Win a free book! “One Million Arrows”

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

“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

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

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

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

"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

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

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

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

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.