Two days of school down for our #3.  Two days of learning school etiquette and social niceties.  I love listening to his descriptions of the boys in his class. Thursday: “I played with C.J. and another boy at recess today.  They both have really brown skin, but they’re not brothers.” Friday: “I played with Nash and Logan today.  They have my color skin and hair, but they’re not brothers either.  Nobody in my class is brothers with anybody else in... Read more

From a talk with #1. With her permission. Because teenagers need to know that they’re not alone.  Another bonus of NFP…it makes it easier to promote chastity and abstinence to your children. I noticed the other day that you were listening with rapt attention to the girls at the pool as they talked about boys.  I saw you scoot a little closer when they spoke of their boyfriends and kissing.  You didn’t say a word.  You didn’t have to.  I... Read more

We toured the school and met the teachers yesterday.  Today he’s a 3rd grader.  One of us is super excited.  The other might or might not be planning to spy at recess.  One of us is having a salami sandwich for lunch.  The other is planning some ice cream therapy.  One of us is fine.  The other is having a hard time letting go.  Read more

 Written by my brilliant he-needs-his-own-blog brother.  Until he gets his own place, I’m happy to have him here. Death sucks.  There, I said it.  I’ll say it again gladly: death sucks. This morning, I found out that some friends of mine lost one of their twins in the womb.  And while there is hope in Christ and comfort through Him, it does not remove this inevitable fact: death sucks. Several years ago, my wife and I lost our first baby... Read more

The Computer Guy and I recently took the three youngest children to the Oklahoma City Train Museum.  We tried to bring the older children too, but I don’t have the kind of money it would have taken to bribe them into being pleasant while climbing through old train cars on in extreme summer heat.  #5 is three and loves trains more than anything.   It was more my husband’s outing with the children.  I just came along for the ride.                                                    ... Read more

Here we are, the Feast of the Assumption and the end of the summer prayer buddy season. When I got the name, I was intrigued.  Here was a blogger I had never read.  I love finding new blogs!  When I began to read through her story, I was ecstatic!!!! My prayer buddy was an IF girl who was building her family through adoption.  The paperwork is done, the studies are complete, and now they are just prayerfully waiting for a... Read more

There seemed to be some interest in how we can possibly eat out as a family for $40 every 2 weeks.  I assume that the question was aimed at sit-down-and-eat waiter and menu restaurants, and not fast food.  Although, fast food is a treat for us and not a regular thing.  Our eating out budget can go to either 1 nice meal or 2-3 fast food meals, sometimes 4 if I can catch a deal.  I’ll start with fast food,... Read more

Head on over to Wynken, Blynken, and Nod and congratulate him on his 6th Nodling!  Half a dozen kids….man…..what was he thinking?  Read more

We give our kids allowance beginning when they turn 5.  I hate the term “allowance” and would rather call it a salary, but they didn’t go along with that. Our children must earn their allowances.  They have specific chores for each day of the week.  Things like sweep the kitchen and entryway, vacuum the living room, wash the lunch dishes, etc.  The chores are on top of keeping their rooms clean and doing their school work.  These things are their... Read more

Colleen asked, ” P.S. Can you share how much cash you put in each category? I really want to implement this, but would like a general idea of what to spend per month…” Colleen, I don’t know what your budget will allow, but here’s what we do every two weeks. Please remember that this is after doing a 2 week grocery shop. In the random order I found them in the lock box: After Mass donuts  $15 gas for the... Read more