Virtues of a Large Family

My friends The Sapps made a post recently about odd comments they got as their family grew. I’ve been thinking about it. We recently went to a work picnic where we had the largest family there. We got a few odd comments. Mostly I get really supportive comments when I go out with my children, but some people seem to think I’m crazy.

Who values large families these days? I once heard a nurse say that if they have a large family they are either Mormon or Catholic. Then once a lady at the store was telling me she came from a large family. I think she had 12 brothers and sisters. Without really thinking, I asked her if she was Mormon or Catholic. She was Catholic.

I’ve been thinking about collecting testimonies on the virtues of large families. I thought about e-mailing friends with great attitudes that I admire, but then I came up with a bigger idea. I decided to start a new tag. Did you grow up in a large family? Do you have a large family of your own? What virtues do you most value? This tag could be for anyone, but I really hope it brings out the things people like about their families.

Virtues of a Large Family Tag

1. How many brothers and sisters did you grow up with? 5, 1 sister and three brothers

2. How many children do you currently have? 4 2/3, two girls, two boys and one girl on the way

3. Do you have aspirations for more children? Yes

4. Name 5 virtues you see in having a big family.

1. There are a lot of laughs.
2. You don’t have to go far to find someone who cares.
3. You get to use your nurturing skills a lot. So hopefully your kids will learn a thing or two and when your old they will care for you and you won’t have to live in a nursing home.
4. You get used to working a lot of different types of personalities. This can be a valuable skill when you get to the work place.
5. As a parent, I find it keeps me focused on important parenting issues. It’s a big job, so it demands your attention. Your kids have to learn how to share, help with chores and love each other. Otherwise, life would be unhappy chaos.

To start off I tag you! Leave me a comment if you take my challenge, I'd love to read what you write. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Our New Look

Little J sporting his cool new head gear. He looks like some sort of guy from Star Wars.

Here's my little belly. This picture was taken the beginning of June. Today Little E called me a basketball.
Little A lost a front tooth. She took about twenty pictures of herself. I liked this one.

Little T declined a photo,but he shaved his head for summer again. It was pretty cute.

T hasn't finished his new look yet, but he's getting Lasic eye surgery on Wednesday. Then he will be without glasses for the first time since I've known him.

I guess it's time for a new family photo. :)

Time for an Update

So I guess it's time to post some news. I've been keeping up with the birthday posts and pictures, but no real stuff about our day to day life. It's sort of late, so I'm just going to make a list of things that are new:

1. Ty started a Master's degree in Innovative Leadership. (That is why I am awake right now. He is taking his online class and it only has like five minutes left. So since I already checked all of your blogs I decided to add to my own.)
2. We're expecting a baby! Yeah! number five will be a girl and is due Nov 17th. (I've actually tried to post this before, but the ultrasound pictures wouldn't upload, so. . .)
3. Little A started dance. She loves it, and her teachers say she is doing really well. Little E loves to dance too. She asks to dance at least a couple times a day. It has been fun and good exercise.
4. I actually taught a dance class last Tuesday. I was a sub. for the 2.5 to 3.5 age group. The class is only 30 minutes long, but wow it was a work out! It was a lot of fun too. I get to sub again next week and I'm already planning for some more fun things to do.
5. Little T is getting ready for kindergarten. Both kids were accepted to the charter school, but I've had a very difficult time trying to figure out if it's the right situation for our family. I'm sure the pregnancy hormones don't help. But, the charter school bus leaves at 7:10 AM right in front of the the elementary school that is three doors away from our house. That elementary school starts at 9:15 AM. The kids would arrive home from the charter school about 10 minutes earlier than the local school. I think the education is better at the charter school, but is it worth 10 extra hours a week? Plus the charter school is known for having a lot of homework every night. Maybe it will teach them to be hard workers. I'm a little concerned that the more likely outcome is I will have a couple of sleep deprived children on hand. What to do, what to do. . .