Things that go burp in the night!

We give thanks to God for his mercy and goodness in giving us a new baby BOY! Joshua Arthur arrived safe and sound and oh so snuggly at 4:17 PM, on Wednesday, August 27, 2008. He was 9 pounds, 9 ounces and 22 inches in length. He has a velvety head covered in soft brown hair, and blue eyes. He is adjusting to his position in the family, taking on that typical 13th born demeanor which is so endearing to us all.... (Joanna, meanwhile, is adjusting to her new role as "middle child", since she is 7th born...)

We were extra excited because his arrival was smack dab on Dave's dear mom's birthday, adding her day to our immediate list of birthdays. Grandma Carmen went to be with the Lord in 2001. Joshua gets his middle name, Arthur, from another dear brother in Christ, who went to be with the Lord in 2006.

Wow, we are so blessed!

Our midwives, Chris and (adult daughter) Billie Jo, felt like part of the family. I called them the night before, after having a few obvious signs that labor had started. They stayed in the girls' room the night before Joshua was born, and all the rest of the children camped out in the backyard. The next morning, it seemed like nothing was going to happen. We took our typical 3 mile walk, and Chris decided to check my progress before she and Billie went home. Good thing; I was 8 cm! We went ahead with our daily tasks as we waited for baby's arrival.


Abi and the older kids really kept everyone moving forward during the waiting time, so Daddy was able to focus on helping Mommy. My favorite memory was having ALL the kids trickle into our room to see Joshua for the first time, and seeing their faces just bursting with joy (oooh, I'll have to work on that word picture...).

(The Lord really helped me so much as always, and I would like to write up the labor story for moms who are into hearing more details; email me if you would like me to send it to you!)

It goes without saying that there was a lot of rejoicing here, and it was really nice that everyone (except yours truly) was able to get a lot of sleep the night before and retire at a normal hour. I had the night shift with our new bundle, which is such a precious privilege.

Well, that is all for now. We give God thanks and praise for this new blessing!

JOSHUA ARTHUR KLEIN August 27 4:17 pm 9 lbs 9 oz. Everyone is great and thank

It's a BOY!

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Doing what we gotta do!

The pots, pans, school books, and tupperware are stacked in the girls' room.

The stove and kitchen work table are stored in the boys' room (they had to pull the door off to get the stove in!).


The old floor is being prepped for the new!

On the verge of the arrival of our 13th blessing (due August 22), we found ourselves on the brink of a fork in the road. There was a river to cross, and we had to decide if we would go upstream, downstream or just camp out on the shore. We decided instead to go against the tide and try to keep our heads above water until surf was up. That is, rather than waiting for calmer waters, we inflated our raft, threw out our anchor, set sail into the wind, and hit the rapids.

[Sorry, I'm sure that was hormone-related.]

I don't know how normal people do home improvements, but here at the Klein house, we are so into being efficient, that we plan, change plans, and then dive in and procrastinate for a while. Then, we get back into the plan and scramble. What happens is that in the course of trying to complete something that needs to be done, we think of other things that would be logical to do at the same time. Then we realize we are unable to do those things for various reasons, and then we wait and think about it. Then, sometimes things come up that allow us to to all or part of the things we thought we couldn't do. All of these things involved doing alot of laundry, of course. Some also include acquiring alot of Mountain Dew.

Hence...


The blog reader will likely not notice that the surface on which these cases of diet Mountain Dew are resting is a new laminate floor in our kitchen.

The Lord provided for the purchase of some really good, nearly Klein-proof, flooring, at a really good price...the lowest we'd found.


We had been praying for this material and looking, as it seemed really unwise to put our kitchen faucet in with our floor situation as it had been. Part of the lino had to be pulled in the installation of the new base cabinets, and knowing how things go in a family where nearly everyone helps in the kitchen, it seemed like a recipe for disaster. So we have been washing dishes outside at "Camp Klein" (and have been largely enjoying it, as the summer weather has been really nice.


Anyway, the Lord provided the funding and the right price and materials, and we acquired them last week, but then the fork in the stream, etc. as previously mentioned. Due date approaching, baby could come any time, do we start or wait? We waited and researched the project, had the kids read all we could find, and then we decided to dive in and start!

Our house, as we have mentioned a few times, is a bit small for the family of four. Its also a bit small for the family of fourteen, soon to be fifteen. But on the other side of the coin, it also makes it easier to keep track of everyone...and forces us to learn to work together, share, etc. On the other side of the coin, say the rim, it means that nearly any project requires moving furniture around!

We started the flooring in the kitchen, because that is the entry to the house. This is also the most difficult area, as there are all kinds of irregularities with walls, cabinets, doors, etc. So, this part went very slowly.


Once we get past that cabinet there, we anticipate things going faster....we'll see...

Jobs have been distributed as follows:

Scribing and cutting boards: Zak and Solomon
Locking and tapping boards into place: Ben, Solomon, Hannah
Laying underlayment pad: Sarah and Hannah


Keeping work area for floor team clean and organized: Susanna
Emptying shelves so furniture can be moved: Hannah, Joanna, Rebekah, Susanna, Noah


Handling dishes, meals, household stuff: Bekah, Hannah, Joanna
Moving furniture out of the living room and kitchen: Zak, Ben, Solomon


Coordinating activities for little kids: Abi



Reading the teency fine print instructions on laminate box: Mommy
Taking boys for walks with Mommy: Ben, Hannah, Abi
Freezing zucchini: Noah, Bekah, Joanna, Susanna


Canning salsa: Sarah, Hannah, Bekah, Susanna


Picking veggies: Sammy, Susana, Gideon, Bekah, Joanna


Feeding and watering ducklings: Joanna
Hanging laundry: Sammy, Noah, Gideon, Abi
Photography/Videography: Ben, Abi


Requisitioning Mountain Dew: Solomon
Talking like Slavic immigrants: Zak, Ben, Solomon, Sarah
Making everyone go to bed at night: Daddy

Well, that is just a little update on what is going on here lately. Praising the Lord for all his help, and for ALL our blessings, and lots of things for them to do....

The ducklings have landed!

To help pass the time while we wait for our new blessing (as if we were bored!), we have become the recipients of six healthy, yellow, fuzzy baby Muscovy ducks! They all arrived about 1 week ago today, and have added alot of excitement and opportunities to waste time.


To help preserve life and peace in the pen, we had to remove four of the non-maternally inclined ducks, as one of the males munched the first hatchling. Kinda yucky...but the rest have done great.

The two remaining momma ducks are largely cooperative with ducky care. No need for duck training, as the babies comr pre-wired to stay near momma. They are speedy and quiet and eat flies like they were Cheetos.


They do everything together. Here (above) they are cramming together to keep warm on a cool, summer morning.


Here is momma housing them during nap time. She may not be affectionate, but she sure is protective! If we get too close to her brood, she hisses and gets really irritated. So, we are not cuddling the baby ducklings at this point.

[On a side note, several of the little boys now consider baby chickens to really be called "chickenlings". Language acquisition is so amazing! On a tangent, after telling Gideon to pick up clothes on the bedroom floor recently, he came back and said, "There was only one clo." I'm sorry, but we Kleins will always favor people over animals, no matter how fuzzy the animals may be!]

Anyway, the ducklings are growing like weeds, so we'll see if they get enough meat and feathers on them before the cooler weather hits.

Waiting for baby

Gideon (3.5 yrs) enjoys listening to the baby's heartbeat at Mommy's checkups.

"What is the name of the lady who, when a lady has a baby in her tummy, she puts in the heartbeat?"

"The midwife."

Culinary illiteracy

A few days ago, Ben ran into the house from the front yard dishwashing station. A man in a truck had pulled up in front of the house, wanting to speak to his parents.

Living on a highway en route to Wisconsin's premier tourist destination, we don't get many solicitors... just the occasional family from Illinois looking for the nearest Walmart. This man was selling frozen gourmet meats.

The salesman excitedly told us of our good fortune: that he was practically giving away his leftover inventory of choice steaks before he headed home. Would we like to take a look?

Without thinking, Dave and I looked at each other and laughed. Then we informed him that we have a big family and were not in the market for any steak, thanks anyway. He didn't take much convincing and quickly said goodbye.

[We have a freezer full of venison and ground beef and even Canadian bacon, but we haven't purchased steak for quite some time!]

After he drove off and everyone settled back into chores and projects, we heard Noah ask Susanna, "What is steak?"

Campfire time!

We finally had friends over for a CAMPFIRE!

We had been waiting for the perfect window of time, not too hot, not too cold, not too many mosquitoes, not too busy. It never came, so we just went for it! We decided to invite several families whom we haven't seen for a long time, knowing they wouldn't all be able to make it, and they (almost) all came!


Heidi and her boys came over first, which was a big blessing, as we had lots of things to wrap up, not the least of which, getting our laundry off the line. Her three blessings happily helped reel everything in and cart it into the house.

We BBQed turkey dogs and had them all warming in the roaster oven by the time everyone else started showing up. Much poultry was scarfed by all! Lauren brought a most excellent cabbage salad, the recipe for which I wish she would give me ASAP.


Heidi's hubby, J, met the rest of their tribe at our house. He, along with EVERYONE, was relieved (I think) to see the improved sanitary standards in our kitchen, as the remodel moves along. J is doing his basement at present, which sounds fun.


It seems our nearest neighbors, James and Anne and family, are the ones we have he hardest time ever seeing! Dave so much enjoys visiting with other dads, and this was no exception.


Zak always takes advantage of his visits with the Baxters, extracting as much guitar expertise as he can from Mark. Funny, Zak also has this same lighthouse Tshirt Mark is wearing in this photo. Coincidence?


Solomon took over the fire maintenance, as song time began. Mark and Zak took turns leading and following. Mark is just all over that fret board.


The high ratio of mosquito to people inspired Mark to create his new, old, standard, "the mosquito blues".


We set up lemonade and zuchinni bread stations nearby, in case the need arose. And it did.


We always tell our children, "Its only because of the Lord that we can have special times like this with our family in Christ!"

By God's grace, 23 wonderful years!

After our visit from the grandparents, we took a little early evening trip the day after our 23rd to Roche A Cri park, where there is (woo-woo) 300 foot observation tower. It is built around a mound comprised of glacial moraine...just a big pile of rocks. It was cool and breezy at the top, and Dave and I were hot and breathless at the top!





We got married at 18 and 19, and many people thought we were too young and wouldn't make it. I don't know, the first 23 years have been good...

Love beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things....

Invasion of the "old people"!

(We call them "grandparents", but...Grandpa says, "us old people".)


Grandpa inspires fun just by showing up!


Grandma is a good sport too!

We had a great time of visiting and chatting, often in the house, as it suddenly got pretty hot outside! Grandma and Grandpa always have helpful ideas for stuff we are working on, such as Grandma's suggestion of using Comet cleanser to clean a dirty ice chest....DUH! It worked so good!


We enjoyed an evening walk with G&G, but poor Grandma is apparently immune to insect repellent and got munched badly! At least the skeeters were happy?


Dave had to work for the first day they were here, but took off Friday, so we had more time for visiting.


Grandma enjoyed seeing the new kitchen improvements! She suggested those counter corners were a certain trip to the ER, so we got wise and covered them with foam bumpers. Grandma is always a help with dishes. The kids have to be fast or she'll just do them all in a wink.


On their last day here, it was Dave and my T W E N T Y - T H I R D anniversary, so we coerced Grandma into making two of her many specialities: cabbage rolls and banana cream pudding pie. Ben and Abi made video of most of this, and she taught the girls all the tricks to these yummy Klein favorites.



While waiting for dinner to finish cooking, we played "dictionary". Poor Grandpa did not know what kind of, um, intelligence he was up against. When it was his turn to pick the word that all the players would "define", Ben had a doozie for him, and he nearly fell out of his chair trying to read it. I am sure its one of those "you had to be there" things. Ben is always willing to sacrifice a chance to win (by making a convincing definition) by causing an uproar with his crazy ones.

Dinner was yummy, and it was hard to say goodbye! We sent them off exhausted to the next set of grandchildren!

Nesting!

As we approach our baby's August 22 due date, we are also awaiting some unknown due dates, as there are some other expectant mothers at our house...


Here is Soozie Duck, nesting alongside our old kitchen sink (we thought it would make a nice nesting box, but she did not). The females don't escape from the pen anymore, as they are content to lay around on their eggs, only leaving long enough to get some food and water occasionally. We only have three females left (one got sick or poisoned), and the eggs are kind of community property, with two of the moms sitting on adjacent nests.

We are wondering who will be first, us with our baby, or the ducklings.

We've been busy on our myriad projects and jobs, and especially were getting ready for an upcoming visit from Grandma and Grandpa Klein, so attempts were made to clean up, and everyone had something to do. Here are the little boys doing "furniture diving"


Since our our kitchen is so lacking in cabinets, most of its furniture is freestanding stuff from garage sales. Actually, this is nice, because you can move it around wherever you want to put it (like they do alot in Mexico). However, stuff accumulates, so its good to regularly clean out underneath it. You find utensils, pens, hardware, the occasional banana peel, the occasional undergarment, etc.

If you've got bandwidth, here is the video, so you can see what childlike fun really is...

So, everyone was pretty busy, but some of the older kids were just standing around for a long time...


After the Kleins' visit here last year, we were really hoping to make some headway in the kitchen. We are afraid poor Grandma had nightmares about our old counter/sink! Before that could get done, we had to attach the matching backsplash against the wall. The material had to be clamped for a while, so the adhesive would take.

Zak really pushed on getting the counters done and finished hours before the grandparents arrival...


This is the long, L counter, upside down. To help conceal the uneven floor, we made the sides extra deep, or tall..

Zak has studied up on making countertops so much, he could probably do it in his sleep. First you glue on the edge pieces and trim them with a router.


Since they were working with contact cement, we did most everything outside.


And here you go! The formica pattern was chosen to match the floor model sink we already had. The counters around the sink will be tricky, but the main counter was done! You can just make out the sink in the background hopefully. The installation of that will make this seem like a brand new house to us!

The garden has been growing like gangbusters, but production seems a little behind last year. We are thinking that the bees are just not doing their thing. Our cucumbers have produced zero, even though they are vigorous and flowering. Tomatoes are growing, but not prolifically. The green beans and snow peas have done well though.


Zucchinis are doing well, and we have three rows of them! But I think even they are not producing like last year. Our favorite zuke dish is to dice them up and put them out in the bus, in our big roaster oven, mixed with basil, garlic, onion, chopped pepperoni, diced tomatoes, and some oil. We stir it every 20 minutes or so until done (375?). Then we drain it and top it with mozzarella. Its yum!

And of course, we have made a few loaves of zucchini bread.

Green beans are Mommy's favorite, eaten fresh and raw of course. Why anyone cooks them, I will never understand. Most of the little kids now eat them raw too. Delicious! But we are trying to save some for freezing too.

Well, more on baby soon! I am just trying to deal with all these pixels!