell myself. And so I strive to do a fantastic job at all of the things that *I* have put on my plate.

But Sunday morning, as my thoughts on striving mingled with the congregation singing “I’d rather have Jesus,” I was not able to convince myself that my motives were so pure.

“I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause,” we sang.

“Glory,” I could hear Ray saying. One of the three things we men strive for.

So do I strive to do things well for God’s glory or for my own? I fear that is another line that is lost on me.

Lord, help me to live for Your glory and not my own.

Easter

2010-04-10T20:27:00.000-05:00

Clutter 2

2010-04-04T15:50:00.001-05:00

OK, this anti-junk thing could get addicting. Since it was Easter weekend, none of the soccer teams were practicing. With a chunk of our Saturday morning free, I decided to motivate the kids to reduce the clutter in our house even more.

“Family meeting!” I called out shortly after breakfast. “Let’s go!”

The kids descended on the family room from all corners of the house. “I love family meetings,” Anna said as she found a spot on the couch.

“Here is the deal. You guys have to bring me 100 items this morning to either throw out or give away,” I announced. The moans and questions started rolling in.

“What if I want to get rid of something, but someone else does not?”
“What if a toy has several pieces? Does each piece count?
“Is it only toys, or do clothes count?”

After clarifying some rules, I upped the ante.

“Now, if you are able to find 200 things, I will give each of you a dollar.” Little Foot and K.D. perked up, but the rest of the kids did not really think the extra work would be worth a dollar.

“If you are able to find 300 things, then I will take all of you to Graeter’s.” The kids erupted like they had won the lottery. Obviously, ice cream is a real motivator in our home.

“If we get 400 things, can we go to Graeter’s AND get a dollar?” asked Little Foot, sensing that the time was right to get even more out of dad.

“Sure,” I replied.

So the kids ran off. It was striking to me with the apparent effortlessness that the kids generated well over 300 items. They would have gone for 400, but CrazyMom and I had had enough for the morning. Here is some of the junk.

We nearly filled a large green garbage can as well as a large box to give away. After lunch we headed out to our favorite ice cream shop. Spending $20 on ice cream normally drives me nuts. But this time I was all smiles.

Clutter

2010-03-26T09:37:00.002-05:00

Clutter. Stuff. Junk. It permeates our house to the same extent as air and dust. Rather than taking the nuclear approach to clearing it out, I have been trying the lifestyle-change approach. Just about every day I send the kids off to go find three items they can get rid off. Since over the last few weeks I have not been able to discern any difference in the level of junk in our home, today I asked the boys to go find 11 items (the girls were off at a Spanish lesson). Here is what the three boys brought to throw out.

Maybe tomorrow I should ask for even more . . .

Birthday Traditions

2010-03-20T23:01:00.000-05:00

“Dad,” Anna was saying, “don’t forget to say what you say on somebody’s birthday.”

I had just tucked Anna in on the eve of her birthday and I was trying to get the door closed so I could get on with my evening.

“OK, Addison. I won’t,” I replied. Then, after a pause, “Can you remind me again what I say on somebody’s birthday?”

“You know, Dad. Like what you said to K.D. ‘Here comes the birthday boy!’”

K.D.’s birthday was just a month earlier, so Anna had picked up on what she perceived as a very important tradition that happens on somebody’s birthday.

“Yeah,” I said. “That’s right. And when do I say this?”

“When I come down the stairs in the morning. Just like you said it to K.D.”

“OK, Anna. I won’t forget,” I said, very relieved that she had filled me in on the details.

Now while I would not put saying “Here comes the birthday girl!” on our birthday tradition list, we do have several traditions surrounding birthday events in our home.

First, when the birthday child comes down in the morning (and I greet them with Anna’s new traditional saying) they find the window by the kitchen table decorated.

That night for supper, the birthday child gets to have mom cook the meal of their choice. This year K.D. picked an Ethiopian meal and Anna picked tacos.

When we open presents, the birthday child always sits in the brown chair in the family room. The child who is giving the gift joins the birthday child on the chair when their gift is being opened.

Unless the gift is from mom and dad. Then they have to sit there by themselves. . .

And as if getting to request a meal is not enough, they also get to have mom make a cake of their choosing. This year Anna requested a princess cake, and, as you can see, CrazyMom went all out. It was certainly a stunning cake.

Now those are just the birthday traditions that I can think of. Maybe I should check with Anna and the gang to see what they would say. I hate to think about all of the traditions that CrazyMom and I forget to do each year because we did not know it was a tradition!

Bridges to Prosperity

2010-03-13T19:25:00.000-05:00

I just came across this. It is one of those great stories about the tremendous impact that people can have when the reach out and lend a hand to others, even if they are as far away as a remote part of Ethiopia.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T22:00:00.003-05:00

Buddy’s Pickle Lightning

2010-02-12T23:56:00.002-05:00

When Buddy’s science teacher announced that each student was going to have to do a science demo, Buddy knew instantly what he wanted to do. He had seen a chemistry teacher do a demo over the summer and he wanted to try it. It combined two of his loves in one demo – pickles and fire. Unfortunately, it was not a demo that was safe to do at school, but the teacher agreed that he could make a video of the demo and show that to the class. Here is the result.

This video sheds some light on the type of interesting fellow Buddy is. He certainly likes electricity, fires, and all things mechanical. If you go to throw away a piece of trash and it is made of plastic, metal, or wood then Buddy will ask if he can have it. Every nook and cranny in his room (as well as every horizontal surface) is crammed with these “supplies” for future creations.

One such creation came on a recent snow day when he built a basketball hoop. He then strapped it to a pole in the basement and the kids had a good time playing indoor basketball.

If you are familiar with “The Encyclopedia of Immaturity,” then you are familiar with our son. The other day he came to me with a glue stick and a paper clip because he needed some help. Here is the result.

Now while I could live without the fake impaling of a paper clip, it certainly is a lot of fun to live with a kid whose mind is always running in creative ways.

Life Markers

2010-01-26T20:20:00.002-05:00

When God led the Israelites into the promised land, he had them pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from which they made a memorial. Joshua 4:6-7 tells us, “Let these stones be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”

God knows that we need markers in our lives – things to help us remember the significant events. So it seems that baptism is more than simply an “outward sign of an inward change,” but it also one of those life markers from which one can draw strength.

What a joy is was as parents to watch Miss Bookworm get baptized on Sunday. I loved her testimony where, when speaking of when she decided to follow Christ, she said, “Well, I was laying on my bed thinking things over . . .”. Thinking things over led her to a decision nearly 10 years ago now and she is still growing in the Lord to this day.

Teenagers and Music

2010-01-24T20:39:00.002-05:00

On Saturday I was up on a ladder taking down Christmas lights while CrazyMom was “supervising” from the ground. (Yes, supervising. When I lean as far out as I can on the ladder to try to reach some lights, I can feel her we-have-too-many-kids-for-you-to-be-doing-something-so-dumb look burning through my back.)

Miss Bookworm popped her head out the front door and said, “Mom, can I buy a song?” She was on the iTunes store on my laptop and wanted to add to the collection on her new grandparent-provided iPod.

“Sure,” said CrazyMom. Then, as Miss Bookworm’s head was disappearing, CrazyMom suddenly realized that she never asked what song it was – she was lapsing as a parent.

“Wait!” she called after Miss Bookworm. “What song is it?”

“Lead Me To the Cross,” Miss Bookworm called as she stuck her head back out and then disappeared into the house.

As the door closed, CrazyMom and I chuckled.

“I guess that song will be alright,” CrazyMom said as she smiled.

“Yeah, I am pretty sure that one does not have an ‘explicit’ tag,” I said . . . and then I had to catch my balance because my chuckling had caused me to lose my focus on the ladder.

Sodo - The Best Dog Ever

2010-01-17T23:28:00.004-05:00

Over the years people other than my children have tried to convince me to get a dog for our family. They would always tell me how great their dog was and I would always think that I would love to have their dog, but I was not so sure about having any dog.

So when we finally took the plunge and got a dog, who would have known that we would have ended up with the best dog ever. (For those of you who think you have the best dog ever, I guess you are entitled to your own - incorrect - opinions.) One of the many things that makes this dog so great is that she flunked out of a program to be a service dog for children with disabilities. Evidently she was exhibiting some poor behaviors while living in her crate, none of which we have seen in our home. While she may be a service dog flunkie, she is trained at a high level for a house pet.

We have named this dog Sodo after the Ethiopian town that all of our adopted kids are from. Sodo has adjusted beautifully to our home. Everybody is getting along just great - except for the cats. Even though the cats are above Sodo in the pecking order and Sodo keeps her distance from them, they have only warmed up a little to her at this point. We have seen some improvement and are still optimistic that all of the animals will become friends.

It’s a . . . Dog! (Part 2)

2009-12-24T11:58:00.003-05:00

I mentioned in the last post that the kids were excited. Here is a video where you get to see their reactions first hand.

And a few shots of the dog that we took of him at the organization that is now caring for him.

It’s a . . . Dog!

2009-12-23T17:08:00.001-05:00

Our kids are always asking for a dog. The conversation usually goes like this:

Kid: Dad, can’t we get a . . .

Dad: No!

I don’t even give them a chance to finish their sentence. Over the last decade I have projected nothing but a impenetrable wall on this topic.

But inside, there have always been secret fissures in the wall.

A few years ago we were on a trip to Purina Farms when I came into contact with a small Golden Retriever of the field retriever variety. I knew I could take that dog home on the spot. But that dog was not available, so the NO-DOG wall was still strong.

This year around Thanksgiving CrazyMom starting asking me if we were going to do individual gifts for the kids or if we were going to do a family gift. Always hoping for an easy Christmas shopping season, I am partial to family gifts so I asked her what she thought a good family gift would be.

“Well, we could get a dog,” she said.

As you probably already know, we humans have the amazing ability to rationalize just about anything. It was so easy to convert my top-10-reasons-not-to-get-a-dog list into a top-10-reasons-to-get-a-dog list. So, like the Berlin wall, the unthinkable happened, the NO-DOG wall crumpled.

It turns out that looking for a family dog did not make for the “easy shopping season” that I had hoped for, but in the end, I think we found a real winner. As you can imagine, the kids were quite excited when they found out. But more on that later . . .

The Blind Side

2009-12-16T18:19:00.001-05:00

Once a year or so CrazyMom and I go to a movie in a theater to maintain the false pretense that we are connected with modern American culture. A few nights back we went to see The Blind Side, which is the adoption story of Michael Oher.

We loved it . . . but please be advised that you should never take movie recommendations from people who only see a movie a year. Also, as adoptive parents, we might be a little biased.

There were a few themes in the movie that resonated so strongly with me that I was able to overlook any other faults the movie may have.

Consider the following moment in the film (it is in a trailer, so I don’t think I am spoiling anything here). Leigh Anne Tuohy, the mother who took in Michael, was having lunch with her friends.

“I think it is just great what you are doing for that boy. You are changing him,” said a friend.

Softly, almost to herself, Leigh Anne replied, “No, he is changing me.”

That moment drove home a larger theme in the movie - that the adoptive family is blessed just as much as the one who is adopted. So many times people have said similar things to me – “Those kids are so lucky to be a part of your family,” or “How blessed they are to have you guys.” While I think this is true, these comments leave out half of the story. “They have not been blessed as much as we have,” I often reply.

Another theme that resonated with me was captured well in this scene (this one was not in the trailer, but the movie is not a mystery, so I don’t think I am ruining anything here). Leigh Ann and her husband Sean are getting ready in the bathroom. Leigh Ann is pressing Sean to agree to something that he is not ready to agree with.

Leigh Ann: Will you at least think about it?

Sean: Alright.

Leigh Ann: “Alright” you will think about it or “alright” you agree with me?

Sean: Aren’t they the same thing?

Yes, in the end they are the same thing and women like Leigh Ann and CrazyMom do get their way. Of course, this is how the world ought to be since they press forward to do what is right.

Crazy Hat Night

2009-12-14T18:35:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday was "Crazy Hat Night" at our church's AWANA program. Buddy came to me the night before and said he wanted to wear a wheel on his head. If you recall the crazy outfit that he came up with for Halloween, this type of thing should not come as a surprise. So we went to the garage, pulled a wheel off of my beloved scooter, drilled a hole in one of his baseball hats, and mounted the thing.

When we were done, Buddy was proud of the finished product and said, "I think this is the first year that someone from our family will win the hat contest." Well, Buddy did not win, but he was happy with his second place finish. I was happy, too, because I enjoyed seeing Buddy's creative mind at work.