You Know Your From A Large Family When...

It takes you close to two hours to fall asleep because there is no one else in the room with you.

You are surprised to find out that there's a bottom to the laundry hamper in the bathroom.

You need someone to teach you how to cook scrambled eggs for one person.

Your surprised it takes more than one meal to fill the dishwasher.

You find that you can eat out for less then $50.

Living In My Large Family--"Opening Remarks"

No, this should not have been the first post in this series.  lol  It was the best thing I could come up with and not use 'Introduction', since I had already used it in this series.  :D  Yes, I do know it's been a while since posted anything about "Living In My Large Family", but I couldn't come up with anything else to post about and no one (namely my sisters) weren't helping me and giving me ideas on what to post about.  :D  (Yes, always blame the siblings!!)

It is always interesting to hear how people introduce me to their friends. Rarely is it just "This is my friend Katie" it is always tagged along with to tell about my family or farm, these are some of the most common comments that people use when introducing me...

"She's the oldest of eleven children (or is it 12 or 13?)."

"She has A LOT of siblings!"

"She comes from a large family."

"She lives on a dairy."

"She has a ton of goats."

"Her family sells goat milk."

Living In My Large Family--Answers

As I got only one question to my "Living In My Large Family--Your Turn" post this should be the shortest of all my "Living In My Large Family" posts. 

The question that I got kind of surprised me as it's the first time anyone has ever asked me this question.  Normally I get "when do you get time for yourself?" or something along those lines, so when I got this question it was a wee bit of a curve ball and is one reason I didn't get it posted the last two weeks. 

The question I got was--"Do you ever get tired of being the oldest of so many siblings?"

To be brutally honest yes I do.

There, I was honest and the question was answered.  :D 

Living In My Large Family--Your Turn

Now, that I've shared six posts and am starting to run out of things to post about (that will only last for the next hour or so and then more ideas and things to post about will come to mind. lol) But as I am sitting here with nothing to post about a large family, I thought I would give y'all a chance, since I know there a lot of people who have questions.

I thought I would ask y'all if there was anything that you wanted to know about that I haven't covered. If so, here's your chance you can take it or leave it, it's up to you. :D Just leave a comment with your questions and I will post all questions and answer them as best as I can with the next "Living In My Large Family" post next week. :D

Living In My Large Family--Odds and Ends

Here is a list that I have gotten used to; some of these things I know come from living in a large family, while the rest come from...Well, living in a family. lol

>You should be prepared to be called by at least three different names before the person calling you gets the correct name (Yes, this includes family members as well).

>You should be well prepared to go searching for your clothes if you don't do your own laundry as we all tend to where the same style and no one can remember who wears what size.

>Trying not to fight over what music, movie, or game you play is not a rare thing, but something that helps your sanctification.

>Getting more than five minutes on the computer in one sitting is about like asking for it to snow on Christmas Eve in Houston. (This means every one of these post takes anywhere from three hours to three weeks to get completed.)

>Things NEVER go as you planned!! Chores take three times longer then you wanted them to, movies are always getting stopped and rewound because someone missed a part of it, you are always leave thirty minutes later then you wanted too (or so it seems).

Living In My Large Family--Most Asked Questions

Here is a list of some of the questions that we get asked the most and the answers that we most often give. Sometimes, I might give a different answer, depending on how I feel and the attitude in which the person asked the question.

>Are we Catholic?--No, we are Presbyterian.

>Are we Mormon?--No, we are Presbyterian.

>Any twins?--No, twins, though two girls share a birthday.

>Are we all one family?--Yes, we are all one family and all have the same parents.

>Did we adopt any?--No.

>Are there really 11 children?--Well, for right now, come May there will be 12!

>Are we socialized?--Yes. (Though, I often want reply with, "Well, yes I think we are. I'm talking to you right now, right?")

>Have we ever been public schooled?--No, the only time I've set foot in a public school is to vote and to go to a library sell.

>Do we all still live at home?--Yes, we all live at home.

>Do we own the goats?--Yes, we own all the goats.

>Do we see the goats every day?--Well, since they are about 20 feet from my bedroom window and have woken my up more than once, yes I can honestly say I see them every day.

>Do we milk the goats?--When I am answer this question I reply with "No, I do not. My younger sisters do. I process the milk."

>Do you like living in a large family?--Yes I do! I go crazy when I am by myself for to long.

Living In My Large Family--"Supersize It Please!!"

Once people find out that we have a large family we get a lot of questions. The first question/look that we get is the "Are you crazy?" question or look, after that most people start asking or commenting on the size of our things "Man you must have a HUGE house!!" or "You must have a bus", then there's always the question on the size of our table and if it’s large enough for us to all eat at there at the same time. :D

Yes, with a large family most things, if not everything is either larger or more numerous than a smaller family. :D But for us it's normal and we don’t even think about it when we have something larger enough for a basketball team or have more than one of a certain item.

--Things that need to be larger than normal--

>House--No, our house is not a huge house; in fact it's smaller than the one we had in Houston. And though we do miss having a walk in closet in every bedroom, we wouldn't trade our ten acres with very limited closets and storage space for the 1/3 of an acre with walk-in closets that we used to have. My parents decided when we moved out here that the house didn't have to be as large as the one we were moving out of as long as we had the acreage.

>Cars--Yes, we do have a monster of a car. lol It’s a Ford E350, which at this point seats all of us children, both parents, and our grandfather with one seat left. Two more babies and were stuck. lol We also have two other cars for when only half or less than half of the family is going somewhere.

>Table--We have a normal size table, but both ends are pulled out and sometimes we feel a little like sardines.

>Washer and Dryer--Our washer and dryer are the largest ones that you can get without going commercial (which we have contemplated more than once), they work like a dream, hold more than enough laundry, get it all cleaned and very rarely complain.

--Things we have more than one of--

>Dinner--When I started cooking a little over ten years ago, I remember cooking one pan and it would be enough for us for dinner and a little left over for dad for lunch the next day. We are now cooking at least two large casserole pans and never having more than half a serving left over. It's gotten to the point where I am slightly afraid to cook for less than a half dozen people, and when I talk about this with friends they tease me with "Well, that's where you get a cook book with normal size recipes!" Only that is all I use right now, but without thinking each and every recipe gets at least tripled and it's second nature for me.

>Dishes--If we were ever to buy a complete set of plates, bowls, cups, etc we would need at least four if not five to have enough for our family.

>Bunk beds--Currently we have three bunk beds set up with two in storage and always looking for 'backups'.

>Desks--Though we use the dining room table for almost everyone, we do have a few desks. At last count we had four big desks and three small desks.

--Then there are the things we have either joked about getting, or have gotten. (I'll let you decided which is which)--

>Christmas tree
>Dish washer (starting with getting one that works)
>Another Double Oven and a either a larger stove or another one
>Upgrade to a restaurant grade three bay sink
>Computer
>Dressers
>Bookcases
>Bathroom
>Textbooks
>Swing set

Living In My Large Family--Appliances

>Washer--In a family where doing six loads of laundry a day is a must to stay on top of it all, trying to always have a washer that is working and can handle the amount of laundry we do in a day is never easy. Until three years ago, we always had our main washer and no less than two backups (I remember when one time we had four backups).

>Dryer--The dyer is the same story as the washer, only we keep only one extra as I am always using the line, even when the dryer works.

>Coffee Pot--I've yet to meet a coffee pot that will last more than two months in our house. Either we brew enough coffee that it doesn't work properly or we break the pot and when a replacement pot cost near as much as a complete new set, we are always going the complete set route. (Though, this is the pot that mom says she would love to get).

>Dish Washer--I don't think that I've seen a single one of our washers last us a full year without having to be replaced under the Sears warranty and it felt like we were calling them every month to come and fix the stupid thing. Even with them teaching me how to do everything they did, before we decided not to fix that last one, I could take the entire thing apart and fix anything on it except for the computer board! After the last one broke a little over two years ago and trying to wrestle with Sears to get them to fix the washer repeatedly with no workable washer in the end, mom and dad decided that with the amount of children they had there were more than enough dish washers around to help with the dishes. Though we tend to do a bit more gripping then the washers ever did, have you seen how much dishes a family of 14 can go through!!

>Remote Control--Yeah, I know it's not what you would think of when someone says appliance, but under the definition it fits. :D These things seem to disappear faster than candy in a three year olds hand. Someone will be watching TV, get up to chase a toddler that has something they are not supposed to have set the remote control somewhere and poof it’s gone! And with us having dish network, it's a pain to watch TV without one. It's gotten to the point where dad keeps an extra remote in a locked box so that he always has a remote when he sits down to watch TV. lol

>Toilets-- I know it doesn't fit what we are used to thinking of as appliance, but like the remote it fits the description. :D If you read my mom's blog then you know what I’m talking about. But it seems like I am always replacing or fixing one or both (which is one of my least favorite jobs).

Living In My Large Family--The Side Effects

Here, are a few things, that I am sure happen in most families. But I only here about them from members of other large families and live through them myself. :D

>There are very few (if any) secrets. Somehow, someway at least half the family tends to find out what you don't want them knowing--Or so it seems. (Christmas is a test on keeping your mouth shut if I've ever had one!!)

>When new clothes come into the house, they are yours as long as they fit you. That is until the next person comes along and realizes that the clothes fit them as well. (Unless you bought or they were given to you.)

>If there is still room on your bed at midnight then that is an invitation to anyone still in single digits to join you and keep you warm. (Until their diaper leaks!)

>"The early bird catches the worm"--Well in this house it's the early bird catches the best cup of coffee.

>When bringing a new book home you better have it read in the car or you might not get to finish it until everyone else does.

>Your possessions are yours unless they are things about baseball, The War Between the States, or books.

>We have some singers that everyone enjoys listening to. Agreeing which song to listen to is a ''whole 'nother ball of wax''.

>Keeping on top of laundry, and dishes--esp. when the dish washer hasn't been working for close to three years now--Is almost like saying that the Astros are going to win the World Series in the next five years.

>Keeping CDs and DVDs safe--esp. when toddlers know how to run the CD and DVD player is never an easy task.

>Keeping your room clean is not the easiest thing in the world, (esp. when the kids know that you keep all extra candy, gifts, and your own stash of goodies hidden somewhere in your room as the case is with me).

>Always having a hairbrush or something to hold up your hair when you need it is task right up there with staying on top of laundry. :D

>When your mom tells you to go "Please get your sister for me." turns into a joke, because she didn't specify which sister and you’re not a mind reader, you do have six sisters. (And yes, I have had that happen--In fact it happened this morning. :D )

>You have to look through three different pair of glasses since half the family wears glasses and we tend to wear the same style.


BTW--I can't believe that this is my 150th post!!

Living In My Large Family--The Benefits

Here is just a short list of the benefits of living in a large family. Do keep in mind that some of these are things that even those in a not so large family have, and some aren't. While some of these are the benefits of being the oldest.

>There is always a hand there ready and waiting to put in yours as you walk from the house to the dairy or around the property just for the fun of it.

>There is always a toddler who is willing to give you a sticky, slimy, and every so wet kiss.

>There is always someone there who can take over and do your job if something happens to keep you from doing. (Keep in mind that they may not be happy about doing it, but they can and will do it.)

>There is always an older sibling or parent around to make sure you eat, when you get caught up in a project, job, or book and don't want to stop and eat.

>I always have someone that I can give my food to if I don't like it and not get in trouble for "not cleaning off my plate" (and yes, most often it's the boys that get my not wanted food. lol )

>There are more presents for everyone under the tree come Christmas morning.

>You NEVER eat by yourself. (I hate eating by myself!)

>You always have someone who you know will give you their honest opinion. (Whether you want it or not.)

>There are enough people with different skills that almost any problem you have can be fixed.

>You can play any game you want, when ever you want.

>There is always someone else you can hand the child with the dirty diaper to. (O.K., so normally I'm the one who is handed the child with the dirty diaper, but there are times when I pass this job onto a younger sibling)

Living In My Large Family--'Introduction'

I'm going to try and do a few posts on living in our family and some of the things that come from living in a large family, not only from our view, but I am going to try and talk about it from the views of other.

Not only am I going to talk about all the bonus of living in a large family, but also some of the things that for me are normal, but for others is a little out there. :D I am also going to talk about the things that people are always asking us, from how we clean the house and do school to how are we socialized and do we intend to date.

This is something I have been planning on doing for a long time, in fact it was one reason I started the blog. I know there are a lot of people out there who have a lot of questions, I run across them all the time, the run us down in grocery stores or ask us at markets. We honestly don’t mind talking about these things, we just never seem to have the time to do so, and hopefully this will help. :D

Just to let you know, I will be posting about other things while doing this 'series', as it will take a while go through all the things I want to talk about. And while going through this 'series' I would LOVE to hear from other people, esp. those that live in large families. :D

The first (err…Second) post will come later today, right now I need to go pasteurize milk. :D