This is Part Three of a series with advice for large families who are expecting twins. You may read Part One Here and Part Two Here.
Some practical thoughts from Susanna:
Don’t put any preparations off! I cannot stress this strongly enough! Start now and feel urgent about it! Do the most physical tasks first […]

This is Part Two in a series with advice for large families who are expecting twins. You can read Part One Here.
Susanna’s family was arranged like this at the time their twins were born: their other children were Boy 13, Boy 11, Boy 9.5, Girl 7.5, Girl almost 5, and Boy 14 months. Here is […]

Every time a new circumstance occurs in life, I feel compelled to do new research. It is my signature move. Funky worm on the tomato plants? Research. Unidentified stain on the carpet? Research. Illness? Rash? Research. Twins? Research.
My modus operandi regarding the twins phenomenon involved asking (discreetly- as I didn’t want to get flamed!) on […]

Many of us are familiar with the ministry of Above Rubies, run by Collin and Nancy Campbell. They publish a magazine by the same name dedicated to “Encouraging women in their high calling as wives, mothers and homemakers”. It has blessed me greatly over the last few years, and my children devour the magazine. I […]

There’s a crack in the bottom these days, so fear compels me to write quickly. In a blink the crack will grow into the irreparable breech that will sentence it to the rubbish for good. If I do not tell you this now, my Kathy-Girl, my chance will be gone as the […]

In the comments a few days ago, someone made a statement that has been bothering me ever since. Since “Things-I-think-about-when-I-can’t-sleep” is always good fodder for blog posts, and because I just don’t feel comfortable letting the statement just dangle out there unanswered, I will now attempt a justification response.
When Melanie said, “I am not sure […]

When my girlfriend called to force me into submission blackmail me offer her family’s services in our preparations for some friends visiting, I caved willingly accepted their help. I know her family, and have seen them in action before… they work really hard. So when she and her four teen daughters […]

I just wanted to update my notes about who is along with us in the study. I don’t mean for it to be a census of any kind, but mostly to update my personal prayer list. I have been praying for the ones that I know of who are joining us in the study, and […]

I’ve been busy for a while, and haven’t posted, but I do have a good excuse. We were getting ready for a yard sale, then preparing for the Wallers’ coming to our house ~ cooking ahead, moving furniture, etc. After they left, we followed them to another town and stayed in their bus for a […]

Six months they will be on the road. Living in a bus and sleeping in a new place nearly every night would seem to be discomfiting to these kids, yet they were the happiest, most well-adjusted children I have ever met. Ugandan orphans who travel the world singing and raising the money that supports them, […]

Apparently efficiency has no relevance anymore. Effectiveness as well, has left the building.The concept that the Lord has methods rather than just loosely defined principles is no longer accepted, either. From all appearances they have gone to the far country, never to return. They have been replaced by a new creature called simply, […]

We are exhausted, the kids are cranky, the house is trashed. This is par for the course after a weekend of ‘Bed and Breakfast’. The condition is not unique, but it is dispiriting. After all, why would we clean up after ourselves during Bed and Breakfast? No, let’s don’t do the dishes, […]

In an attempt to create a hospitality experience more resembling real life, our family began a practice customarily known around our home as ‘Bed and Breakfast’. Instead of the clean your house, lecture your kids and hold-your-breath-for-three-hours method, it involved inviting an entire family over on a Friday to spend the night. Even folks in […]

I am so sick of ‘fellowship’ I could scream. ‘Honey, we’re having dinner with the Schmo’s tonight,’ is enough to cause me to grumble, grit my teeth and get that weird little twitch in my eye.
‘Dad, she’s twitching again…’
Mr. Visionary tries to help: ‘Relax, Baby, it’s just dinner. It’s no biggie.’
No biggie. Right. At […]

I would not have believed it if I had not experienced it first-hand today. No offense to Doug Philips, or any of the other speakers and writers I had heard expounding on the merits of the practice. I was beginning to think the whole idea was merely a product of their own optimism with no […]

Tevye once said in Fiddler On The Roof, “And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: tradition!” I know little (Ok, none) about fiddling on the roof, especially eight months pregnant, but I’ll agree that tradition can be a good thing.
Our children started conniving about planning this […]

When Mr. Visionary and I retired last night, we found this notecard on our pillows. I wonder if it has anything to do with our 16th Anniversary on Friday?

 
 
Tradition is that the children prepare “all by themselves” a fancy dinner and dessert for Mr. Visionary and The Mommy and serve us in our room. There […]

It is a fact. Life is not predictable.  The weather doesn’t always do what I would like, nor does the IRS. Diapers flood on the way out the door, and children don’t always grow at the rate I expect. Growth spurts happen typically when I least expect them. The first evidence of their arrival is an increase […]