Telemarketers: We have a deal for you!

Lana was having one of her brief periods of quiet feeding Martin when the telephone rang.
"Hello"
An Indian accented voice answered "Hello, This is blahblah blah. We have a special deal offering a family package of 25 nights free accommodation for $299."
[How can something be "Free" for $299"?]
Lana paused and thought she would give them a challenge.
"We have seven children. Not many hotels handle that many children. How would your deal handle this?"
"I'll just get my supervisor."
A short while later, another Indian accented lady answered, "this is Sandra Parker. You have seven children?"
"Yes."
"What are their ages?"
Lana gave the ages, enjoying the challenge.
"I'll just speak to our manager"
She asked to call back and finished the call. A short while later she called back and got really pushy.
"2 kids stay free, plus a no-name mp3 player all for $299."
After some further wheedling out of her, she finally admitted that we would have to pay extra at the hotel for the additional children. After trying to get Lana to sign up, Lana replied:
"I'll call my husband."
"Does he like to save money?"
"He's an accountant. Of course."
"Give him a surprise"
Lana replied, "He doesn't like those kind of surprises! Undiscussed spending is not a pleasant surprise."
[When Lana told me she had been told to give me a surprise, I was surprised by the question! I did like Lana's answer.]
More pressure and sales talk, until Lana firmly replied:
"No I'll talk to him and get back to you or it's NO right now."
Sandra backed down and arranged to call back at 4:00pm.
Looking up the web site, Lana read all the conditions. The "Free" accommodation relied on buying breakfast and dinner at the hotel for two adults, or pay for one night and get the second night free. Investigating further, Lana realised that there aren't that many hotels in the areas we would visit so for us there was little value.
Sandra called back at 4:00pm on the dot and decided to try strong arm tactics, little realising that Lana is NOT going to spend money if she doesn't want to, and the resistance grows stronger the more she is pushed.
After lots of wheedling and coaxing and suggestions of "You should take a holiday" and "This is a great deal" and "You'll save lots of money" and so on, Lana eventually told her in no uncertain terms that "We are NOT interested."
I must say Lana enjoyed the challenge she posed to the Telemarketer.

James didn't want a break

On Friday I returned home from a busy week in the city to a sad James with his arm in a sling.
"I fell of the trampoline and hurt my arm, Dad."
Lana and her mum had done the important things. There didn't appear to be an obvious break as James could wiggle his fingers and clench his fist. So we wrapped his elbow, gave him some Panadol (Paracetemol) for the pain and he had a fitful sleep.
The swelling had reduced overnight but he was still in pain. Hmmm. One more night.
After Mass we unwrapped his arm again and noticed a little bruise on the inside of his elbow. Now the only pain was at his elbow but it was strong pain.
"Okay James. We're going to the hospital." The first photo is his reaction.
So, off Lana (and her attachment, little Martin) with James and I to Hospital, about 40 minutes away. The triage nurse gave us "the look" when we said James had injured himself on Friday at about 4:00pm. Anyway, 1.5 hours later we saw a doctor who gave us a slip for us to get an X Ray. Then James was X Rayed with much pain as he was made to straighten out his arm as the technician and I hid behind a glass pane.
He felt it wasn't a break because of the movement of James' hand and fingers but we were sent back to the waiting room for the doctor.
Eventually the doctor called us in and told us there was a small break just above the elbow. It was more like a tear or crack but James was to have a plaster cast. It should take 8 weeks before it gets removed. All in all we returned home 5.5 hours after we left.
But James is much happier (as you can see in the "after" shot).
So, that was today's adventure.

The Mouse Butcher

On the nights I return home at a reasonable hour the children enjoy me reading a book to them. Naturally this involves assuming all the appropriate accents and mannerisms of the characters, and reading faster or slower, louder or quieter depending on the mood. The latest book we have just read is "The Mouse Butcher" by Dick King-Smith.
This story is based on an island where the humans have mysteriously left, leaving the cats in charge of their own destiny. The butcher's cat, Tom Plug, is a very good hunter and is such a good catcher of mice that he is known to the other cats as "The Mouse Butcher".
The story has love, adventure, epic battles, humour, family life and bad puns - all the important elements of a a memorable book. I knew they enjoyed the book when I finished reading for the night and they begged for "just one more chapter".

Ariel is 16!

This weekend we celebrated Ariel's 16th birthday. 16! Time certainly does fly.
We have posted this first photo of when Ariel was about 4 and Eric was 18 months. Upon reflection I don't think Ariel has changed much.
To celebrate we went out to dinner. This is not easy as we first have to weigh up the competing factors of where, how much and whether the restaurant caters to families. We found a nice place and had a great meal of pasta and pizza.
We warned the children beforehand that we were about to go into a restaurant and not a playground. After a suitable close look into each child's eyes we entered the restaurant.
The most interesting part of the evening was watching the surreptitious glances of other restaurant patrons. We occupied two tables, so the glances had three parts. An initial look noticed us, then there was the double take as they realised we were together and finally the triple take when they realised we were all related and had a baby too!
Martin was great ice-breaker grinning at neighbouring diners and getting appropriate smiles and funny faces from the ladies. We only embarrassed Ariel a little bit when I sang Happy Birthday (not too loudly). The children behaved very well.
After the meal we popped into a supermarket and bought a pack of ice-creams. That was a lot cheaper than buying individual ice-creams and there was lots of choice.
The jacket Ariel is wearing in the current photo was a present from Grandma. Just right for the current cold weather.

The Changing Face of a Woman

This is a fascinating compilation of women in art across the centuries.
I found it interesting how lifelike many of the images were, especially the older portraits. Ignoring the more modern unrealistic pictures, it doesn't seem that women have not really changed in looks after all this time. In general the standard of clothing in general may have droped, but the faces have changed little.
Enjoy.

Hat tip: There and Back Again

Children's Gaming Code

Today we had a great day visiting friends. Typically this means the adults chatted together and the children did their own things together. On the journey home I asked the children what they did. Eric replied:
"We beat Therese in Spit, then we played Dead, started a pillow fight, I won Carpet Skating - getting to Level 3, and we fed the pigs and I won."
Now, I understood the pillow fight but the rest needed further explanation.

The Game of Spit
This is a card game where each player has half a pack of cards each (26 cards) and speed is the name of the game. (The rules are here) Based on the noise we heard from the other end of the house, yelling and enthusiasm and the speed at which the players whack the cards on the table are all important elements to success.

Playing Dead
This was just an impromptu game where the first person is supposed to be dead, but she decided to holler instead, so the others tried to show here how to flop all over the furniture and be dead, but they were equally making lots of noise. Apparently it was great fun and like the caucus race in Alice in Wonderland everyone was a winner.

Carpet Skating
This was another impromptu game, but with increasingly complex rules as the game progressed. Basically it involved holding a cushion (apparently to make balancing more difficult), rushing forward leaping onto a small piece of carpet, sliding (skating) along the long hall. The key was to stay upright. The levels were increased as they added cushions or made other obstacles. Level 3 was balancing the cushion of your head, which Eric achieved.

Feeding Pigs
Normally feeding pigs is not a game, but where there's a will there's a way. Our friends had a number of pigs of lots of stale bread with which to feed them. The children started by tossing bread at the pigs to see if a piece stayed on the pig's back. They then timed to see how long it stayed there with the other children doing their best to knock it off with their bread. The pigs didn't mind as they could eat everything thrown at them, the adults didn't mind as someone was feeding the pigs and the children enjoyed the competition. Winners all round!

So there you go. Sometimes a simple question require a much longer explanation!

Homeschooling in the world

Sally Thomas has written a great article for First Things, Homeschooling and Christian Duty.
Mrs Thomas examines the proposition the often declared duty of all Christian parents to sacrifice their children to a school system - to be a light unto the world. We have always considered "the world" to be the place outside of a school environment so homeschooling actually means we are more of a light to the world.
It is amazing how often the homeschooling life style allows us to meet people and help neighbours we would never be able to encounter if we were trapped in the school treadmill of Morning rush hour, multiple commutes, evening depression and chaos followed by homework and then "extra-curricular" activities.

Hat Tip: Philosopher Mom (This links to an interesting discussion asking readers why they chose homeschooling over a religious school.)

Yoda seen in Australia

Cindee is one of our regular readers and she was inspired by our family fun. Despite being a busy mum (mom) of four she couldn't help herself and made some minor "corrections" to Martin's photo.
Also Matthew wrote in the comments:

I think he is trying to say something in the second picture. uhhhh, let me see if I can make it out...."We come in peace to live long and prosper, oh and I think my pants need changing, daddy"

I wonder what Martin will think when he is old enough to realise the fun we made of him at 10 weeks old? he will probably say what the others say when they see what we did with them: "Daaaaad!"

In Sickness and in Health

Rose is sick with a stomach virus which means a sore stomach and sore bottom. I had the same thing two weeks ago and I was off work for the week. But Rose is only 3 years old and doesn't understand this whole sickness thing. So while Lana has been tired as Martin is getting his sleep patterns worked out, I have been getting Rose to bed and helping her in the middle of the night. The older children also assist to help us out.
The middle of the night is a good time for pondering life's little mysteries, holding your daughter's little hand until she falls into a calm sleep.
When I made my wedding vows with Lana - For Better or Worse, Richer or Poorer in Sickness and in Health - it didn't actually occur to me the full impact of the words. Each of these conditions has nothing to do with one's feelings, and it is also not limited to just my spouse. By extension it also applies to our children while they are in our care. So when anyone in the family is sick - Lana, myself or the children - the rest of the family partakes of the vows to persevere. In effect, living out the marital vows makes everyone in the family grow up.
Thank you God for the grace of marriage to help us through tired nights, soiled bed clothes, crabby temperaments and bleary eyes.

I'm a Catholic Dad

I know that regular readers may have already picked up that I am a Catholic Dad, but my point here is that I am now part of the group blog "Catholic Dads".
This means that I will be adding my bit to the collective output of many other Catholic fathers posting on various fatherhood and family related issues.

What's so great about children?

Gerald of The Cafeteria is Closed asked the question "What's so great about children?" There are lots of comments (64 at last count) but I thought the question deserved an answer here.
I have always looked at these type of "Meaning of Life" questions in the same way I solve business issues at my clients. Take a step back, strip out the answers such as "But we have always done it that way!" and do a Chesterton type examination.
By the way, you can't really plan children. You can certainly say "No", but you can't guarantee children will arrive by saying "Yes".
Anyway the benefits of children depend greatly on the manner in which you accept them. If you treat them as a burden or expense and focus on the ways they cramp your lifestyle, take away your freedom and give very little return for all the trouble you have taken - then they aren't great at all. This is basically the so-called Devil's Advocate position Gerald posited in his post. But it's all rubbish.
Let's use the same arguments with a new car.

Why bother with a new car? It just costs money, fuel is so expensive and smelly, it gets dirty and you have to clean it, the expense is constant even if you don't use it with taxes and fees, there's no more together time as you are driving everywhere, you lose fitness rather than walking, you have to park it somewhere. And once it gets too old you have to sell it or trade it in on a new one and lose more money. Gosh, why would you get a car anyway?

So, ignoring the silly short sighted criticisms of children, the primary thing children actually do is create parents.
Parents are forced to grow up and take responsibility for their actions. They cannot continue to act like teenagers with lots of money. A Dad and Mum now need to consider someone else. Someone who amazingly looks like them and shares many of their own characteristics - both good and bad.
And do you know the really surprising thing? The more the parents embrace their new roles, the greater the grace of marriage acts on them. They grow closer together despite the reduction in "Me" time. It's the "Us" time that is actually more important.
The children react to the unselfish love and respond in kind. Even children that go to school and are bombarded with "Me! Me! Me!" messages all day can still survive with their family love intact as love is quieter in volume but much more invasive internally. Love sticks.
Children are able to multiple love. Each additional child does not mean the same love must now be divided again. Somehow each child increases the total love more than in a straight mathematical line. If the love between Dad and Mum is 2, a baby makes it 3+x and another is 4+x+y and each one adding more again. This is all contingent on accepting and treating each and every child as a gift (which each child is).
We have found the other great feature of children is they are fun (see the 11th reason) The photo with this post is of Clare and Rose playing with Martin. We have been told that younger children in large families tend to be missed out and suffer isolation. Bah! Younger children get spoiled if anything with too much attention from all the rest. While Ariel only had Lana and I, Martin has 8 other people to give him some attention on lots of different levels.
So, what's so great about children? They made us grow up. In growing up we have enjoyed life far more and participated in so many activities we would never have experienced.

Brrrr. What's all this white stuff?

Last night was REALLY cold. Ariel awoke early to make her famous Strawberry Cheesecake muffins for the local shop. With frost on her breath INSIDE she went to the barracks and found a jumper (sweater). It was -6 C (21F). I know all you hardy Northern types think this would class as mild Summer weather but for us this is COLD!
Naturally the boys rushed out and explored the transformed back yard.
Here is Peter looking through the frozen remains of an ice cream container.
James, meanwhile, figured it would be fun to use the trampoline rugged up in many layers of clothing. I asked Ariel, "What do you think of the cold weather?"
Without hesitation she answered, "I don't like it!"
My main problem was that the pipes were actually frozen so we had to wait a short while until the sun melted enough of the pipes so I could have a shower. It's the little things that matter!

Families are Fun

Martin is now about nine weeks old and is a very important member of the family. Oh sure, he always has been since he first started as a little dot in Lana's womb, but now he is interacting and that means he is part of the fun of family life.
I have always given each child a probation period of three months before they must start paying rent. Rent of one smile per day. Luckily they all start smiling around seven weeks or so. Just as sleep deprivation kicks in, every parent wonders "What is the point of all this trial?" Then the baby gives a huge grin (and a burp,gurgle and wind) and you look into his intensely staring eyes and say, "OK. You can stay. Now go to sleep."
But the really good bit about the interaction is you can play games with the baby. Here is Martin doing Yoda impressions. Although he isn't green.
I was in my office checking emails and Eric came in, "Dad, get the camera. This is funny." So I stepped out and all hands assisted in giving Martin his first posed Bruggie Tales photo. I think this will work for his 21st birthday photo montage.

The Sound of Reading

I heartily recommend Why Our Children Can't Read by Diane McGuinness. This is a fascinating work covering research into how reading should be taught.
The first section covers the disaster with US illiteracy rates. Even phonics had a 33% failure rate (school stats) and the current hybrid whole word/phonics system of 42%. The problem lies in what the English language is and how the alphabet represents the language. There are 43 sounds but only 26 letters (and some of these are hardly used or are duplicates). So we cheat. To complicate it further we double up the same sound being represented by multiple letters or combinations, and the same letter/combinations making different sounds depending on context or surrounding letters.
The history section of the book is fascinating and the part comparing other alphabets for different languages is almost worth the book alone.
The golden part is the understanding that the way to teach English is to remember what we are doing. We are not trying to say that the letter makes the sound (phonics), or just remember how a word looks (the ludicrous whole word method) but that the sound is represented by this letter or letters.
I ran the included sample tests with the younger children and it all made sense. The author has studies backing up the use of this method as being 100% successful. 98% within a 12 week training schedule and the remaining 2% requiring a further 6 or so weeks.
So, I am now reading Reading Reflex which is all you need to start the training.
Ariel and Eric picked up reading quickly enough, but the others are finding it more difficult. When I tried the new technique (what letter represents this sound) it is all starting to click. At $22.44 for both these books together, I am very happy.

Mars on Earth

I visited a client in Broome a few weeks ago. Have a look at the map and you will notice that Broome is in the top left corner of Australia, a very long way from here and a long way from everywhere else in Australia.
This is the first time I had travelled so far North West and I was very surprised that everything was so RED. If you ever want to film a movie about Mars, just go West from the coast.
On the return trip I flew direct from Broome to Sydney. This is a 5 hour flight in a straight line. Around half way the plane banked to the left and then straightened. "That's odd," I thought.
About 5 minutes later the pilot announced, "On the right hand side of the plane you should be able to see Uluru or Ayer's Rock."
Naturally I took photos so I could show the family. This photo is enhanced to remove the high level mist in the air. Notice how bleak (and Red) the land is surrounding Ayer's Rock. Imagine how the initial explorers travelled over the bleak, dry land a long way from any civilisation with no long range communications. Amazing!

Belgium is a conspiracy?

I have always been told that my father came from Belgium. I even visited there in 1991 and met relatives and saw some cloudy skies and some cows.
Well now thanks to the truthful nature of all that is on the Web, I have discovered that Belgium doesn't actually exist. It is all an illusion!

On reflection, I suspect that the story may not be fully correct.

Hat Tip: Mark Shea

The Colour Purple

This is a photo of a collection of our towels. Note they all have a common shade of purple. The really bright purple towel is a new acquisition and is a very nice towel.
All the rest used to be white, orange or other light shades.
Lana mentioned to her Mum, "Mum, this is a new towel, it may leak some of the colour."
"Yeah, Oh, OK." Mum said distractedly as she gathered a posse of towels and threw them in the wash.
A little later Mum approached Lana, "I've had a little bit of an accident..." and showed us the newly re-coloured towels.
So all the towels have been freshened up. It's like having a whole new co-ordinated collection of towels!

Now listen here, Mate

We used to be very careful using the ubiquitous phrase "Mate" when we lived in the US. Saying "Thanks, mate" would be matter of course here in Australia, but stopped the conversation over there.
Thankfully, Tim Blair has explained the various shades of meaning to the phrase "Mate" in this article.
Cheers, Mate.

A Jane Austen relationship

Lana discovered a quiz to determine the character your husband or boyfriend is most likely to emulate in the Jane Austen world. Here is the result for me. Now I must go and work out the questions and answers Lana entered...

You scored as Knightley, Your husband/boyfriend is most like Mr. Knightley of Emma! He probably gives you kind lectures to help you in certain matters, though he does these out of true devotion and in your best interests. Others look to him for his wisdom and good sense. He is generous and steadfast, though not afraid to politely argue with you. The two of you enjoy a challenging, sweet partnership and are most likely very active in your community. Knightley 100% Edmund Bertram 100% Col. Brandon 90% Tilney 85% Captain Wentworth 80% Edward Ferrars 75% Darcy 50% Who is Your Jane Austen Boyfriend/Husband? created with QuizFarm.com

Planning Ahead

This is a very humourous YouTube video of a lad who recognises a missing element in his life, knows what is needed and puts the plan into action.

Enjoy!

Soccer Kid

Hat Tip: Vox Popoli