1,200 miles, 13 kids and counting

We're still alive. Whew! It's been a busy, busy, blessed week.

Luke's healing nicely from his emergency appendectomy 3.5 weeks ago. On the heels of his surgery and all that was going on I packed us all up, loaded the u-haul and we got out of dodge.

We left late last Thursday night (the 28th) and drove through the night to Luke's Dad's house in Mississippi. Then we drove over to Arkansas to visit my family and see friends. Then we drove back to Mississippi again spent the night, then to Memphis to see more friends and Luke's Mom for a couple nights. Currently, I'm sitting in northern Tennessee. We've driven over 1,200 miles in the last 9 days.

Tomorrow is sure to hold some surprises as we look forward to a day jam packed with 13 children under the age of 8.

I'm not even kidding.

In this great big bloggy world Kate (and her Savvy little women & 1 little man) and I have forged a friendship that can only be bound through the common understanding of lots of kids and lots of chaos and lots of laughs. We met up with them this evening and immediately her 6 and our older 6 hit it off. Giggles and chatter and crumbs flowed freely from around the table.

Now, all 13 kids are snoozing away.

Tomorrow's going to be fun day. For sure.

We hit the road again Sunday and roll on home.

I'll have stories to tell, pictures to prove them and lots to share, I'm sure.

Remember that time....?

I have at least 5 half-written posts drafted, waiting to be completed, edited and published. Unfortunately, I doubt I'll get around to them anytime soon. Life has been (blessedly) crazy over the last week.

On Wednesday, Luke came home from work at 11am. I can now count on 3 fingers the number of times in our 9.5 years of marriage that Luke has come home from work sick. I figured it was a virus so I stayed far, far away and silently praised Jesus that our children were already at the once-a-month Parent's Day Out at church.

I went and had lunch with some girlfriends, then came back to bring Luke anti-nausea meds, ginger ale and sprite before heading to the airport to meet some friends who were arriving.

When I checked on my man I knew it was something more than a virus. He was nearly grey and looked horrible. He complained of lower right abdominal pain. I quickly told him to get dressed then promptly drove him to the Emergency Room. Two hours later he was in surgery getting an appendectomy.

Praise God for good, reliable medicine!

While I was taking Luke to the hospital, the babysitter called and told me our van wouldn't start. On Saturday I jumped the van and took it to get a new battery. All seemed well until earlier today when it stalled out in my parents' driveway and refused to crank again. Currently, it's being towed to a local mechanic.

Our dog has fleas, despite regular flea medicine, and she's now brought them into our house. Before our van decided to die I ran to the Vet's office and got some spray. Sometime in the next 24 hours I need to spray everything in our house that is carpeted or covered in fabric.

Oh, and our kids can't be in that room for 2 hours following.

Remember that time our van was broken and we couldn't really go anywhere?

And last, but certainly not least, is the fact that we're going on a 11 day trip to see family and friends. And we leave this weekend. And I need to pack. But I can't lay clothes out on the floor and organize until I spray for fleas. Then I need to pack and load up the van.

Remember that time our van was in the shop?

Luke cannot lift more than 10lbs for the next 6 weeks due to his incision.

Remember that time we were going on a trip for 11 days and I had lots of bags packed that were over 10lbs?

Finally, we had a HUGE Fundraiser Yard Sale on Friday and Saturday. Our generous and faithful friends donated TONS AND TONS of good yard sale items for us to sale and use the money toward our outgoing expenses with Africa Inland Mission.

Remember that time Luke has surgery 2 days before a major fundraiser and couldn't lift more than 10lbs?

It's been an interesting 10 days to say the least. But friends and family have literally JUMPED into action and helped us in every way imaginable.

Remember that time we raised over $2,400 from a YARD SALE? Who does that?

God does!

Remember that time God was always faithful?

Oh yeah, that's yesterday, today and tomorrow. Praise God for His faithfulness. Even in surgeries, flea infestations, packing and vacations. Life is crazy but God is good.

And I'm eating milk chocolate chips straight from the bag. Sometimes, y'all, it's about survival.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,

“therefore I will hope in him.”

(Lamentations 3:22-24 ESV)

Das Not Funny! Friday: We take our freak show on the road

Remember about 2 months ago when Luke went to Guinea-Bissau, West Africa and the kids and I went out of town?

Yeah.

Well, during that trip the kids said so many funny things. My friend Grace was my sanity (read: traveling companion for over 1,400+ miles) wrote them down and emailed them to me, you know, the week after we got back. And since I'm nothing if not efficient, I was too lazy to COPY AND PASTE them from her email into a blog.

So, without any further ado (or more weeks of procrastination) I present to you, copy and pasted hilarity.

Try to contain your excitement. And remember, these are from Grace's point of view. Added hilarity, if you ask me. I can vouch for her accuracy and authenticity.

1. While we were on the way to Tennessee, all the kids fell asleep in the car. Lucas woke up for the last TWO HOURS of the drive, and decided he needed to talk until we arrived. But usually, he only had 2 things to ask. Every. Time. The song changed- "Mom, is this song about Jesus?" and everytime the car sped up/ slowed down/ switched lanes/ got passed/ passed someone- "Mom, are you speeding?"

2. Lucas again, talking to Grandpa Beaver: "Grandpa Beaver, what's your favorite kind of car?"
Grandpa replied, "Well, I don't know.. I guess I really like.."
"MINE IS A MOVING VAN." Goodtoknow Lucas.

3. While at Monkey Joe's burning off some energy, Olivia felt like she needed to have an in depth conversation with me. She just kept jabbering and pointing, and I assumed she was talking about the bounce house. I looked around a lady who was standing between us and saud bounce house and said, "Hey Liv, how about you go show me how fast you can go down that bouncy slide?" She giggled and turned around and skipped/ran/danced in the direction of the bounce house. On her way past the stranger standing between us and said bouncey slide, Olivia screamed, "BOOTY, BOOTY!" and spanked the woman. The woman was, understandably, horrified. I promptly pointed her in the direction of the child's mother. You're welcome.

4. One morning at breakfast, Aaron asked me for a napkin that were in the middle of the table, just out of his reach. When I stood up to hand one to him, he exclaimed, "WOW Grace! You are very tall!" Yes, Aaron. Yes I am. [You should probably know that Grace is the shortest person I've ever met. You know, besides my children.]

5. While in the car, we rotated through the kids and let them pick the songs we listened to. Aaron ALWAYS wants to listen to "You are my Joy." Even when it's not his turn. Even if we just listened to it for the 80 billionth time. Even if there world ended right now and Jesus came back, and pretty sure Aaron would request "You are my Joy" as the rapture's soundtrack. After asking to hear it AGAIN.. You replied, "Nope. I don't like that song!" Aaron said, "But why? It's my pay-brit! You just gotta try it, mom!"

6. One afternoon, while getting Aaron and Olivia ready for nap, I was running from one bathroom to the other, waiting for both of them to poop before they went to lay down. When I came into the bathroom Aaron was in, he let one rip- big time. I said, "Whoa, Buddy! Are you all done?" He replied, "Nope. That was just my snake sound, Grace! Here it comes again...." I left him alone with his snake sound, and went to check on Liv. I asked her if she was all done, and she held up her toy princess, looked under its dress and exclaimed, "Princess dress not pooped in her diaper! Yayyyy!" Good job, plastic princess. I guess this means you're a big girl now!

Doing nothing

The plane hit the runway hard. I tried not to giggle when I felt Luke's body tense as the wheels of the plane rebounded and hit the runway a second time.

It was the ending of a long, beautiful, quiet and totally relaxing weekend. One that went by much too fast and yet incredibly slowly all at the same time. How is it that time can do that to you? How is it that the days can seem long but the weekend seem short?

"We'll remember the quiet, the peacefulness, the rest, this whole weekend a week from now when we're back home and the chaos has set back in, right?" Luke said, almost sheepishly.

He was serious. It's so easy to forget the refuge you've just enjoyed as six precious, screaming, emotional children are hanging onto your pants legs and wanting their needs met instantly.

My parents were rockstars, taking control of our small army of children, dispatching them to varying locations of family and friends, feeding, bathing, filling cups and putting kids to bed. Their generosity has continued to baffle me in the days since we've been home.

After all, they gave us that trip last Christmas. I was sure they'd say it had expired long ago. But instead, they continued to urge us to go, take a vacation, spend some time away from the kids, be alone. They were equally excited for us as we were excited to go.

We chose Colorado because we love the mountains. We chose a quiet little town because we wanted someplace quiet, without the hustle and bustle of a busy ski resort town.

It never takes me long to remember just why I fell in love with this man I call my husband. He's thoughtful, gentle, strong, considerate and he always makes me laugh harder than anyone else. Over the course of the weekend, I just kept thinking about how I wanted our own children to know and understand a love like that one day.

I'm not going to pretend our marriage is always sunshine and rainbows. In fact, since we've been home, I've been less than cheerful to my husband. He's not really done anything in particular wrong.

Unless you count breathing.

Which has annoyed me at times over the past week. As has every other aspect of his living.

I blame hormones.

At any rate, as I think back on our 4 days alone, in the middle of no-where Colorado, I think about how we did absolutely nothing and yet had the best time ever. No kids to distract us, no must-see attractions. Just lots of sitting and doing nothing.

And I realized that I'm so thankful that I can sit and do nothing with my man and still feel like it's been the best day of my life.

Beach Pics

I wish I had a good reason for not blogging lately.

I guess, I do though. Six of them. Plus one tiny one that zapping ALL my energy and desire to do anything but sleep.

We went to the beach all week and got in late last night. It was a great trip full of memory making, family and friends and fun. There were 14 of us in all with friends, grandparents and great-grandmothers.

We attempted family pictures again this year. I was the photographer. It was interesting to say the least.

Here are a few of the kids that I got that were decent. But, by far, the outtakes are the most hilarious. Maybe I'll upload them soon.  But at the rate I'm blogging lately, uh, don't hold your breath.

Y'all have a great weekend.




Lucas is ticked because he's not beside Ella. Aaron is ticked because he's having to actually listen and obey.




Things about the above picture that should not shock you: 1) Olivia is talking. 2) Ashlee is closer to Ella than her own skin.




And my personal favorite.....

Lincoln, Washington and Veterans

On our second day in Washington D.C. we opted out of riding the metro. After the previous day's fiasco, we figured we'd fare much better just driving our 15 passenger van into the city and begging scavenging bartering driving around endlessly searching for a parking spot. After about 45 minutes of driving in circles, we found one. We parked near the Lincoln Memorial and headed there first. I really wanted to see this thing up close after 31 years of only seeing photos. It did not disappoint!

The entire time we stood there, looking at the homage paid to President Lincoln, I kept glancing at Olivia, thinking about how because of Abe's willingness to fight for what was right, she's accepted as a member of our family.

Elizabeth was quite the tour guide.

I wanted to get each kids' picture in front of Abe's huge self, but that didn't work out as planned, so I'll just show you this one, which cracks me up.

Beware of the Giant Floating Baby! Good thing she's cute or it might be freakishly scary.

The view out of the front of the Lincoln Memorial was breathtaking. I'll tell you the truth though, I half expected to see Jenny running through the reflection pool toward Forrest. (Namethatmovie.)

Next, we walked down to the World War II Memorial. I knew the kids would care less about this tribute to our amazing Veterans. But, since my own Grandfather as well as Luke's Grandfather both served in WWII, I knew this was something I had to see.

I forgot that Veteran's Day was just around the corner, yet I was so taken back and found myself holding back tears, each time I saw one of these sweet WWII Veterans being pushed around the Memorial by volunteers. They were just so sweet and I wanted to hug each one of them.


Luke's Grandfather was deployed from Ohio.

My Grandfather from Arkansas.

Both of them served in the Army branch of the military.

We tried explaining to the kids exactly what these Veterans fought for, but I think it was lost on their tired legs and their desires to run in an open field (which, do those two things seem to contradict themselves to anyone else? How can a kid say, "My wegs hurt!" then in the next breath say, "Can we run?").

So we headed across the street and they ran, wrestled and played in the open fields in front of the Washington Monument. We were totally "that family" whose kids were running and rolling and screaming and being crazy. Luke and I could have cared less. By the time we walked all the way across the fields, everyone within 100 yards of us had counted our kids at least 3 times each.

I tried to get a picture of Lucas looking like he was holding up the Washington Monument, but as you can tell from his posture and his face, he was super confused. Which just makes it even more hilarious.

We walked over to the Smithsonian's American History Museum and let the kids play in the 2 children's areas but quickly realized that we had quite a walk back to the van and the kids couldn't have cared less about all the cool American History stuff, so we trekked back to the van, lugging tired children with each step. We ate at a Mexican-Salvadorian Restaurant which was super yummy. But apparently, adding "Salvadorian" to the title means that you pay 3 times as much as what we are used to paying at a Mexican Restaurant back home. The salsa alone was worth it though. I've dreamed about it at least 3 times since. True story.

The next morning we went to church at First Baptist Church Alexandria (the church that had the member who blessed us with some outstanding accommodations for our stay in D.C.) then hit the road for Pearl River, NY. What should have been about a 3.5 hour drive turned into SIX HOURS. We rural living Southerners aren't used to two major things.

1) Toll Roads

2) Bumper to bumper traffic on the Turnpike where the speed limit is at least 60mph and we are going 4. FOUR. Okay, maybe 10, but still.

We finally stopped and grabbed some lunch, but for the life of me I can't remember where. I know y'all are just on edge for that tidbit of completely irrelevant information. We arrived at Africa Inland Mission's US Headquarters around dark and then the real adventure began. Stay tuned!

Getting there was half the battle. Literally.

Fair warning, this post will a be LONG one, just like our first day in Washington D.C. We began on Thursday, November 4th as we loaded up our 15 passenger van and headed North. We didn't quite know what to expect but we knew we wanted to make a stop in Washington D.C. for a few days since

1) I'd never been and

2) the kids had never been and

3) it was the half way point and we were sure we'd all be screaming to get out of the car 5.5 hours in.

An amazingly generous member of this church provided us a place to stay for 3 nights while we spent some time touring D.C. and Luke and I proved to ourselves that we can handle being in public with all six of our kids. We will still choose to not prove that to ourselves on a regular basis, especially in a crowded metropolis, but we can do it.

We also realized that when there is a bathroom within mere steps of our children, we will insist that they use it to squeeze out whatever non-existent drops of liquid are in their bladders. Partenting's 1st Law of Bathroom Emergencies states that as soon as the bathroom that no one needed a short 5 minutes ago is out of sight, everyone will suddenly be on the verge of peeing their pants and/or poop their diaper.

It's pure physics, I think. Or Newton's 87th law of pee. I'm not sure. I was never good at science.

On day 1 of our time in Washington D.C. the kids woke up somewhat cheerfully, we enjoyed a relaxed breakfast then loaded up to drive to the nearest Metro station. We'd been told by numerous people that we'd better take advantage of public transportation in D.C. So, we heeded their advice and sought out parking for our vehicle.

Remember that time we drove a 15 passenger van? Oh wait....that's now. Can I just tell you that finding a parking spot for a 15 passenger van in a city that was built before 15 passenger vans likely existed was fun. And by fun I mean, notsomuch.

We parked in a parking garage where we could only enter and exit through 1 main door and we had approximately 20 yards worth of potential parking spaces before we no longer made clearance and likely busted a water main with the roof of our van. I asked the parking garage attendants where we should park since all the spots were reserved or for compact cars. They graciously let us park in the van parking for the hotel that was attached to the garage. They neglected to mention that the main door closes promptly at 6:57pm (or 7pm, but clearly 6:57pm was their target).

We unloaded the triple stroller, my anxiety and all the children and walked across the street to the metro. Several times during our journey into the city we heard, "One..two..three..four..five...SIX! They have six kids!"

(1st Metro ride. Clearly we are amused.)

We headed to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. It was cool. I dunno, maybe I'm a little lackluster for the whole thing because, I dunno, I BELIEVE IN CREATION.

(Please take note of the 4 dwarfs, Cheesy, Climby, Grumpy & Diva)

(Lucas and Ashlee were done with getting their pictures taken. Done. Let me show you just how done they were.)

(This is the above photo zoomed in. Hysterical. Even funnier? I had no idea they were making these faces as I happily snapped away.)

Don't get me wrong, the dinosaur bones were cool. Super cool. And they had an exhibit from Cyprus which was also pretty cool. But the 3 to 4 ENORMOUS ROOMS that were based purely on human evolution got old very fast. I'm still struggling to figure out how I feel about the entire museum. I mean, if they'd at least presented creation as a theory then maybe I'd be able to process some of the validity of their other exhibits. But how can I trust science in some areas and then say that other areas are completely false? It's like cherry picking the Bible. It just doesn't work that way. I wish we'd have been in town for this event.

We also saw this really cool piece of jewelry.

Any guesses on what that is? If you're like me, you'd expect that thing to be a lot BIGGER in real life. I dunno. The Hope Diamond should be the size of my hand or something, right? Eh, notsomuch.

Anyway, the kids loved it. After we spent most of the day there, we decided to walk over to the White House. Can I just tell you that the map I had was a little sketch? I mean, we did get it off of a guy on the street who was raising money for the "homeless" but there were some serious errors. So after taking all these photos we realized we were actually on the backside of the White House.

Whatever. The kids didn't know the difference and clearly neither did Luke or I until the next day when we actually saw the front. I got several other photos from the Museum as well, but it was so dark in there that it clearly tested my photography skills and, well, they all stink.







Even though the kids thought that seeing the Dinosaur bones was the highlight of Day 1, I'd have to say that for me, seeing the White House was definitely at the top of my list for our entire stay in D.C. Not so much because I'm a huge fan of politics, but more because of what it represents. Every president other than George Washington has slept in that building. That's amazing to me. Freedom is amazing to me.

On the way home we managed to

A) Get the stroller stuck in the door of the Metro, while we were boarding.

B) Get Luke's backpack (that was still on his back) trapped in the door of the Metro.

C) Almost cause Olivia permanent damage by getting her head stuck in the ticketing thingy as we tried to exit the Metro. It was eventful. (Don't worry, Olivia wasn't really hurt. She thought she was but trust me, she was fine.) Thank goodness there was a Hercules type-ish man on the Metro who rescued Luke both times as he tried to re-open the Metro doors and save himself, his backpack and the stroller.

It was clear we were not from around them parts. Mercy. Stay tuned for day 2. Much less squishage in the Metro doors and even cooler sights to be seen!

Beach Bunny Bizzy

So, the final installment of our beach vaca is of my biggest girl. Mercy she's growing up so fast. Six years old. I still can't believe it. SIX. Who told her she could get so big?

She loved all things pertaining to life at the beach. Fanatic about the fish shaped pillow on her bed, smitten with the sand, overjoyed at the ocean. All of it. She loved every second.

Playing so sweetly with her littler brothers and sisters and obliging them with just about any game they wanted to play.

Yet also taking some time to play by herself and enjoying the option of running a toy through the sand as far as she desired.

Oh how she's beginning to teeter on the border of still little enough to play baby games and wavering into wanting to do "big kid" things. She humored me and allowed me to turn her into a mermaid.


And after a round of family beach photos, she was an easy option for a model.

That smile and her sweet laugh just melt me every time. And, even though I'm still very much her Mom/Disciplinarian most days, I'm getting a sweet taste of what, I pray, will be a treasured friendship between us when she becomes a woman.

I am so blessed to be able to walk along side her as God grows her into a woman who will do work for His glory. I can't wait to see what God has planned for my sweet, eldest daughter. Her heart already exudes so much of His love and is so tender toward so many things.

Um. You know, will still a splash or two of Sassy thrown in for good measure. ;)

From a little boy to a man slightly older boy

Lucas has a slam good time at the beach. He's mentioned, on a daily basis, how he's ready to go back. He spent most of his time boogie boarding on ankle high waves and avoiding looking at the camera.



I bought some small dump trucks at the dollar store before we left and they proved to be a good investment. Lucas in particular loved running them through the sand and into the waves.



He "practiced" swimming in the shallow waters because he's just too upset that his eldest sister knows how to swim (in the pool) without floaties and he does not.



Several times over the course of the week I'd look at my oldest boy and marvel at how grown up he is. I know 4 years old isn't old, but for this Momma's heart it seems old. He still loves early morning cuddles and will usually give me hugs and kisses upon request. He still, unprompted, says, "I love you Momma" and it just melts my heart each time.



Yet I see glimpses of the young man he is growing to become. Eager to please his father and I, asking good (and tough) questions about God, loving his sisters despite their desires to only play the "girly" things and loving his littler siblings beyond what I thought possible for a little boy.



And then, just when I think he's getting so mature and growing so quickly, I see this in our attempt at a family photo....



And I realize that maybe he's not as grown up as I thought. But then again, neither is his Dad and he's technically considered an adult.

My own little red-headed mermaid

Ashlee has two favorite activities, running and eating. When she's not doing one, she's certainly doing the other. A close third on her short list of "Things that make Ashlee happy" would be babies, Ella in particular. Being at the beach allowed Ashlee to either be running or eating constantly, which made her little self very, very happy.

Imagine the energizer bunny with a garbage disposal attached to his face and you get Ashlee.

I think it's important to note that the last time we went to the beach as a family was when Ashlee and Lucas looked like this:

She was slightly slower and less of a food hog then. Wow. Time surely does fly.

She and Elizabeth spent copious amounts of time jumping over and running from the waves.

She's stand in them, then scream and run like fury to get away.

Of course there's always time to stop and act silly. Anything to make someone laugh.

There was lots of boogie boarding...

...and I FINALLY got her to sit still long enough to do this....

"Being a mermaid is the most fun ever Mom! 'Cept, can I get up now?"

Oh my little red-head is growing up right before my eyes. Slow down little one. Stay my sweet, loud, overly energetic, baby loving, fast running little girl for a while longer, won't you? Please?

If you try, I'll fix you a snack. Deal?