Acting, Speech and Debate, Young Authors, Family Stuff

Well, today it's 80 degrees, windy and a teensy bit of rain. Like three drops. It's been so nice outside! After 1000 days of 95+ degree temps, this is such a welcome relief. I took the three oldest to play rehearsal in Frisco (19 miles away, but you just drive and then you are there--no traffic!) and then went shopping. FUN shopping, not *work* shopping! We went to JoAnn's, Sprout's, and the shoe store (where I got a new pair of walking shoes after a year of wearing out the ones I had!). I feel like a new person with new shoes. I usually don't attempt any shopping that isn't necessary and near the house because it is so hot and the Sub's A/C has been out for over two months, but today was so cool and breezy (read: WINDY) that I took the three youngest children and had fun (we bought tootsie rolls and chocolate covered cranberries and almonds while we were out!).

I have told some of you that Paul, Rachael, and Mark have landed roles in some one-act plays w/ a local "touring company" of actors. It is actually quite impressive and fun. Paul is the prince in The Little Mermaid. Mark is Aesop in Aesop's Fables; Rachael is in the ensemble for that play (I think she plays a bunny or something!). In Treasure Island, Paul is Long John Silver (his favorite role). In the Pied Piper, Paul also plays the Pied Piper, Rachael is Gertrude and Mark is the mayor. I haven't seen any of the rehearsals but they will be touring all school year so I am sure I will see the performances several times each. They are having a blast. For the past few weeks they have had a lot of rehearsals and the first weekend in October, there is the first play performance at the McKinney Peforming Arts Center (sounds impressive, huh? It's the old courthouse and is very nice, but smallish).

We start Speech and Debate club next week so I expect to "busy-up" here pretty soon! My crock pots are going to go into overdrive! Good thing Michael likes that sort of food (good for me). Mattie and Luke will do Jr. Speech and they are looking forward to it. Mark is doing Sr. Speech (but not debate; next year!). The littles will be in child care with one of our new friend's teen daughters so that will be so good! They already know these girls and they are so sweet and like our littles.

Last night we went to the library's auditorium for a reception for the Young Authors Workshop that P and R participated in this summer. It was fun. Each author read an excerpt from their story. They are published by the library and are in the library of Congress as published authors! It was fun.

Here are the Young Authors of the family! We will get a bound book with all of the short stories in it. I can't wait to read their stories. They met some nice people there and one of them is in the plays, too.

The entire group of young authors. They look pretty normal, don't they? Not too geeky or "Texan," right?

Michael is still a happy clam, especially since he is doing much better with his business here than in California. I got to buy chocolate covered almonds, right? Things are definitely going better. We are getting caught up and have expectations that this will continue. Yesterday Michael got his DBA license and is all set up to do business here (contrasting w/ CA--very difficult/impossble for us). So, God has continued to show us His plans for us are for our good.



It was hard for me, emotionally, for a about a month. I realized (learned) that moving brings a grieving process and a need for letting go in order to lay down roots in a new place. I had moved plenty of times in CA, but a cultural move, as well as an "everything is different" move is another story. Michael got me a book called After the Boxes are Unpacked--Moving On After Moving In and I am slowly working my way through it. Don't want to rush things!



The niceness of people here continues to amaze and encourage all of us. We are sure that people at our church have gotten together to plan what they will say to us to convince us that God wants us at that church (as members). We keep hearing the same phrases from folks, "We are so happy your family is here with us." "We really like your family." Such a difference from churches in California, and we are exactly the same people as when we were there.



I am sure there is more to tell, but I am forgetting what it is. Oh, Jordan is walking now. Paul is the worship leader at youth group (which has been a reeeeeeaallly big adjustment for us to even go there, but it really is different here and we are being very very careful with the whole thing). I may have mentioned that already.

David will turn eight in a few weeks and he is looking forward to that a lot. The dogs are 55 lbs. at 5.5 mos. old. There is a pic below of them.



We are getting into the swing of activities, big-time, more than ever before, but it is good. The house still has a lot of boxes, and I don't know if I even want to unpack them, but at least we are mostly functional.



We miss so many people in California, and we hope to see you again someday. It is very hard to leave what is familiar and what we had come to depend on. We feel a bit like we have abandoned a good thing, but at the same time, we know that God moved us out. We miss people in CA, but not much else, but I will admit that I repent of wanting seasons. It is a pain to deal with weather 365 days per year (hot, windy, cold, windy, rainy, windy). But that is part of why Texans are tough. I think that's why Texas pack heat: the frustration level with the weather gets so high, you just want to go shoot something!



Here are some recent photos, Enjoy!!

Marky Man

Jordan is 10 mos. old now, here with Stephen, who just lost a tooth and another is threatening to fall out

Jordan walking!

Our cute toothy sweetheart!

The doggies, right before a much-needed bath! Rachael and Mark let them "play" in the mud! Caedus is on the left; Obi on the right. Aren't they pretty doggies?

I have some photos to post...

When I was 12, I met a girl who was to remain my friend to this day. Her parents were always very dear to me. They came to visit us a couple of weeks ago and my children fell in love and now have new grandparents! These are remarkable people. I won't go into details here, but suffice it to say, I love them very much and count it a privilege to be loved by them!

Here is Pat with four of the boys:
Jordan was asleep, but here is the gang with Pat and Ted. They are both 82 or close to it.
Rachael, Matthias, Pat, Stephen, Ted, David (w/Felicia the dog), Luke, Mark, Paul




Me with the two of them:

Pat loved the baby and the baby loved her, too.

This is a delightful picture, doncha think?

Well, as per my usual, I tried to upload more but it didn't work for me. I will try more later. I think I need internet on the laptop!

Enjoy!

Love and God's blessings,

Marci, for all the Putmaniacs

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I'm Neglecting the Blog

Sorry about that. I really should let it be my hobby. Along with washing diapers and hanging them on the line. I do enjoy that, I really do.

Grandma Put came for a week and has decided that she really doesn't want to live with us. We are just too weird with no TV and such. Whatever she decides is fine with us. We would love to have her. She is a very strong woman and can lay out in the sun (hot, Texas sun) for four hours every day and live to tell about it. And, that is at age 78. Yes, Michael's mom is 78 (so how old does that make Michael? Hmmm....)





Paul and Rachael joined Generation Joshua and are the President and Vice President of the club.

Amazing. They went to a short story workshop and are having their stories published in the library's ________ (whatever it is... a book of some sort) and will have their names in the Library of Congress as published authors and will also be listed in the library's system as authors. All the participants will attend a reception and meet the mayor, too. All this is very weird to us. Exciting, but very strange.

The first Thursday of June, Paul went to an assisted living facility to join other homeschoolers in making music for the residents there. He sang a few original songs. It was nice. He, Rachael, and Mark will go the first Thursday in July, too. We invited a few of our new friends to go, since they play instruments. The (mostly) ladies there really seemed to enjoy the young people coming to bless them with some music.

This Friday, Brandon is coming to visit for a few days. He and Paul are very excited about it. They plan to make a movie while he is here, along with quite a few other activities. One of those is attending the Rebelution Conference "Do Hard Things." http://www.therebelution.com/conference/

Michael will take our four oldest and Brandon for the day. I wish I could go. Someday. I want to do hard things! :-)










What else? Jordan loves Cheerios! He is so serious as he devours these little Os.































The doggies are three weeks into being in the family and are adjusting well. We are working out a few kinks with them, behaviorially, but all within the scope of normal. They are almost 15 weeks and weigh 38 and 36 lbs.!

Michael has sold a few jobs so he is pretty happy about that. He is so happy here in Texas. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sorry for being negative, but... I'm generally pretty
negative. What can I say? I prefer to call it "realistic."

I am THRILLED, no, I am BEYOND THRILLED that he is so happy. But no one can be that happy about moving. He has decided that his new favorite drink is Dr. Pepper. Why? Because it was and is made in Texas. This guy he's been working with, Chris, introduced him to this soda called, "Red." OK, so we love red to a ridiculous degree around here (Michael and I do, anyway), but that is not why he loves this drink that tastes like nothing but carbonated red food coloring. It is because it is, you guessed it: MADE IN TEXAS.

We saw a license plate the other day. Guess what it said?




He immediately said, in inimitable Michael style, "I'M GETTING THAT BUMPER STICKER!" This from a guy who doesn't ever put bumper stickers on his cars!

Now, doesn't that just beat all? I mean, of all things!

I hope you can see how I would be holding my breath a bit. No one stays on such a high after a huge and grueling move like the one we made. Well, Michael does.

We are on the cusp of joining a church for the first time in over seven years. And this one we all like. I mean, THE ENTIRE FAMILY likes this church! I was expecting that there would be some compromising on all sides, but there is none. Amazing. It's a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church (not to be confused with the Lutherans out in California). We are not into being man followers, but Christ followers, instead. It just so happens that all the doctrines we have believed from the Bible and couldn't find in any churches in California exist in this particular denomination.

Paul was asked to lead worship for the youth on Sunday nights. He is very thrilled and honored about the prospect of a music ministry. You can see more of Paul on Youtube. Just do a search for PaulMPutman. He is also setting himself up over at Godtube, too, if you feel more comfortable watching vids there.

I will post photos when I can. Tonight we are having Bible study and I need to go get ready for it.


Father's Day, including Caedus and Obi




Here are Mark and Jordan together. Jordan is comfortable in just about anyone's arms and Mark takes advantage of holding his baby brother often. Jordan looks more like Marky than any other baby. He does look a lot like Pauly did, too, but more in the eyes. I should post some baby photos of all the boys to compare.





Blessings, and I will try to post more often. You can email me at mommyput8@att.net.

P.S. If MoBaby will please stand up, I am not sure who you are (Maureen H.?). Email me!

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More Photos

Luke and Mattie




You can see Jordan smiling in this shot.

Cabinet hung! David did it all!

Such a punkinhead!

A Visitor, A New House, and More Additions to the Family

Michael's mom is coming from IL to visit tomorrow. Whenever she comes, I get a new house! We are putting together our school room and the wall unit in the living room. That means a LOT of boxes are being unpacked, so that is a very good thing! I will try to post photos later when we get closer. I don't expect to be really "company ready" or anything, but it's fun trying!

About those new additions: We are getting two doggies, and are we ever excited!

Here is something I wrote to one friend, then ended up sending to another later (I lack the time to type much anymore, but that's OK):

Michael met a lady at Home Depot the other day who asked if "anyone wants a puppy." Michael was the only one around, so he asked what kind. We planned on getting a dog for Rachael anyway, but hadn't done it yet. The lady gave him a flier and we decided to take a looksee.

http://www.doggiekamp.com/

When we heard that the mom was part doberman and probably part black lab, we weren't sure we'd want a puppy from her. We wanted to go see what the kamp is like and also to ask the owner to watch for the type of dog we did want (border collie). The lady runs a dog boarding facility and also is a rescue place for Great Pyrenees (which I fell in love with today). She has about 50 dogs, total: boarding, rescue up for adoption, and nine of her own dogs! Plus the puppies!

The puppies are very cute. They are mostly black, with some brownish-tan markings on the legs and a bit on the ear tips and eyebrows. Their hair is like an Australian shepherd's. Their faces are shaped like aussies, too. The tails are skinnier like dobermans but their paws are huge and cute. They are very sweet docile dogs, both "beta" males, which is good for being around children and other dogs. She will give us training lessons/classes, too.

Rachael is going to volunteer several hours each week, too! She is very happy about that!

Michael and I keep asking each other, "Are we really going to get dogs?" Most people get dogs instead of children but we are skittish about getting dogs and we have eight children!

I wanted to name my dog (um, I mean the family's dog) Apollo.
I think Zeus is wonderful for Rachael's dog but Rachael says no.
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We have since decided against any Greek names. I am wanting Obi Wan for "our" dog (meaning, the family's dog), and we are trying to convince Rachael to name hers Anakin. She says her dog will receive his name when he is home and in her arms.

I think they will be good sized dogs: at least 45 lbs. which is fine with me! I love bigger dogs!

We will put a deposit on the dogs tomorrow and fill out an application for the dogs. The dog lady will come to our house to inspect our backyard and our fence and in about two weeks, we will be dog owners! Yippee! We are so excited!

Photos

Rachael and Jordan. They have a special relationship.





This is one of my current faves of Jordan. His playful nature really comes through here:





Jordan looks so much like Marky in this photo. What a beautiful gift from God, doncha think?





David helping dad hang a cabinet (I can't find the photo of the hung cabinet). David loves to do work around the house!



My Mother's Day flowers. White daisies are my favorite!




Breakfast! Isn't that wild? Rachael made these today. We got the recipe from the cookbook by Marmee Dear. It has really large-size recipes and great instructions!



What can I say? I am so blessed! Luke says I am mean to embarrass poor Jordy in this way.
My baby my baby my baby!! I love this little guy so much! (6.5 mos.)




David with his the drill that he bought himself! He has used it quite a bit lately getting the house ready for G-ma Put's visit. He is in heaven having his own tools! Age 7.

Another musician? He loved playing the piano! Once he figured out that it made noise, he was interested and even sang along!

Stephen says of Jordan, "He's MY baby." OK, I'll share. Stephen is 6.

As usual, Luke is the clown. Jordan spends a good amount of time in Luke's arms. Luke's choice, of course.

One last shot of my baby making the same face Rachael always did. We sure are having fun with our new punkin'!

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Been Two Weeks and Life is 'Sort of' Back to Normal

Well, the baby DID remember Daddy and they have been inseparable. Well, unless Daddy is attached to someone else or the baby is!

Michael has adapted to a new state with all that entails amazingly quickly. It seems he has always been here. He never looks out the window and wonders if it will ever look familiar. He never gets lost. He never even wonders at the weather. I shake my head at him all the time.

Talk about energy. He is unstoppable. It's like living with a different husband. Still trying to get used to it. It's all good, believe me. All good.

We had Jordan's 1/2 birthday party the other day (May 2) and Rachael made a 1/2 birthday cake. Jordan had no idea what was going on, but we sure had fun!

Some Observations

Jordan was happy to allow Mark to hold him and smiled at him -- at first. Then it was as if he realized that he didn't really know this guy and started looking slightly distressed. Then he put his head into Mark's chest and pushed with his hands and feet to get away from him.

Michael hasn't been able to hold the baby yet (baby night night) so pray he will remember his Daddy and Daddy's heart won't break. All will be well in a couple of days so I'm not really worried about it, but that's what I observed this morning.

Mark is being treated like a long-lost friend. It's so strange to have my child be gone for two months and then come back so much bigger and, bigger. His wrists are as large as a soda can! Tomorrow he will be taller than I am, he's growing so fast. I guess this is what happens when one is 13.

I made two lemon cakes yesterday (one of Michael's favorites) and we think we will eat them between meals and maybe even FOR meals--just this once. ;-)

Cleaning, for me, is therapeutic on many levels. I have realized that even though Michael says he doesn't care about the cleanliness of his home, or even the orderliness of it (except for socks and other unmentionables), I have observed that I clean for him as much as for myself. I know that he appreciates it even if he doesn't know it. Does that even makes sense?

Michael is on an emotional high right now, having accomplished something that was out of reach for a long time. I pray that he finds what he is looking for here in Texas, and that all his dreams come true. So far he is very optimistic and likes what he sees!

It's weird to have been here for two months without him getting used to things at the same time as the rest of us have been. I no longer look out the window and wonder when things will look familiar. I look at the weather, the trees moving in the almost constant breeze, and the birds playing on the back fence. I visualize the grass not having 100000000 weeds and so many spiders and us out there enjoying the backyard. When I get in the car, I don't wonder which way to drive because I know now how to get to our regular stomping grounds. Michael will be getting used to things and I get to watch that. He will master the roads in about three days, whereas it has taken me these two months.

We are on different planes at this time, and that is strange. It will be all the same soon; it's no big deal, really. For 19 years we have been in the same place at the same time so this is something new.

The weather today is warm and slightly overcast. Kind of yucky, actually. Supposed to rain in the next couple of days. Tonight we are going to one of Michael's favorite places to eat, Steak N Shake. There were those in Missouri when he was growing up. He says that they are close second to In-N-Out's burgers.

That's all for now.

Blessings to everyone. Leave a comment and I'll publish it here if it's not too mushy. :-)

They're Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrre!

After a long and arduous journey, Michael and Marky-MAN are here. Mark has gROWN so much. He's huge!

Today we will spend attending to some family business and get reacquainted.

Thank you for your prayers and for sticking with us during this crazy time.

When I find the camera battery's charger and the card reader, I'll take lots of photos and post them (Michael has had these all this time so I was unable to take any photos or access any of the old ones).

They Are On Their Way!

Michael and Mark finally left Sunday morning, about 10:30 California time. They made it to Deming, NM, which is about 100 miles from El Paso. That's 686 miles in one day. Whew. It took me pretty much all day just to do 300 miles.

They are now about nine or so hours from home, and we anxiously await their arrival.

Yesterday I called him to check progress. He answered the phone, "What?" I said, "Is something wrong?" The tail lights on the trailer thingy were not working. I hung up and immediately prayed for the Lord to solve the problem, as I know Michael is not an electrical guy at all and he was frustrated. I said to the Lord, "I want him to call me and say, 'the Lord solved the problem and all is well.'" About 20 minutes later, Mark called and said, rather incredulously, "Mom, it's all fixed now. I don't know how Dad did it, and neither does he; he doesn't know anything about fixing electrical stuff but I'm amazed that it's fixed."

So, praise the Lord!

Part Two -- How We Came to Texas

I don't remember what we had for breakfast that first day here. Maybe we went to the store and bought stuff. We didn't have our fridge yet so we must have done something. A MOMYS (mother of many young siblings) came over that day and brought lunch and dinner and we had a fun time getting to know her and her nine children. I think I was still in shock that we had moved out of our house, driven to Texas, were in strangers in a strange land, then this strange woman (strange as in I didn't know her!) brings us enough food to get through a week and acts like all is normal. That really helped me. We are used to being different, but this was *really* different. Our spirits were up, seeing evidence of God's presence with us throughout the trip.

The first day we arrived, it was sweltering hot and humid, around 92 degrees (on Feb. 25!). The next day, it was WINDY and COLD. For four more days, it was warm, sunny, and clear. Beautiful. Then it got cold and windy again and the next DAY there was thunder, lightning, RAIN like a firehose was soaking the windows, sleet and snow. Yes, snow. It was so beautiful. That was also the night the vomiting started. Yeah. Of the eight of us, five got the actual messy part and I only got the nausea. Luke and the baby were spared, as per our prayer requests. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Not me.

I will let you imagine what it's like to do laundry without a dryer (I had my washer, thank God!) and having no way to hang up sheets and towels to dry. So I didn't wash them. I let them sit. Use your imagination. (They are done now, don't worry, but I was so tempted by the trash bins in the garage!)

Getting to know the area came about by finding the grocery store, water store, Sam's Club and Wal-Mart (which are right next-door to each other but have vastly different prices on many of the exact same products!), Costco, thrift store, and the library. Those were our only destinations until... well, they still are our only destinations, with few variations. We have visited a few churches, but they are on the way to those other places.

Speaking of churches, there are so many here! The churches are as varied as the weather. We are visiting different ones each week.

We've joined a homeschool group and I found an email list for homeschool moms in this area. I met another MOMYS from the Digest and she has been such a blessing to us already.

Speaking of blessings, so far, FIVE families whom I met via MOMYS (and have since met in person) have welcomed us, fed us, unloaded our stuff and organized it, given us money, or just called to be encouraging. It's overwhelming and so very nice. I want to be that kind of blessing to someone.

The email list moms have also been accommodating, inviting us to parties and events, offering to pick me to go to mom's night out and stuff like that.

We LOVE Texas!
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Part One -- How We Came toTexas

I thought I would write out our story of how we came to Texas.

End first: I (without hubby or ds13) drove seven of our eight children from Southern California to McKinney, Texas, taking five days to do so. I don't recommend traveling that far with one adult and seven children, even if two were 15 and 17. It just wasn't one bit fun. The scenery wasn't pretty, either. The poor baby... oh, the poor dear!

The Beginning: Sept. 7 we got notice that we had to move from our rental. Right away, we found that it would be next to impossible to find another house we could afford. That was one part of the trouble; the other part was that we got a 30-day notice. It's required by law in California to give 60 days' notice. I was due to have a baby in 51 days. Hmmm....

Our landlady said we could have until mid-December to move (six weeks postpartum). That was very nice of her, yes. But, where were we supposed to go? Rentals were scarce as it was. December was an even harder time to find one. We decided to look and look and look until about two weeks before my due date, and move before the baby came. If we couldn't find a place, we would wait for the baby and begin looking after he was born. Meanwhile, my midwife and friend told us about a house in Texas that was for rent. All those details fit with what we needed in a house. Trouble was, it was in Texas. We prayed for the Lord to open the doors He wanted us to walk through and close those He didn't. Texas was one big wide open door, from the first day.

I won't go into all the details of the open doors just now, but, believe me, it was obvious God was leading us to Texas.

We finally got moved out of our house in CA on Feb. 15 (yes, very much after Dec. 15, but we had reasons), and moved in with my mom for five days. The plan had been that we would leave asap but Michael couldn't go because he kept getting work so I went with seven of the children. Michael needed someone to stay to help him (and keep him company, being an extreme extrovert) so the 13 year-old stayed (he was actually 12 but his birthday came in March).

We talked at length about whether I should drive without my husband, 1500 miles away, to a place I had never been before, with seven children, one of which was a three month-old baby. I am not the type to do such a thing, and my mother was sure that I could never do it. I didn't want to prove her wrong, either! I had no desire to drive that far but we kept thinking that we would never get here if I didn't just set my face to the wind and go.

On February 21, we set out at 3:30 pm, having given up on the early start theory. We made it only 100 miles that first day, and slept in North Palm Springs that night. We stayed in Tuscon the next night, and in Van Horn, TX, the next, and Abilene the next. We hoped to drive 350 or more miles each day. Never happened. We spent 2.5 hours in Phoenix (don't ask), and the first day we traveled only a couple of hours. The baby didn't enjoy the trip one little bit, no no no. It was very stressful, even if the driving part had been peaceful, scenic, and leisurely. The entire event was far from pleasant, for many reasons. I guess I've painted a very bleak picture, haven't I?

We did have some funny moments, mostly in the motel room at night when we were scrambling to get to sleep so we could get up and get going. We never hit the road before 9:45 am, and that had to be OK. The best part of the entire thing was that I could call Michael any time I wanted and cry and moan and complain all I needed/wanted to do. That happened a few times.

We finally pulled into our driveway about 6 pm on Monday, February 25, via Fort Worth and Lake VeryHuge (which were not supposed to be on the way), ordered pizza, put everyone to bed, and I took a very long, very very hot BATH. We slept on the floor ( but I had an air mattress) until Friday night when three very nice families extended Christian (and Texas!) love and hospitality to us by unloading our two 28 ft. trailers and then putting together beds, the kitchen, and whatever else was needed for to function until my hubby could get here.

Part Two Coming Soon

A Month Without My Hubby or Marky-man

We have had three birthdays and Resurrection Day without Michael or Mark. They do hope to be here soon. We hope, too.

Sometimes I long for something familiar -- anything at all. I haven't longed for California, per se, but I lived there for a long time so that is where my mind goes when I think about familiar things. Don't want to go back, no no no. Would love to see friends, though.

I look out my window toward the north and wonder if it will ever look familiar to me. It will, of course, but when?

Sometimes I think I will never adjust to life here, then sometimes I am just so thankful to be here. It's a process, this moving thing. It's beautiful in many ways and I love the people. We are always commenting on just how doggone friendly people are. They do like to move on the streets, though. If you know where you are going, it's a great place to drive, but if you don't, well, people can tell. I have learned a lot about the area simply by acting on the thought, "Where am I?" That means that I make a lot of wrong turns and then it turns into a wonderful learning experience for us all!

We have all the shopping we could ever want, and more. There is no shortage of places to buy stuff. I do sorely miss Mother's Market, though. That was the hardest place to give up. I now have to shop a few different places to get all my beloved healthy stuff. Don't have to drive far, but still have to shop more.

Jordan is almost five months old and growing like a weed. I'm afraid I will have to start giving him solids if I can't get my milk supply in better shape. Please pray for us in that regard. We all know that when solids start, breastfeeding starts to stop. You have to be smart to catch that last sentence.

I am at the library's computer lab writing this. We need a wireless adapter to set up our computer at home. I am not in a hurry to do so, which is a surprise to all of you, I am sure. The computer is a necessary evil, in my opinion, and I am not eager to have it re-enter the house.

Well, I better run. When we get the internet all connected I will bombard y'all with lots of photos and stories and get you all caught up with our adventures in Texas.

The ladybugs here are very cute, by the way. Bigger, of course, and multicolored. Diverse, you might say.

Love to all and thanks for you prayers!

We are Here! Been Two Weeks Already!

This has to be quick, as I have to get home to the baby. I am at the library. We hope to get our internet set up this week.

We made it, arriving on Feb. 25. It was not fun. Not much to see on the way, either.

It was sweltering hot the day we drove in, then it got freezing cold and windy the next two days, then it was warm and beautiful for four days, then it rained cats, dogs, cows, and horses. Then it snowed. All in a week. We like it, though.

We had three wonderful families come and unload our trailers, then organize the house. It was amazing. We had 31 children, ages 21 to four mos., all in the house (or outside), at one time!

This has been an amazing experience, one that I hope never to duplicate. Except for the good parts.

Michael is still not here but hopes to be in about 10 days. Time is standing still because I keep saying he will be here in 10 days. He has Mark with him so he is not lonely or anything.

I will update when I can. Thanks for your prayers. We have lots more to say but I am rushed at the moment.

Love to all!

~ ~ Hotel Del Grammio ~ ~

We are staying at my mom's house, which is very cute and decorated. I love the look of her house, even if it is miles away from how I could ever do my home! We have air mattresses, hot showers, a refrigerator and full kitchen, and even a heater! It's nice, and we are thankful.

Today was a more restful day for most of us. Michael worked and took care of things for the move, but Rachael had the privilege of reading some classic literature and Paul is working on a movie with his uncle. The little boys got to make a fort, use a drill and hammers, and they even got to use the manual rototiller to tidy up Grammy's garden. I am finally beat; the adrenaline has worn off. I am aiming for my bed asap!

Michael is with Mr. VD, as he is "fresh out of wisdom" today. There are decisions to be made and he needs help making them. One has to do with whether he stays here to finish a "big" job and sends me on ahead or whether I stay, too. I really do not want to drive all that way w/ seven children and then supervise others unloading the two trailers. It seems like a huge responsibility -- one that I don't feel up to the task of undertaking. I prayed for the Lord to ready my heart for whatever He has planned for me/us.

~ * ~ The Zero Hour ~ * ~

Yesterday we had four strong and strapping young men come over to hurl furniture. They seemed to have a wonderful time! We sure are thankful for them. Zach said, "Thanks for having me" when I thanked him for helping. What a wonderful bunch of manlymen. :-)

Today we are having to finish the second trailer and be completely out of this house. At about 3 pm I am going to take the smaller children and all our "camping gear" and go to my mom's. There, I'll make dinner and wait for instructions. I don't expect to see the rest of the family until later tonight. There are a lot of details to work out before the end of the day. We don't know where we will stay for the three days but we'll work it out.

Our fervent hope, prayer, and plan is to leave California by Tuesday, as early as possible.

We need a lot of help again today and we have requests out there for people to come over, if even for an hour.

Something interesting happened yesterday. Our city is in the midst of re-paving the streets in our neighborhood. The U-Pack is scheduled to be picked up Monday but we didn't have a firm time. We had to make a few phone calls to the city street paving guy and the moving company to avoid the trailer being impounded by the city if it's not picked up by 10 am. That problem was averted, thank God! They were really nice, but at first when the "impound" word came up, there was a bit of concern.

We appreciate any prayers on our behalf. Also, all this exertion in the cold is taking its toll and prayers for our continued health are especially coveted! I have the Cold-Eeze out and I plan to get some garlic today to admininster to the troops.

Not quite finished

While the first trailer is packed and on its way to Texas, there is another 1/2 trailer that is being packed today and tomorrow. After that, we are officially FINISHED. We are working out where we will stay until about Wednesday or maybe Tuesday, when we will finally go go go to our new home.

We have some helpers coming today, praise God, and we're praying for a few for Saturday. It's all coming together.

After tomorrow morning, we will be offline until we can get the laptop up and running.

THE TRAILER IS DONE

Twenty-six feet of nightmare, packed and ready to go allllll the loooonnnnggg way to Texas. The people will come pick it up today and start driving and meanwhile, we'll get ready to go ourselves. It took six days to pack it up. And we had a lot of help. (Acknowledgements will be at the bottom.) The weather is beautifully overcast and cloudy with a threat of rain, so Paul and I got a lot of good pictures. It was very windy too.

Acknowledgements to those who helped us this past week:

Mr. and Mrs. D for driving Brandon over here every day. He was a big help. Also thanks to Mrs. D for the yummy lunch food.

Thanks for Brandon for coming over here every day, and sacrificing school to help us. :P

Hugely humongous thanks to GRAMMY for all her help. We couldn't have done it without you. :)

Mr. and Mrs. VD, thank you for letting Shane come and help.

Shane, thank you so very much. We all loved having you around and you were a reallllyyyy big help.

Thank you to Uncle Ty, who sacrificed several days and his favorite thing to do besides sleep to come and help us load up.

Thanks to Zach for making time in your busy schedule to come help us. We got more done in the time you were here then all the rest of that day.

Rachael

Wednesday, Feb. 13

In the photo below, you see three tape guns. Never before have all three been in the same place at the same time the past five days! Each of us have gone hunting for a tape gun probably at least 50 times each. Today the U-Pack was *almost* completely loaded. Tomorrow will be about another hour, then it can be picked up!!!!! Yippeeeeeee!!! Yee haw!! I'm getting geared up for being a Texan. Did you know I even have my own firearm? See, I'm already a Texan.

Our plans change day-to-day, and it frustrates us as much as it probably does everyone else. We need to be out of this house by Saturday, so we will probably have to stay w/ my mom or some friends until Thursday morning when we will have to hit the road in order to meet the U-Pack. Expect that plan to change, though.

We are all relieved tonight to be as far along as we are. Currently, we are living w/ bare minimum essentials. It's actually quite nice.

Everyone has been working so hard. My mom has been here for three days packing up the kitchen and a whole bunch of other things while I ran around like a chicken w/ my head cut off. Michael was so tired I thought he would fall over. We thought Luke had broken his toe but it is only bruised. Paul hurt his foot/ankle, and Mark has overused the ankle that he sprained last summer. Matthias did something to his ankle and it has some cuts, but not bad. I just hear all day long how someone is hurt. Brandon (family friend) was so exhausted that he almost got sick and had to go home early (he had overdone it yesterday at ball practice, then at some other event in the evening).

When we disconnected the water line from the fridge, whoever originally connected it did it weird and we had water water everywhere and I had to dash to the hardware store for a cap fitting. I am not the best person to send there. It took three employees to find what we needed, then I had to leave the store and return with some actual money so I could pay for the item.

I won't even go into my behavior at Costco last night. Let's just say it's a good thing I was only buying four items. We are really doing well, considering.

In the past three days I have said a few times that I used to think I was the Queen of Decluttering. I have repented of that thought and plan to assume that title asap.

Thank you all for your prayers. Michael has some jobs to do and I am not going ahead of him after all. I will wait for him to finish before we get going next week. It really has to happen then, because our stuff will arrive and we have to meet it.

Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008

Today the trailer got more packed. It is a real hard job to pack it all tight, like a puzzle. It is amazing how difficult this move is. We have had a few helpers each day but the one who seems to make the most progress is Michael. But, we are supplying all the stuff to pack so I guess the exhaustion that the rest of us feel is because we are also working hard.

The latest "plan" is that the trailer will be picked up Thursday and we will leave Saturday. I hope hope hope that Michael will come along, but he has jobs that must be done and I really want to live somewhere, like in a house. Staying w/ people on this end until he is finished is not attractive at all. No offense to anyone offering to put us up, but this whole chaotic living thing is old old old. Not complaining ~ just want to be home home home.

We are praying for all the details to continue to work out, even if they seem to "work out" differently than we think they should. God is faithful and always good and we see His grace in our lives every day. We have had neighbors drop by with gifts and well wishes for our future. Friends have brought food and convenience items. Even though we look forward to our new life in Texas, it is nice to know we will be missed. We will definitely miss so many people here. But, we will keep in touch!! Technology was invented for such things!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are some photos from the packing. We haven't been able to take many (too busy) or make videos but we hope to do some of that more when we are on the road seeing the pretty sights between here and The Republic of Texas.

Loading Day #1, Febuary 9th, 2008

Here are some pictures from a few nights ago. It was getting dark as I started to take pictures. The top one is from left to right: Mark, Matthias, Uncle Ty and Paul. Matthias got in front of EVERY picture. Bottom is Dad packing boxes and furniture into every little space in the trailer.

: Rachael :

Monday, Feb. 11, 2008

Saturday and Sunday "we" loaded the trailer ("we," meaning Michael did it). We had a few helpers, who were worth their weight in gold. Hard work is good for a body, though at the end of the day that can be debatable!

Today we hope to have a more firm date on which we will be actually driving down the highway. I have come to avoid answering questions that begin with "When?" or "What time?" or "How long?"

Friday, Feb. 8, 2008

What a difference a day makes. Or two days. Paul is getting a bit better, but his muscle is pretty pulled. He has to reeeeally take it easy. He tripped over some stuff in the garage and fell down, twisting himself as he fell. I have him on ice, but really he has to just wait it out. God knew this would happen so He isn't surprised and it doesn't impede *His* plans.

As is the natural course of events for us, our schedule again changed but we are dealing with it. As my practical daughter put it, "Why get upset about things that are out of your control?" Indeed. Such wisdom from a 15 year-old.

We will have a street sweeper ticket after today, but that's life and a small price to pay to get this done on God's timetable instead of our own.

We will completely finish packing today and tomorrow load the U-Pack. I will depart on Monday with seven of the children and head to Texas. Michael has a job that will take over a week so he will stay behind with Mark and finish it and do some other things that need to be taken care of before he leaves.

Please pray for us today that we will be able to be smart about what we pack and what we leave out for daily use. We have already unpacked a few boxes to retrieve needed items.

Thank you!!!!

...Setbacks, problems...

Some bad news...
Paul hurt his back today. Pulled a muscle really bad and can't really do much work as far as loading and moving preparation goes. Every step forward toward actually moving takes us 3 steps back. Thankfully we have friends with strong sons who are willing to come help us load up our trailer, but Pauly is unable to help Dad with work or anything else for that matter. Please pray that he heals quickly and nothing more happens to impede our progress. We have been tuning up the trucks for their 1500 mile drive and the problems that the cars have are costing more to fix than planned. Everyone is under a lot of stress, and it seems anything we attempt to do is blocked. Little things...like going to Costco to buy dinner for THAT NIGHT and the membership being expired. There is entirely too much for all of us to do... I'm afraid this is complaining, but Mom wanted me to post and this is pretty much what she'd say.

Let's wait and see what obstacles tomorrow brings.

Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008

Remember what I said about plans and the Putmans not being compatible? Well, that's OK because God said that men plan with their minds but God directs their steps. We planned to load the U-Pack today (ox in the well) but it is raining. A really wonderful wet rain! We love rain, but it does interfere with loading a trailer. So, we will call our helpers and tell them we are not able to load today. And, thank God, Michael has a job tomorrow, but that means no loading then, either. The trailer will have to stay an extra day or two.

That's life, at least around here! Today I am thankful for time to pack more, rest, take a nice hot bath, and a nap. Oh, and more packing (the little stuff).

OK... pity party over!

I decided to list all I'm thankful for so I can get through the day and partially deserve all the kisses I receive from my babies.

God loves me and I know it's His plan that we move. It's not His fault that the logistics of moving are horrible.
I have a wonderful family.
We have a house in which to live.
We have all the creature comforts.
We are healthy.
We have friends.
We have boxes.
We have a moving truck.
We have people praying for us.

I feel better now. Thanks!

Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008

Today is the day we are loading the U-Pack trailer. There is still a lot of prep to be done before Michael can start, but he is "planning" to get a lot loaded today. Tomorrow will be "the rest" and Monday will be the refrigerator, mattresses, and a couple lamps. It should be "fun" to live on mattresses for a couple days. We will pretend we are Japanese, I guess.

I NEED PRAYER TODAY! I NEED PRAYER TODAY! I NEED PRAYER TODAY!

In case I wasn't clear, I need prayer today! I am probably going to do a lot of crying. Not because I am sad about moving (that will likely come as we are driving away, though those tears will be mixed with tears of relief). It's because the utter chaos is mashing me. No elaboration needed; you understand. Pray as you are led.

I need to get dressed, and get to packing. Before the baby gets up again and it's time to feed. It's a good thing the children are completely unaffected by all of this, isn't it?

Another thing: Two jobs fell through so we are not quite up to snuff in the money dept., so please pray for that, too!

Thanks for sharing our excellent adventure with us!

Tuesday, Jan. 29

Yes, the trailer came today. Wow. It's really happening!
Michael is so excited today and encouraged more than ever that the Lord is leading us out of here and to the Republic of Texas. He got a couple more jobs today and now we will not only have enough money for the trailer and the rent and the gas and the things we may need on the road, but now we will be able to go grocery shopping when we get there. That's very cool. God is good!

My brother is here for dinner tonight so we are going to have yet another goodbye session. We have had several of these with our various friends. It is bittersweet, as you can imagine.

Here's the first of many videos documenting our move to Texas.

Directed, edited, written, scripted, produced and filmed entirely by Paul Putman. Enjoy!!!

To turn off the background music scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and press the pause button TWICE.

The Moving Trailer

We got our Upack trailer today. :( It doesn't really seem big enough to fit all our furniture and boxes. Lol we'll make it work. Dad is a master packer.


Now it's official, there's no backing down. And although by necessity I must move my body 1500 miles away, my heart will stay in California forever and ever.

It's 28 feet long...what do the neighbors think?

Rachael

Monday, Jan. 28 ~ Some Good News!

I hesitate to say too much here because I am sort of in a negative funk about this whole moving thing. I am OK with moving, don't get me wrong. I am sure that God is leading us out of California and into the Republic of Texas. It's just been such a long time since this whole thing started that it's wearing on me. I can only take chaos and uncertainty for so long before I start to unravel. By Feb. 7 it will have been five months from the time we knew we had to move. Way too long to live in boxes. Remember, we knew we had to move but we didn't know where or exactly when it would be.

I was seven months pregnant at the time we got the notice. At my age and "station" in life, that is too far long to do a move thing. But we started looking and found nothing. Zip. Zero. Nothing. The only house that was available to us was the one in Texas. I am NOW as sure as anything that we are supposed to be there. Back then, we didn't know anything. We just asked the Lord, simply, to "open doors He wanted us to walk through and close ones He didn't." He opened and closed doors.

I sort of wish I had started the blog back then, just to chronicle the ups and downs of this "journey."

We had our baby, Jordan Michael, and that has been the best part of this whole deal. What a complete and total blessing to have a baby at 43. I can't wait to have another one. Jordan needs a little sibling. Brother or sister, doesn't matter. We always come up with a new boy name right after the "new baby" is born and this is no different. Of course, we have been waiting for "Bethany" for many years now, and she may never come, but that is OK. God's will and all.

Little Baby Jordan doesn't lack for love, attention, or snuggles; that isn't why he needs a little sibling. Everyone else has one; why shouldn't he? Maybe by the time we stop having babies, grandchildren will start coming and no one will be without a little one to play with and love.

Some good things have happened, too. Paul and Mark finally got to perform in their band, Treaty, with their bandmates, Eric and Shane. They had several concerts, which blessed them and their parents, too. Some grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends also enjoyed the concerts. The last Homeschool Magic Mountain Day, Homeschool Skate Day, movies and meals out with friends, and other things, have been "good things" that have happened these past months.

Some "bad" things:

We have had our washer die, got a replacement, which leaked, then we got ours repaired, then it started being bad again! It is finally resolved, I think (Please, Lord!). Our fridge did a weird thing, which turned out to be nothing, but we were perplexed nonetheless. Our Suburban did a weird thing (a $400 weird thing... shop around and don't believe Pep Boys' $1000 estimate). The phones have done weird things. Fax machine did weird things, too. Just enough to keep us frustrated. We have had some parenting "glitches," too. Worst of all, we have had no money! Well, not much. Not enough, anyway. Not enough to move. That is mostly why we have taken so long to get out of here. No roofing business (or, so little as to qualify as none, due to the drought) for two years is the big reason we are moving out of state in the first place!

But, there has been rain lately! And, the rain has brought jobs! In the past two weeks, we have needed $7000 to move. As of yesterday, Sunday, we had $5000. That left $2000 to come up with THIS week because the U-Pack trailer will be here tomorrow and we are "supposed" to start driving out of town Monday, Feb. 4.

Michael has been very optimistic lately, which is good, because I have not. Not lacking faith, just not liking the circumstances of life and losing my ability to smile much about the whole thing. Just sort of enduring. I'm sure you can relate.

Well, things are really looking better. I have to admit it. Remember I said that we needed $2000 this week? Well, TODAY, Michael got two jobs. This may be all we need (I don't know the totals but it's at least 1/2 of what we need). All that to say, it looks like we are moving. In a week. To Texas. Which is 1500 miles away. God is with us. It has to be so.

But, guess what else? We have a small homechurch (30 people total, but 24 are children -- YES!!!) who want to come and help us move in. That is totally God loving and providing for us, no question about that. Also, my friend, a very purple lady, has a hubby who is a construction-type and HE knows a roofer-type in the town where we are moving. God God God, again.

Another lady has invited my daughter to her daughter's 16th. birthday party and retreat so my daughter can make nice godly Christian girlfriends. This nice lady has NO IDEA how this is a total God thing. I will be sure to tell her, though. :-)

Michael said I should go "blog" about it. Blog as a noun and as a verb.

So there you go.

Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord.

Goodbye, California :-(

:-( :-( :-(

Those are on behalf of my sad children, who don't want to go on record as being anything resembling happy about moving to... well, anywhere.

BOO HOO BOO HOO BOO HOO wahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are headed to Texas in eight days....Really this time!

OK... the countdown is on. The U-Pack trailer will be here Tuesday and we will start loading it up soon afterward. I don't see why we have to load six days before we are actually leaving, but that is the "plan." (You may as well know now, when you see the word "plan" anywhere near a Putman, you can be reasonably sure that whatever is mentioned as a "plan" won't happen.)

Currently, we have 115 boxes packed. There are many more to come, and they will be packed this week. I sure hope I can pull this off. Anything resembling organization falls to me, but no one else who lives here even knows the meaning of the word, so I am truly on my own.

When I can, I will post pics of the chaos that packing brings to a family of 10. Not pretty.

We are excited, though. My stomach is a hurricane, but I'm calling it excitement!