A local TV news station Fox21 did a 2 minute spot on our family last night. They filmed a couple weeks ago for about two hours, and the spots they grabbed seem to accurately capture life in the Jeub home.

What do you think? Post your comment below.

This has been an exciting week. On Monday Wendy spoke for a homeschool group in Castle Rock. We’re looking forward to booking her for more speeches. Her Love in the House message is powerful. Perhaps she can come to your town? See our speakers page.

Last night was the Colorado Caucus, making national news with Rick Santorum’s upset over Mitt Romney. We loved getting together with our neighbors to speak and listen to politics. On the grassroots side of things, Cynthia ran for county delegate. There were 13 candidates running for 10 slots. Cynthia came in 2nd place, just 1 vote behind 1st place. Woohoo, go Cynthia!

We left the caucus early to run over to a friend’s home who has cable. Niki Weirich, the news anchor, did a great job editing two hours of film down to a sweet two minutes. She was kind enough to post the video on YouTube before she left work so you could enjoy it this morning.

It isn’t in the video above, but Niki promoted our book signing on the news. If you can make it to Monument on Saturday, we’d love to see you there. Here are details:

• Book Signing by Chris & Wendy Jeub
• The Love Shop (downtown Monument gift shop)
• Saturday, February 11, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
• 251 Front Street, Monument, Colorado 80132
• Google Map and Directions

We’ll have the $47 book deal that is online this week, our Valentine’s Day special. But at the book signing you can save on shipping, have us sign them, and visit for a while.

Wow, what a week. And it’s only Wednesday! Hope to see you Saturday.

What are the typical snacks? According to the National Purchase Diary Group, the most popular snacks for men and women are:

  Top 10 Snacks Consumed by Men and Women*
        ----------------------------------------------------
                Men                       Women
        1. Gum                    1. Gum
        2. Chocolate Candy        2. Chocolate Candy
        3. Fresh Fruit            3. Fresh Fruit
        4. Potato Chips           4. Potato Chips
        5. Breath/Candy Mints     5. Breath/Candy Mints
        6. Ice Cream              6. Ice Cream
        7. Nuts                   7. Cookies
        8. Cookies                8. Nuts
        9. Tortilla Chips         9. Yogurt
        10. Bars                  10. Crackers
        *Ages 18-54 Year-olds
        ----------------------------------------------------
        The NPD Group

Boy, I think that’s just a shame. Why isn’t popcorn on the list? Probably because microwave popcorn is expensive, inevitably burns, smells up the entire house, and doesn’t taste all that great.

I’m out to change that for you. Wendy and I have not purchased microwave popcorn for about six years. We’ve saved money, eaten more healthily, and enjoy popcorn much more than the people who took the NPD survey.

We buy popcorn by the 50 lb bag.

This recipe is queued up to be published in Wendy’s upcoming Love in the Kitchen Vol. 3. Here’s the recipe:

Stove Top Popcorn

By Chris Jeub
Serves 6 little kids

• Peanut oil
• 1 cup popcorn
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp butter
• Seasoning to taste

Pour about 1/8″ peanut oil into kitchen kettle. Place on high heat. Pour popcorn into pan. Allow oil to heat until one kernel pops. Pour the sugar over the popcorn and cover.

Allow popcorn to pop. When about half the kernels are popped, turn heat to low. Popcorn will be finished when there is about 2 seconds between pops. Remove from heat. Shake the kettle and pour into bowl.

Melt butter and pour over popcorn. Shake bowl till evenly coated. Season with your favorite seasoning. Besides traditional table salt, here are some other ideas: ranch dressing mix, taco seasoning mix, Lawry’s seasoning mix, and macoroni and cheese seasoning.

Originally uploaded May 12, 2008

Originally uploaded May 31, 2008

Originally uploaded March 8, 2009

As you may remember, we’re slowly transferring old videos from Google Video to YouTube. Here are a few. They bring back old memories!

Originally uploaded Jan 9, 2008

Originally uploaded Apr 26, 2008

Originally uploaded Dec 9, 2007

Still moving videos from Google to YouTube. There are a couple fun ones here, but the whooping cough video received a lot of attention. Little Havilah whooping as an infant was a scary time for us years ago, but the video has helped other parents identify whooping cough. It is a rare virus that doctors often fail to diagnose.

Originally uploaded Oct 26, 2008

Originally uploaded May 23, 2008

Originally uploaded Oct 25, 2006

Originally uploaded Oct 30, 2006

Originally uploaded Oct 17, 2006

Originally uploaded Oct 26, 2006

I met Anita Renfroe in Colorado Springs. She is absolutely hilarious. Check out her newest video above. What do you think?

Wendy delivered our 16th child last night. Everything is healthy and pleasant. With the older children at a debate tournament, Wendy and I have little time to tell the complete birthing story. We’ll try to get something posted tomorrow. [Update: There's no way we are going to get our story written as planned. With the tournament going on, we're barely keeping ahead on dishes and laundry!]

But, some essential details are in order!

• Name: Elijah Luke
• Born April 27, 2011 at 9:48 p.m.
• Weight: 8 lbs, 12 oz.
• Length: 20 3/4″

Congratulate Wendy, she did absolutely fantastic! (please comment below) I’m going to have her write up some future posts on important exercises, diet, and other preparatory measures she took over the past nine months. Truly a trooper, the delivery went fantastic, and Elijah is probably our healthiest child of all our 16. Incredible.

More later. Congratulate Wendy in the comment section below! She’ll be reading them from her laptop in bed.

Four minutes old, laying on top of Wendy's much-smaller tummy.

How quickly they change! This is Eli in the morning, right after his first diaper change.

Are the next oldest children jealous? Not in our home. Zech is elated over a new baby.

Precious little feet.

Breakfast of champions! Wendy had a protein enriched breakfast.

Thank you for you prayers, everyone. Follow the news more closely at our Facebook Page.

Happy Easter weekend, everyone! Here are a few old videos that I downloaded from our Google Video account. Enjoy!

Originally uploaded July 18, 2007

Originally uploaded July 7, 2007

Originally uploaded Feb 9, 2008

See
Video Transfer #1

Wendy is heading into her final stretch: Baby due early May. We’re quite busy tidying the house and trying to get our to-do list cleared. Blogging has taken a backseat, to say the least.

Here’s a funny thought. Interruptions at times of busyness can be annoying. (Come to think of it, isn’t this why busy parents avoid another child?) A closed unwillingness to the interruption is a common response. But what about an open acceptance?

Case in point: We so busy we hardly have time to monitor this blog. Then I get an email from Google Video: “Download your old videos because we’re shutting down” (more or less). I have old videos that I have to go through the rigamarole of downloading and saving. Grrr.

Then the light turns on! Why not turn these old vids into a blog post? How about a number of blog posts?

Walla. I have content ready to queue up. Isn’t it wonderful how an interruption can turn into a blessing?

Sorta like children blessing a family. They sure interrupt things, but they sure are worth it.

Enjoy these videos!

Originally uploaded May 11, 2007

Originally uploaded Feb 17, 2008

Originally uploaded Nov 4, 2007

More to come…