Kudos to the kiddos
Today I had to go to Homer and conduct sea trials on one of our new patrol boats. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera to get some shots of our new Prince William Sound vessel, the Sound Justice. The sea trials went well and when I finished, I headed straight north to home. By the time I got back to the office it was almost time to pick up Jeremy from soccer practice at 7:30 so I went directly there.
When I finally got home I was surprised to see how great the house looked. You see spring in Alaska is not a pretty time of year. The dirt so coveted for traction on driveways and roads in the winter becomes, well just stinking dirt. And dirt is dirty, go figure. Furthermore, there is a lot of dirt everywhere and the grass is not greener, and I almost always amazed at the prizes revealed buried underneath the winter snow; boots, gloves, scooters,balls, moose and more. I am shocked we have not yet thawed out a kid.
The tools of labor resting after a long day's work.
Kids playing hard after working hard.
The end result, a yellow lawn leaf free, and leaf free trees too. Maybe we won't have to rake next year.
Upon walking into home sweet home, I was quickly informed that the kids had helped mom for over four hours raking, washing, cleaning and just getting the house ready for summer. Tra informed me that they did this all without complaining and that they all worked very hard. In fact, believe it or not, Alli and Ben even got a sunburn on their arms and shoulders, from the sun, the actual sun!! Maybe it truly is spring in Alaska.
A beautiful clean driveway, next to a clean garage, every man's dream.
Never too tired to jump at, not even at 9:30.
The amazing part was that Tra was so sore she could not go do her nightly workout , and although the kids swore they were sore, they stayed outside playing until well after 9 pm. So this blog is a THANK YOU to Tra and the kiddos for their excellent work. Now if they would only drag the dead moose carcasses into the woods we could be done.
Kassie showing off her moves, I just hope she didn't land on Jake.
1/2 the kids around the house, including a few of the neighbor kids, who didn't help clean.
Addendum to the percentage theory and the sourdough bandit
This weekend we had a couple, or actually three little house guests. This event has convinced me to add an addendum to the percentage theory blog, It’s all about the percentages. The addendum is that when the additions to the family come in multiples, you must use a more complex formula. The formula is as follows, (NK+NK)/(CK)*100= percentage familial impact. So in our case this weekend, we had 1+1+1 NK (new kids) or 3 total, divided by our CK (current kids) 8. It works out as follows 3/8=.375*100=37.5% impact on the family. That is similar to going from 2-3 kids, a significant step. So if you are planning on adding multiples to your household please use the above formula to correctly calculate the percentage familial impact.
Josiah and Josh playing with Play Dough
All this being said, it has been a very busy few days at the house, even more than normal. But there has also been a lot of fun times. One of the neatest things was the case of the sourdough bandit. You see Tra got up early to make a huge batch of sourdough pancakes for the expanded family. One of our all time favorites.
Jo and Aitana waiting for dessert, patiently I might add
The tub trio
Well everyone ate their share and then some, including Aitena, Josiah and especially Josh. None-the -less, there was a huge stack left over and put in the corner for nibbling on all day. Soon we started to notice the stack of cakes dwindling away, but we had not seen anyone eating them. So an investigation was launched. I knew it couldn’t be any of the little kids, there is no way they could reach them on the counter in the corner, or could they. I recalled that Josh had hit the flatbreads hard for breakfast and he was my first suspect. When I finally located him, he was empty handed. But next to him was a small man in his Spiderman underwear and his hands behind his back. I thought that may be a little suspicious, after all, I am a trained investigator. But I didn’t have to use my interrogation skills at all, for at that second the spider ware clad little man turned his back to me, still thinking he was hiding the flapjack from my view.
Lunch time, hope there is no play dough in that mac-n-cheese
Choco man
Case solved. It actually turned out that both Josh and Josiah took an extreme liking to the sourdough pancakes and snacked on the stack of about 25 left overs throughout the day until they were gone. These are true Alaskan men.
The elusive sourdough bandits later in the day showing off their treasure
What’s up homey? It’s always something.
Ever notice that when you own a home there is always something that needs to be done? Since we have been married, Tra and I have owned four homes two of them have been brand new. I have learned that no matter if your home is brand new or older there is always something that needs to be done. It can be as huge as new floors or as simple as new lights, there is always something. You may wonder why I would bring this up, with spring comes projects and we have a lot of em to get done. When you have 8 kids running around your house, and sometimes as many as 20, things get broke, and they get broke well. So spring always seem to motivate me to get to that endless list of projects.
Eagle River home living room
Outside of Eaglr River home
But, you see I have a problem, I love to start big jobs, remodel rooms, put in new floors, build walls and closets, add outlets and much more. What’ s the problem? Well I don’t like particularly finishing jobs. Once it is good enough to function it’s good enough for Glenn. I was warned of this by my good friend Ryan when I moved into the home we are currently in.
Our first Soldotna house being built
Inside the Soldotna house
Finished Soldotna house
When we first moved into this house, we lived downstairs for a couple months while we completely remodeled the upstairs, and I mean remodel. We tore up the floors to the joists, we tore down walls, we put up walls and much more. It was a filthy mess. Finally we came very close to completion, we just needed new vent covers and window sills, so we decided to move up stairs and I could finish it all over the weekends. Ryan prudently counceled me not to do it, he begs me not to move in until is completely done. What does he know? I am one motivated individual. Well last week I put in most of the vent covers, and the window sills…… well I’m going to get to them soon I promise. Since then I have done probably a dozen other huge projects, none of them 100% complete. Oh and for those of you that are not aware, we moved upstairs over three years ago.
Current Soldotna / Sterling home. Hmmmm, looks like it needs a deck upgrade!
So now I am overwhelmed with what I hate most, a whole bunch of mini projects that need to get done. I have dedicated myself to completing at least two mini-projects each week and this week it was Alli’s door and the vent covers. Next week, I think I would like to remodel our bathroom. Does that count as a mini project?
It’s all about the percentages
Quite often we are approached with ” I don’t know how you do it. I thought two was a handful.” In fact I was approached with that exact statement today. Well we have had a lot of time to think about this and how we are not overwhelmed, oh and btw at times we are quite overwhelmed. None the less, how can you go from 2 to 8 kids and survive?
It is all in the percentages. When you have / adopt your first child that is huge. You have gone from zero to 1, and you are not the center of your universe anymore. There are now prohibitions on travel, dates, sleep etc. etc. You get used to it and decide it’s not so bad. Then you decide to have another, you go from 1 to 2, that is a 100% increase, a substantial change. Twice the poopies, pukies, and problems. This intimidates many because it was such a dynamic change, and they think there is no way they can go any further.
But let’s say you do not want to be average, you want more than the 2.5 national avg. so you make the leap for a third. Now you go from 2 to 3, a 33% increase, substantial, but not nearly as significant as 100%. You find it is easier than you anticipated and you have had practice, so now you know some tricks, shortcuts, and you are anxious to correct all the mess ups you made on the first two; so you go for four because even numbers are always better. This time it is only a 25% increase, almost nothing, in fact you almost don’t even notice that you have another kid.
You see how the math works, and so by the time you get to your 8th child, that is only a 12% increase, and by then the older ones can help out with much of the workload. So the more you have the less it actually affects you.
Now that I have shared the ancient Chinese secret of big families ( and yes I am aware they only have one child each) I expect to see all of our faithful blog followers doing their part to add to our tax paying base and shoot for at least double the national average.
Kodak Moment = Orlando Trip
For those of you that don’t fb with us ( and if you have to ask what fb means then it is obvious you don’t fb with us. A conundrum I know) I thought I would share with you that Dorian recently entered some of his photography in the Fine Arts competition ( I think it is called a competition) in Anchorage. There are many categories in this competition, singing, drama, instrumental prowess, bands etc. You enter, perform or display your mighty fine art and you are judged by Puala, Randy and Simon. Simon can be a bit persnickety at time, but he means well. Okay, maybe those aren’t the judges but I am sure the judges there are just as “qualified”.
Once again I digress. Dorian entered one of his pictures and he got a “superior” with an invite to nationals. Now I must confess, I was not sure what this meant when Pastor Ryan relayed this information to me. I wasn’t sure if it was like the Boy’s and Girl’s club where everyone gets a medal and everyone was the MVP and we never ever lose a game. It must be the coaching. But apparently a “superior” is much harder to come by then a B&G club medal, of which I have many, because unlike the Olympics, the coaches do get medals in the B&G club. You get judged, the points are added up and you have to reach a certain score. If you make the grade, you get an invite to nationals, which happens to be in Orlando in August.
Now, for those of you that have feasted on this blog from the beginning (Niki) you know that I have posted some of Dorian’s pics in the past. You also may have caught the fact that we once, not long ago, ventured as a family to Orlando (see the ” I know it is not 2009 Christmas Letter” tab at the top of the page) and single handedly booked every seat on AK Airlines in the process. So I would say the blog has come full circle. Now, Tracy and I are still having a friendly debate over which one of us should proudly escort out son on his trip to Orlando, and I believe I have the edge. Although I am not sure I am man enough to bare the liquid heat dripping from my shiny noggin during that time of year. None-the-less, for my son, I will suck it up and sacrifice my pleasure to join him. That’s the type of guy I am.
So I say all this to let you know that today I am posting some of Dorian’s pics for you to enjoy. He has always loved taking pictures and has a very nice camera which he can work magic with. So all the pics in today’s post were taken by Dorian, edited by Dorian, and admired by Dorian. Please enjoy.
Redoubt still steaming away
P.S. if you haven’t already you should check out some of our friends on the blogroll to the right. This week I would like to highlight “see brad run”, he is good people (read his blog of the same title!!)
I Wanna….
Or AWANA as it is officially known, is a weekly event in our household. AWANA stands for, Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed, and it is not AWANAS, just AWANA. To break it down, almost every Wednesday night we load up the van and head er north to the church with a pit stop at the coffee shop along the. You see the coffee shop is a must for I am a game guy at AWANA. A game guy’s main responsibility is to run the snot out of the kids with minimal injury and maximum fun. Therefore a game guy must bring energy every week into the game time, whether it be God given or artificially injected into the system.
Combination TNT and Sparks waiting patiently during open ceremonies..
Boys, hmmmphh!!
By the time I finish the 16 ounces of hot liquid adrenaline, I am ready to go. The little kids like Jake get to do crafts and games downstairs. I have not had the pleasure of watching this but I take it 15-20 3-5 year olds leave their mark in an hour and 1/2. For every time I wander downstairs to pick up Jake, I see the tussled hair tear stained cheeks of the volunteer teachers. Sometimes they have a vain pulsing in the side of their neck and they are always extremely grateful to see me and watch the herd of toddlers disappear. Yet they continue to show up week after week.
Games in action on backwards inside out day.
Game guys chillin
After the introduction, song, rules, and prayers, the kids head off to do Bible verses and study. They have listeners in each room corralling them and focusing them for an hour each until they are let out of their corral into the bull ring, where I work.
Mr. Kelly got to dress himself tonight!
dude you have a blank stare in your eyes.
You talking to me?
My job is not nearly as difficult as the listeners or the toddler teachers. There is usually 3 or 4 of us to run games. We try to come up with unique style themed games for every week; Games that are not too complicated but not too easy. Games that wear the kids out but keep them focused on the prize. As game guys one of our favorites is dodgeball. You see our version of dodgeball is to line all the kids up against the wall while we hurl plastic balls at them picking them off one by one. The last 3 standing get points for their team. Funny thing, the kids seem to love the game too.
I got a flat tire, what am I suppose to do.
Despite my obvious bling and hip fashion sense, I am not throwing down a rap here.
Sometimes we have overall themes, like this week was inside out and backwards week, and Mr. Kelly went all out, literally down to his underwear. It seemed to add and extra dose of energy to the kids, something I really did not care nor was I prepared for.
Mr. Kelly always seems to have more fun than the kids
There he goes again
AWANA needs millions and millions of volunteers each week, well at least 20, and we seem to have them. It can definitely be trying some weeks, like this one. I often wonder if the kids are not stopping at the same coffee shop on the way north? Perhaps they get the 24 ounce. I may have to step up my game.
Haha, at least we don't have to deal with the Cubbies!!!
Where are the Cubbies? I think we are suppose to be in there.
