A Little Background

So, our family is not the norm these days. Hub and I and the boys live with my mom and step-dad. We originally made the move just two days before Frog was born, and out of necessity. The house we were living in was going to be sold and we were not the ones going to be buying it. We could have waited a bit longer to move, but we felt that it would be easier to just bring Frog home and not have to move when he was a couple of months old. (But I would not recommend moving that close to delivery.)

After some time, we all began to see what a wonderful plan God had in store for us. It became very clear that His idea was for us to live together always. It has been a tremendous blessing to live the way we do. The biggest blessing has been the fact that I am able to stay home all the time with the boys. Had we not lived here, there would have been many instances where Hub's salary alone would not have carried us. But we do live here and I am able to be home with my children. There have been many sacrifices along the way, but they have all been worth it. There are actually things that I find I don't really miss all that much. TV, for one. We still have TV but we have cut it down to just a few channels. If you had asked me 8 years ago if having a handful of channels was something I'd be doing, I would have bet against it. I was addicted to the television. Once I started giving my life, my whole life, over to the Lord, He started making some big changes in me. My desire for TV has been one. Movies as well. Used to be, Hub and I could go into a video store and would have a hard time finding a movie to rent that we hadn't already seen. Now, I don't even recognize any of the movies on the shelves. Well, actually, I can't remember the last time I went into a video store, and when I did, I had no idea what any of the movies were about. Before I met Hub, and before we had children, I loved to stay up late and watch the Academy Awards. I would even try to not have to work the day after. I planned on making it a family holiday when I had kids; we would all stay up late to watch. I figured that they could just miss school the next day. How far I have come! Not a clue what goes on in the Academy anymore. And don't want to know now, to tell the truth.

So, back to the original start of this blog, our living situation. My step-dad goes to work M-F and Hub works M-Th and sometimes on Friday. He also has a part-time job that he works one weekend a month"ish". My mom stays home and has some children she looks after. These children are now family. She started keeping K eight years ago. His parents lived next door and kept asking mom to watch him. She kept saying "No." But God finally got through to her. K's parents split when he was 6 months old and until he was two, they spend most of the time hiding him from each other and fighting over custody. At one point, my mom and step-dad invited K's mother to move in with them and gave her money for a lawyer. Both of K's parents were unbelievers and had been raised believing that only the weak need God. When K's mom moved in with my parents, her life changed. She is now saved! Praise God! She was able to get joint custody of K with her ex-husband. But he only wanted full so he stopped seeing K. In the six years since the custody hearing, he has only seen K a handful of times.

K's mom got remarried five years ago and they have two children- H(4) and G(2). Mom still takes care of them while their parents work.

So, at 7:15 each morning, we get three more children added to the fun. Mom takes K to school and is back home by 8:30. And from then on out, it's five kids to chase around. So when people wonder about the socialization of my wild homeschooled bunch, I just let them know it's like a daycare every day at our house.