Thursday 23 August 2012

Road Trip!

Well, here we are on the eve of the first day of our second
major road trip of the summer!

As a former boy scout, I am a bit of a "be prepared" freak, which by the way is the reason I always carry some sort of multi tool. I used to exclusively carry the trusty Swiss Army Knife, but lately my tool of choice has been my Leatherman Charge.

 
Anyway I always get asked how we manage to travel with all the kids. The answer is quite simple really, we all just get in the car and go to where we want to go.
The amount of cash vs the amount of gear we bring depends on the kind of trip. Generally speaking, the less gear we need to bring, the more cash.

Driving trips are my favorite. There is something to be said about driving through the hills in Pennsylvania over winding roads and seeing the scenery unfold before you.

 

 

 

Friday 17 August 2012

Good Times at The Games

So we spent last weekend at the Fergus Highland Games and it was a great time! Where else can you wake up to the sounds of pipers piping and drummers drumming.

Aileen placed first overall in her age category!






But one of the highlights has got to be the random jam sessions....


So what do you get when you cross a bunch of drummers, pipers and an old green school bus?

Answer:


Saturday 11 August 2012

Just like Scotland

So here we are on the first of our two family trips this summer. This weekend we are at the Fergus highland games in Fergus, Ontario. The drive was only an hour and a half, which is nothing compared to the mammoth marathon drives we usually do.

Just a tip, when long driving with children, cookies and ice tea do not make for a good mix. Peaches and prunes are not a good idea either.

Anyways, this weekend is all about kilts and tartans. Hey now, this is a family blog.

We are staying in the middle of a field surrounded by other tents and RVs and the weather has been shall we say appropriately cultural.



Thankfully, it hasn't been raining all day . In fact, it cleared up just in time for the festivities to start.














And here is a taste of the weekend festivities!




Wednesday 8 August 2012

Tools of the trade

So many of you have probably noticed that I have started blogging more frequently as of late. Today is probably the fourth day in a row that I have posted something new...
That's because I just got 1) a new iPhone about a month ago and 2) the new blogger app for iPhone!

What I love about the app is that I can post stuff to blogger without having to worry about the interface etc.... And what I love about the phone is that now I can type on the go wherever I am, except in traffic of course!

The only thing about the blogger app is that you can't type in landscape mode which is a bit inconvenient and crowded on the fingers but I usually compose using Pages anyway, and then I just cut and paste.

What I would like to know is, how to get paid to try out new stuff? I mean you hear about it all the time, testers for this and for that, but what I want to know is, how to people get those jobs?

While we're at it, how the heck do you get your own reality show anyway? I mean, do you need to send in an audition tape? We could call it: Seven for Now.

Anyway, I don't know if it is a temperament thing, or if she gets it from her two closest in age older brothers, but Bernadette has started to make her displeasure known much in the same way as her brothers... By head butting the floor before wailing like a banshee.

I'd like to see some sound guy deal with that!

TiPSI Dad

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Sometimes, we even get to sit down!

So here's the scoop. Liz and I have become independent Herbalife distributors and are building our business full steam! Actually we have gotten pretty great results both from the products and our organization is growing nicely.

**EDIT Feb 2 2018, Liz and I are not longer with Herbalife, but still in the MLM industry! We have grown so much and learned so many things and most importantly, made so many good friends! I would still recommend to anyone thinking of starting their own business to join an MLM team. If not for the income you can potentially make....for the person you will become through the process.

But along with growing our team, building longboards, taking on carpentry jobs, not to mention paying bills, and feeding kids, there is also the fact that we have two family road trips coming up!

Well, better busy than bored! Anyway, I won't go too much into it right now but the other exciting news is that Liz and I are down 30lbs between us! We are pretty excited and to tell you the truth, we have never felt better.

I have to admit, while I still don't know where this journey will take us, I am still glad that I took that leap of faith a year ago. It has been one heck of a ride. All I know is, one year from now it is going to look totally different again!

Its amazing what kids will do with stuff. Today for example, we shooed the kids outside to play in my parents back yard. Without using 1000 words to draw you a picture, we have several plastic slides, a plastic picnic table and a teeter toter thing. What did our kids do with this assortment of toys? Well, Keira, who takes after her grandfather in the engineering department, decides to stack one slide on top of the other to make a mega slide....which Raphael promptly wanted to try out. The thing is, just as Nathan is Mr. Durability Test Man, Raphael's special gift is for finding safety flaws. Luckily his guardian angel was working overtime today.

The treat of the day was that we actually got a chance to sit down and watch most of a movie together with the kids! Well almost all the kids, Nathan fell asleep in his dinner....which is probably the only reason we were able to sit down.

I have no idea what I am going to write about next, but I am probably going to be doing it standing.

TiPSI Dad

Monday 6 August 2012

Moments of Doubt



It's easy to sit on the other side of the keyboard writing about all of the benefits of working from home and being self employed (fully reliant on the providence of God) but the truth is, sometimes it's not all about asking and receiving. Sometimes you feel like cursing the fig tree.

In reality, I spend a good chunk of time doubting. Now, I have experienced too much of God's miraculous provision to doubt that He will come through. But I have to admit that sometimes it is pretty hard to wait for the 11th hour....and 59th minute. Especially since sometimes He comes through at 12:01.

I find it funny that even after all this time, I still have moments of insecurity, but just goes to show, that even if you have been on the same ride hundreds of times, there can be still parts of the ride that make you nervous.

I have to admit that right now is one of those times. I am confident that things will fall into place, but I would be dishonest if I didn't mention the fact that at this moment in my life, I sometimes find myself wondering what the heck God is doing!

Today was not a good day, for reasons that I am not going to get into. However, it is enough to say that today was an emotional roller coaster.

There are times in a person's life when they find out that perhaps they are carrying more baggage than they realize. Today was one of those days for me. The thing that scares me the most is the realization that there is a small part of me that wants to stay angry and broken.

What I really need to do is work on putting the baggage down at the foot of the cross. My problem is, I think I want to carry both my baggage and my cross. Or perhaps it's that I want to carry my baggage instead if it.

TiPSI Dad

Sunday 5 August 2012

Get me to the church on time!

So today we went to my mother in law's surprise birthday party. The logistics of getting all the kids out to be someplace by a certain time is something that has taken us a long time to work out, but we are getting better at it. Being on time is something I feel VERY strongly about. Actually I belong to the "If you are five minutes early, you are late" school of punctuality. I actually break into hives and begin to think apocalyptic thoughts if we leave more than thirty seconds after the time I wanted to leave.

The first few weeks Keira was born we started arriving to mass just as the organ was starting to play the opening notes of the processional hymn. The first time we were late I resolved to start waking up at 6:30 in the morning for to get to 10:30 mass.

The second time we got there just as the cantor was announcing the opening song, and I was not sure if it was still permissible to receive communion. So after the third time we got to mass "late" I did what any good Catholic should do about it... I went to confession.

I told Father that I was going to confession because we were getting to mass late, and he asked why, so I explained that we had just had a baby and that we were just having a hard time adjusting etc etc. So he explained the importance of trying to work as hard as possible to get to mass on time. Then he asked me if this was our first child, to which I replied, "actually Father, she is our fourth". Pause. After that brief moment of silence he replied with the wisdom only the Holy Spirit could have inspired. "You are an idiot." He then explained that although punctuality is a virtue, at this season of life our obligation is just to get the kids to mass...and to cut myself some slack.

It was an awakening moment.

Now I only need to get there 4 minutes early.

TiPSI Dad

Ups and downs and curry popcorn

Life with seven kids would probably seem a little surreal to some, but like all things, when you are in the middle of living the life you are living, you don't know any different.

Like putting kids to bed for example. Sometimes the best way to describe it is like playing whack-a-mole. And now that we have kids who range from teenager to barely toddler, bedtimes have totally become more political.

While it would be so easy to send them all to bed at the same time, you can't really give a thirteen year old an 8:30 bedtime. In any case we are very much appreciating our temporary stay in Richmond Hill, but we are really looking forward to moving in to our new home in Alliston, which we definitely miss.

TiPSI Dad