Tag Archives: large families

The Duggar’s Go Hollywood

Well, you had to know this was going to happen sooner or later: The Duggar family is going Hollywood! All 19 of them. Parents Jim Bob and Michelle along with their 17 children are getting their own reality TV show called “17 Kids and Counting.” The “and counting” part refers to the fact that Michelle is currently pregnant with baby No. 18 and there’s no telling when the procreating will end. I know what you’re thinking: Don’t the Duggar’s already have a TV show? Not quite. The Arkansas clan has taken part in a number of primetime TV specials, most … Continue reading →

LDS Week in Review – May 5th – 10th

Life just keeps getting busier! If you weren’t able to join us throughout the week, here’s a recap so you can keep up-to-date on all the great blogs here in LDS. We started the week with “Gospel Questions: What About Those Latte-Drinking Mormons?” A non-member friend of Tristi’s asked her why Mormons can’t drink coffee, and yet, some of them do. We learn about the Word of Wisdom and also a little bit about hypocrisy. We got caught up to speed with our lessons in this week’s “Dinner Discussions,” and then Tristi answered another question from her non-member friend in, … Continue reading →

Frugal Living for Large Families

Have you seen the news today? The Duggars announced that they are pregnant with their 18th child. While that is one of the extreme example’s of large families, the truth is that many families are choosing to go larger these days. And with larger families sometimes come creative budgeting. Whether you have a larger family or are just thinking about one, here are some great tips on frugal living for large families. Food is probably one of the biggest expenses with larger families. No matter how else you chose to live, everyone wants and needs to eat. Buying in bulk … Continue reading →

A Family of Twenty

Every so often you read a story about extremely large families, who by birth or adoption have more than a dozen children. I myself remember reading The Family Nobody Wanted when I was in second grade. I think I was moving toward adoption even then. The Seattle Times recently published a long article by a reporter from the Tri-City Herald about a family in Richland, Washington who has adopted fourteen children. They also have six biological children, one of whom still lives at home. That makes for a household of seventeen people. Mike and Julee Feder say that originally they … Continue reading →

Ask a Baby Blogger: Just How Do You Do It?

The question reads: I don’t know how you survive as a homeschooling mom with 5 children under the age of 7! How do you ever get out? How do you give everyone enough attention? How can you keep your house clean or attend to your husband? I only have one and am completely overwhelmed. Seriously—just how do you do it? I chuckle as I read this question because I promise you that if you saw my house with books stacked high in places that are NOT the bookshelf—that would answer at least part of your question. I almost didn’t respond … Continue reading →

Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)

Tom and Kate Baker (Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt) have twelve rambunctious children. That’s right, twelve. In a world where four children often constitutes a large family, twelve is definitely out of the norm. But they’re adjusting, mostly. Living in a huge old house out in the country, they’ve got things down to a system and manage to stay calm, cool and collected, except for those rare occasions when Beans, the family pet frog, gets loose and lands right in the middle of the breakfast table, spattering scrambled eggs all over everyone. Tom is fairly happy coaching a high school football … Continue reading →

When Towels Take Over

I figured something out today. I have too many towels. Yes, that’s right. For every load of laundry I do, there are four or five towels which must be added in. (And I do a whole lot of laundry. You have no idea.) Then, about double that amount comes out of the dryer, half of which end up on the floors of bathrooms, at the bottom of laundry hampers, stuffed under beds, and wadded behind toilets. The person who did this is called “Not Me.” “Not Me” is quite the culprit in my house. This character spills random liquids in … Continue reading →

And You Thought You Had Your Hands Full

Having a bad day? Your three young children are running circles around you; the dirty laundry pile is taller than your husband; you can’t answer the phone because it has been sucked into the vortex of toys that slammed into the playroom; oh, and lunch should have been made and served two hours ago… sound familiar? If you thought your day was challenging imagine the same scenario times three. That’s right, three times the amount of children, three times the amount of laundry, and three times the amount of stress. It’s all in a day’s work for Ohio parents John … Continue reading →

“Collecting” Children?

While most adoptive parents choose to adopt just a few children and stay at what is considered a “normal” family size, there are those families that continue to adopt children and end up growing very large. I know one family that has 13 children and they are currently adopting two more. I know another family that has 19 children and they are open to adopting more if God places a certain child on their heart. One thing that these large adoptive families hear a lot is the accusation that they are “collecting” children. I’ve heard this in a several different … Continue reading →

“Be Fruitful and Multiply”

The first commandment given to the Human Race was stated in Genesis, when Adam and Chava were told to “be fruitful and multiply.” This involves more than just conceiving and giving birth to offspring: raising and educating children is included in this commandment. Judaism places special emphasis on the birth and education of children. There are many rituals associated with birth and early childhood, culminating in a bar or bat mitzvah, when a child reaches an age where he or she can take responsibility for his or her behavior. The Torah says that this commandment of “be fruitful and multiply” … Continue reading →