The Real Jesus--Part One: Who Was He?

*Wipes dust off page*
Hello! Remember me?
It's been about 10 months since I've blogged.
10 months?!?!?!?!
Wow...
This year has gone by so fast!
Wait a second..
Is anybody still here???
Hello?....*echoes*
Sigh. Oh well.

Since it's been so long, let me give you an update...
If anyone remembers  my last adoption post, the adoption fell through, unfortunately. However, now we are working on adopting a 12 year old girl from Bulgaria.
I'm pretty excited. :)

So, I just finished reading More Than a Carpenter by Josh and Sean McDowell. It was really good! So I decided to do a  three part blog series based on some of the points in the book.
Today's is figuring out who Jesus actually was. Everyone has an opinion on this.
Some say a madman. Others say a good teacher. Still others say he was just a legend.
Some say He was the Christ.

Let's start with the he-was-a-deranged-nut-case theory. If a random person came up to you and told you to leave your family, your work, your whole life, and follow him because he was God, what would you do? the critics ask. (I must interject--think about it the other way. Of course it doesn't make sense to follow an insane man claiming he's God. But then why did Jesus have large crowds following him? Were they insane too? Or did they realize he wasn't crazy?) On the surface level, it seems a valid claim. However, there's more to the story. Look at his character. At his teachings. You'll find that he has no other 'symptoms' of insanity. In More Than a Carpenter, they quote psychologist Gary R. Collins, who says
"[Jesus] was loving but didn't let his compassion immobilize him; he didn't have a bloated ego, although often surrounded by adoring crowds {again, my own interjection, but why would he be surrounded by adoring crowds if anyone could see he was deranged?} he maintained balance despite an often demanding lifestyle; he always knew what he was doing and where he was going; he cared deeply about people including women and children, who weren't seen as important back then,; he was able to accept people without merely winking at their sin; he responded to individuals based on where they were at and what they uniquely needed. All in all, I just don't see signs that Jesus was suffering from any mental illness... he was much healthier than anyone else I know--including me!"

Many psychologists and psychiatrists have come to the same conclusion. Jesus was defiantly sane.



Well, maybe he was just a good, moral teacher.
Many religions have no problem with Jesus. In fact they accept him as a good teacher or prophet.
However, this is illogical.
To put it bluntly, by believing him to be a good teacher means you also believe he lied.
You wouldn't call a liar a wonderful teacher, would you? Of course not. You wouldn't know when he or she was telling you the truth.
Jesus claimed multiple times to be God. He made it clear he was the Messiah. If I were to say that he was a good moral teacher but not the Messiah, then I am admitting that despite his 'good morals', he lied more than once. Or that he was crazy, but we already discussed that.
In fact, not only is that making him a liar, but also a hypocrite, as he and God the Father have taught that honesty is the best policy.
If he lied about his identity, and by doing so contradicted his religion (Judaism) and also the teachings he was trying to promote, would you trust his teaching as sound and good to live by? If he didn't even practice it and wasn't honest about it, would that make one think that that is the best way to live.
I should think not.


Then, of course, there is the claim that the story of Jesus belongs with the story of Santa Claus, the story of the Sandman, and the story of the Tooth Fairy.

Pretend.

Imaginary.

A legend.

But let me tell you something: Jesus was real.
There is so much evidence for this.
First off, lets take the Bible. If Jesus was a legend, then the Bible is just a book of fairytales.
How reliable is the Bible? Look at it this way: Many historians quote the ancient historian Thucydides. People don't doubt his accuracy. Let's make a little comparison.
There are about 8 known copies of his manuscript, dated about 1300 years after the original was written.
The story of many other ancient texts are the same.
The New Testament, however has over 20,000 known copies. Not only that, but they were written relatively close to the time that Jesus walked the earth.

So how do we know that we aren't just reading some make up stories from thousands of years ago?
In More Than a Carpenter, the authors use Luke as an example. Many, many, scholars agree to the historical accuracy of Luke's writings (The Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts). He includes so many accurate details of things such as legal matters, places, rulers, and people that it is impossible to deny that he knows what he's talking about.
Add to that the fact that there are so many eyewitness accounts about Jesus, there is no doubt in many scholar's minds that Jesus of Nazareth actually walked the face of the earth. He actually was a man who lived. Some will say that the claims he made about himself are questionable, but we've already covered that. Also quoted in the book is Dr. Norman Geisler, who said
"Both the vast number of the eyewitness accounts of Jesus... as well as the nature and integrity of the witnesses themselves leave beyond reasonable doubt the reliability of the apostolic testimony about Christ."
We have many eyewitness accounts. Yes, they differ slightly, because they actually were written by individual people who had different points of view. You also must consider this: If these accounts are historically accurate, which we've already determined they are, what sense would it make for them to write them? We read not only in the Bible but in history that Christians were tortured brutally for their beliefs. They were ripped apart by wild animals while a crowd watched for amusement. They were burned alive at the stake. They were beheaded. All sorts of evil were inflicted upon them. If the apostles knew this was a story, why would they promote it? I'm going to cover this more in part 2, but think about it.
The Bible passes all historical accuracy tests with flying colors. If, therefore, the Bible is a true account, then all things in it are true. If all things in it are true, then Jesus was real. And if he is not an insane man, a moral teacher or a legend, then who was he?
I believe He was the Christ, the Son of God.

Matthew 16: 13-16
¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

The Bugs Go Marching One by One...

It all started a few weeks ago, when a poor, unsuspecting, and hungry girl went to the pantry and took out a box of Ritz crackers. That's funny, she thought. That almost looks like a bug shape on that cracker... Then, the speck on the cracker moved. "We have BUGS!" she yelped.
A few weeks later, on Christmas Eve, that same unfortunate girl looked at the clock and, realizing it was only 9:30, decided she needed a mid-morning snack (because if I...ahem, she....waited until lunch, my her stomach could quite possibly eat itself). She grabbed a box of Wheat Thins, and put some on a napkin, only to see her little buggy friends were back, crawling yet again on her crackers. Her family said they hoped the whole pantry wasn't infested, but left it at that. After all, it was only two little bugs..
Fast forward to last night.
After deciding to have rice with our chicken, my mother began to prepare a box of chicken flavored rice/vermicelli mix.
Absolutely noting in a chicken flavored rice and vermicelli mix should be black.
And they really shouldn't move.
(To be fair to the little bugs, I didn't see them move in the pan. I don't know if the heat had already killed them by the time we noticed. I'm pretty sure though, when I went to wash the pan, one was floating in the water.)
So we went through the pantry. Good grief. They got into a TON of stuff....some stuff we just trashed, knowing there was a very, very, good chance they were in there. Boxes and boxes of side dishes and macaroni and cheese and huge bags of rice and almost all of our opened packages of snack crackers. All over the pantry shelves and walls.
So gross.
Even grosser, after pitching an infested box of Triscuts, a certain family member (not me this time!) exclaimed, "I ate those today!!"
I hope they don't come back....almost all our food is in Ziploc bags and Tupperware containers now.
Oh, well. Extra protein I guess:)

Christmas Is

Christmas is special.
Christmas is joy. Christmas is the smell of sugar cookies. Christmas is light and darkness. Christmas is family. Christmas is warmth and cozy feelings. Christmas is love and family and friends. Christmas is together. Christmas is traditions. Christmas is memories. Christmas is singing carols with loved ones. Christmas is a feeling of goodness to all. Christmas is a time to love, laugh, and share.
Christmas is the night in the stable so long ago. Christmas is a miracle. Christmas is wondrous and awesome. Christmas is "Peace on earth, and goodwill to man". Christmas is a peaceful and incredible night. Christmas changed the world.
Christmas is the still, quiet feeling in your heart. Christmas is the big, exuberant feeling of joy and freedom in your heart.
Christmas is inspirational. Christmas inspires one to write from the heart. To sing from the heart.
To give from the heart.
To love from the heart.
Christmas is what turns Scrooges into angels. Christmas's love and joy is what turns hearts from two sizes too small to three sizes to big.
Christmas is the feeling of anticipation and excitement.
But it is also the feeling of peace.
Christmas is peace.
Christmas is peace that shows itself in many ways.
Christmas is the most special and peaceful time of year.
Christmas is Christmas.

The Problem of Hitting 'Send'

I knew I had to do it.
I just couldn't seem to make myself hit send.
My mouse sat near the send button.
God, give me the courage to send this.
Finally, I clicked the mouse.
It was sent.
Now, to wait for the reply.
Maybe this is a pride issue, but apologizing is not my favorite thing in the world.
But it has to be done.
I had known I needed to apologize to this person for a few weeks. I had made a rather sarcastic comment and felt bad about it. It wasn't anything big, but I really wished I hadn't said it, or at least had apologized sooner. Many a night in the past few weeks had I laid in bed, silently composing the apology email, only to find when morning came I had lost my nerve. Day after day and night after night this had gone on until finally this afternoon I sat down and typed it out.
Then came the problem of sending it.
And that was a bit of a problem.
I think I spell-checked it about six thousand times.
And then read it and re-read it about seven thousand times.
Finally, finally, I hit send-
-and it was gone.
I sat down after dinner to check my email.
She had already replied!
She told me that she accepted my apology, but it wasn't necessary...
Unless, of course, God had convicted me of it.
Which He did.
Even though it wasn't a big deal to her, it was to me.
And apparently it was to God, too.
I felt almost silly after reading her response, seeing as she said she wasn't even sure if she remembered what I had said.
But I'm so glad I hit send.
I feel so much lighter now.

PS.....I have a new blog!!! Don't worry, I'll still be posting on this one, but my friend (who has 11, soon to be 12 siblings) and I started a blog called Big Sisters, Big Families. (I love hyperlinks).
www.bigsistersbigfamilies.blogspot.com
Side note, I'd appreciate it if you guys would follow it....
I know all of you are there.
I see you through StatCounter.
I happen to know all ten of my followers personally. I love you guys...
But I still know the rest you are reading this:)

The What-If Express

I'm ba-ack!
Did you miss me?
Of course you did...
Right?
Not sure it you all saw my comment on Supersized, but I had been limiting my computer use and not watching TV for the month of October.
Anyhoo, last night some of my siblings and I sat down to watch 'It's a Meaningful Life'...the VeggieTales version of 'It's a Wonderful Life'. And who knew that even I, a 13 year old, could learn something from those little vegetables. Now, let me stop here and say that I have never seen It's a Wonderful Life, nor do I know anything about the plot. To be quite honest, the VeggieTales one kinda reminded me of a Christmas Carol, of all things. For those of you haven't seen the Veggie-spin on it, Larry the Cucumber stars as Stewart, who was a high school(or maybe college) football star. Horror of horrors, he misses the winning pass in the big game, and worse, he misses it to the decoy(tragic, right?) and then the decoy(that little squash guy, the one who sings about cheeseburgers) becomes a famous star while Stewart doesn't have as much money. He always wishes, If only I had made that catch.... life would be better. I'd be able to leave my small town. My family would have more money. And so on. He is jealous of that little yellow guy, named Morty in the movie.Then, a train, The What-If Express appears on the football field. Larry gets on, and meets a conductor named Gabe. Gabe shows him what life would be like if he had caught the ball. He shows him his life as a famous person(who is crabby all the time) what life would be like for his family(which didn't really exist since he never got married) and than the last stop is where he can make the choice to either stay in this new life, or go back to his old one. How often do we board the What-If Express(Also known as the Land of If Only.)It showed me that worrying and always thinking What If or If Only, we aren't really trusting God. When we go to the Land of If Only, we are pretty much saying, 'God, you must have not been paying attention or something, because this didn't turn out right.' We're doubting God's plan. We're doubting that God knows whats best for us. In essence, we're saying we know better than God. I read something today that said worry is a form of pride. We aren't trusting God enough to give him our problems.
Cast all your anxieties upon Him, for He cares for you 1 Peter 5:7
I love this verse. This topic is a big issue for me. I'm an anxious person. A worrywart. And I'm slowly starting to realize that that isn't simply a character trait, it can be a sin. It's the sin of doubting God's plan and provision. The sin of pride(because I'm not trusting God when he says he can handle my problems...better than I can.) God has been hammering this one on me the past few weeks. A message at youth group with the theme, Do Not Worry...."Do not be anxious about anything, but instead, through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6. Learning about Moses in school. Moses didn't trust that God would provide him the ability to speak in front of the Israelites...and missed out on some blessings. Watching It's a Wonderful Life. The issue of Susie Magazine that came in the mail today. I guess God's trying to tell me some things...
DO. NOT. WORRY.
TRUST. IN. ME.
Another theme in the movie was comparing yourself to others. Stewart was comparing his life to Morty's. Another problem for me.
She's prettier.
People like him better.
She's better at (fill in the blank).
So next time you find yourself slipping away onto that train, remember.
God's got it under control.
"For I know the plan I have for you, declares the LORD. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future"
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

Supersized

A huge bag of brown sugar, purchased at Sam's Club.(That's a lot of cookies)

Fifty pounds of flour.(Plus there's more in the pantry)

An average box of cereal comes with a toy. An enormous box of Corn Flakes comes with a pack of Crasins.(I know a box of Life cereal is a bit smaller than an average box, but it makes it a tad more dramatic:) )

Seven gallons. I couldn't get it in the picture, but there is two more in the door. Plus a half gallon of lactose free milk. Plus a half gallon of chocolate soy milk.(We go through about a gallon a day)

That's an average bag of chocolate chips for us (It's six times the size of a regular bag)

Twelve jars of creamy peanut butter (My mom bought the whole case at Aldi's)

Nine cups

(In size order, also age order)

We've got lots of shoes

(See my tye-dye rainbow crocs?)

A lot of the things you need for a supersized family come in a supersized amount.

(Someone told me we have enough to feed an army)

Names, Names

Alex, AJ, Hannah, Caley, JD, Riley and Zeke.
Alex, AJ, Hannah, Caley, JD, Riley, Zia and Zeke.
I think it sounds pretty good.
Zia and Zeke.
Zeke and Zia.
I guess we really like the Z's.
Soon enough(God willing) the second list shall be true.
That's right. We will soon be an eight kid family, made possible by adopting a six year old Zia.
Zia was born in India and abandoned. She lived in an orphanage for awhile until she was adopted by someone in California. Due to the circumstances, the adoptive parent can't keep her. She is living a group home right now, but we hope she'll come live with us soon.
She'll share a room with Caley and Riley. It'll be like having quadruplets-Caley is 7 months older than JD, JD is 6 months older than Riley, and Riley is 6 months older than Zia.
Just for the fun of it, I thought I'd post all of the meanings of our names. (FYI, we didn't pick names based on meaning, if you can't tell:) )

Alexandra- Defender of the People
Anthony- Unknown
Hannah- Grace
Caley- From the Jackdaw Clearing (WHAT?!)
Jonathan- God has given
Riley- Descendant of Roghallach (What in the world....)
Zia- Wheat, Grain
Ezekiel- God will Strengthen
Emily(mom's name)- To strive or excel or rival
Randy(dad's name)- Diminutive form of Randall or Miranda.

Cookie Conversations

Caley: Mom, Zeke took another cookie.
Mom, taking cookie from his hand: No, no more cookies, you already had some.
Zeke: But mom, I wanted to have free cookies. I had two, now I have free!
Mom: You can't have three cookies...
Zeke: But I want to be strong, and free cookies will make me strong!
Mom: No, cookies don't make you strong....they make you chubby.
Zeke: HEH-HEH!
Me: Well, it's true!
Zeke, running off: You are just makin' a big fat yie!
Caley: Who did a big fat lie?
Zeke: Mom did a big fat yie that cookies make you chubby!
So....power cookies or chubby cookies?

Personality Crafts

See that last post?
The one right below this one.
My blog was hacked, as you can tell from the tags.
I'll let you guess who wrote that.

BACK TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED POST



Anyhoo, I was babysitting my siblings the other day, and I decided to take out a bunch of craft supplies and have a craft night. I realized that all the crafts my siblings made totally showed their personalities.
For example.
Zeke, my youngest brother, spent the night using his beloved dinosaur stamps. After covering the construction paper, he cut out each one to give to his BFF AJ. Scissors are another favorite hobby of his. His was the biggest mess to clean up. Totally Zeke....dinosaurs, AJ, and a messy but fun time.
Riley made a mask from a paper plate, being sure to use pink and purple butterfly and flower, and heart stamps. Riley is often lovingly teased for being so....ah...spacey? That isn't quite the word, but her dream world would consist of fairies, rainbows, ponies, and she would be Princess Smiley. She told us a few weeks ago that sometimes her smile just wouldn't turn off, and she just couldn't help but smile.
JD....ah, JD. It's making me smile now just thinking how very JD his mask is. It's a nice mask, its just that the face is kind of far down, and the stick is falling off and kind of off to the side.
Caley made a paper bag puppet. Ms. Meticulous was only half finished when it was time to clean up for bedtime.
Hannah's was a girly-girly puppet, with colored beads and yarn and a huge green bow at the top of her head.(The puppet, I mean, not Hannah herself.) AJ likes art, I like crafting, and Hannah is in the middle.
AJ made a pig puppet. Like I said, he enjoys art, like drawing. He made it complete with pink ears and pink beads for the nose.
My poor little mask go only eye holes and half a head of hair since I was so busy distributing supplies and helping everyone else.
(Just so the public knows this was actually "posted by Alex at 10:16", not posted by her Pops while she was sleeping)

My Dad

Just wanted to post a quick note here about my Dad. My Dad is pretty much the most amazing and coolest guy in the world. Not only good looking, but he's also charming, delightful and so loving. On top of all of that, Will Ferrell, Jack Black and Steve Martin are sad little men compared to the hilarity my Dad brings. What can I say, my Dad is really just AMAZING.

And I promise, when I am older to care for him and help him in any way I can.

I also promise to make him a cake, just because he deserves it.

Oh and I'll wash his socks after he's been out cutting the grass.

And I'll give him 20 bucks....just cuz I can.

In summary, I owe everything I am to my incredibly awesome and hilarious Dad!

Our Adventure!

We really need to get out more.
With seven kids, you don't get out much, besides church on Sundays.
We learn this every time we do go out.
Take today for example.
We were surprised with a trip to the big mall a few towns over. We were going to see Cars 2. Cars is a family favorite movie. We've seen it so many times, all nine of us have practically memorized it. Especially Mater's lines. (And, Mater is often quoted, sometimes multiple times a day.)
"Ya hurt yur what?!"
"McQueen and Sally, parkin' in a tree, K-I-S-Sumtin'-Sumthin'-Sumthin'-T!"
"Well dag gun!"
Back to the point.
Once we entered the mall, my siblings were THRILLED with the escalators. We ended up going up and down on them probably about 4-6 times, each time being met with a cheer and/or happy dance by a handful of them.
Ain't we fancy, with PIZZA at the FOOD COURT for lunch!
A couple boxes of candy, four bags of popcorn, and four sodas to split during the movie was more than we dreamed of.
While sitting at the (food court!!!) table during lunch, a certain seven year old brother pointed to a store across the way and exclaimed, "Hey look! It's Disney World!"
"Um, that's not Disney World. That's a store were they sell Disney toys and stuff," I clarified.
"Oh."
Upon entering the mall and going up the stairs the movie theater lobby, all my siblings were happily looking over the ledge at all the shoppers. My dad has went to get the tickets. Mom waited...and waited...and they all just kept looking over.
"Do you guys know what this place is?"
"No,"
"It's a movie theater!"
Yes, they would have stood their people watching all day and not knowing that we were going to see a movie in a few hours had we not told them.
We hadn't been to a movie theater together for about 4 years.
So, we had a super fun time today, in the Real World. We window shopped around the mall, had lunch in the food court(!) and watched the sequel to our all time favorite movie.
What a day!

We Can Do It!

Colossians 3:23-Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the LORD, not men.





That includes taking some other random persons dirty sock out of the back of a cabinet, along with a lot of other random stuff, and cracking your head on the top of the cabinet on the way out.(Alright, maybe not the head banging part)



Oh, yeah. The Clean Team scrubbed the new house today. My mother, sister, brother and I spent the afternoon cleaning out our new house(moving next week:D). Floors, bathrooms, cabinets(inside and out!) doors, you name it we cleaned it. I asked for the blue shirt and polka dotted kerchief, but instead got yellow rubber gloves and a broom. Sigh. The unjustness of life. I commend my mother who scrubbed the bathrooms till they shined. Those 3 bathrooms were NASTY. Anyway, that verse I put up there, because it came to my mind as I was scrubbing the shelves in the linen closet. I thought of that during the afternoon, reminding myself to that not only am I washing these shelves for the rest of my family, I'm doing it for God. That made me scrub a bit harder:-). I'm sure you are wondering what I meant by the sock comment above. Let me tell ya. I was cleaning a cabinet. A very deep cabinet. I saw something in the back. Mom came over and used the broom to push it closer. It WAS a sock! EW! And a huge package of straws that was spilling. And an unopened magnifying glass. I ran for the rubber gloves when I found out that I was responsible for taking them out, since I was cleaning that cabinet. Gag me. I did it, but as I was pulling my head out of the cabinet, I banged my head on the top. OUCH!! By the time we finished, we had a fairly clean house, and four hot, tired, people. But it's done. Ready for all our stuff. Whew.

Q's and A's

We've been asked many questions over the years. Many questions. So I decided that today, I will post the answers to these questions and others that haven't been asked but I'm sure some people wonder about.
Q. Are they all yours?!(This question is usually posed to my mother)
A. *Sigh* Yes, they are all ours. We aren't babysitting. Nope, not foster parents. We adopted them.
Q. What is it like to have so many brothers and sisters?
A. It's usually fun. You can almost always find someone to play with you. Board games always have enough players. Sometimes, though, it's frustrating when, say, you want to be alone, or want it quiet, and every single room you go into has a person in it.
Q.What on earth do you drive?
A. We drive a 12 passenger van. Side note, if you ever see such a large van, please be courteous and don't park super close. There is only ONE door to get in and out. Many a time do we have to go single file to the opposite end of the car, and then squeeze in one by one, trying to be sure that everyone is in the right order so we don't have to climb over each other.
Q. What happens when you go out to eat? Isn't it expensive?
A. 'Going out to eat' for us is Cici's Pizza, where we can all eat for about $50.....or we stop and get burgers from the dollar menu at McDonalds. We all look forward to Christmas Eve, when we go out and have Chinese food...one of the few times during the year we go to a real restaurant.
Q. OK, how do you COOK for that many?
A. You get used to it. Doubling the recipe becomes almost natural. Checking the ingredients on the back of prepared foods to figure out who can and can't have it because of allergies becomes almost natural. I fear the day when I get married and move out...I only know how to cook in large quantities. Just kidding. Sort of.
Q. Do the kids fight?
A. Ha! Ha! Hear me laughing. Yes, we fight. They range from petty squabbles to my youngest brother sneaking into a room and tackling his big brother from behind, which tends to make them look like the shorter, black versions of Kip and Napoleon Dynamite.
Q.Is it always noisy at home?
A. Usually. Once again, you sorta get used to it. It isn't as loud as you might think though.
Q. How does your mom teach so many different grades?
A. Most of our homeschool work is independent. We read a lesson in our textbooks or on the computer and then do the work. When it is something that needs to be taught, we take turns: I might work on my math problems while mom teaches the ABC's to my sister, then when they are finished mom and I discuss Arctic vs. Antarctic.
So that is a peek into Big Family Life. It usually all works pretty well. And it's usually a lot of fun.

Ten Reasons You Know You Have a Big Family

You know you have a big family when...
-Mom comes home from grocery shopping, thrilled that she "didn't go overboard", spending only $90 on $120 worth of groceries-for the week.
-You don't need any friends to make a full baseball team
-You go out to the second refrigerator in the garage to find eight cartons of milk, with regular milk, chocolate soy milk, and lactose free milk, on almost any given day-except those days when (horror of horrors) there is only two and you have to get to Kroger immediately!
-You realize that it's cheaper for mom to become a swimming instructor than it is for all the kids to take swim lessons
-You make every secretary hate there job when the whole family's crowded around the desk and we say, "Alright, we need seven appointments..."
-Your family gets compared to the Biblical character of Jacob's in church
-Every child has a sixth sense to notice any other extremely large passenger van on the road
-Entering a supermarket, everyone stares at you, not because your family is making a scene or acting any different then the rest of the shoppers, but because of the number of people who are walking down the aisles together
-You open the closet to find at least 32 shoes in front of you, if not more
-You've mastered cooking in large quantities without the use of nuts, certain amounts of milk, and food coloring, because of food intolerances and allergies

Our Guest Blogger!

Hello, fellow readers! Today I would like to introduce you to our newest blogger. He is considering starting his own. In the past, he has been known as "My little brother" "My ten year old brother" and "Elmer Fudd". This is his first time blogging.......introducing AJ!


For one I'm not going to introduce my blog with "hello fellow reader". I'm AJ otherwise known as Elmer Fudd. Red Sox lost yesterday and are losing again, GRRRRRR!!!!!. Oh, sorry back to the point, like Alex said I'm 10 and entering 6 grade (and 7 grade math). I'm not a long blogger so if you read my blog there is probably going to be short blogs, but there will be one every day or two. That's all BYE!!

If You Give a Girl Some Thread.

If You Give an Alex some Thread
If you give an Alex a spool of thread(to start her latest sewing project, of course), she'll want a needle to go with it. So she'll search the hutch in the dining room for that elusive needle. While she's looking, she'll find a pencil with the eraser snapped off. That will remind her that she needs to find a pink eraser for school. So she will go look in the desk for one. While she's there, she'll see a disk of pictures. So she will put the disk in the laptop and look through the pictures. When she's finished, she'll see the solitaire icon on the screen, and want to play a game. That game turns into two, then three, since she can't seem to win. After losing that third and final game, she'll realize she smells cookies coming from the kitchen. So she'll go and get a snack of warm cookies and milk. As she takes her snack to the dining room, she'll see the spool of thread on the hutch.
And chances are, if you give an Alex a spool of thread...
She'll want a needle to go with it.

*Please note that this is a work of fiction, although some events in this story may have been based upon historical events...ooh look, shiny things!*

Bunnies and Storms

We have a new family living on our property. Two rabbits have made themselves at home in our backyard. My youngest brother has christened them Flopsy and Peter(I wondered what happened to Mopsy and Cottontail).They've been hanging around our yard for two days now. This morning dad tossed out some carrots for them. I asked my 4 year old brother which rabbit I took a picture of, and he promptly answered, "Peter,"















That would be him right there^



Yesterday when we were watching them from the window, our 10 year old Elmer Fudd was ready to go hunting in the backyard. Fortunately for the bunnies, the most powerful thing he has is a Nerf gun. Instead of going hunting, he had to go finish some schoolwork. Poor Elmer.







Last night we had huge storms. Scratch that. We were supposed to have huge storms.*coughs* On the Doppler radar, there was dark red and pink all around us. Hail, wind, tornadoes, thunder and lighting....then you see my town. An hour glass has formed on the radar. The thinnest part is right over us! This caused an uproar from Mr. Fudd, who, not only likes Nerf guns, also likes big storms. It's actually quite amazing. The family joke(and I use the term "joke" lightly) is that storms can sense my weather-loving mother. They avoid her at all costs. She said she wanted an award for keeping the town safe. No matter where we live, storms always run away from us. Did you see the damage in Joplin? Fellow citizens of my city, you will never ever have to worry about that happening here.

Not Normal?!

Hey you

Yes, you

Come a little closer, I want to tell you something

Not that close! I'm claustrophobic! There you go

My family isn't normal.

You could have responded to that earth-shattering statement in one of two ways. You could have thought....
A) "Of course your family isn't normal! You have seven kids of different races(most who are a different race than your parents), drive a large maroon van wherever you go, and your poor mother still has her sanity! You call that normal?!"
or
B) "WHAT?! Not normal?! What are you talking about???"
If you were to tell my siblings that we aren't normal, they probably would have responded "B!"(In their brains anyway. They all have a tendency to to answer the "right" answer, even when that isn't what they think). Sure, we all know that we are a little different than most people, but you don't realize how irregular you are when you are living that way, if you know what I mean. Let me give you an example.
Setting: Christmas Eve, 2-3 years ago. The entire family is in the living room taking pictures.
Characters: My parents, sisters, brothers, and me.
"Let's have all the girls by stand by the Christmas tree!" says mom. My sisters and I happily oblige, wearing our brand new red and green nightgowns. We pose in front of the tree and smile. Mom and dad start to chuckle.
"What? What's so funny?" we ask.
"One of these things is not like the other...." mom sang. I looked around.
"I'm taller?" I suggest
"No..."
"I don't have clips in my hair!"
"Not quite..."
I thought for a moment. Then another. I couldn't figure it out.
"What?" I finally ask.
"Could it be the only white girl surrounded by black girls?"
OH! So that was it! I suppose I did look a bit funny.
You know, the funny part now is I didn't realize that I looked different from my sisters at first. None of us ever really pay attention to that kind of stuff. When I see my 10 year old brother, I don't see him as my only white sibling. He's just my brother. Same with all my other siblings. Like I said, we don't realize how unusual our family is. Any outsider could easily point out multiple "weird" things about our family. Yes, we could too, but we have to sit down and consciously think about it. I don't see a single thing wrong with our family setup. Different, yes. Bad or strange, no. I wouldn't trade my family or my life for anything else in the world. We ARE different, but I love it!

PS......I added a new scrolly thingy to the bottom of my blog! What do you think??

Graduation!!

*I apologize for not blogging in over a week, I've had a severe case of blogger's block(see below)......*



Happy Graduation Day! We started in early August, so today was our last day. I just came back from the "cafeteria" for our "last day lunch"......thankfully, we did not have a typical any-leftover-the lunch lady could find-lunch. We did not have mystery meat left over from September. We had peanut-butter and fluff sandwiches. Before that, we had our 'Graduation Ceremony'. We told the 'class' some of our favorite things we learned this year. We got awards(including Best Singer for my youngest brother, who daily treats us to his rendition of the Mighty Machines Theme Song). And we played Pomp and Circumstance through my mom's(ahem, teacher's) laptop, as we all walked to the front of the living room as my mother(TEACHER!) announced what grade we were graduating into.....8th, 6th, 4th, 2nd, 2nd, 1st, and pre-school. Beautiful. My dad(The Principal!) gave my TEACHER(I did it right!!) a Giant Hershey's bar and a card signed by all of us('scuse me, her students). How appropriate. A Pronoun Bar(hey, it's a Her-she bar, isn't it????)for the teacher.


Blogger's Block-when the brain of a usually wonderful blogger has been temporarily impaired, and the blogger cannot think of anything worthwhile or interesting to write about. Attempting to blog while suffering from Blogger's Block can result in extremely boring blog posts, rambling posts, or staring at a blank screen for hours, which can result in eyestrain. See Writer's Block

Blessings in Disguise

Last night's devotions made me think. We started off reading from our Window on the World book about Samoa. We ended up with talking about how God gets glory from every situation. Don't ask. Most of our devotions end up totally off the first topic. Anyway, before this blog post gets completely off topic like devotions, I'll get on with my point. Whenever we go through tough situations, afterwards I like to try to find the "blessing in disguise". What good came out of the bad time. The part that God was glorified from. "Wow, If we had done (fill in the blank) then this would have happened." Little things. "It's a good thing that we stopped for gas yesterday, even though it made us late, because the prices went up again today". Examples from my life: When my dad got a new job and we had to move across the country, I was not happy. I did not want to leave my family and friends. But, I ended up making some of the best friends I'll ever have. I still missed my friends and family, but had me not moved to tiny old Midland, we never would have met some really great people. AND.....we most likely wouldn't have adopted any of my brothers and sisters. Had we not done that, I wouldn't have a blog called Big Sister of Many. I'd be Big Sister of One, and that wouldn't be nearly as interesting, so some of you wouldn't be reading this, and wouldn't be hearing this extremely long story, or learning about giving God glory. Whew! See, even you are being affected by me not wanting to move. When I was about 5, my grandmother passed away. I thought the world was over. I was devastated. But now, I have a wonderful step-grandmother, and have loved and been loved by two wonderful grandmothers. I challenge you to find an blessing in disguise in your life this week. You'll be (pleasantly) surprised when and where you find them when you looking for them!