WHERE DO CLOUDS COME FROM?

Mom: Where do clouds come from? (We were learning about the water cycle; evaporation, condensation, precipitation, repeat, hence the name cycle).
And the other kids all start to tell me that clouds are tiny, invisible droplets of water vapor all collected together that begin to condense when they hit the cold upper atmosphere to form a cloud.

But Sharpay had a different take on things, "Jesus made the clouds. Well he did make everything, mom, so clouds count too."

And a little child shall lead them..

RUDOLPH & A SHOPPING MALL

We went to the mall yesterday to hear my niece sing. It was a cute Christmas concert. So here is Sharpay and Tippy's rendition of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."

"You know Dasher and Dancer, Tupid and Cupid, Comic and Jupiter, Donald and Blitzen."

Our visit to the shopping mall was lots of fun. At least once in your lifetime you should try taking seven small children to a major shopping mall, by yourself, just to watch people watch you. We got the typical questions, "Is this a birthday party or something?" "You want HOW many kids meals?" And you know people are staring at us and wondering, "How come those kids aren't in school today?"

We had some free rides coupons to use at the indoor amusement park. They are usually worth 1 free ride. We had enough coupons to let every kid ride 2 rides after the concert. When the kids got off the log ride for the first time they were all talking loudly at once. But I heard every word, because I'm a good mom, right? I just kept nodding my head and chanting, "Oh really? Is that right? Oh my goodness!" But I got the message. The kids, with their slightly wet faces from the water ride and huge grins had just enjoyed a fantastic time. But Tippy hit the jackpot. We didn't know it, but he had a bonus 100 point ticket. So after their allotted 2 free rides we went on to spend up the 100 points. An afternoon of pure delight.

1 KINGS 17

Here's the story of the prophet Elijah being fed by ravens, paraphrased by Tippy. You can find the real story in the Bible in 1 Kings 17.

"There was no rain for like a really long time. And so God told Elijah to live by the river, and the birds would come and bring food for him to eat. And there was no food to eat because there was a SALMON in the land."

And I reply, "Not SALMON honey, FAMINE. If there had been salmon, there would be no famine."

"WHAT IN THE WORLD?" WEDNESDAY

Today was one of those days. You know what I mean don't you? Everything was going along at a nice little clip. I was planning to eat lunch, throw some dinner in the crock-pot and take the kids rollerskating. I had plenty of time until......suddenly all I could say was, "WHAT IN THE WORLD JUST HAPPENED?"

I had Peanut in her high chair snacking on some pre-lunch fare. Some of the kids were outside playing hockey broomball. Think boys on rollerblades using brooms to whack around a ball. I was multi tasking; prepping lunch and putting together a casserole for the crock-pot. I was even humming because everything was going so well.

Just as I get my hands completely covered in raw chicken chaos breaks out. The doorbell rings. The broomball boys begin to shout, "The Schwan's man is here!" The dog is barking hysterically, because that is obviously her job anytime the doorbell rings. The oven timer is going off - french fries are done. Peanut is giving the "all done" sign in her high chair. And to top things off, as one of the girls races to get to the door she discovers the dog has just barfed in the entryway.

I'm thinking to myself: Chicken on the hands, french fries starting to burn, baby's "all done", Schwan's man at the door, and dog vomit on the floor. Take a number. Where do I begin and what exactly takes the highest priority? I'd like to think that the comedy of this timing only happens in the movies, until I realize this is my REAL LIFE. No script writer needed to produce this much chaos at any given moment. I can manage that all on my own.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD JUST HAPPENED HERE?"

WORLD CULTURES

Our family is a blend of 2 vastly different cultures. Ethiopia and America. We're proud to be both. We like to learn about different cultures around the world. Our favorite part is to try new foods! I'm being totally serious. We just don't put up with "picky or fussy" eaters in our children. Too hard with so many people to please.

In home schooling this year we have been having so much fun learning about the world. We have been praying for countries and people groups that some adults cannot even pronounce. And some that honestly, before this year of study, I had never even heard of. We can sing our way around the world thanks to some "cheesy" (but hey - they actually work) geography songs. All the kids can label the countries in Africa. It has really opened our eyes to a much BIGGER world. Pretty cool stuff I think.

This last week we were studying Russia and all those "stan" countries....Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan to name a few. If you need help with pronunciation just ask my 5 year old :) Remember I told you our favorite part was trying new ethnic foods. I'm not talking about Taco Bell here. So we were so excited to find a little Russian cafe last week and took our whole family there for lunch.

But you can kind of imagine the scene. Large family with many young children, some black, some white, entering the little Russian cafe and asking for a bowl of borscht. One woman eating inside even felt compelled to come over to our table and ask us, "What are the kids going to eat? You know their potatoes are different than french fries here?" she asks us. And we reply, "Great! We didn't come here for chicken nuggets or french fries." We came for cabbage rolls, beef stroganoff, Siberian pelmeni (dumpling with meat), potato vareniki , crepes with strawberry syrup and of course some borscht. And that is exactly what we ate. The kids gobbled it up much to the woman's surprise and to the delight of our server!

I suppose we keep people guessing about us, but we have gotten used to it.

"NOT ME!" MONDAY

If you had been at the zoo on Monday you would not have seen me with my seven children eating lunch peacefully at a picnic table. You also would not have overheard someone nearby comment and counting out loud, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ...how many do you have anyway?!? Wow! You're brave!" You wouldn't have seen me smile at her comment and count myself as "lucky" instead of "brave."

You also would never have noticed us in the dolphin and shark area exploring things with our eyes and hands. And you certainly would NEVER have seen one of MY children exploring the shark tank with... well, let's say MORE than his hands. Because my children do not fall into shark tanks fully clothed. Nope. Not us. We just plain don't act like that. You also would not have seen at that moment when my child was not falling into the shark tank head first, his brothers grabbing his feet, shirt and arms and trying to hoist him out. This actually continued to hold him under water rather than lift him up because he couldn't get his feet back on the ground. That is, IF that had happened, but it didn't, because it wasn't us you saw. And I would certainly NOT have been standing all the way across from the swimming child on the other side of the shark tank with some of the children, because I always keep ALL SEVEN children within arms reach, at all times. So when I turned around to see this particular child with head underwater, feet in air, and brothers struggling to resurface him - You absolutely DID NOT, I repeat DID NOT see me take off running to the rescue. And when the boy did resurface and looked generally unharmed, you would not have seen me laughing so hard I couldn't catch my breath. I don't laugh when my children have just fallen in a shark tank! Not me! That's just wrong. You also did not overhear the zoo volunteers say, "Well you're definitely not the first person who's done that!"

But none of that happened to us - because it was NOT ME!

DISASTER PLANNING

I choked on a cookie today.
No biggie.
But when I had recovered, I began to wonder, "What would my children do if something were to happen to me in an emergency?"
I asked Puddin - "Call 911!" she responded authoritatively and immediately.
Good answer.

But the boys had other plans.....

"Mom what should we do if you choke on something, AND there's a tornado AT THE SAME TIME?" Tippy asks.
Buddy jumps right in and says, "I know! I will run upstairs and get a belt so I can tie Peanut onto your arms, and you can hold her while we pull you down the steps into the basement!"

(Mind you, I would be unconscious at this moment if this particular scenario were to play itself out - But, Sure! Why not? I'll "hold" the baby while I get dragged down the steps by the 5 and 7 year old boys who are trying to save me from the tornado!!)

"Mom what should we do if you choke on something, AND there's a tornado, AND bad guys come into our house ALL AT THE SAME TIME?" Tippy asks.

Buddy, always ready with a plan of action, "Tippy will go grab the belt and tie Peanut to you, and I will grab a big knife and sword. I'll fight the bad guys while the rest of the kids drag you down the steps."

And I'm envisioning my head bouncing on each of the steps at this point. I think I choose Option A - Puddin's plan

WAR AND PEACE

"I'm not at war! I'm a pizza maker!" Tippy shouted today.
Maybe we all need a little more of that attitude.

POEM BY TIPPY

Here is an original poem written by Tippy called God is....

God is the Lamb of God.

God is powerful.

God is the Savior of our sins.

God is the one who died on the cross for us.

God is my friend.

YOU MIGHT BE A BIG FAMILY IF.....

This post comes after reading a friend's blog about parenting her many small children. This is our take on having a big family. These are not just creative suggestions - they have all ACTUALLY happened to us.

You might be a big family if...

.. you count by 2's because it's just plain quicker.

.. people just get out of the way, rather than offer to help when you are making plates for dinner.

.. you refer to your mini van as "the little van" and the 12 passenger as "the big van."

.. people ask you how old your kids are and you actually get mixed up when you respond.

.. a bottle of sunscreen only lasts 2 outings.

.. you have 2 swing sets in your backyard and there still aren't enough swings for everyone to be on a swing at one time.

.. you qualify for group discounts.

.. you do a head count before leaving the driveway because you are still traumatized by the movie Home Alone.

.. your favorite Mexican restaurant actually changes their "kids eat free" policy based on your family.

.. you go out to dinner and people ask, "What's the special occasion?" or "Is this a birthday party?"

.. you start to hand a sucker to each of your children after church and other kids start to line up to get one too.

.. people ask you if you know what causes this.

.. the dentist will not allow you to schedule all your kids in one day, but you end up taking all your kids both times anyway.

.. you have a color coded system for cups, plates, shoe bins, towels etc.

.. when your father in-law stays over and uses one of the color coded cups, you politely ask him not to, so as not to endanger the entire infrastructure of the family.

.. you label things frequently with a Sharpie.

.. there are only 3 months each year that it ISN'T someone's birthday.

.. your 5 year old folds and puts away his own laundry - and has been for years.

.. it takes 2 hours to find a hotel that will allow you stay in one room.

.. you take up a whole row at the movies.

.. you have to convince the bowling alley that this "really is NOT a daycare."

.. your oldest daughter says things like, "There are still a few seats left in the van. Why not fill them up?"

.. the "parents bathroom" is just an illusion, because it constantly has foam letters, extra loofas, and kid shampoo in the shower.

.. it "counts"as a night away even though the nursing baby goes along.

.. 2 kids are gone for the evening, 5 still left home, but it feels like a ghost town.

.. you had a nickel for every time someone said to you "Boy, you've got your hands full." And you can honestly reply, "You think my hands are full? You should see my heart."

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.
Psalm 127:3

CAKE CUTTER

We had a great Father's Day. Mostly because we have a SUPER DUPER FANTASTIC BEST-EVER IN THE WHOLE WIDE UNIVERSE Daddy! We had a smoked roast, green beans, fresh salad from our garden, and carrot cake for dessert. Dad was trying to decide how to cut the cake exactly. I asked "How should we cut the cake?" Buddy responds heartily, "I can just use my face." We really pride ourselves on teaching proper table manners around here.

TOOTH FAIRY

My Tippy lost his first tooth. He was climbing a tree and fell out of the tree. He was moping around and I was afraid he had really hurt himself. But he finally revealed that his tooth was loose. He was afraid he might be in trouble. I told him that is just what happens when you are 5. And then he wore his wiggly tooth like a badge of honor.

The tooth finally came out right at bedtime one evening while we were on vacation. Daddy pulled and Tippy was amazed it came out so easily, he said "That's it?"

I asked him, "How will the tooth fairy find you since you are on vacation?"

Tippy - with his hands on his hips and a toothless grin replied, "Mom, I know the tooth fairy is you."

TOE JAM

My Peanut loves my Puddin. Peanut's eyes light up when Puddin comes in the room, and she smiles with her whole face. Puddin was inspecting Peanut's toes. (They are completely adorable by the way.) Puddin says, "She's got fur in between her toes." Even toe jam is cute on a baby.

STORIES BY BUDDY

Here is a writing sample from Buddy. He wrote this story with the help of a friend and all the spelling is his original work.

"Don't pick your nose" Subtitle "Yuck" by Buddy and his friend D.

Never evre pic your nose. Becus it is duscusting. Yuck.

PEANUT'S ARRIVAL

To say that Peanut is a blessing is inadequate. Words are hard to capture how much love we have for this precious life. And we really do consider her a complete blessing. Some call us crazy for the number of children we have. And we are. Crazy in LOVE, that is.

Last January 2009 (before we were pregnant) Tippy started to ask all kinds of questions. Questions like "How do you become a BIG brother. When am I going to be a big brother?" He was 3 at the time. I explained that when Buddy had been born, Puddin became a big sister. And when Tippy was born Buddy and Puddin became big brothers and sisters. And when Flower had been born in Ethiopia, Speedy became a big brother. Innocently Tippy replied, "So when our baby is born I will be the big brother." And mommy said, "Oh no, Tippy we aren't having another baby." (Insert God smiling and chuckling here) Later that day, Tippy insisted I draw him a picture of a baby so he could color it. AND he absolutely insisted that we wrap the picture up like a present and save it for Christmas (like 12 months from now). I helped him wrap it and honestly, it just got lost in our paper pile.

By April, Tippy said again, "If I could give anything to anybody I would give a baby to mom and dad." Independently from Tippy's comment, Buddy told me, "It would be really nice to have another baby." The day after Easter, Peanut's impending arrival was confirmed. I just think Tippy was listening to the whispers of Jesus sooner than we were.

When we told our 6 kids here are their reactions to the news, "We are having a BABY!"

Puddin: "Seriously?!?!?!?"

Speedy: "Yea!!"

Buddy: "Yahoo!"

Sharpay: "Are we really?"

Flower: "I'm so happy we're having a baby."

Tippy: "I'm gonna be the BIG brother."

Except they all talk at once, so it's sort of like this:

"Are we SeriouslyreallyhappyyahoohavingababyBIG brother?!?!?!!"

And then more questions, "When? Is it a boy or a girl?" And my personal favorite, "How do you know you are having a baby?"

My answer, "I took a test."

Buddy: "Can you take the test on the computer?"

But the best part of all is that later as I sorted through my paper pile, I found the wrapped gift that sweet Tippy had insisted on drawing and wrapping for Christmas. Want to take a guess on Peanut's due date? You guessed it - CHRISTMAS. So we opened that present this year and we continue to "unwrap" the real deal each day as our sweet baby grows.

ART CLASS

Speedy was sitting with our dog (a chubby but love-able rat terrier) and inspecting her toes.

He said, "What's that black spot on her foot? It looks like paint."

Mom calmly, and without missing a beat replies, "She takes an art class on Friday afternoons."

Speedy with big eyes, "She does??" I think he actually believed me for a second.

BROTHERLY LOVE

I was holding Peanut and asking her, "How did you get so beautiful?"

And Tippy innocently replied, "It's because I love her so much."

TOM and WHO??

Puddin and Speedy are auditioning for our local community theater's production of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. At dinner the whole family was having a discussion about the auditions and the play and what not.

Puddin said, "We are going to do Tom and Duck."

I believe most people refer to it as Tom and HUCK.

IT'S TRUE

It's true. Some day my kids are probably going to be smarter than I am. The five year old is trying to exceed that thresh hold sooner rather than later. I was commenting on Tippy's brainpower and how smart he is right now and asked, "You are so smart! What am I going to do when one day you are smarter than me?"

With a twinkle in his eye and a big goofy grin he said, "Don't worry mom. I'll teach you how to do it."

CAMPING

Last summer was our first ever family camping trip. We had so much fun and created some really great family memories. You know, smores with reeses peanut butter cups, popcorn over the fire, jumping tree frogs, sand between your toes, fishing, biking, tubing. It was even so cold and wet one trip that we stayed in our jammies, threw everything in the van and came home. But the kids are still talking about that trip! We had a raccoon visit our camp one night and eat through our styrofoam cooler. Daddy spotlighted the raccoon with a flashlight. This animal was huge - more like a bear cub. Kind of scary and creepy too. But all in all we liked it so much we are planning several camping trips this summer too.

As Dad was cleaning out some camping supplies he came across our camping stove.

Speedy asks, "Is there a dead animal in that stove?"

(I refuse to believe this is a direct comment on my cooking, but rather a misunderstanding. Or at least I hope it was. In my experience, animals do not usually offer themselves up for use as dinner. And I have never seen one crawl onto the stove to be cooked. Furthermore, the raccoon from last summer to which Speedy refers would never have fit in our small camping stove)

TABLE TALK

Mom: "I don't like playing catch-up."

Tippy: "Ketchup?? How do you play ketchup?"

POEMS BY PUDDIN

Here's a cute poem written by Puddin

If up to me, the ant would die.

He really should give it a try.

Then he would go to ant heaven,

and be with his friend Kevin.

CLUTTER BEWARE

We are staging a major reorganization of nearly our entire house. A form of spring cleaning and post-nesting instinct after having a baby. CLUTTER BEWARE - we are on a mission to find you and evict you from our home. The kids love to help "test" the pens and markers. Dad gave instructions to Sharpay to test the gob of pens that had been uncovered from nooks and crannies. Throw away all pens that do not work, and even ones that don't have lids.

Sharpay: "Dad, this pen does not work AND it doesn't have a lid. What should I do with it."

(Note to readers - the principle of a double negative does not apply here)

Dad: "What do you think?"

All those in favor of this said pen being garbage say "I," any opposed? Garbage it is - Clutter is now trembling in fear here.

CHOCOLATE AND CHEETOS

Buddy: "Mom, does God like Cheetos?"

Mom: "I think he must Buddy."

Buddy was also overheard singing, "Nestle be the name of the Lord. Nestle be his glorious name." The real words are "Blessed be the name of the Lord." But in reality, being blessed probably includes chocolate most of the time! So it's all good.

SPORTS TALK

Speedy: "Mom, why don't more people do the history dance?"

Mom: "What's a history dance?"

Speedy: "You know, after a football player makes a touchdown?"

Mom: "OOHHHH, You mean VICTORY dance!"

BOATING ACCIDENT - PART 2

Remember when I was talking about the boating accident the other day? It really wasn't that long ago, maybe a week or two. Tippy and I were riding in the van together and he started to talk about, "that time I got the big bump on my face."

He said, "That was when I was just a little kid."

My how time flys.

THE HUNT FOR THE MAGICAL PACI

Once upon a time a darling princess was born. Her family called her Princess Peanut. Princess Peanut had a very definite opinion about pacifiers. She had tried many kinds but there seemed to be one magical paci that could immediately right all wrongs and bring peace and harmony to the world. Any other paci just would not do. The problem was that the royal family only had one singular magical paci. What if it broke, wore out or was lost? Princess Peanut might stage a revolt! The king and queen thought the problem could be easily solved, just buy more magical paci's. They searched high and low in many stores across the kingdom but no one seemed to carry the magical paci's. There was no name brand written anywhere on the paci (which made an internet search quite difficult and lengthy). The king and queen went to great lengths to protect the paci from being lost. The queen was even heard saying, "I wish the magic paci had a GPS." All the while, worrying that the one magical paci might be lost before another could be found. Finally after much searching and near despair, a magical paci was found in the jungles of Amazon dot com. The king and queen quickly bought several more paci's and even paid for home delivery. All was right with the world and they all lived happily ever after.

SATURDAY MORNING CHORES

Time for dusting and Puddin is looking for some Endust.....

"Mom, where's the hind shine?"

CHRISTMAS MIX-UP

Our children's ministry at church is considering doing a musical this Christmas called, Arrest these Merry Gentlemen. Buddy had overhead the discussion and days later out of the blue said to us,

"Were there policemen with those 3 ladies?"

??? HUH???

"What are you talking about Buddy?"

"You know, Arrest the 3 Mary's"

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM???

Here's just a couple of the head scratchers I have personally overhead lately coming from some of my sweet children's lips

Puddin: "I drew a picture of what you are going to look like when you grow up Mom."

Speedy: "Did he sign to the monkey before he was arrested?"

Tippy: "I slept so long my pants are sweaty."

3 DAYS IN THE ....

At breakfast this morning we were talking about Jesus dying on the cross. Mom asked, "Where did Jesus spend 3 days?" Tippy confidently replies, "He spent 3 days in the TUBE." teeheehee :)

BOATING ACCIDENT

It was quite the day at our house yesterday. Tippy was out riding his bike and wasn't watching where he was going. Yep, this was the cause of an accident. He rode right into the back of a boat that was sitting on the street. (He's ok, just looks a bit beat up.)

So this morning as the kids were gettting ready for school Buddy came down and informed us that he told Tippy what to tell his teacher. He said, "Buddy, if your teacher asks what happened to you, just tell her that you were hit by a boat." Of course our reply was no, no, no. Tell her you had a bike accident. To say the least one of us will be talking with his teacher this morning when we drop him off.

SHOGGY

This morning I was taking Tippy to school and got the biggest laugh. We walked out into the garage and then opened the door. Tippy said to me, "Dad, it's really shoggy." It took me a minute to realize that he meant that it was really "foggy." I would have to say he might have been even more correct since it was pretty damp.

SNEAKERS??

So keep in mind that Speedy's first language is not English. One day he came home with a math assignment to find three things that were alike, and to categorize them. Like, bananas, apples, and oranges and the category would be fruit. So his problem to solve was tennis shoes, flip flops and sneakers. Now to you and I, this seems like an easy task. The category is: footwear, right? Not so much in Speedy's mind. The conversation goes a little something like this:

Mom: So what is the category Speedy?

Speedy: Ummmmmm, things you wear

Mom: Sort of, but what kind of things?

Speedy: (looking rather embarrassed) ummmmm

Mom: Tell me what a sneaker is.

Speedy: (now looking slightly horrified says) ummm, underwear?

Mom: (starts to roll on the floor laughing, and can hardly catch her breath) not exactly!!

A STICKY MESS

Tuesday was National Pancake day and we celebrated at IHOP. Every customer got a free short stack of pancakes and the syrup was freely flowing at our table. When we got home, Speedy went to dad and said, "Dad, that Poisonberry syrup was the best." Dad, quickly corrected him and let him know that it was "boysenberry".

HERDING

Just last week, Puddin stayed home from school because she wasn't feeling that great. While she was at home she was playing with Tippy. They were having a great time playing cowboys when Puddin said, "Let's round up some cattle." Tippy responded, "I don't want to round up cattle, I want to round up cows." To say the least I guess we have some vocabulary work ahead of us.

SO WHY ANOTHER BLOG?

I know that there are tons of blogs out there and some people don't understand why people keep adding more. Well, we are adding this blog to bring light to what it's like to live in a large family. We will be adding the silly statements, songs, and actions of our children. Sorry, but at this point we won't be posting pictures or evening giving out information that might let the world know who we are. That's not the point. The point is to let people know how fun(ny) it can be to live in a large family. We will give all our kids nicknames according to some of their personality quirks or nicknames used around our house. We hope you enjoy!