the methods and madness of one family of 12
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
Maybe. Almost. Any minute now. Did I mention that we’re sick? Just a headache/fever kind of crud that seems to pass quickly, so we’re hoping everyone will be well by Friday.
Five of us have already had it so we’re halfway there. Not halfway to Oklahoma City, but halfway to health, which is even better!
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
This week is going to be another whirlwind. Here’s what we have had planned:
Monday: Midwife appointment; get the house cleaned and laundry entirely caught up for tomorrow.
Tueday: Pack for upcoming homeschool conference in Oklahoma City. We’ll be doing the Vision Forum booth!
Wendesday: Leave for OKC first thing in the morning. Try to leave a clean house behind us. It’s supposed to be an 8-9 hour drive. That means it will probably take us 10-12 hours.
Thursday: Check into hotel, go to convention center, unload trailer and set up booth.
Friday: All-day conference, then dinner at my parents’ house.
Saturday: All day conference; clean up and tear down booth, load trailer.
Sunday: Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.
So as I said, this week is going to be another whirlwind, and I’m off to a rip-roaring start. My whole morning was a big fat “oops.”
I got up bright and early so I could be on time for my 10:30 midwife appointment. Hubby had rearranged his day so he could carpool and I could use his small car – this way I didn’t have to drive the van and burn gas unnecessarily. I had already canceled my dental appointment because it was set for 1:00 and I didn’t think I would be able to make both. What was I thinking when I scheduled both on the same day? I didn’t remember, for reasons that would become clear a little later.
It’s a 90 minute drive and I had to leave at 9. My back was hurting so I was moving a bit slow and I didn’t read my Bible before I left. This means I also didn’t get online or check my email. Ouch.
On the bright side, I was only 20 miles down the road when I realized in a moment of clarity that my midwife is only in her office on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I couldn’t possibly have an appointment today. My appointment is tomorrow. I called the dentist back but my appointment had already been filled by another patient, better organized than I.
Since I was nearly to the small town that holds our WalMart, I continued. I spent way too much time getting a few odds and ends, moving slowly because my back was hurting more and more. I didn’t get home until after lunch.
I lowered my aching back onto the couch and tried to issue a few commands, but the older girls quickly talked me into lying down on my bed. There’s more, but it’s a blur. The rest of the day melted away.
Tomorrow, I need to leave bright and early for a midwife appointment. And pack for a 5 day trip for 10 people.
Make it all worth it: tell me you live in OKC and you’re going to the homeschool conference. Anyone?
psst…speaking of Vision Forum, check this out. But quick. Our giveaway ends Wednesday night.
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
Well, that’s not exactly what I wanted to ask, but now I have your attention, right?
I just upgraded to WordPress 2.5.1 and updated all my plugins, and now I’m really tired (Gee, could it be jet lag or the fact that it’s nearly 1 AM?). I’m going to be brave foolish lazy and not spend a lot of time checking things over to make sure it all works and looks right.
So don’t be too shy to tell me if something looks wrong or suspiciously different – unless you’re just going to comment on how much weight I gained at Grandpa and Grandma’s house.
And on that note, let me close with a timeless quote from one of my sweet, loving daughters:
“Mom, why are you wearing all black? You know, the slimming effect of black only goes so far…”
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
Saying goodbye always makes me feel guilty when I’m the one leaving. I hate to leave loved ones, but can’t help being excited about where I’m going next.
I have had a wonderful time with my grandparents and am so thankful that God made this visit possible, but I also can’t wait to get home to my little ones and my big ones and my sweet husband. This is the longest we’ve ever been apart and I am ready to return to my humble routine. I hunger for it!
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
I’m still alive, though I think my brain is rusting from all the rain. We haven’t laid eyes on the sun since we’ve been here in Oregon and I probably have moss growing in my hair, but I keep telling myself we’ll look back fondly on this weather when August in South Texas rolls around.
Deanna and I are enjoying our time with Grandma and Grandpa. Deanna brought her dress and has begin to work on it in earnest under Grandma’s expert tutelage.
On Saturday, one of my cousins came to dinner with her husband and 3 children, along with my lumberjack uncle Steve.
On Sunday, we drove south to visit my aunt and her husband, and 2 cousins with their children. One of my cousins is expecting her 3rd child just a few days before our baby is due.
On Monday, we visited with MamaK, PapaPyro, and a few visitors in their home.
Yesterday, my maid of honor came to dinner with her parents. We talked as quickly as we could, but still the evening flew past far too quickly!
Today, we had lunch with a sweet musical friend of Grandma’s, and Uncle Steve is here for dinner.
Tomorrow, Grandma’s musical friend will join us for dinner and music: Grandma and Miss Goff will play the piano and the organ in Grandma’s music room. I suspect I will be talked into playing the violin, though I haven’t picked up a musical instrument since Grandpa and Grandma were in Texas back in September.
The interviewing has gone well on the few occasions that we remembered to set up the camera and get down to business; somehow even this quiet slow week has been packed with busy-ness, and we haven’t found time to do as much as we had hoped.
But when we do it – oh, it warms my heart! I’ve heard new stories that I never heard before, and old stories that I forgot. I recorded the two of them together, reminding each other of stories to tell and gently teasing each other. Their interaction was so sweet! Grandma told me that Grandpa has said more on camera than he normally says in 6 months. Then he winked at me and said, “Well, women have a daily allowance of 50-60,000 words; men only get 5,000. We use ours up and then we’re quiet. Women never run out.”
I just have to mention what a blessing our new HandyCam has been. I haven’t moved any of the material to DVD yet so I can’t say how easy that is, but the video camera itself is so easy to use and charge, so easy to switch between still photos and video, has a remote control (!!!), fits perfectly on the tripod we already had, and there are no little cassettes to worry about. Everything is stored directly on a hard drive in the camera.
Thank you so much for all the ideas and suggestions of what to ask. We have used many of them. Kaitlyn also loaned me a 2 page questionnaire that she brought home when she and her dad went to the 2007 Father/Daughter Retreat and I found that we have covered many of the questions in there. I was worried because I didn’t make time to create a detailed plan, but it seems that it is all coming together nicely. I just hope I don’t get home and realize that I forgot to ask all the most important questions. Of course, that would mean I have to visit again very soon and finish up the job…
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
I’m still recovering from nearly 8 hours on the road yesterday, but it was well worth it! It was my turn to visit MamaK on her own turf in beautiful snowy Washington state yesterday. I also met the women behind Chris and Jenni, Heath Happenings, Cunningham Rules, and A Dollop of Sour Cream. If I missed your link, it’s probably because I wasn’t sure if it was public so please speak up!
I’ll share a few snapshots here but check out Karen’s post for a ton of beautiful great photos with names attached.
I could try to convince you all that I’m respecting your privacy since some of you have private family blogs, but that’s not the whole story. I might attach the wrong name or wrong child to the wrong mother, and then I would have guilt. I’m sorry, ladies, but I’m doing well if I can remember my own name on most days. I’m glad all of my children bear a strong family resemblance. 
This message greeted us from the chalkboard when we entered the kitchen:
Karen was a super gracious hostess and seemed right in her element with hordes of small children swarming about the house. She laughed and smiled nonstop, served up delicious coffee and a grand buffet, and entertained us all with a tap dance routine. No, wait. That was Mom when I was 7. Karen entertained us with a pop quiz about my blog. There were some tough questions on there, but I think I could have won if she had let me play.
The abundant babies provided plenty of entertainment too. They were everywhere!
This little sweetheart was a willing test subject for the Cybershot Smile Shutter feature. It worked like a charm. She even said “cheese” for us!
Grandma and Grandpa stayed to visit for a while and charmed all of my new friends.
Lots of fun and chocolate was had by all.
I am so thankful that Karen and Eric were willing to open their home to 10 moms and nearly 40 children, many of whom they had never met before! This was true Biblical hospitality in action, and I think all of us came away encouraged in our daily service to the Lord.
Now…who’s up for central Texas? Somewhere between San Antonio and Fort Worth, perhaps?
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
At the risk of sounding like a commercial, I want to share few notes so far on the free loot one of my new gifts from Sony:
Cybershot: I was completely prepared to fall in love with this little baby, but it hasn’t quite been love at first sight. I’d say we’re still in the getting-to-know-each-other stage.
Here’s my first impression:
Love
Don’t love
As you can see, there are far more pros than cons. I think the Cybershot and I have real potential, so I’m willing to work on the relationship.
Just one more quick note: I have to say that Sony was utterly classy in the way they planned and handled the Mommy Blogger event. There was no pressure to post about any of it; there wasn’t even any heavy hinting. They seem to be just that confident in their products, that they know we’ll be excited enough to share the joy. And they’re right to feel that way. This was as close to a negative review as I’ll be getting. Just wait til I tell you about the other two cameras.
I heart Sony.
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
We’re off to the dentist this morning. I realized this morning I haven’t updated anyone but Kim (via phone) on our adventures here in the shoe.
I was going to dash off a funny squib about our little odyssey here but then I realized that this is the second day in a row we have to be out of the house on a deadline, so it will have to wait a bit
Yes I DO have a renewed appreciation for my wife, not that it is hard to appreciate a lady who bears eight children, keeps my cozy home, and writes such a funny and engaging blog, but I DO NOT have a renewed appreciation for:
I’ve got to dash off for a 3 hour tour of the dentist (WHY didn’t I have her change that appointment date) so the more complete description of our life without mama will have to wait.
We miss you dear 
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
A lot of people have asked me the same questions about my trip to La Jolla, so I’m going to take the easy way out.
Q. What was the point of your trip to California? Why did Sony pick you?
A. The short answer is, I don’t know but I was glad to be included! The longer answer is that it wasn’t Sony that made the choice, but a marketing company that is doing a campaign for Sony. Sony wanted to get mommy bloggers excited about their cameras, and Rocket XL chose participants, presumably from a list of previous contacts.
There’s a lesson to be learned here: if a nice lady named Andrea from Rocket XL ever emails to invite you to review a product, be nice back to her and say “oh, yes please!” You want to be on her contact list. Thanks, Andrea!
Q. What did you do in California?
A. Fourteen mommy bloggers from all over the country met and mingled a bit; we ate far too much; and we oohed and aaahed over our new cameras.
Then we got down to business: We participated in a live tutorial to get familiar with the basic operation of our new cameras. With the help of Sony personnel, we explored many of the features and learned to navigate the settings and menus.
Finally, the real fun started: Photographer Me Ra Koh taught us to make use of all these wonderful tools and fancy features. She gave us tips on composition and framing, lighting, choosing a setting, and helped us understand how to make sense of the different modes in our cameras: we learned to use shutter speed, aperature, white balance, and light metering to actually make our photos turn out the way we see them in our heads! Well, with practice…
She answered endless questions about getting action shots of children, handling shadows or bright light, achieving realistic skin tones, and more. She told stories and gave examples from her own experience; and she reminded us that nearly everything we were learning was also in her set of instructional DVDs – which we received free.
Which reminds me…she also said I could give away one of her DVDs here, so watch for that after I get home.
On the second day, her husband arrived to play Me Ra’s funny sidekick and together they gave a friendly critique and analysis of some photos that we volunteered to share. This was really helpful and highly entertaining.
I also found a few minutes to MIRL with some virtual friends. Hi, Rachel! Hi, Elizabeth!
Q. So Sony gave you a camera? Why? Do you have to blog about it?
No. Sony gave me THREE CAMERAS. Because they’re really nice people. And I don’t have to blog about; I want to blog about it. To the best of my knowledge, they didn’t actually mention anything to me (or the rest of the group) about blogging about our new cameras. I’m pretty sure they expected us to feel that way about it all; after all, we’re bloggers and a blogger blogs. It’s what she does.
Q. You’re already done in California?
Yes, I was only there from Wednesday afternoon until Friday afternoon. The entire event was a whirlwind! I could have been pampered like royalty, but really just wanted to soak in as much info as I could. I never took time to use the monstrous garden tub with the jet thingies; I didn’t find time for my spa treatment; I didn’t walk down to the seal beach; and I even skipped lunch on Friday because the last session ran late and Brendon the “limo” driver was waiting. There was just too much to learn, and I get enough pampering at home.
Q. Why is “limo” in quotes? And where is the picture of the limo driver?
OK, nobody asked me that yet, but I figure somebody will ask eventually so I’ll come clean now. There was no limo. There was a sharply dressed driver with a British-sounding name and accent, but the vehicle from the airport to the hotel was a very nice SUV. Don’t ask me what kind; I’m a girl. I can tell you it was white, OK?
The same driver took me back to the airport 48 hours later, this time in a big shiny black car, but I’m sorry. It wasn’t a stretched car. Somehow I just don’t feel like complaining, though, you know?
Q. When are you going to blog more about your cameras?
OK, nobody really asked me that either, but I’ve really got camera-on-the-brain so I’m just waiting for someone to ask. Please! All of the photos in this post were just quick, unplanned snapshots with the tiny, too-small-to-be-a-real-camera Cybershot, and I’ve even got a preliminary post ready about it. Who wants to see?
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
Snow. I’m in Portland at my grandparents’ home now and I woke up to snow. It will be in the high 80′s in San Antonio all week, and I brought my high 80′s wardrobe, because every knows it never snows in late April, right? Right?
So I did the only thing I could do: I slipped on my sandals and stepped out on the deck with one of my new cameras to take pictures of that white stuff.
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
I was busy procrastinating, but in light of the fact that I just spent 2 luxurious days in beautiful Southern California as result of blogging, I will now graciously accept the Interesting Blog award given to me by Handy Mom and by Hercules Mulligan.
I could be making up the parts about all the kids and homeschooling, but the limo thing? Never. It’s true. My blog is interesting! If you disagree, try using my search box for “daddy longlegs” or “tarantula.” Of course, if you disagree you’re probably not reading this right now, are you?
I would like to encourage you to visit the following interesting blogs as well:
Oh, and the limo thing? I didn’t get a picture. I was too shy to take the picture. Who am I fooling? I was fumbling with my laptop and bag and camera and lens cap, and he folded up the sign when he ID’d my pregnant belly. That’s where the shy part comes in. I wanted to ask the nice old gentleman to hold up the paper and pose for me, but I just couldn’t do it. And I so wanted that picture.
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
We need a reformation of biblical family life, and there will be no reformation without setting the doctrinal foundation and having the courage for a radical turning. Come to the conference, “A Puritan Family Reformation.” This conference is designed to help us make progress in turning to a biblical vision for family life.
My good friend Scott Brown director of the NCFIC sent me an announcement this week letting me know about a new conference he is hosting in May.
Here is Scott’s description of the conference:
“On May 9-10 we are having a really unusual conference for the reformation of family life. It is called, “A Puritan Family Reformation,” which seeks to document the biblical doctrine of the family as the Puritans understood it and to put it into practice in our times. It will be a very practical conference for the reforming of marriage, child raising and the relationship between the family and the church.”
God’s word tells us in Malachi 4 that Reformation is preceded by a renewal of interest by fathers in their children’s hearts. The reformers knew the importance of family worship for the spiritual health of a nation. This is why they wrote their “Directory of Family Worship” as part of the Westminster Standards.
I believe we are truly living in a generation that has arisen and does not know the Lord or the things he has done for his people, in the past, much less the ways in which our spiritual fathers sought to honor God and train their children serve him in fear.
From the conference website:
When the protestant reformation swept Europe, everything changed. The doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture, which lay at the root of the reformation, caused transformations in every area of life. Not only was there a return to the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone, but the biblical doctrine of the family was also recovered. There was a profound reformation of family life during the protestant reformation. Then the successors of the reformers, the puritans, took the foundation that was laid and built upon it. They expanded on their predecessors’ understanding of family life. They put doctrine into practice in church and home. And, they published many powerful treatises on the biblical doctrine of the family. Family life was reforming according to scripture. But something tragic happened. Many forces rose up to wage war against the family and instead of standing on the shoulders of the puritans and building further, the next generation fell to the ground, and the biblical doctrine of the family was largely lost…
This conference seeks to change that.
Further Reading:
The “Puritan Family Reformation Conference” website is here
Here is the page containing the video.
Here is Scott Brown’s Blog.
In order to help get the word out about the conference I will be having a drawing for 3 copies of “A Church in the House” by Matthew Henry and “The Joy of Family Worship” cd by R.C. Sproul Jr. IF you blog about the conference.
Together – one of each to 3 people - The conference starts the 9th so we’ll close entries on this drawing on the 30th of April!
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
Sony did it. This morning, when we entered the verandah room (4th picture in the slide show) for our first formal meeting, the 14 of us saw 14 neat stacks of camera boxes.
Each of us is now the happy owner of a brand new Cybershot, Handycam, and Alpha DSLR. The day was jam-packed with live tutorials on using these specific models, a photo workshop by Me Ra Koh with many tips on lighting, composition, hardware and settings, and more!
We also received a complimentary set of Me Ra Koh’s instructional DVD’s, which our family can’t wait to review! Based on Me Ra’s teaching style, I think we will love these and learn to make the most of all of our cameras.
I am too tired for Photoshop and I have no energy to fight with WordPress tonight so I just uploaded all 31 shots to Drop Shots. Click on any photo below to go see the entire collection of my first day shooting with the new Sony Alpha DSLR. Well, the first round of keepers. I’m not telling how many I deleted.
Vision Forum Deal of the Day: save 40-90%!
Remember, just because your mom is gone doesn’t mean you can post to the blog without permission.
All posts must be approved by one of your parental units before publishing to the web. Yes Kaitlyn even you.
(and ESPECIALLY YOU Megan)
Love ya
Dad
I think I’m going to dream of 
Recent Comments