The home office

Dave finished his first week on site in St. Louis at his new job, and it went very well! Everything seems to be a very good match. We have all enjoyed hearing the reports of the people he has met and the things he is doing. (We talk alot of shop around here!)

During Dave's week in St. Louis, the boys were supposed to be working on his upstairs home office, organizing, clearing out non-essentials....


Note: Guitar is not considered non-essential.


Sarah is the family organization queen, and what's really nice is she's really good at finding things too!

As much as we enjoy having Daddy working from home, the plan is to sell the house and move to the St. Louis area. Until that happens, Dave will be working from our house here in Wisconsin.

So, once Dave headed off for his week in St. Louis, we at home had some discussion about how best to install the door (aka sound barrier) he needed at the base of the stairs.

The attic features just an upstairs bedroom and had a plywood door at the base of the stairs. We originally intended to simply replace the plywood door with a normal door. Strangely enough, we found there were no wall studs in the place where the old door had been installed. Hmmm. Odd.

The idea was tossed out that we install the door at the top of the stairs instead. This would mean a little extra work, but the idea of surprising Daddy got everyone very energized and ready to go! In fact, we just grabbed some 2x4's we had lying around, and Zak started measuring and marking before we could get more!


The attic bedroom really just had three walls, with a rail by the attic stairs. So, we decided to put a wall where the rail once was, and then put the door at the top of the stairs. This also allowed us to add some electricity to the other side of the room, along with a light switch. We had some surplus paneling and some extra used counter top, so the expense was minimal and the effect was maximum!

The wall studs are installed where the flimsy rail once was. This is the view from the bottom of attic stairs.


The new door went up easily after the wall studs were installed. Wall studs are really nice when installing a door....?????


Ben wired the wall for a mounted light fixture in the office, as well as one really needed in that now very dark attic stairway.

Again, we thank the LORD for safety as the boys work on these things. It was a little unnerving for Mommy to hear the new nail gun puffing away. We got it on the tail-end of the new floor project, and it has made a big difference!


For this project we did splurge on getting some white melamine paneling, which Zak really wanted, to build in a white board on the new wall. It looks really nice. The surplus bus paneling was used to finish the stairway-facing part of the wall, and a wainscotting under the melamine inside the office.

Everyone anticipated what Dad's reaction would be, seeing the long-discussed door, and how we'd break the news....

"The bad news is, we couldn't install that door at the base of the stairs, because we found there were no wall studs, and the GOOD news is...."


This is the newly cleaned and organized corner where Daddy works....

... and this is the new door and melamine covered wall. The wall features new outlets, and a switched light fixture! The countertop was a roadside find, and Zak made cord holes in the back so power cords would not clutter the work surface. This side of the room is where Ben and Zak do their computer work...such as www.juglist.net.

Surprising Daddy made the week fly by for all of us, and the kids tried to work it out so that everyone could feel like they did some of the work, even if only vacuuming up the ladybugs. Zak had to scribe the paneling to fit the uneven ceiling, and Ben had to add a junction box, but as usual, Solomon did much of the grunt work. He is really acquiring a servant's attitude, which is of great value to the Lord, and a goal we have for each of us. It's also the ultimate purpose of projects like these...giving us opportunities serve others. Additional blessings are the fun of working together, learning to solve weird and wavy problems, and feeling the satisfaction of a job well-done, which Solomon truly felt!

Welcome to the family, Joshua Arthur!

I asked the children to record this song and for Abi to make me this video for my birthday last week. Hope you enjoy it. It makes me cry. We are so blessed!

Thanks Abi!!!

Today ends Dave's and my "birthday week," eight days in which we are both the same age. My beloved hit the big 4-3 today! Happy birthday, Honey-Dave! He and Zak are currently driving home from Minneapolis. Tomorrow, Dave leaves for a week in St. Louis, starting his new job.

Days with Joshie

Happy Birthday Auntie Karen!!!!

I was going to try to organize these and narrate and make it a story, but, as they say, "time is of the smell" ...so these are pretty much just in the order I uploaded them... here goes...


One of the strangest comments we have ever heard (and fortunately, it has been pretty rare) since Zak (our oldest) was born-- in regard to our having a new baby -- was "Oh, now he/she will never get to be the only child..."

Oh well.


Joanna and her new little brother.


The kids enjoyed a cool, sunny day to take out most of our garden after our first frost. Abi and Sarah supervised, so Mommy could work on things inside.


Sarah had fun replacing half of our basement steps...


Wow! Good job, Sarah!


Gideon (3.99 yrs) is showing Joshie the ropes. Good job, Joshie!



Noah is a live wire, but will stop in his tracks to hold his precious new baby brother! Joshua is very peaceful generally has adapted nicely to his lot as being a lap warmer.


Zak and Sammy are replacing missing bolts on this wonderful and very needed stepstool.


Our long-awaited fall hike on Thursday. Dave's last day with his former client was Wednesday, and this was also the mid-point of our birthday week (we are the same age for 8 days - 42 this year!). We made up zip lock bags of trail mix to eat on the trail, hence the name.


Sammy pauses to find the cheese crackers in his bag. He and Gideon are always begging Mommy to tell them stories of when she went backpacking with her dad (now Grandpa Bill). They have fairly memorized all the fun things we'd pack in our packs (such as instant chocolate pudding, Planter's peanut bars, and sierra cups), the various adventures with getting rained out, hiding our food from the bears, the tick in my ear, and the squirrel Grandpa shot "because he was asking for it."


A fellow hiker offered to snap this picture of all of us. On the East Bluff trail at Devil's Lake, Baraboo, Wisconsin.


Rebekah savors her turn holding baby Joshua Arthur, 6 weeks old.


Everyone loves Joshua's new expressions. This one looks like he's just been asked "How does it feel to have 12 older siblings?" (It's kind of like being asked, "What's it like having blue eyes?")


Gideon is giving Zak some wood working advice. The snowman p.j.s do add an aura of authority, I say.

Here is a photo of part of Devil's Lake, which does not draw attention to its algae-green color. The lake, which I think is natural, is nearly a perfect rectangle. We are on the east bluff, which is comprised of a bunch of rocks. In fact, just about any noticeable change in elevation in Wisconsin can probably be attributed to a pile of rocks.


Hannah and Joanna in front of a big rock.


We are nearing the peak leaf color change time of year. Once the leaves fall, you can really make out the big piles of rocks of which these bluffs are made.


Susanna and Noah pause for a photo on the trail.


Solomon and Ben stop to lend a hand.

Life in the teens

Well, we are slowly making the adjustment to thirteen children. You know what they say, "The first twelve are easy..."

Actually, of course, it is an adjustment when a new blessing arrives, no matter what the number (the first one was our biggest adjustment!). I think Mommy is the one who has the most adjusting to do, getting around more slowly, lots of snuggle breaks are mandatory to keep the little guy fed, diapered, etc. We are enjoying baby Joshie, and he is doing wonderfully. We will slap up a bunch of photos soon, Lord willing. There is still a line of siblings waiting to hold him, including every single brother.

We are all adjusting, however, to getting our house back together after basically moving back in right before his arrival. Little by little, inch by inch. Mommy is squeezing as much performance out of her brain cells as possible -- thinking through where to put stuff. The kitchen cabinets are about 70 percent usable, which is a blessing. We have gotten all the kitchen/school/misc storage out of the girls' room finally, plus we gave them an additional cabinet for their own storage, and and extended closet rod.

We have shuffled our early morning schedule a bit more, so we are squeezing in a bit more work after schoolish pursuits in the morning. If school is considered preparation for adulthood, then the whole day would be schoolish. Organizing, classifying, gardening, building, breaking & repairing and trying to work together.

Our most recent cause for thanksgiving is a new job for Dave!!! Wow, we are so thankful to the LORD for this. The job is based in St. Louis, but the employer is allowing him to work from home until our house here is sold, so no relocation is imminent. Dave had has many years of experience working from home, prior to our move back to Wisconsin, and he was able to keep his clients and family happy. We are trusting with God's help this will be the case with this new job. So, soon we will let up on the early morning schedule, as he will not be doing the two hour daily commute...thank you Lord.

As I type, all but Joshua and I are outside enjoying lunch and a game of Occupation.

Giddy has fallen into a rut of calling himself "Noseman" for each game of Occupation, so he is usually the first one out. But he isn't sad; he watches the rest of the action as if he were at Wimbledon.

He will be 4 next month. For his birthday, we found an awesome tool. We don't really buy toys for any of the children anymore. All the little guys are gearing up for "Leaf Journey" season, when the ground is covered in leaves. They stretch out a tarp and make a big pile in the center, and then everyone grabs a corner and hauls it off to the compost pile. But the fun doesn't stop there, no, because they have to figure out how to get the leaves to the top of the hill. And I haven't even touched on jumping in the leaves. Anyway, they now make these big plastic scoops, which look like big frying pan lids (with handles). I guess more like cymbals, with teeth on one side. First of all, they look fun. More importantly, Giddy with a rake is not a good safety risk.

However, the leaves are already changing color and falling. We may have to make it an early birthday present, as October 23 is still pretty far away.

More later.

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....