Good Morning!
I just wanted to send a BIG THANK YOU to all of our family and dear friends, for being there for us and showing your unconditional support. We have been through so much and we've almost made it to the year mark with our extended family. We've faced many challenges and with your help through love and prayers --- we've made it through all of them with our chins and grins up!
Many of you know we've been struggling a little bit with me working more than full time and traveling the great distance to Rochester on almost a daily basis from Lonsdale. With the economy as it is and my dear husband, Joe working from home and taking care of the kids playing both Dad/Uncle and Mom/Aunt we have been forced to make a decision to help raise our kids in the fashion they deserve.
We received some very excited news last week that we have been holding off to share with everyone until contracts were finalized and we had time to discuss this opportunity with the Fab 5; Ashlyn, Cameron, Kenley, Maddy and Nikki. A few months ago, Joe and I registered and were interviewed for an endeavor we would've never imagined would have come true! Some of you know our obsession with the TLC show called Jon & Kate +8. Well, as our luck would have it (and this has not yet been released), they have decided to not renew their contract with their show. This leaves a window for another reality show in their time slot and specifically, they were searching for a "blended" and "diverse" family to replace their irreplaceable show, Jon & Kate +8. We interviewed with their production staff last week and things went very well. The kids were a little shy at first (except for Miss Maddy, of course) but they really took the time to get to know each kid and even got little Miss Kenley hugging them by the end of their visit. We found out this past weekend we were the chosen family for a new show called (you won't be too surprised by this), The Crazy Eight. Even Ocho gets a part with his dog house!
We have been very pleased with this process and are truly looking forward to taking on this new lifestyle. It will be interesting but after the first few filmings, I know the kids will be more receptive and will adjust very well! If we can make it through a transition of changing homes and adding more kids......I KNOW they can get through this and they are ALL very, very excited!!
The filming will begin at the end of the summer (before school starts) so our first show will be scheduled to air this fall on TLC - Monday nights at 8:00. I apologize for telling most of you by email, however, I wanted to make sure to include everything I wanted to, rather than blurting it all out in excitement in person! :) I've attached a link to our blog (jbmacknpack.blogger.com) and a sneak peek from our interview, which will also be previewing this summer, in preparation of our new show - The Crazy Eight. Be sure to tune in!
We just can't thank you enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out the link below................................




















www.aprilfools.com
We do want to thank you all very much though......in all seriousness...for being our support system! We love you (and please forgive me!) LOL
"The Crazy Eight" - Joe & Brandi N.'M.A.C.K.

C H E E R S to 2009.....and beyond!

February 15Th, 2009....seriously! It is exactly a month and a half into the new year and I think I've FINALLY decided what my resolution will be for 2009. Although, every year is the same old thing; lose weight, save more, increase date nights, more ME time....LA-DE-DAH, BLAH-BLAH...... I think I'm going to be a little more realistic and tailor this year's resolution to the reality of our chaotic life. It's time to be practical people.

Here are some of the things I've learned (and practiced) in 2008:

1. To-Do lists are NOT over-rated and you can never have too many. When you post these around the house things WILL get done.


2. Organization is a SKILL and not an obsession - so what if things in our house are placed alphabetically or in ROYGBIV order....this works for us. In case you didn't notice, we have 5 kids. :)


3. Facebook isn't considered a social life......we need to get out more! It is great to catch up but everyone needs a little more face TIME not face BOOK these days. There are too many ways to electronically keep in touch these days, i.e., text messages, email, blogging...it's time for more in-person and at-home gatherings (the world is too broke for bars, by the way).


4. Allowances don't work as effectively as contributions to a "Family Fun Fund" - kids respect it and appreciate their hard work and contributions toward a family vacation. They know they all actually earned it and hopefully it will keep them working hard for the things they want in life in the future.


5. The "I'm Bored Jar" is not just for kids anymore. Works at home for me when I can't get motivated to tackle the to-do list - although, Joe pulled the dog poop pick-up patrol when he was actually hoping for the one-on-one time with Mom/Brandi! :) OOPS! It's just the luck of the draw.


6. Reading time is imperative for kids! They need that consistency and practice at home......besides that, what else can bring us 30 minutes of silence?


7. Love is everlasting and never fails....nothing can conquer it if it is true. All things are possible with love. Never give up on this!


8. "Beautiful"..... not about appearances at all. In fact, it is a feeling. You can hear it and it also can be expressed in many ways but feeling "beautiful" is what matters most. To me leaving the house, knowing the distance I will travel and all I've set out to accomplish in the day, managing to keep a BIG smile throughout (with a little lip gloss of course....which brings me to #9) and having a strong, supportive husband and 5 KIDS to hug me good bye every day and wait for me to come home....now THAT is beautiful!


9. Moms can never have too many shades of lipstick and/or flavors of lip gloss. They truly make you FEEL beautiful and sexy (see #8). These can include, but are not limited to; minty, cherry bomb, cotton candy, cupcake and you're never too old for these....even with glitter! I'm new to the glitter but it brings a little shine and more so than the obnoxious glitter look you may think it will have. It makes me feel complete and I never leave home w/o it!


10. Finally, FAITH. I've always had faith in our Good Lord but this year, more than ever, I've learned that HE will always provide wealth. We're not rich by any means but richly blessed....INDEED!

I once believed God would never give you too much to handle and I've preached this many times to friends and family members. I was wrong. He's proven that to us by the challenges and events that occurred this last year. He tested our faith but along with this arm full of challenges, he also gave us good friends, a stronger marriage and lots of patience and endurance to get through it.

This year, 2009, we await the "adventures" sent from God and are buckled up for safety! Bring on the new year and the many new challenges we will be blessed with. We can afford to learn more from Him and continue our growth as a family.

CHEERS TO YOU New Year.....and to everyone we love so dearly!

Enjoy the ride of 2009!

Prayers for Peace

She is filled with so much potential and courage. I don't understand how she can possibly have such low self esteem and behave so poorly. Nicole is gorgeous, outgoing and incredibly generous to others but doesn't possess the qualities to take care of her self or to know what is right and what is wrong.

Most of her life has been a contradiction. Can we honestly blame her?

We recently enrolled Nikki, our oldest niece who will be 17 in 2 weeks, into a behavioral health and chemical dependency facility called Gerard Academy. This place will customize a program to help her cope with her past, present and hopefully sculpt her future. The plan could be up to 10 months depending on her progress. We were faced with this decision after almost 4 months of attempting in home family therapy, foster care, rehab and even a month stay in a consequential facility and a 9 day admission to St. Mary's Generose. All of this resulted in 5 weeks of an unpaid leave of absence from work, countless battles /investigations with social services from Dakota and Rice counties and all the while maintaining a stable home for the other 4 kids, including 2 of our very own.


We hope this will give her faith and help her recover from some of the choices she has made and the other events in her life she's endured that were not by choice at all.

She will finish her Junior year at the academy missing out on basketball games, school field trips, friend’s graduation parties, Prom and other milestones and events that a typical teenager looks forward to in the 11th grade. I hope she asks herself if it was all worth it after knowing what she's sacrificed. That would mean remorse, which I know she feels when she puts her pride aside. During her stay, we are allowed to call her twice a week and she'll earn visitation privileges, as well as possible weekend visits at home after some time. We will meet with her floor leader, therapist, the director of the academy and school principal at least once a month and talk about her progress at least once a week. This is still not comforting when we she used to be right down stairs. Even though we spent endless nights worrying about her running away again, her drug use and safety for herself and others, we are still filled with sadness because she's miles and miles away now and out of our care. We are at the mercy of everyone else comforting her and loving her the way she needs to be cared for.

I keep telling myself that she is off to college. It is more comforting thinking of it that way. Her room is shared with 2 other girls and her floor sure looks like a dorm. The place is absolutely beautiful though and very welcoming (I know she was very tired of hearing us say that during our tour on her first day).

The kids miss her so much. It has taken such a toll on them not having her around to look up to. This has decreased their faith in her and for Ashlyn especially, who has been let down so much in her life that she remembers. She needs her big sister as she has been the constant in her life. Maddy is so young yet and thankfully she was sheltered from most of it. Cameron goes through his "heat waves" and love/hate moments with Nikki. He is so disappointed and Nikki hears that from him the most. I can tell she hurts so much after she talks to him. He's honest. As for Kenley, what can you say to a 5 year old other than...she's getting her heart fixed so she can love stronger? She gets that.

Will all of this be enough to heal her? I pray that it will bring her peace and help her to move on and live HER life. We're not giving up and at least she knows that much and FINALLY, as it was so hard to prove that. Our love will not fail her and I hope through God and prayers, she can truly feel that.

God, please bless this child and heal her from this pain and hurt. Please help her find comfort and peace through your word. AMEN.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers through all of this! Love will conquer so please keep your love and prayers for Nikki!

Please Leave a Message!

You keep calling and asking for it, surprisingly enough! I know we're a little out dated on our voice mail but we thought you would let us retire our greetings for now! All the complaints about how addicting our answering machine songs were, and you want it back now? REALLY? :)

These songs did make for some interesting voice mails! We were guaranteed lots of messages when we would get home.....even if it was 10 seconds of laughter (and by the way, when you call and hang up and call and hang up and call and hang up again, we know who you are!) LOL!

Let's see...what have we done so far:

DR. SEUSS - this was when THE CAT IN THE HAT came out - I was inspired!
"You've reached The Martin's
Thank you for your call
But we're not home not around at all
Not Brandi, not Kenley not Cameron or Joe
not even our dog we named Ocho
All of us are out today
and when we'll be back we cannot say
but please leave a message after the tone
and we'll call you back when we get home"

I'M A LITTLE TEAPOT song - Kenley LOVED to sing and dance to this song when she was just over a year old....another inspiration for this and it was her debut to the greeting!

"Ocho, Kenley, Cameron, Brandi and Joe.
We are The Martin's, we're not home.
Leave your name and number at the tone
and we'll call (pause)
you back when we get home."

M-A-R-T-I-N H-O-U-S-E (Mickey Mouse Song) This will always be a classic!
"We know you called to say hello to all your friends at theeeee
M-A-R-T-I-N H-O-U-S-E
Leave a message for
Brandi, Joe, Cameron or Kenley (then Kenley says, THAT's ME)
and one of us will call you from The Martin Familyyyyy!" (that's Cameron's part)

Since we now are The Martin/Myers/Lee Family we've had a little bit if writers block but we're happy to say we think we have one down. All of us had ideas and input so, many minds of creativity involved here!

Are you ready??????????
TRUST ME...you won't be so surprised!


***************************************


The Crazy 8's (The Brady Bunch song )
"You called the house of
our new big family
See, at first it started out with just us 4.
There is Brandi, Joe, Cameron and Kenley
And now we have 3 more.
There's Nikki who's 16
and then there's Ashlyn
who's 11 but she's almost turning 12.
And the youngest one...
her name is Maddy (and yes she does have curls)
We also have a dog, his name is Ocho
And in Spanish that means the number 8.
Now we're all one big
HUGE HAPPY FAMILY
We're The Crazy 8!
The Crazy 8!
The Crazy 8!
Leave your name and message for
The CRAZY 8's!

Now, obviously that is SUPER LONG! So, we thought we would just spare you all and not have that as our voice mail greeting. We DO have one made up and now that you've asked, there it is. HAPPY? I bet you're even happier it isn't the greeting when you call and have to leave a message! Hahaha!

Even though most of you thought we were dorks (and I'm not objecting), it was so fun and great to hear some of you were disappointed that these greetings have gone away. We're not saying they are gone forever, just on hold for now. You never know what will inspire us in the future.....(DUN, DUN, DUN)

TO BE CONTINUED!

Kids and Politics

Kenley says she wants to be a "Demacat" when she grows up. Cameron is "for the Republic" and Maddy follows him. Ashlyn just wants to see history made and have the first "American African" be elected president. Are they too young to be thinking about this?! Whether they are or aren't, we decided it made for many great conversations at the dinner table these last few months. Nothing like political soup for dinner and a debatable dessert! Joe would look at me across the dinner table and see I was bursting with pride! I did love every minute of it, listening to our kids have such a sophisticated conversation and hear the perspectives of a 5, 8, 10 and 12 year old!

Although it was fun, we did decide to break things down a bit for them so they REALLY understood what they were voting for. We explained what each politician's views were on education...something that would affect them as they are right now....KIDS! We also found nick.com/vote and on Tuesday, each kid got to vote online for who they wanted to see as their next president. The president who would pave the path to their futures for the next 4 to 8 years possibly! They felt so grown up and proud! We had each one vote in private and we made stickers (well....okay.....they colored "I voted" on a piece of paper and stuck it on with tape) for when they were done. We never asked who they voted for and they LOVED the freedom of not having to tell us! :)

At 5:30AM Wednesday, Ashlyn and Cameron woke up. We heard them go downstairs to find out the results of the presidential election and we got to hear their reactions. A moment we will remember forever and one that we know they will tell their children when they are parents. Absolutely Unforgettable and so inspiring!

Some how, we must be doing okay raising the Fab 5, for them to be so involved and committed to their futures! After all, that is what we are trying to provide for them. Just that, in fact.
A FUTURE.

God Bless America and her kids!

Who has time to Blog?

Every kid has a color. Ashlyn is green, Cameron is blue, Kenley is hot pink, Maddy is Yellow and Nikki is Orange and/or baby pink (this color changes with her mood and as a teenager, this can happen hourly at times). This color depicts which cup is used, bowl, folder for school notices and sports schedules, markings on the monthly calendar and the cubbies in the foyer closet for backpacks and although I hate to write it....winter hats and mittens. Color coordinating kids. It sounds wrong really, but it is the only measure of organization I could think of during my melt down of not knowing where anything was. I am typically and alphabetizer....as you can see above.... but I've learned after nearly 3 months of having 5 kids that they just don't file well! :)They are never in one place at a time!

Mondays we have Ashlyn's volleyball, Tuesdays we split up for Maddy's soccer and Kenley's dance, Wednesday is also shared with Maddy's dance and beginning today we have Awana at church for Ashlyn and Nikki. Thursdays are the soccer games and then Saturday is filled with Volleyball, Flag football and cheerleading practices. Yup, so on top of being back to school we're also back to sports. I know everyone keeps asking me why I would continue to coach cheerleading when I have my own home team to cheer for, but honestly, I can't sacrifice the two hours I get once a week to jump up and down, screaming at the top of my lungs and it actually being appropriate rather than considered psychotic! So there you go. Rah! R-a-h! RAAAAH!

So with this schedule, who has time to blog? Seriously, who has time to socialize?!?! This is our only shot at venting, communicating and keeping in touch with the real world from time to time so we're blogging away!

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG!
-God's Blessings and Love to you and your families!

J.B. N. M.A.C.K. Pack
Joe and Brandi N MACK (Nikki, Maddy, Ashlyn, Cameron and Kenley)

The Sunday Shuffle -9:22

Packing snack bags, making a loaf of PB&J sandwiches to freeze, laying out clothes for the week in the sweater organizer, making menus and chore lists for each day for all 5 kids. This is the traditional Sunday shuffle and has been in progress for the last 3 Sundays now. Every kid gets to pick their dinner and laundry day, organize their freshly washed clothes for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and make their sandwiches for the week. This is the routine for Nikki, Ashlyn, Cameron, Maddy and Kenley - The Fab 5! We shuffle to get all of this done before bedtime, along with baths, washing faces, brushing teeth and homework (and an extra BONUS today; a lost tooth to put out for the tooth fairy). How long should this all take?

Well on a day like today, we were up and out of the house by 10:15 for church until noon. Then we met the Grandparents for a quick after church snack and coffee before we ran to the mall to exchange 3 pairs of shoes, a make-up kit and use a Claire's coupon for jewelery (that also expired today -this was the real motivator to get this all done). Then, it's a scramble to get 5 kids to decide on where to go for lunch and all agree -Arby's, Arby's!!!!! Easy, RIGHT?!?! "What of the 4 Arby's Jr. meals would you like? Curly fries or regular? Ketchup or BBQ sauce with that? Soda, Juice or Milk? Cash, check or credit card?" AGHHHH - okay finally, let's eat! With 20 mins to spare, it's a mad dash to Target for a gift card for the birthday party we're off to next...and yes, it's 20 mins away until the start time AND from where we were (late again - always late)! Of course, it's also raining so we literally run into target and then ARBY's is baaaaack, "Tia, I have to go to the bathroom!" - okay, quickly please! And it figures........NO TOILET PAPER! We're in TARGET PEOPLE how can this be?! Here's where you have to get creative -- 5 mins later and we solved the problem. Now hurry, quick find a card and buy a gift card then stand in line. We thought this would've been a quick in and a quick out ----WRONG-O! Just 2 lanes open for check out and the slowest people possible working them (the same people on bathroom patrol I'm sure, who failed to stock the toilet paper!).

Now we're at 8 minutes until start time and yes, still 20 mins of drive time to the final destination before our return to home! After singing Happy Birthday and eating birthday cake, by 7:30-ish we're on our way home with homework yet to be done.
FINALLY, 9:22 is the magic time and fairly impressive considering all of our travels!
Hopefully we can condition ourselves to get a head start to the Sunday Shuffle and be in bed by 8:30, or even better yet...8! Should be an easy enough task, right?

Peace, Love, Patience and Endurance to All!