Life With A Butt Load of Kids
Okay – two things right off the bat:
1 – A butt load doesn’t mean whatever you thought it means. Look it up.
2 – More importantly: don’t tell Wendy that ButtLoadOfKids.com doesn’t actually point to the main page of the blog. She wants to call the blog “Crazy Blessed Adventures“, but who’s going to remember that name after they click away? Plus, who’s life is always like that, amirite?
Sure, over all, our life is a crazy blessed adventure where we soak in more joy and blessing in a day than most humans get to dream of in a lifetime! Our life is a Disney princess fairy tale compared to the lower 99% of humanity that aren’t born into healthy bodies, a nurturing, kiddy-glove environment with at least enough food to eat each night that we’re not kept awake by the pangs of starvation.
By any world standard, “Crazy Blessed Adventures” is a dark, unappreciative, pessimistic view of the charmed heaven we live in. We should call it “Nothing But Glorious Sunshine All The Time.” But some days, when I forgot to take the trash to the curb and ATT has threatened to turn off the phone and the laundry piles are taller than I am and two dirty diapers are running around our house, but we can’t change them because we’re trying to keep another kid from accidentally (or purposely) concussing his brother with a baseball bat – “and why is the baseball bat indoors anyway!? I just finished telling you that belongs outside!” – and – “DON’T MOVE! I don’t know why the oven glass just shattered. But FREEZE! EVERYONE! I MEAN IT!” (true story)
So, yeah – some times it just feels like a butt load of kids. But if it wasn’t kids, it would be a butt load of work. Or a butt load of bills. Or a butt load of arguments with the spouse! Some times it’s just a butt load of life! Those are the times you need your community. Those are the days you need to hear from people who have been through it. Those are the days you’re most encouraged by someone who makes you feel it could be worse, and you’ll make it through. And in hind sight, it will have just been a crazy blessed adventure.
So I think “But Load Of Kids” is a much better representation of the actual daily life and is easier to remember when you tell your friends about us (…or don’t. Whatever. Do what you wan’t. You’re a grown up!)
Who We Are
My name is Jamin. I’m the papa of this family. My super hot wife gave me 6 kids in 7 years – she’s been pregnant for nearly a decade. We’ve learned a lot and are still flailing about, but it’s real. It’s fun. And there’s a lot of poop! That’s no metaphor – with this many babies, we throw a lot of human feces in the trash each day. We buy milk 4 gallons at a time…because that’s what fits in our fridge. If it fit more, we’d buy more. Milk never goes bad here. And bread and eggs. Every single day we’re out. Literally every day is laundry day. That’s my job: 1-3 loads a day.
I’m an online piano teacher and she’s a stay-at-home mom. I have a 9-passenger, 2001 Suburban and she drives a 2003, 8-passenger Suburban…and we barely fit. Yes, we homeschool…reluctantly. Scheduling is crazy and our health insurance is more than our mortgage. But we love it. Really. I’d go back and do it all again.
Wendy’s priority is peace, and mine is authenticity. Complete, raw authenticity. And I’m allergic to insincerity and pointless ceremony. So feel free to browse the pages, read her stories, and I’ll keep it real for you. I love that Wendy is authentically sweet, but she’s also a bit optimistic. Jump to the end of any of her posts and I’ll give you the real scoop.
She’s got an English degree and loves to read, so we have a blog with words that you read with your eyes. What a pain! My degree was in communications because I love media aaaaaand…it’s a super easy major. We’re both teachers at heart, so the posts get pretty wordy. So just watch the videos or listen to the podcast on double speed. That’s what I would do. See? I gaw cho back!
-Jamin