Why we called it Many Many Toes
It started with a pile of shoes by the back door.
Count the shoes by our back door and you'll understand.
With eight children, the pile never really goes away. Boots from the barn, church shoes, sandals someone swore they'd put away, and at least one shoe whose partner has been missing for weeks. I once stood in our entryway, looked down at it all, and said, "That's a lot of toes."
The name stuck.
More than a joke
It's a little funny, and we like that. But it's also a reminder. Every pair in that pile belongs to a person entrusted to us: a soul, a personality, a set of gifts and struggles we're responsible for helping along.
A home like ours isn't built in big moments. It's built in ordinary ones: one meal, one lesson, one rosary, one pair of shoes at a time.
What this journal is for
We started Many Many Toes to keep an honest record of what we're learning. Some of it will be about the property, some about homeschooling, some about living the faith at home, and a lot of it about the beautiful chaos of a full house.
We're not experts. We're just writing it down. If it helps another family along the way, all the better.
Welcome. Mind the shoes.