Didn't We Almost Buy That House?

Another reflective post for that most reflective of all days.  I often find myself driving past homes here in Colorado Springs that my wife and I visited at some point when we were looking to buy a home.  We have owned three homes in this area, including our current Case Place, but we have looked at and even seriously considered buying dozens of other houses.

When I drive past these houses it always makes me think: how would life have been different if we had bought that home instead of the one we ended up in (at that time)?

I am happy to say that life has turned out great based on the homes we did eventually purchase, live in, and then sell to another new home owner for them to gain some life experience in the house.  But who's to say that it wouldn't have been equally good if we had ended up in these other homes?

I do believe that the Lord looks out for his children and I am certain we had experiences that we needed to have as a result of choosing the right home(s) to purchase at the times we did buy them.  In fact some of our best friendships and unique family blessings have come as a direct result of the home(s) we purchased and lived in.


Song Of The Day:
The song "Home" by the Dixie Chicks is actually a sad, lost love kind of song.  But in this case I am using it to highlight the opposite emotion: gratitude and appreciation for having a great home!

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Why Are They No. 2 Pencils ?

In a home with 7 children (5 of whom return to school this week) there is a constant need for an industrial strength electric pencil sharpener.  We have already been through two other models, but our current sharpener has withstood about a year and a half of aggressive use.  I am thankful for this because today was "Back To School Pencil Sharpening Day" in the Case Place.

As I sat there, sharpening what had to be more than a hundred pencils, my mind began a chain of thought that eventually led me to do research on a subject I never really cared about.  I don't hate that, but I sometimes wish my need to know the answer to certain questions wasn't so strong.

If you care, you can read Wikipedia or use a search engine like Google to learn more than you ever wanted to know about pencils, lead, numbering, shading, hardness, darkness, and so on.  For my purposes, it only took me about 30 seconds to find the answer to the title question of this blog post.

But then I read on for nearly 30 minutes about all sorts of other information I became interested in as a result of links and commentary and questions in the initial sites I viewed online.  I will almost certainly never use this information again, but now I know and ...

Song Of The Day:
When life puts me in situations where I just have to find the answer to some silly question, I feel "Taken In" or perhaps sucked into learning is a more appropriate phrase.  But Mike & The Mechanics didn't have a popular song about getting sucked in so this will have to do!

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How Long Will I Be Able To Beat All My Kids ?

I'm betting this blog post will catch more readers than usual, if only because the title seems to suggest I am a horrible human being and even worse father.  It will be interesting to see how many comments I get when I post it to Facebook ... hopefully people will read on before misjudging.  :)

"Let's wrestle daddy!" is a phrase that often rings out in The Case Place.  It is at that moment that I must duck and cover.  My cell phone and wallet are frantically placed in a nearby safe location and I prepare for the attack.  In an instant between 3 and 6 kids are upon me with a singular goal: to pin "daddy" on his back.  That is the only way they "win" this game.  The truth is that they always eventually win, but often it will take a long time and requires a true team effort.
I am not easily pinned!

I do not remember when these battles started, but I am sure they began as "Let's push daddy out of bed" wars and evolved into more "wrestling" matches.

Over the years, as the kids have enlisted more recruits (a.k.a. more siblings), the challenge of not getting pinned has become quite a difficult task.  Time has aided this rowdy bunch of Case Kids, with the oldest boys getting stronger each year, and the little girls learning where daddy is ticklish.  The last time we wrestled, it took all my strength and cunning to avoid being pinned.  Even then, I was so exhausted that I gave in within only about 20 minutes (fastest time ever for these kiddos).

I realize now that I am soon going to begin losing these battles without much effort or teamwork on the part of my opponents.  The only question that remains is this: how soon will it happen?  I can't wait to find out.  :)

Song Of The Day:
I don't really know why but the song "Seize The Day" from the musical Newsies comes to mind when I think about wrestling with my kids.  I think it is because that is the story of children working together to outsmart adults ... that and, I really dig the tune!

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Where Do They Disappear To ?

At the Case Place (our home filled with 9 people, the vast majority of which are not even close to adulthood yet) we seem to have very few major problems.  But we seem to have hundreds of tiny issues, some of which seem to be a constant source of stress (mostly for those two people in the home who ARE adults already!)

Herewith are the Top 5 "Seriously?!" Scenarios:
5.  Socks and shoes (and toys, of course) everywhere
4.  Absence of kleenex, toilet paper, napkins, or paper towels
3.  Lights left on in rooms with no one there
     (prior blog post on this one ... click here if you missed it)
2.  Used cups on every counter-like area in and around the kitchen (many with some form of liquid still in them ... is that chocolate milk?  eek!)

And finally ...

1.  No fingernail clippers to be found ... ever!

I, personally, have purchased at least four sets of fingernail clippers, in just the past year.  Not a single one of them is anywhere to be found in our home.  Not in the "junk drawer."  Not on the ledge that is higher than all but two of our kids can reach.  Not on top of the curio cabinet (which stands 6-feet tall).  Not in the computer desk drawer.  And certainly not in the fingernail clipper kit, which in and of itself came with three different clipper sets!

I have no explanation ... except, maybe, aliens!

Song Of The Day:
Yeah.  I am basically blaming aliens so I can tie this post into the song of the day.  It's "E.T." by Katy Perry.  I've always liked the song and heard it a week ago on the radio ... and I've been trying to think of a post that would allow me to use it.  Yeah, I know it's a stretch.  Oh well.

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