Carel Kiddos

Jacob turned 13 in December. His favorite things to do are playing and exploring in the pastures with the dogs and building crazy inventions. He also likes to read and play his guitar and ukulele. Jacob watches the girls like a hawk and is such a protective big brother. Not looking much like our little boy anymore, as boyhood is shedding away and a young man is beginning to appear.


Sophie is about to turn 11. She is often second momma in the house to her younger siblings. Without her second pair of helpful hands I am not sure how our house would run. She plays the piano every free moment she gets and has won numerous "Superior" ribbons playing at her music festivals. Sophie is mature beyond her years and is a great teacher and encourager.


Vivian turned 6 this month. She counted down the days to her party. She asked me, "Will I grow all at once and get bigger on my birthday or just a little at a time?" She is super sweet and can quickly bring a smile to my face with her wittiness. A few weeks ago during church she leaned over and smiled at me and said, "Finally!", when she heard the pastor say "in conclusion." I did not disillusion her by telling her that meant nothing.

Amelia turned 2 in January. Yes I said 2! Whew...she is giving us a run for our money. Have you ever laughed when your child did something incredibly cute and at the same time very naughty? Well, that is our Millie. She LOVES to tell (yell) the dogs NO! Sassy and sweet is our little Millie.

And baby 5 is coming in just a few short weeks. I'm not sure what I will write about him or her in a year or so but I could probably make a good guess. Ever seen a child sit and play sweetly with great contentedness for hours without a peep? Neither have I. Gretchen and I don't seem to make that flavor. Our DNA seems to produce beautiful and creative, little mischievous energy ridden go a hundred miles an hour kids....but I wouldn't trade them for anything!

Rylee

Introducing my new niece, Rylee Lynn...

in Grammy's garden

sweet face

the Mommy

the Daddy

Normal???

My kids aren't normal....and I am so glad. At a time when normal for kids is living indoors in large sealed climate controlled homes watching Disney, Nick, MTV, PS 1, 2, 3, X-Box, WII, DVD, Blue Ray, Chat, IM, Text, Face Book, and 15 different practices/camps/private lessons, today my kids played with card board boxes, crayons, spray paint, and a dolly for most of the day.

Here’s what we are doing these days. We are fasting media. But before you call CPS, let me explain. We have never been much of a media family, in fact in our 16 years of marriage I think we have had cable for about 2 years. Not because we’re broke and it didn’t make the budget, but because we always had an intrinsic gut level feeling that it is a huge life sucking brain vacuum. So rather than participating in a voluntary TV brain lobotomy, we talk, play and hang out with each other, read, or work around the house.

Have you ever gotten one of those chain e-mails that talk about the good ole days when kids were free to roam and play, the kind that make you long for a time when life was more simple? Yeah me too, but guess what? It still exists if you can unplug long enough to notice. This brings me back to our media fast. We had noticed our kids being unusually restless and discontent over the past several months. Comments like, “I’m bored” and “there is nothing to do” or “it’s too hot” or "its too cold” became normal. In the past the kids loved to read. In fact, I would at times pick up 20 to 30 books Gretchen had on hold at the library and the kids would bombard me when I got home to see if the books they ordered were there. We realized that we had unwittingly let media/games via the computer take a dominant role in their daily activity. Not unsupervised, but stuff like lego.com, Godtube, WebKinz, and NetFlix. We said we didn’t have TV, but streaming cartoons and family flicks through the portal of Netflix is kinda like TV. Right? So we wanted to simplify and get back to basics to see if it impacted our kids attitudes. Guess what...it had. It’s been amazing to see the kids become content again with sketching notebooks, board games, books, and yes, cardboard boxes. I have not heard I’m bored for awhile now and loving it.

Here is another great benefit. They don’t want a bunch of stuff or think they are fat because they are comparing themselves to toothpick girl on whatever teen rave sitcom. Advertisers spend millions and millions of dollars and thousands of intellectual hours figuring out how to make our kids discontent. Not just with stuff like toys, but with who they are. All so they will go out and drink their earth saving water or wear their hip (or far below the hip) jeans, or use their sport equipment so they won’t be losers anymore and will finally attain “coolness” ..... for a moment.

So don’t go and throw your TV out the window or bash your computer screen just because my kids dig playing in cardboard boxes and read books, but give it a shot and see for yourself. Set aside a period of time, unplug and watch your kids (after they start breathing again from an anxiety attack) begin to master the art of creative play and thought. It may take a bit of an adjustment period, so don’t, after only missing ONE of their favorite shows, give up. And don’t give up because your neighbor, or family members think your are a freak. Hang in there and see what exciting and creative being your child will become.



And by the way, don’t worry about peer pressure. Your kiddos might become influencers on your street when they cruz their tricked out cardboard box by.

Movin to the Country

All packed up and ready to go!!!

The lane to our new house.

For those of you who know us know we have dreamed of living and raising our children in the country. The time has come. The Lord has brought us an amazing property within 15 minutes of our church home instead of the 40 minutes we have been driving every Sunday. This is something we have put much thought and prayer into but didn't know that God would have something in store for us NOW. Back in May, a family in our church phoned us and asked if we would be interested in purchasing their home on 7 acres, backed up to their neighbor's 3,000. We had shared with them just weeks prior that one day we really wanted to be closer to the church and on a few acres in the country. So here we are...listed our home in McKinney in July, got a full price offer in August, close this Friday, move out the same day. Here's the fun part...we get to live in Ed's office for 4-6 weeks, one room, no kitchen, 4 children, two dogs, and 1 cat. I'm trying very hard to keep a smile on my face. Our new home needs lots of TLC but thankfully I have an amazingly talented and creative husband who plans to do some great things with the house. I am most excited about are new hardwood floors and a farmhouse sink in my kitchen. More pics on this later. As for the outdoors, we plan to have our own mini homestead with a large garden, berry patch, cows, chickens, laying hens and possible milking goats. Any tips or advice on any of these are more than welcome.

Front yard.

Back yard.

Fishing on our new neighbor's pond. I think we caught over 10 fish.

I keep telling the kids raw food is best. I didn't mean for Jacob to take me so literally.

Don't Blink

I just got back from a weekend of camping; I am sunburned, sore, exhausted, and my hair still has a faint smell of campfire. I spent 2 hours packing, 1 hour driving to camp, 1.5 hours setting up, 1 hour tearing down, 1 hour driving home, and 3 hours unpacking. That is nine and a half hours for a “quick” weekend getaway, hmmmm, but you know what? For the memories swirling through my mind right now and the special time I had with my family, I would do it all again ten times over.

The smile on my son’s face, as he burst into the camper this morning, while holding a slimy dripping catfish just a couple feet from my face exclaiming “I caught one”, makes it worth it.

The look on Sophia's face as she sat playing Uno with the late seventies couple we just met at camp, makes it worth it. The same old man, Larry, who does professional bead work for Indian tribes all over the country, taught Sophia how to bead, something he learned to do over fifty years ago...that makes it worth
it.

Vivian “took off” on her bike this weekend and officially has taken a spot as one of the “big kids.” While riding down a hill showing off her new skills to dad, the bike was gaining more speed that she knew what to do with. The utter expression of terror on her face and a quick cry for help was satisfied as she was caught safely by mom and dad just before crashing. Being there to catch her made it worth it.
Sitting at the campfire last night singing to the strum of the guitar, praising, and laughing together with young kids, preteens, teens, young adults, young families, older families, and older, wiser and slightly gray headed church family under a brilliant star specked sky made it worth it.

I enjoyed my many conversations with our camp neighbor, professional retiree’s who travel the country 365 day a year in their RV/rolling home. Our conversations were frequently interrupted by “hey dad, watch this” “can you help me for a minute” “dad, dad, dad, DDDDDAAAAADDDD.” My neighbor looked at me with a smile and a glistening sparkle in his eye and said, “Don’t blink cuz it will be gone in a moment and you will be left in a big empty house that was once loud and full of bodies and life, wondering where in the heck the time went.” It reminded me of a pastor who shared his experiences to a group of dads a coupe of weeks ago.. he said as a pastor he made many trips to the hospital to be with guys who were in their last moments. He said the seen was usually the same, as family members come around to sit with, cry with, pray with, and hold the one who is about to breathe their last breath. He said he never recalled a man, in his final moments of life, mustering just enough energy to speak his final words who then asked for his.....golf clubs to hold, key to the bass boat, or the many framed diplomas and service awards. They want what maters most, the people they love,family.

On the drive home tonight I asked Jacob what his most favorite thing about the weekend was, he said, “When we sat out fishing last night after everyone else went to bed”.....that makes it worth it.

So, I encourage you dads, push aside some time to go wipe some noses, knees or bottoms. Take a trip to the ballpark, lake, or hiking trail and enjoy your family... and whatever you do, don’t blink.

Ed

Bunny Ears

Happy Resurrection Day (Easter) from the Carel family. Now you and I both know that Easter is not really about bunnies and chocolate eggs, but when Gretchen saw the pattern for these hats she could not pass them up. She worked really hard making them in time for the girls to sport at church and Grandma’s for lunch. What I loved most about today was the innocence in which our kids worshiped, played, egg hunted and enjoyed the richness of a day with family without a bunch of tricked out hype. Just kicking around being kids and grateful to God for the gift of redemption that is expressed in the Passion Story.

Today I am thankful for:
God’s amazing gift of grace
The budding of spring time
Green grass
Fresh air
Our church
The innocence of my kids
My wife
My new baby
My dad’s brisket
Crocheted bunny hats

Sharkarosa

Sharkarosa Ranch is a hands on wildlife preserve where you can get up close and personal with many of the animals and learn things you never knew to be true. Home to a capuchin monkey, red ruffed lemurs, black and white ruffed lemurs, red fronted lemurs, ring-tailed lemurs, black lemur, brown lemur, pot bellied pig, llama, blue bobcats, capybara, grants zebras, grevy zebras, dromedary camels, american buffalo, royal tibetan yak, miniature zebu, whitetail deer, fallow deer, axis deer, barasingha deer, guanacos, nubian ibex, emu, mini horses, mini donkeys, zedonk, quarter horse, draft horses, 2-toed sloths, kinkajou, african crested porcupines, scarlet macaw, blue & gold macaw, eastern grey kangaroos, albino eastern grey kangaroos, western grey kangaroos, red kangaroo, bennett’s wallabies, swamp wallabies, binturongs. Ok, we didn’t learn about all of these animals. I didn’t even know some of these animals existed. But we did get to see them and learned about many of them.



Have you ever seen a zedonk? You know, half zebra, half donkey. We have. Check out this little guy’s striped legs.



This deer was injured by a car and is one of the many animals rescued at the ranch

We were able to touch and pet this precious 8 month old albino kangaroo.

Sharkarosa recently rescued two baby black bears. They were so cute.

Some of the presenters for Wild Home School Day this year were Mr. Zoo, Snake Farm, Critterman, Dr. Randy & his amazing skulls, and 911 Wildlife. The Critterman did presentations on a scorpion, snake, python, barn owl, porcupine, alligator, and possum.



Can you guess how much this barn owl weighs? Guess again, he is a whopping 1/2 pound.

Amelia did a great job looking cute for all the passers by. Grandma had a rough job too.


All my kids. Believe it or not I think this is the very first picture I have of them all together.

This camel really liked Jake. Look at it whispering sweet nothings in his ear.