THAT Family Tree Society-Issue 43

Picture of the Week:

The Week in Review: We are finishing up the last few days of school and we are so ready to run around barefoot, eat Popsicles and tan our bodies in the warm summer sun!

Introduction into The Society:Help me welcome ElCloud with several examples of THAT family moments! Take your pick.  We've had too many THAT family moments to count, to be honest.

when the poop bounced   

how to make a dramatic exit  

taking a 2 yo to the mall 

 the 7 yo experiments with the cat's tail  

dangers of a 2 yo with Elmer's glue  

1.  Tell Us A Little About Your Blog:  My name is April, and "ElCloud Homeschool:  Busy Minds, Busy Hands, Busy Feet" is our family blog.  I blog about our life, our homeschool, our Christian faith, and raising 7 active, creative, energetic, loud, "bouncing off the walls" kids.  We have 7 children, ages 13 through 5 months.  4 girls, 3 boys.  They are busy, and they do keep us busy.  (Which is of course one of those things everyone says to THAT family ... "They must keep you busy!")   I started the blog as a way for our extended family who live across the nation to keep up with our family and what the kids are doing.  I also seek to encourage other homeschoolers, and recently have begun doing reviews, as well. 

2.  How Long Have You Been Blogging?  Since December 2005 

3.  How Would You Define That Family?  An imperfect family, full of quirks, chaos, and failures ... just continuing to walk together, love each other, and encourage each other to keep trying.  In our case, THAT family means:

• "you know THAT family with all the kids"
• "you know, THAT family with the really active kids"
• "THAT family who has a child in every single sunday school class except the high school group" (we'll hit that one next year)
• "THAT family who explode into the library, take over the whole area, and leave with the maximum amount of allowed books and videos, and a screaming toddler every single time."

4.  When Did You Discover You Were Part Of That Family?  I think I grew up in THAT family, to some extent.  (You'd have to know my Dad.)  But I discovered I was raising THAT family years ago.   It might have been when my 2 yo firstborn poured an entire bottle of perfume on my bed, or when my 3rd daughter who was potty training dropped poop out of her training pants (which BOUNCED on the floor) in the middle of a puke fest from her siblings, or when I had to quit doing home daycare because my own kids were too needy, or when my 1 yo climbed the step ladder her Dad left out, or when I led 5 kids through Cabela's with two on harnesses (they needed them!) and could feel everyone looking at me.  I knew we were THAT family when I realized that they had assigned my "energetic" preschool daughter her own adult at VBS, to keep track of her.  I knew we were THAT family when I finally gave up on children following me quietly through Wal-Mart in a neat line.  Mine wander and straggle behind, and dance in the aisles, and hop from black square to black square and try to walk on the black "bumpers" at the bottom of the freezers in the middle of the aisle.  But I'm so thankful to have them:  active, creative, loud, and enthusiastic about life.   We get counted when we go places, we get nervous glances when we enter a restaurant, and I think if I have to say "Shh" one more time, my mouth is going to stay puckered forever.  The fact that we are THAT family was driven home when we moved just over a year ago, and I have heard us described as "THAT family ... " by others in the community. 

5.  Where Can We Find Your Blog?    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ElCloud