I printed off our monthly calendar the other day and after it rolled off the printer a second page came out. The second page listed all of the overflow items that did not fit into the tidy squares on the calendar. Needless to say, life is really busy right now.
There is me trying to get ready for teaching school and CrazyMom trying to get ready for teaching home school. There is having our kids on five different soccer teams. I am turning over a rental and teaching Sunday school. Then there is the impending family trip over Labor Day.
All of it has just left me numb. I smile on the outside, but life is joyless on the inside.
I admit that I have a full life and I am often operating at maximum capacity. Usually it is OK but then I hit a stretch of a week or two when it is just too much. There is nobody to blame but myself. Philosophically, I know God only gives me enough to fill my plate and it is me who adds the other stuff to make it too full. I just have a hard time knowing what things to say no to.
As I mechanically go through my days I have not lost hope because my calendar shows me things will ease in about two weeks. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
This makes me reflect on those who have real problems. Problems that suffocate you for which there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Problems that numb you to the core and make life a hopeless blur. As Ethiopia’s food crisis continues in the very region our children are from, faces come to my mind - faces of mothers trying to find food for their children in a dry and weary land.
My numbing stretch will pass in a matter of weeks. Their numbing stretch will last much longer. And when it does pass, will it be too late for their children?
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Visiting GrandpaR and GrandmaR
Every summer we travel to visit grandparents. While Anna has already met GrandpaR and GrandmaR, this was her first visit to their house in the country. Splitting wood, hunting toads, and making applesauce were all new activities to watch or participate in. Being a highly social child, Anna also enjoyed meeting new uncles, aunts, and cousins.
Here are a few photos of the trip.
Ed playing in the wood pile.
Anna finally agreed to hold her first toad. "He tickle me!" she said.
GrandpaR will split wood by himself so he made a hydraulic lift for the back of his tractor so he can drop the big logs in the perfect spot to split them. Here you can see him backing a log into the splitter.
CrazyMom discovered Buddy and Miss Bookworm in the yard one day reading. They had hauled chairs and a table to a shady reading spot. They also had their bucket of baby toads close by in case the toads would need anything.
GrandmaR showing Anna some photos.
We spent one of the afternoons playing all sorts of water stuff in the yard. We had some water balloon slingshots that we soon discovered could send the projectiles farther than were were expecting.
Here I am demonstrating that you don't really need three people to operate the slingshot.
Buddy wants you to think he drank a little too much water during the event, but he actually was filling water balloons with a hose.
Here are a few photos of the trip.
Ed playing in the wood pile.
Anna finally agreed to hold her first toad. "He tickle me!" she said.
GrandpaR will split wood by himself so he made a hydraulic lift for the back of his tractor so he can drop the big logs in the perfect spot to split them. Here you can see him backing a log into the splitter.
CrazyMom discovered Buddy and Miss Bookworm in the yard one day reading. They had hauled chairs and a table to a shady reading spot. They also had their bucket of baby toads close by in case the toads would need anything.
GrandmaR showing Anna some photos.
We spent one of the afternoons playing all sorts of water stuff in the yard. We had some water balloon slingshots that we soon discovered could send the projectiles farther than were were expecting.
Here I am demonstrating that you don't really need three people to operate the slingshot.
Buddy wants you to think he drank a little too much water during the event, but he actually was filling water balloons with a hose.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
An Imminent Teenager
CrazyMom and I are about to enter a new stage in life - parenting a teen. It is hard for us to believe that Miss Bookworm will be thirteen before the year is out. With life swirling around us there just never seems to be enough time to sit down with Miss Bookworm and talk about the next stage of life.
Well, one thing CrazyMom and I know about ourselves is that if it is on the calendar, it gets done. This led us to put an overnight getaway for just CrazyMom and Miss Bookworm on the calendar. They went on their trip a few days ago and had a grand time. It was a great for them to be able to spend some time having fun together as well as to think through the teenage years. They came back excited about the trip causing every other kid in our home to now look forward to turning thirteen so they can go on a trip with just mom or just dad.
Here are a few photos of them hiking together (anybody know what kind of bird that feather is from?) and the place they stayed.
Well, one thing CrazyMom and I know about ourselves is that if it is on the calendar, it gets done. This led us to put an overnight getaway for just CrazyMom and Miss Bookworm on the calendar. They went on their trip a few days ago and had a grand time. It was a great for them to be able to spend some time having fun together as well as to think through the teenage years. They came back excited about the trip causing every other kid in our home to now look forward to turning thirteen so they can go on a trip with just mom or just dad.
Here are a few photos of them hiking together (anybody know what kind of bird that feather is from?) and the place they stayed.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Celebrating 15 Years
The other night CrazyMom and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. We shunned the traditional 15 year gift of crystal opting instead for a night out on the town. Emulating our courting days, I lined up several different activities for the evening including a movie, dinner, and viewing an exhibit of Pulitzer Prize photographs. Putt putt was also on the docket, but the evening was getting late for us. This was our 15th anniversary after all, not our 5th.
The Pulitzer Prize exhibit was powerful in the way that it testified to the depravity of man. I found myself feeling grateful to these photographers for forcing me to remember and deal with events of our past, but at the same time I am not recommending the exhibit as a part of your wedding anniversary celebration.
After dinner we strolled around a bit enjoying what was a gorgeous evening. Here is one of those arm length self portraits as we are relaxing outdoors.
Our heavenly father is one who likes us to remember – from the communion table today to the twelve stones carried from the center of the Jordan River long ago (Joshua 4) – it is important to keep in mind the ways in which God has been faithful to us. In the same way, CrazyMom and I love to play “I remember when . . .” on our anniversary where we each take turns completing the sentence by recalling some time we have shared together in the past. It is always fun to be reminded of things about which we have not thought for a long time.
With seven kids underfoot, we don’t get out alone very much. However, we are on the verge of a new era. Soon we will be able to duck out for dinner leaving Miss Bookworm as the commander-in-chief of the rest of the munchkins. What a sweet day that will be.
The Pulitzer Prize exhibit was powerful in the way that it testified to the depravity of man. I found myself feeling grateful to these photographers for forcing me to remember and deal with events of our past, but at the same time I am not recommending the exhibit as a part of your wedding anniversary celebration.
After dinner we strolled around a bit enjoying what was a gorgeous evening. Here is one of those arm length self portraits as we are relaxing outdoors.
Our heavenly father is one who likes us to remember – from the communion table today to the twelve stones carried from the center of the Jordan River long ago (Joshua 4) – it is important to keep in mind the ways in which God has been faithful to us. In the same way, CrazyMom and I love to play “I remember when . . .” on our anniversary where we each take turns completing the sentence by recalling some time we have shared together in the past. It is always fun to be reminded of things about which we have not thought for a long time.
With seven kids underfoot, we don’t get out alone very much. However, we are on the verge of a new era. Soon we will be able to duck out for dinner leaving Miss Bookworm as the commander-in-chief of the rest of the munchkins. What a sweet day that will be.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Readoption in the US
Anna is now our child all over again. We made a court appearance today where a US court agreed that indeed Anna was our child. Yeah!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
A Family Tradition
For the last eight years our family has gone to a family camp with other families we know. You may recall last year when F.G. and K.D. got to go for the very first time and the traumatic event that happened on the way home. This year Anna got to go along for the first time. There were seven families (44 adults/children) who went making it one of the largest gatherings in the last several years.
At some point in the future I may write of the significance of this event for our family, but for now, here are a few photos from the last week. Photos in some way both represent and misrepresent the truth. These photos misrepresent the truth because I had to scour all of the photos I had to find ones where our kids were not pictured with other kids. They also seem to convey that the fun of the trip was all in the activities we did, but this is not true. Sure the activities were fun, but the real joy of the trip came from being able to be refreshed by so many kindred spirits.
At some point in the future I may write of the significance of this event for our family, but for now, here are a few photos from the last week. Photos in some way both represent and misrepresent the truth. These photos misrepresent the truth because I had to scour all of the photos I had to find ones where our kids were not pictured with other kids. They also seem to convey that the fun of the trip was all in the activities we did, but this is not true. Sure the activities were fun, but the real joy of the trip came from being able to be refreshed by so many kindred spirits.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
A Scare
by Miss Bookworm
July 4, 2008
(Editor's Note: This is a piece of writing that Miss Bookworm wrote about when she was at a week long camp a few weeks back.)
It was about 10 or 11 o’clock at night. Our cabin was hanging out at the Pop Shop, having a good time, when our counselor called us over. Our normally cheerful and joking counselor was now grave, and she was holding a note in her hand. She said that she had received it after supper. It said to go down to the front of the dining hall. She also told us that it said “NO TALKING” in all caps. That kinda scared me. As we walked down the beaten trail around the lake to the dining hall, the dark night and looming trees set my unsure mood. When we got to the dining hall, we sat down on the porch over the lake. As we were sitting down, someone whispered in my ear that we weren’t in trouble at all, but I didn’t believe her. Why would she know and no one else? I might have believed it slightly at first, but as time wore on, I was more and more certain that it wasn’t true. My counselor told us to sit quietly until someone came. Then she told us that she thought Chuck was going to handle this, but he was busy, so Hannah, the nurse, was going to instead. I was now thoroughly freaked out. Chuck was one of the camp leaders. If he was supposed to talk to us, something really must be wrong.
When Hannah came, she sat down and said something very bad had happened. She said that someone had gotten seriously injured at swimming time, and that someone in our cabin had hurt her, but the person didn’t know who it was. It was incredibly serious and they were going to write a report about it. She pulled out an important-looking notebook as she said this. Hannah said that whoever did this should come forward - “you know who you are.” I raced frantically through my memory for what we did at swimming time. Surely I hadn’t hurt anyone seriously!! Then Hannah said “Well, if no one will come forward, we could just go inside and have a pizza party.” At first I was sure she was kidding. Then I realized it was no joke; I had been fooled. I was extremely relieved that we weren’t in trouble. The girl who had told me we weren’t in trouble had been right!! Her mom had sent in money for a pizza party for the whole cabin. I was so glad as we stepped into the light of the dining room to feast. We had a great time that night and we got very hyper as our emotions swung from worry and stress to the excitement of having a pizza party. I promise you, they’ll give you gray hair at that camp.
July 4, 2008
(Editor's Note: This is a piece of writing that Miss Bookworm wrote about when she was at a week long camp a few weeks back.)
It was about 10 or 11 o’clock at night. Our cabin was hanging out at the Pop Shop, having a good time, when our counselor called us over. Our normally cheerful and joking counselor was now grave, and she was holding a note in her hand. She said that she had received it after supper. It said to go down to the front of the dining hall. She also told us that it said “NO TALKING” in all caps. That kinda scared me. As we walked down the beaten trail around the lake to the dining hall, the dark night and looming trees set my unsure mood. When we got to the dining hall, we sat down on the porch over the lake. As we were sitting down, someone whispered in my ear that we weren’t in trouble at all, but I didn’t believe her. Why would she know and no one else? I might have believed it slightly at first, but as time wore on, I was more and more certain that it wasn’t true. My counselor told us to sit quietly until someone came. Then she told us that she thought Chuck was going to handle this, but he was busy, so Hannah, the nurse, was going to instead. I was now thoroughly freaked out. Chuck was one of the camp leaders. If he was supposed to talk to us, something really must be wrong.
When Hannah came, she sat down and said something very bad had happened. She said that someone had gotten seriously injured at swimming time, and that someone in our cabin had hurt her, but the person didn’t know who it was. It was incredibly serious and they were going to write a report about it. She pulled out an important-looking notebook as she said this. Hannah said that whoever did this should come forward - “you know who you are.” I raced frantically through my memory for what we did at swimming time. Surely I hadn’t hurt anyone seriously!! Then Hannah said “Well, if no one will come forward, we could just go inside and have a pizza party.” At first I was sure she was kidding. Then I realized it was no joke; I had been fooled. I was extremely relieved that we weren’t in trouble. The girl who had told me we weren’t in trouble had been right!! Her mom had sent in money for a pizza party for the whole cabin. I was so glad as we stepped into the light of the dining room to feast. We had a great time that night and we got very hyper as our emotions swung from worry and stress to the excitement of having a pizza party. I promise you, they’ll give you gray hair at that camp.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Happy 4th of July
The weather was iffy on the 4th so we did not make plans to go to a community event. In the end, the weather cleared leaving behind one gorgeous evening. We built a fire in the back yard and hung out as a family. It was the stuff wonderful evenings are made of.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Tidbits
Here are a few random happenings in our home:
Tidbit 1: When I walked into the bathroom with Anna to help her brush her teeth, I flipped on the light. “No!,” she said as she reached up to turn it back off. I assumed she wanted to turn the light on herself and was going to flip it off and then back on again.
She flipped the light off, walked out of the bathroom, turned around and got herself set for another grand entry. Then she waltzed into the bathroom and flipped on the light. I had clearly ruined the experience so fully the first time that she had to redo the whole scene.
Tidbit 2: A child, who wished not to be named, came to me and said, “I am bored.” I offered a few suggestions of things he/she could do, but none of them seemed to intrigue the child. Then an idea came.
“Hey, Dad! Is there anything I can do that I have to ask to do?”
“Well, what do you want to do that you have to ask to do?”
“I don’t know. I can’t think of what they all are. Can you tell me?”
That was very humorous to me. Our kids can do a whole host of things in our home without asking, but there are a few things that they need permission to do – playing a video game, playing in the rain, working in the workshop, watching a movie, etc. Even though this child could not at the moment think of what those things were, he/she knew the activity would be better than anything I had just suggested because permission was needed to do it.
Tidbit 3: We did something new for our family this year and we designed a family t-shirt. The minimum order was 12 and we only have nine in our family, so we had to order three extra shirts. We made the extra shirts on the larger side of things to accommodate for the future growth of our kids.
Now Miss Bookworm is an extreme “Type A” firstborn child and on the way back from ordering the t-shirts she had an endless supply of questions trying to wrap her mind around the 10 year plan for these shirts.
“What happens when a shirt gets ruined? Do I get a larger shirt and we hand the others down?” “When will we all wear the shirts?” “Why are there three adult small shirts? Will those be for us girls when we get bigger?”
In the end I tried to put her mind at ease. “Listen. We just ordered shirts as something fun for this summer. Let’s enjoy the shirts now and worry about the future when we get there.”
I don’t think it was satisfying.
Tidbit 4: Our cat Patches often picks up and carries things around the house. She is quite proud of herself when she does and will meow until she receives due recognition. The other night, CrazyMom left a full-sized pair of scissors at the top of the stairs and forgot to bring them down when she came. A few minutes later, Patches showed up with the scissors and dropped them by where we were sitting. We were quite impressed.
Tidbit 5: Our schedules have been crazy for awhile and last night after the kids were in bed CrazyMom and I snuggled in on the couch, held hands, and watched . . . a homeschool training video from the “Excellence in Writing” curriculum. Ah, the romantic life of a big homeschooling family.
Tidbit 1: When I walked into the bathroom with Anna to help her brush her teeth, I flipped on the light. “No!,” she said as she reached up to turn it back off. I assumed she wanted to turn the light on herself and was going to flip it off and then back on again.
She flipped the light off, walked out of the bathroom, turned around and got herself set for another grand entry. Then she waltzed into the bathroom and flipped on the light. I had clearly ruined the experience so fully the first time that she had to redo the whole scene.
Tidbit 2: A child, who wished not to be named, came to me and said, “I am bored.” I offered a few suggestions of things he/she could do, but none of them seemed to intrigue the child. Then an idea came.
“Hey, Dad! Is there anything I can do that I have to ask to do?”
“Well, what do you want to do that you have to ask to do?”
“I don’t know. I can’t think of what they all are. Can you tell me?”
That was very humorous to me. Our kids can do a whole host of things in our home without asking, but there are a few things that they need permission to do – playing a video game, playing in the rain, working in the workshop, watching a movie, etc. Even though this child could not at the moment think of what those things were, he/she knew the activity would be better than anything I had just suggested because permission was needed to do it.
Tidbit 3: We did something new for our family this year and we designed a family t-shirt. The minimum order was 12 and we only have nine in our family, so we had to order three extra shirts. We made the extra shirts on the larger side of things to accommodate for the future growth of our kids.
Now Miss Bookworm is an extreme “Type A” firstborn child and on the way back from ordering the t-shirts she had an endless supply of questions trying to wrap her mind around the 10 year plan for these shirts.
“What happens when a shirt gets ruined? Do I get a larger shirt and we hand the others down?” “When will we all wear the shirts?” “Why are there three adult small shirts? Will those be for us girls when we get bigger?”
In the end I tried to put her mind at ease. “Listen. We just ordered shirts as something fun for this summer. Let’s enjoy the shirts now and worry about the future when we get there.”
I don’t think it was satisfying.
Tidbit 4: Our cat Patches often picks up and carries things around the house. She is quite proud of herself when she does and will meow until she receives due recognition. The other night, CrazyMom left a full-sized pair of scissors at the top of the stairs and forgot to bring them down when she came. A few minutes later, Patches showed up with the scissors and dropped them by where we were sitting. We were quite impressed.
Tidbit 5: Our schedules have been crazy for awhile and last night after the kids were in bed CrazyMom and I snuggled in on the couch, held hands, and watched . . . a homeschool training video from the “Excellence in Writing” curriculum. Ah, the romantic life of a big homeschooling family.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Baby Dedication
Our church had a baby dedication on Father' Day in which CrazyMom and I took part. CrazyMom snapped this photo just before leaving for church.
For some reason the event triggered the more somber side of me. As I would look at Anna standing there wearing her Ethiopian dress in all of her beauty, I found myself also seeing the face of a child I saw in the paper from her area of Ethiopia that was suffering from malnutrition from the famine. I could not stop reflecting on how on the same day that we were dedicating Anna, there were other children from her town that would die. On what should normally have been a joyous day, I found myself saying, "God have mercy on the children of Ethiopia."
For some reason the event triggered the more somber side of me. As I would look at Anna standing there wearing her Ethiopian dress in all of her beauty, I found myself also seeing the face of a child I saw in the paper from her area of Ethiopia that was suffering from malnutrition from the famine. I could not stop reflecting on how on the same day that we were dedicating Anna, there were other children from her town that would die. On what should normally have been a joyous day, I found myself saying, "God have mercy on the children of Ethiopia."
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