The Mom
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God loves things that grow
When we first moved into our new home, our backyard was a bit neglected. It hadn’t seen children for quite some time, and had forgotten its usefulness. So we decided to give it a facelift. First and foremost, we needed a garden. Part of the reason was that our little Liz had had a hard time with the move. There were days where I was sure that she was not okay, and that she would need a therapist to treat her for depression. Turns out that Ben is also a part-time therapist. Okay… well, not really. But he does have a talent for helping people process their emotions, and feel…
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A Show for the Waiting Room
Soon after we arrived, I needed to take Adrie to the doctor’s office for her 12-month checkup. All we had to do first was find a doctor, and make an appointment. A cinch, right? The entire process only took us three months, and turned the 12-month into a 15-month checkup. Honestly though… it was a huge process. The insurance company sent me a huge booklet (kind of an ironic name, right?) with all of the available doctors, hospitals, and clinics in the state. And it had all the information available in no less than 16 languages. Talk about a waste of paper! Maybe they could try asking what language people…
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Four girls?!
Ben is definitely peculiar to many of the actors he meets. For one thing, he’s happily married. I guess they believe that being in a committed relationship hinders your options as a performer, or maybe that acting destroys relationships. I admit, there have been jobs that he decided not to apply for because they would require him to leave us for a long period of time, or do things that would make me uncomfortable. Apparently, that’s strange to them. What really makes him a sensation, though, is that we have so many children… and that we want more. We’re the unicorns of the entertainment world… they have heard of people like…
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Changing the World
The girls and I have been plogging a lot lately! …It looks like I don’t know how to spell, doesn’t it? No worries… it’s spelled that way on purpose. Plogging is a Swedish fitness craze that is a combination between jogging and picking up trash. It not only helps you get a cardio workout, but also helps the environment! When we first moved to California, we were appalled by how filthy our new city was, especially compared to our beautiful Cache Valley. We moved into a neighborhood where there are cars constantly lining the streets. Most homes house several families, and the houses themselves are often old and cluttered. Our…
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The Dilemma: Shop With Children… or Starve?
I recently read “Marley and Me” by John Grogan. It was a great book! Definite must read. It’s about a family raising a very unruly and hyper yellow labrador. The dog, Marley, is nicknamed “The World’s Worst Dog.” The book follows the Grogan family as they balance their lives as journalists, spouses and parents, and dog owners. Throughout the story, Marley gets kicked out of obedience school, tears apart the house due to fear of lightning, eats the baby’s dirty diapers, and still manages to become a vital and endearing member of the Grogan family. At one point in the story, the Grogans needed a dog sitter for Marley while…
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Operation Bullyproof
While Jess still felt that her karate skills were more than good enough to handle the situation at hand, Ben and I decided that a bit of bully-stopping self-defense training was in order. (For the full story read this first – Girls Can’t Play Soccer). After discussing it together, we came up with a three step process to follow: Step 1: Keep a straight face and use a stern, strong voice to say, “Stop that. It’s not a game. I don’t like it.” Step 2: If they don’t stop, give them a second stern, clear warning. Step 3: If they still don’t stop, punch them as hard as you can.…
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Girls Can’t Play Soccer
For most people, moving in the middle of the school year isn’t easy. Jess, though… she took it all completely in stride. She has always been one to “just keep swimming.” As soon as we knew we were moving, we did our best to make sure the girls understood why we were leaving. It wasn’t just something that we wanted; they needed to know that God was sending us. There was a real purpose to it… not just for Ben and I, but for the girls, too. They just had to find out what it was. For Jess, that was enough. The day I dropped her off at her new…
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The Intro – Take it Away (Part 3 of 4)
“This is awesome! I want twelve of them!” Early on in our marriage, we felt inspired that we should start to have children. We wanted children, but hadn’t planned to have them for a couple years. Enter that “faith” idea again. We had a couple miscarriages at first, but a little over a year later, we had a daughter. I remember holding her in the hospital and saying, “This is awesome! I want twelve of them!” With each addition to our family, I’ve learned that motherhood is much more difficult than I first thought. I have four darling girls now and I hope to have more children, but probably not…
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The Intro – A Sensible Life (Part 1 of 4)
I like to think that I’m my worst critic. I don’t care to find out if that’s true. I would love to look at my life and see something that makes sense, something worthy of praise. I know it doesn’t look that way at this point. We haven’t achieved any real financial stability. We don’t own a home. In fact… we don’t even currently live in our own place. We have four children- two more than most people would consider healthy. Believe me, I see it too. I’ve become the recipient of more than a few skeptical interactions. Let me replay one for you: New acquaintance: So, what brought you…
