Dad home from Iraq gets back to normal

Each of the 11 children has something planned to do with dad.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Lying in his bed, he kept thinking, "This isn't real."
After eight months of sleeping on an Army cot in Balad, Iraq, with F-16s regularly flying overhead and the air smelling constantly of burning trash, this old bed in his Florian Avenue home in Cleveland felt so comfortable.
Karl Schultz is home.
He's thrilled to be there with his wife, Donna, and their 11 children running around the house.
He missed the chaos.
And the same guy who couldn't stand snow before he left can't wait to see it now.
Karl Schultz usually drives a truck, but he interrupted that routine for active duty in Iraq as an Army reservist. While he was gone, Donna shouldered the job of parenting their children, eight of whom are adopted and most of whom have special needs.
What she missed most was that quiet time after the children went to sleep when the two would talk about their day. And there was nobody to change the light bulbs.
The trip home from Camp Anaconda in Iraq and its 120-degree days started with mortar alarms.
"It was a good goodbye greeting," Karl Schultz said.
After a short delay, his reserve unit was flown first to Kuwait, then to Frankfurt, Germany, and then finally to Bangor, Maine. While the plane was refueling in Maine, the troops got off and were greeted by veterans in their 70s and 80s who had gathered at 5:30 a.m. just to shake hands.
"That was nice," said a subdued Karl. "That sort of says something."
What's planned
Karl is home safely, but he wears the tragedies he has seen in the blank expression on his face. He's numb. And even though he's home, the Army could still call him up again. The children keep asking if he's home for good. Donna says he is.
Each of the children wants to do a special activity with Karl now that he's back with them.
Shonda, 13, wants a trip to the mall with her Daddy.
Samuel wants to jump on the trampoline with his Dad and have a steak dinner for all the times he had to take out the trash.
Curtis, 8, wants to make clay sculptures.
Emily, 8, wants a trip to the mall to buy a purse.
Joey, 5, wants to wrestle. Stephan wants to make sand castles (they're trying to figure out where to find the sand). Carla wants a trip to the dollar store.
And Katie, 21, is going to Columbus with her dad for a Blue Jackets hockey game.
"What do I get?" Donna asked Karl. "Hopefully," he said, smiling back, "a few days with me."