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. :-)