OK, I must be in the mood for "lists." I am following up yesterday's list of 20 historical events that have happened since the Cubs last won a world series with a list of one-liners that having a large family produce from the public.
Where does this thought come from, you may be asking (or not)! By the way, let me just say here, I like to humor myself and really believe that people enjoy reading my thoughts. So when I say things like "you might be asking, you might be wondering, for all of those interested, etc", it is my way of building up my low blogging self esteem. So leave me a lone and let me do it. OK, back to my blog. As I was saying, because all of you were curious (he he he), this list is a product of a conversation that I had with a co worker this morning. Here is how the conversation went.
Co worker: "Hey Red. I heard you have like 10 kids."
Me: "Ha." "No not 10, just 5 with one on the way."
Co worker: "You know what causes that, don't you?"
Me: (sarcastically, b/c i love this question) "Nope, actually I can't figure it out. My wife pops up pregnant about every 10 months and quite frankly, it is scaring the crap out of me. Any suggestions?"
Co worker: "Yeah....get neutered."
Me: "HA"
Co worker: (obviously realizing my sarcasm) "Seriously, are you Mormon?"
I have never been asked that one before. Between my wife and I, we have heard some interesting comments re: our family, but this was a first. Am I Mormon? That is funny!
The conversation went on for a bit longer and I will spare you the part where I really tried to freak him out and dropped the God card on him and said, "it is really up to God how many children we have." You should have seen his face. He was back peddling and I was all over him like one of Jesus' ninjas at this point. Just kidding, obviously. But this was a very real conversation that got me thinking about all of the comments we have heard and some I have heard from other families regarding their larger families.
I am interested to hear from my Cousin, Cyndi, who has 9 kids. So here goes it:
One-liners that a large family produce from others:
1. Are they all yours? (probably the most common)
2. You know what causes that don't you? (this begs for a "here's your sign" response, which is what I should have said to my co worker)
3. This is not per se a comment, but you see people counting your children (either out loud or by using their finger) when you are out in public.
4. You have your hands full. (My wife loves this one)
5. I have actually been asked, "What do you do for a living?" (My wife says people ask her all the time, what does your husband do)
6. How do you do it? (I sometimes want to respond to this one by saying, we don't. We have actually been admitted to a mental institution and we are out on our weekend visits with our kids.)
7. Do you have a Nanny? (Are you kidding me? It is enough to afford all of these kids and the stuff that goes along with them. How could we afford to pay a full time Nanny?)
8. My wife gets asked (since we only have one boy) "do you hope it is another boy?" (I sometimes want to say, nah, just a healthy baby will do fine).
9. I am glad it's you and not me! (hmmm....Me too with that comment)
10. Since my wife is pregnant, this one is common also: "Are you going to get your tubes tied, fixed, or some variation of the sort. Or is this it?" (Why should we get fixed? Nothing is broken from our standpoint)
11. You must never have time for yourself.
12. You just don't see large families this day in time.
13. How many do you think you will have?
14. You must have a lot of patience.
15 And finally, the newest on the list: "Are you Mormon?"
I could keep going here, but I will stop at 15. As I look back over this list, I am realizing that I have kind of with my responses made them seem negative. Sometimes they are, but not all responses are negative. I just want to go on record and say that. You can tell when someone is responding to the size of your family in a negative way. We just laugh about it now. Actually, we try to come up with creative ways to respond. It is a fun hobby for us now.
Big families rock. I was an only child growing up and my wife was 1 of 3. So neither of us had a larger family experience as a child. We just are open to what God wants for our lives and that's that. The door of adopting opened up for us a few years of go and we felt led by God to go that route. It has been an awesome experience. Maybe, we along with other large families (which seem to be the minority) can bring large families back in style. Kind of like bell bottoms (in style, out of style, back in style). The same thing can be said of large families. At least in our opinion.
Stay tuned for my next blog which will be a "list" of things that change when you have a large family. I am still thinking that one up.
Happy Friday to you all!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Bad News Cubs!
If you know me well, you knew I wouldn't get too far into this blogging thing without mentioning my beloved Cubbies! As you can tell from the title of this blog, there is not really much good to say. If there is one thing positive about this season, it would be the fact that even though the cubs are playing horribly and can't score any runs, they are only 1 game out of first place in their division. So, I still have some faith that they can get the job done and win the division. Wow, that quote sounds vaguely familiar. I think I say that every year.
At any rate, what brought the cubbies to mind was a list that I came across that I found painfully humorous. I thought I would share it on here for others to read as well. It is titled "20 things that have happened since the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series." For you avid baseball fans out there, you know that the Cubs are working on their 101st year since their last world series title. As I have said before, anyone can have a bad century, right?
Without further ado, here is the list:
1. Radio was invented; Cub fans got to hear their team lose.
2. TV was invented; Cub fans got to see their team lose.
3. Baseball added 14 teams; Cub fans got to see AND hear their team lose to more teams.
4. George Burns celebrated his 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th birthdays.
5. Haley’s Comet passed Earth… twice.
6. Harry Caray was born… and died. Incredible, but true.
7. The NBA, NHL and NFL were formed, and Chicago teams won championships in each league.
8. Man landed on the moon, as have several home runs given up by Cubs pitchers.
9. Sixteen US presidents were elected.
10. There were 11 amendments added to the Constitution.
11.Prohibition was created, and repealed.
12.The Titanic was built, set sail, sank, was discovered, and became the subject of major motion pictures… the latter giving Cub fans hope that something that finishes on the bottom can come out on top.
13.Wrigley Field was built and becomes the oldest park in the National League.
14.Flag poles were erected on Wrigley Field roof to hold all of the team’s future World Series pennants. Those flag poles have since rusted and been taken down.
15.A combination of 40 summer & winter Olympics have been held.
16.Thirteen baseball players have won the Triple Crown; several thanked Cubs pitchers.
17.Bell bottoms came in style, went out of style, and came back in style.
18.The Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Florida Marlins have ALL won the World Series.
19.The Cubs played 14,153 regular-season games; they lost the majority of them.
20.Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Oklahoma, and New Mexico were added to the Union.
This list is painful to read, but funny at the same, even if you are a fan of the cubbies.
I do want to say here, that there are some valuable lessons that the Cubs have taught me over the last 24 yrs that I have been a fan. One thing is for sure, I get to practice my christian faith on the Cubs regularly. So I would say they have helped strengthen my faith in some ways. I have learned a lot about unconditional love. As many times as they have disappointed me and hurt me, I have never given up on them. Even when all of my friends were bragging about their beloved Braves winning the division year after year. They tried to convert me, but I would not turn my back on the cubs. There are many other issues that I could discuss here about how they have helped strengthened my faith like: forgiveness, patience, loving my enemies, etc.
But I will also say this. Although the cubbies have been a missional baseball team, they are definitely not the reason for my faith. As much as I love the Cubs, I love God even more. And I am so thankful that unlike the Cubs, God will never let me down. You can count on Him. He will not disappoint you in the end. He always keeps His promises, and His Word provides comfort, hope, and wise advice that never fails. Something I can say the Cubs lack.
Come on baseball fans, show the cubs some love. They are harmless. They haven't beat up on anyone in over 100 yrs. In closing, I am reminded of the famous words of most all cubs fans: "If they didn't disappoint us, they wouldn't be our cubs."
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Overwhelmed with Worry?
When I first became a christian, like so many others, I had no idea what that part of my life would look like. It is funny, in a way, to look back now and think that if God would have revealed to me at that moment what was going to change in my life and what was going to need to change, I think I would have ran really fast in the other direction.
Now here I am some 12 yrs later completely a different person. There is so much going on: from the responsibilities of a wife and 5 kids, my continuing and growing relationship with God, and the roller coaster ride of Foster care and adoption. I drive a 12 passenger van now, for crying out loud. If you would have shown me this picture back in my (i am invisible and rebellious) days, I would have called you insane and laughed in unbelief!
But that is how God works, I am finding out. He doesn't show us more than He thinks we need to know at the time. He knows better than anyone else that we are weak and He cares enough to not give us more than we can handle. He knows we will worry about the details and what He really wants is for us to give our worries over to Him and trust Him for our future.
These thoughts enter my head as I meditate on our current situation with Anna Kate and Noah (who I have written about earlier on facebook). It is so hard not to worry about this situation. Today, they have a visit with their birth mom. Why, I have no idea? She caused a big uproar right before the pre-trial last week and then didn't even show. Now she is calling off the hook to DSS wanting to visit with her children. Worries flood my mine from why to what are her motives, etc. At any rate God brought a verse to mind in His wise and creative way to help me not to worry.
Matthew 6:33-34 says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
The power that God gives us to face our trials comes one day at time. God Has a wonderful plan for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose. If we are truly seeking first His Kingdom and His will, He will surely give us the strength and endurance through these trials that we face. We should only focus on the things that we can do (pray, believe, trust, etc.) and let Him worry about the rest. Do what we can do and let God do that which only He can Do.
I am reminded of so many things this morning about this situation we find ourselves in.
1. I have no control over what is decided re: these children's future.
2. These children don't even belong to us as do none of our children. They belong to God and we have been given the responsibility to shepherd them and raise them the way He wants us to (that is a hard one to grasp sometimes).
3. Worry will not solve anything. I can't stop their mom from visiting with her children (as much as I would like to). Worrying about the outcome of this visit or what her motives are will only frustrate me more and make matters worse.
4. God is in complete control. As I have written earlier, He saved these kids from a horrible situation and I am convinced He will continue to protect them wherever they end up.
5. This is the painful part of foster care. We believe God has called us into this to give kids a stable environment and a loving family for however long they stay with us. Whether it is 2 days, 2 months, or 2 years. This is harder said than done, but God will not give us more than we can handle. And we must continue to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and the result: He will take care of us and sustain us. Very comforting in my times of need. Thank you so much God for giving me and my family strength to endure this really difficult time.
Your prayers re: this meeting today and this continuing saga are much appreciated.
Now here I am some 12 yrs later completely a different person. There is so much going on: from the responsibilities of a wife and 5 kids, my continuing and growing relationship with God, and the roller coaster ride of Foster care and adoption. I drive a 12 passenger van now, for crying out loud. If you would have shown me this picture back in my (i am invisible and rebellious) days, I would have called you insane and laughed in unbelief!
But that is how God works, I am finding out. He doesn't show us more than He thinks we need to know at the time. He knows better than anyone else that we are weak and He cares enough to not give us more than we can handle. He knows we will worry about the details and what He really wants is for us to give our worries over to Him and trust Him for our future.
These thoughts enter my head as I meditate on our current situation with Anna Kate and Noah (who I have written about earlier on facebook). It is so hard not to worry about this situation. Today, they have a visit with their birth mom. Why, I have no idea? She caused a big uproar right before the pre-trial last week and then didn't even show. Now she is calling off the hook to DSS wanting to visit with her children. Worries flood my mine from why to what are her motives, etc. At any rate God brought a verse to mind in His wise and creative way to help me not to worry.
Matthew 6:33-34 says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
The power that God gives us to face our trials comes one day at time. God Has a wonderful plan for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose. If we are truly seeking first His Kingdom and His will, He will surely give us the strength and endurance through these trials that we face. We should only focus on the things that we can do (pray, believe, trust, etc.) and let Him worry about the rest. Do what we can do and let God do that which only He can Do.
I am reminded of so many things this morning about this situation we find ourselves in.
1. I have no control over what is decided re: these children's future.
2. These children don't even belong to us as do none of our children. They belong to God and we have been given the responsibility to shepherd them and raise them the way He wants us to (that is a hard one to grasp sometimes).
3. Worry will not solve anything. I can't stop their mom from visiting with her children (as much as I would like to). Worrying about the outcome of this visit or what her motives are will only frustrate me more and make matters worse.
4. God is in complete control. As I have written earlier, He saved these kids from a horrible situation and I am convinced He will continue to protect them wherever they end up.
5. This is the painful part of foster care. We believe God has called us into this to give kids a stable environment and a loving family for however long they stay with us. Whether it is 2 days, 2 months, or 2 years. This is harder said than done, but God will not give us more than we can handle. And we must continue to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and the result: He will take care of us and sustain us. Very comforting in my times of need. Thank you so much God for giving me and my family strength to endure this really difficult time.
Your prayers re: this meeting today and this continuing saga are much appreciated.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Bleep, Bleep, Bleep! Cursing and Swearing is ok now!
I have this insane addiction of checking in on the latest news updates every morning. I even have a CNN alert that emails me to notify me of breaking news. That would not be a fun addiction for most people, but for me, I like to be caught up on worldly events. Well this morning as I was scanning the worlds top news stories, when one jumped out at me and caught my attention. It was a actually a blog that was praising a new scientific study that shows that Swearing/Cursing appears to increase our pain tolerance.
This is so amusing to me. Now, I won't lie a part of me wants to buy this philosophy b/c when you stump your toe or bash your thumb with a hammer, the first word that pops into your mind is not always the most pleasant one. This study claims to give you permission to now swear away when this happens. Well, thanks but no thanks. I will stick to my same old word that my wife taught me years ago when I do something that hurts....."FUDGE." This word actually helps me deal with the pain and gets me thinking about my favorite food: Chocolate of any sort.
At any rate, the study was done by Dr. Richard Stephens and his team at Keele University in the United Kingdom. Dr. Stephens recently published this study that says swearing actually lessens the pain. He seriously believes that when we swear, we increase our pain threshold and that we can bear pain longer and even don't feel it as much.
Supposedly, Stephens came up with the idea after he accidentally smashed his finger with a hammer. For the study a certain number of participants were asked to submerge one hand in nearly freezing water for as long as they could while repeating a curse word. Later the participants submerged the same hand again, this time repeating a word they would use to describe a table, HUH???????? What does that have to do anything? The people who cursed the whole time actually kept their hands in the frozen water 40 more seconds than they could otherwise.
So what were the words used, you might be asking (or maybe not)? According to Stephens, "Turns out they were different for everyone. We decided at the outset that people would give us their own swear words." Stephens went onto say, "Swearing is quite personal and what one person finds extremely offensive, someone else may not find offensive at all. That being said, the usual suspects topped the list: S**T and the F word." WOW!
Now, some of you may swear your heads off when you do something that causes you pain. Well this blog is not to judge you in any way. As a matter of fact, I would say, thanks to Dr. Stephens you sort of have permission, I guess. But for me, I could not disagree more. But then again, my thoughts come from a different place when it comes to these types of issues. The first question that comes to mind for me, is Swearing wrong, no matter what the situation? I believe that it is.
According to the Bible in Ephesians 4:29, we are told, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 1 Peter 3:10 declares, "For, whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech." James 3:9-12 summarizes the issue: "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth comes praising and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."
This is enough for me to refrain as much as possible and to try and not be characterized by evil speech. I believe there is truth to what Jesus said when he explained that what comes out of our mouths is that which fills our hearts. Another motive to refrain from these words no matter the situation, is because of all the little ears that follow me around my house. I don't want to be in the habit of swearing so much so that when I do hurt myself (no matter how painful it may be) that it is a natural thing for me to drop curse words out for my children to hear. You think that the hammer hurt your hand???? Imagine how much it hurts your little kids ears to hear such language. And then you spend most of your time explaining that, "even though daddy said that, it is not right. You can't say that in school or church anymore. OK?" If it is not right for them, maybe it is not right for us. Just a thought.
Now, am I saying that I have never sworn? Of course not. As matter of fact, I slipped an said a curse word within the last week and it didn't have anything to do with pain. It was a slip of the tongue during a frustrating situation. No kids were around, thankfully, but my wife was and she heard it. That is not good either. Just so you know.
One other thing I want to comment on is the comparison of saying curse words and using words that describe a table. Are you kidding me? As one commenter said, "all curse words are short and have harsh consonants." Take some of your harshest curse words and compare the sound and inflection in voice needed for those with "glossy" or "shiny" or "elegant," which were possibilities for describing the table. This is no justification for using swear words. Come on!
I think that the secret to the study is making some sort of noise period. It's not necessarily curse words or what words you use at all, for that matter. It is simply, doing or saying something that will take your mind off the pain. As my father used to say, "I'll stomp your other foot and that will make you forget about that toe you just stumped." This is another option, I don't recommend by the way. Your kids will despise you for it.
All in all, I hope this study did not cost too much money. It would be a shame to waste any money, in my opinion, on poorly executed studies such as this one.
Alright folks. Its your turn. I wanna know your thoughts. Join me in this fun discussion. Do you think cursing is a pain reliever or is it distasteful?
This is so amusing to me. Now, I won't lie a part of me wants to buy this philosophy b/c when you stump your toe or bash your thumb with a hammer, the first word that pops into your mind is not always the most pleasant one. This study claims to give you permission to now swear away when this happens. Well, thanks but no thanks. I will stick to my same old word that my wife taught me years ago when I do something that hurts....."FUDGE." This word actually helps me deal with the pain and gets me thinking about my favorite food: Chocolate of any sort.
At any rate, the study was done by Dr. Richard Stephens and his team at Keele University in the United Kingdom. Dr. Stephens recently published this study that says swearing actually lessens the pain. He seriously believes that when we swear, we increase our pain threshold and that we can bear pain longer and even don't feel it as much.
Supposedly, Stephens came up with the idea after he accidentally smashed his finger with a hammer. For the study a certain number of participants were asked to submerge one hand in nearly freezing water for as long as they could while repeating a curse word. Later the participants submerged the same hand again, this time repeating a word they would use to describe a table, HUH???????? What does that have to do anything? The people who cursed the whole time actually kept their hands in the frozen water 40 more seconds than they could otherwise.
So what were the words used, you might be asking (or maybe not)? According to Stephens, "Turns out they were different for everyone. We decided at the outset that people would give us their own swear words." Stephens went onto say, "Swearing is quite personal and what one person finds extremely offensive, someone else may not find offensive at all. That being said, the usual suspects topped the list: S**T and the F word." WOW!
Now, some of you may swear your heads off when you do something that causes you pain. Well this blog is not to judge you in any way. As a matter of fact, I would say, thanks to Dr. Stephens you sort of have permission, I guess. But for me, I could not disagree more. But then again, my thoughts come from a different place when it comes to these types of issues. The first question that comes to mind for me, is Swearing wrong, no matter what the situation? I believe that it is.
According to the Bible in Ephesians 4:29, we are told, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 1 Peter 3:10 declares, "For, whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech." James 3:9-12 summarizes the issue: "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth comes praising and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."
This is enough for me to refrain as much as possible and to try and not be characterized by evil speech. I believe there is truth to what Jesus said when he explained that what comes out of our mouths is that which fills our hearts. Another motive to refrain from these words no matter the situation, is because of all the little ears that follow me around my house. I don't want to be in the habit of swearing so much so that when I do hurt myself (no matter how painful it may be) that it is a natural thing for me to drop curse words out for my children to hear. You think that the hammer hurt your hand???? Imagine how much it hurts your little kids ears to hear such language. And then you spend most of your time explaining that, "even though daddy said that, it is not right. You can't say that in school or church anymore. OK?" If it is not right for them, maybe it is not right for us. Just a thought.
Now, am I saying that I have never sworn? Of course not. As matter of fact, I slipped an said a curse word within the last week and it didn't have anything to do with pain. It was a slip of the tongue during a frustrating situation. No kids were around, thankfully, but my wife was and she heard it. That is not good either. Just so you know.
One other thing I want to comment on is the comparison of saying curse words and using words that describe a table. Are you kidding me? As one commenter said, "all curse words are short and have harsh consonants." Take some of your harshest curse words and compare the sound and inflection in voice needed for those with "glossy" or "shiny" or "elegant," which were possibilities for describing the table. This is no justification for using swear words. Come on!
I think that the secret to the study is making some sort of noise period. It's not necessarily curse words or what words you use at all, for that matter. It is simply, doing or saying something that will take your mind off the pain. As my father used to say, "I'll stomp your other foot and that will make you forget about that toe you just stumped." This is another option, I don't recommend by the way. Your kids will despise you for it.
All in all, I hope this study did not cost too much money. It would be a shame to waste any money, in my opinion, on poorly executed studies such as this one.
Alright folks. Its your turn. I wanna know your thoughts. Join me in this fun discussion. Do you think cursing is a pain reliever or is it distasteful?
Friday, July 10, 2009
Kids Eat for Free!
Karen and I are becoming experts on knowing what restaurants feed kids for free or for only $0.99! For the most part, due to a large family, we do most of our dining in, but even a family of 7 soon to be 8 still likes to get out and eat away from the house. If it were up to my 4 year old (Peyton), we would eat out every night but only at a place that had a playground.
So....where do we eat mostly? I have made a list of our favorites:
Moe's: Our family loves Moe's. Moe's on Woodruff Rd feeds kids for $0.99 with the purchase of an adult meal on Saturdays and Sundays after 4pm. We actually meet with another family, the McGuirt's (Only two blogs in and look Tony and Lynne, your name was mentioned. You are famous now).
IHOP: There is never a bad time to eat breakfast. Just ask my family. Breakfast is our favorite meal. We could eat it for every meal. They feed kids for free with the purchase of an adult meal every evening after 5 pm.
McAlisters Deli: Now I am not sure if all locations do this, but the one on Woodruff Rd does. We actually found this out by accident, but we strolled up in there one evening with the McGuirt's and we thought kids eat for free after 5 WITH the purchase of an adult meal. Well, we got all of our kids meals for free. We were shocked and thought, surely they made a mistake. Not so fast! We visited McAlisters again a few weeks later and once again they gave us all of our kids meals for free. Noah didn't get one of course, we let him eat off of everyone's plate.
***Side Story*** Just the other night, we found ourselves in a dilemma. Karen had a really busy day and didn't lay any meat out to unthaw so we didn't have a dinner plan. Not to mention time was against us. When you have 5 kids who are hungry (try telling them, that you will start dinner and it will take 30 min to an hour....HA HA....good luck with that). So, with these odds stacked against us, we decided to go to McAlisters. I was excited about this, b/c with all of the kids eating for free, Karen and I can get in and out of there for under 16 bucks. Well, I started getting greedy. As I mentioned earlier, Noah usually eats off of every one's plate. Well this time, I decided to get him his own meal. It was free, right? Why not? Well, while Karen is ordering, I am over at the table (that's how we roll: she orders, I set up the table (s)) pumping Noah up about getting his own meal. Well, when Karen came to the table she gave me the bad news that McAlisters has a rule that they only give up to FOUR kids meals for free!!!!! At first, I was outraged. I thought this was a conspiracy. They have seen us in here before feeding 5 kids for free and they decided to make up a rule based only on our family. Well it didn't take long to realize that was silly and I shouldn't think that way. I just got greedy and I ended up having to pay for Noah's meal that night as we didn't realize this rule until after we ordered and paid. Ha, they got us again.
So those are our favorite three places to eat where our kids can enjoy a cheap meal as well. There are others that we have visited, but these three seem to be our home away from home.
How about you guys? What are some places that you know of that serve free meals to kids either straight up free or with the purchase of an adult meal? I would love to know your thoughts. We are always looking for new and interesting places.
So....where do we eat mostly? I have made a list of our favorites:
Moe's: Our family loves Moe's. Moe's on Woodruff Rd feeds kids for $0.99 with the purchase of an adult meal on Saturdays and Sundays after 4pm. We actually meet with another family, the McGuirt's (Only two blogs in and look Tony and Lynne, your name was mentioned. You are famous now).
IHOP: There is never a bad time to eat breakfast. Just ask my family. Breakfast is our favorite meal. We could eat it for every meal. They feed kids for free with the purchase of an adult meal every evening after 5 pm.
McAlisters Deli: Now I am not sure if all locations do this, but the one on Woodruff Rd does. We actually found this out by accident, but we strolled up in there one evening with the McGuirt's and we thought kids eat for free after 5 WITH the purchase of an adult meal. Well, we got all of our kids meals for free. We were shocked and thought, surely they made a mistake. Not so fast! We visited McAlisters again a few weeks later and once again they gave us all of our kids meals for free. Noah didn't get one of course, we let him eat off of everyone's plate.
***Side Story*** Just the other night, we found ourselves in a dilemma. Karen had a really busy day and didn't lay any meat out to unthaw so we didn't have a dinner plan. Not to mention time was against us. When you have 5 kids who are hungry (try telling them, that you will start dinner and it will take 30 min to an hour....HA HA....good luck with that). So, with these odds stacked against us, we decided to go to McAlisters. I was excited about this, b/c with all of the kids eating for free, Karen and I can get in and out of there for under 16 bucks. Well, I started getting greedy. As I mentioned earlier, Noah usually eats off of every one's plate. Well this time, I decided to get him his own meal. It was free, right? Why not? Well, while Karen is ordering, I am over at the table (that's how we roll: she orders, I set up the table (s)) pumping Noah up about getting his own meal. Well, when Karen came to the table she gave me the bad news that McAlisters has a rule that they only give up to FOUR kids meals for free!!!!! At first, I was outraged. I thought this was a conspiracy. They have seen us in here before feeding 5 kids for free and they decided to make up a rule based only on our family. Well it didn't take long to realize that was silly and I shouldn't think that way. I just got greedy and I ended up having to pay for Noah's meal that night as we didn't realize this rule until after we ordered and paid. Ha, they got us again.
So those are our favorite three places to eat where our kids can enjoy a cheap meal as well. There are others that we have visited, but these three seem to be our home away from home.
How about you guys? What are some places that you know of that serve free meals to kids either straight up free or with the purchase of an adult meal? I would love to know your thoughts. We are always looking for new and interesting places.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
1st Blog / Introduction
To those who know me, hi! To those who don't, read my profile! Nah, I am only kidding, although reading my profile will give you a tid bit of info into the life that is Red Scott. On a more serious note, I decided to do this blog thing for several reasons:
1. Family updates. Since our family is so large, there is always a lot going on. Therefore, I can use this forum to share those things.
2. To talk about my faith. I love God and He has forever changed me. I like to talk about that. It is what makes me who I am today.
3. Random thoughts on things that are going on in my life such as: running/exercising, my beloved cubbies, dieting and nutrition, work, life in general, etc.
Now, you may be thinking well that doesn't sound like anything I would really be interested in reading, but with all due respect, you are reading this post right now, right? Okay! Nah, I am hoping that you will enjoy my thoughts on different issues and hopefully my words will cause you to see life differently. I will warn you ahead of time. I am nutty. I am a father of 5 soon to be 6 so I can't help but be that way. So you have been warned!
So there you go. My first blog finished. That wasn't so hard. I encourage more people to do it. It is a great way to learn different things from different people and for you facebook and twitter users: if you are anything like me, you can never get all that you want to say in a status. This gives you the chance to elaborate. Thanks for reading and I look forward to entertaining you more in the future.
1. Family updates. Since our family is so large, there is always a lot going on. Therefore, I can use this forum to share those things.
2. To talk about my faith. I love God and He has forever changed me. I like to talk about that. It is what makes me who I am today.
3. Random thoughts on things that are going on in my life such as: running/exercising, my beloved cubbies, dieting and nutrition, work, life in general, etc.
Now, you may be thinking well that doesn't sound like anything I would really be interested in reading, but with all due respect, you are reading this post right now, right? Okay! Nah, I am hoping that you will enjoy my thoughts on different issues and hopefully my words will cause you to see life differently. I will warn you ahead of time. I am nutty. I am a father of 5 soon to be 6 so I can't help but be that way. So you have been warned!
So there you go. My first blog finished. That wasn't so hard. I encourage more people to do it. It is a great way to learn different things from different people and for you facebook and twitter users: if you are anything like me, you can never get all that you want to say in a status. This gives you the chance to elaborate. Thanks for reading and I look forward to entertaining you more in the future.
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