Tracy Chaplin, the producer of the upcoming mini-series Families by the Dozen, explained TLC as “returning to being a learning channel.” People want to learn about what it is like to be in a family like ours, to be a fly on the wall, to walk through a week with the Jeubs and observe daily occurrences that, similar to anyone, is unique with a dozen kids running around. Read the rest of this entry »

Large families face natural dilemmas, and we deal with them with innovation. We adapt - we buy larger vans, remodel to increase the number of bedrooms, carry on small businesses to make ends meet. Children are a blessing, not a burden, and God provides us with the ideas necessary to survive.

One dilemma is the birthday. Read the rest of this entry »

The camera crew left last night after 8 days of filming the Jeub Family for The Learning Channel. Tracy Chaplin, the director, and his crew of two cameramen, a sound technician, and assistant director, will (contrary to most people’s expectations) will be missed. Tracy, Nate, Doug, Ian, and Derek have become nearly “part of the family” as they shared in a mutually convicting and growing experience with us. I can’t tell you how honoring it was to reflect on our life with 13 children for a camera crew who honestly wanted to know. I will post more on this in my next post, but I want to give this serious thought.

Till then, here are the final video shots I will be posting of our Learning Channel filming experience. The episode will be run January 15, 22 and 29. Be sure to tune in to watch our family in action…

The Birthday Bash is a yearly celebration we host at our home. We typically have 120-150 dear friends and family join us for horse rides, popcorn, face painting, games, treasure hunt, a pinata, gift opening and a meal. The 2006 Bash was extra special with a camera crew from The Learning Channel ready to take hours and hours of footage for a January 2007 special on large families. You won’t be able to see that footage till January, but for now, here are some videos from our own cameras…

Wow, what a good time we have been having with The Learning Channel crew. Yesterday, Tracy and the crew came to work with Cynthia and me. They captured a lot of great captions about what I do for a living. Meanwhile, Wendy was working hard herself at home to prepare for a birthday party, and the kids were getting many chores done.

Below are two video clips. The first is of Wendy and some friends who came over to help get things done. The second is of the kids folding laundry. See how a family of 11 children at home do it!

Yesterday was an exhausting but fun day. We took the bus to Denver and Castle Rock to shop. We went to US Toys, Sam’s Club and WalMart. We believe God blessed our shopping, keeping it within the budget we set out to keep. We almost missed our evening appearance to AWANA. The bus ended up breaking down in our driveway and we needed to run to AWANA in the van. The camera crew were extremely gracious and understanding…and they put in an incredibly long day.

Below are two clips that we captured. The first is Wendy in Sam’s Club explaining some tricks of the trade when shopping for a big family. The second is game night at AWANA…

It is a good thing Isaiah said he likes everything about school. =) Check out today’s video…

The Heppners aren’t the only family that will be featured in the upcoming series of large families on The Learning Channel. The Jeub Family will also be featured. In fact, we have the camera crew at our home right now doing the filming. I will be posting snippets of these captures on our blog over the next few days till the camera crew leaves. Here is the first downloads:

The crew has been incredible. Very, very professional. Tracy Chaplin and the guys are capturing a week of The Jeub Family. Today we did homeschooling, a trip to PE+ (a local phys ed class the kids attend), and tonight they will film dinner and Wendy going out to a small group bible study. Stay tuned…

The kids watch some video shots on Tracy’s computer.