New Adventures

So, I started seriously blogging about our 4H adventures a year ago.  I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience and will continue that endeavor.  However, I realized that is only one part (a BIG part obviously) of what our family is about.  So, I decided that I needed to tell about the OTHER STUFF in our lives as well.

One of the things I learned by blogging is I remember more about what we have done, so I thought this might help us remember more of our adventurous life for years to come.

To start out, I am expecting our 6th little bundle of joy (not including two little ones in heaven) TODAY!!!  LOL! I know...what am I thinking..I should be nesting or something.  Well, maybe this is my way of nesting...getting all my thoughts down in print is just as important as a clean house, right?  Well, the house is pretty much at its state of neatness so thought this would be a better use of my time instead of twiddling my thumbs or taking terrible pictures of my VERY large abdomen.

So here is a brief introduction to our family--the joy of my life!  Soon I will post a picture of the newest addition.  For now our family is a wild group of energy waiting to happen.

Michael (guy with the beard he likes to grow while away) is the head of our dear family, who is currently 'playing Army' (as I like to call it) with the National Guard for the weekend.  Yes, he is on stand by ready to come home at a moments notice.  He is such a great husband and Dad.  He also works for a company out of Maryland that has him travelling half the year.  He is in his off period right now so he CAN be here when the baby arrives.  He loves to read and learn about history and is currently working on his masters in Military History.  God bless his dedication to our family and hard work.

Then there is the mom of the family, that's me...Michelle (with my friend Angel), trying hard to beat the heat and stay off my already swelling feet.  I love to take care of our family and struggling with the idea that I am supposed to be resting and relying on the rest of the crew to take care of the everyday stuff.  I enjoy helping with 4H (check out my original blog here) and Pro-life activities in the community.  I also am currently working on being certified as a spiritual companion.  I just completed my masters of theology last December and felt called to continue my service to the Church in this way.

Amanda is our oldest child, who is not so much child anymore!  She is off on a New York adventure trying to make her way in the world.  Since she is not living at home, you will not hear a lot about what she is doing, but I am sure her name will pop into the blog every once in a while.  I am very proud of all she has accomplished in her 19 years and pray for her daily to make wise choices as she steps into adulthood.  She loves reading and working with animals, especially snakes.

The first of our boys is Sean (15).  He loves computers and insects.  Yet, he talks about going to culinary school so he can open his own restaurant.  He has his challenges as he is our Aspie child but he loves to be around people.  He has never met a stranger and loves to give hugs to everyone he greets.  He is into those rebellious teen years, so we love watching him maneuver through his desire to become an adult.  If you are a parent of a teenager than you know that I am being a very factious.  It can be a challenge for everyone around with a teenager who understands social skills.  Having to go through the 'normal' teenage emotions AND deal with social skills is a challenge, but God gives us the graces.

Henry (12) is our quiet hermit.  Well, not really...he is very interested in helping others and loves reading and anything weapon/outdoor related.  He loves throwing knives and tomahawks.  If he has something important to say, you better listen close because he gets quieter the important the message.  He also loves to cook and clean.  There have been many years when he asks for cleaning supplies for his birthday!  He even asked for a push plow for his garden a couple of years back.  He is a hard worker and people see that and ask for his help with big jobs.  He also loves to garden which was his first paid job outside of our house.

Our little tornado is growing up and slowly settling down.  Edward (8) is a bundle of energy all on his own,but he is learning to harness that energy.  We also call him King Edward because he keeps us on our toes.  He knows what he likes and is not afraid to make it happen.  He loves being with his friends so they can go out and have adventures in the woods.  However, he can also make a twig look fun if that is what he has in front of him.  He has an amazing imagination that I love to see develop in his play.  I am hoping we can get some of these ideas down on paper this school year.

Brendan (3) is our philosopher.  He loves to read and write and THINK about things.  He is so cute and full of life.  Maybe it is because he started the masters work with me when he was only a week old!  He thinks he is as old as the other boys and tries to do EVERYTHING they do.  Surprisingly, he can do a lot of these things so watch out world when he is actually the right age to join in these activities. He is looking forward to meeting his new sibling and insists the baby is a girl (we don't find out ahead of time!).

In general, we are a Catholic family that loves the Lord.  We try to show the love of Jesus in all that we do.  We love 4H activities and doing community service work.  We also homeschool so we have a lot of time to learn by doing.  Our school shows our outlook on education as we are called the Reynbow School of Lifelong Learners.

This does not even begin to tell you what you might read about as I blog through our lives.  I am looking forward to the adventures that will come our way.  I hope you will join us on our adventure!