The Royal Family!

The King and I  have been married since 2000. (I'll have to tell the story of how we met sometime...it's kinda funny.)  He is the sole bread winner in our castle.  This is a good thing since I have no desire or intentions to get a "real job" unless we are in BIG trouble.  By trade, he is a computer programmer and he does his job well.  He also is involved in a Creation Ministry teaching churches the importance of literal Biblical Creation as it is told in Genesis.  But, he is BEST at being a daddy.  He is a 100% family man!  Some days he is literally my "knight in shining armor" -minus the armor - when he gets home from work.  He and the kids spend time together while I get a moment to be still or go to the bathroom all by myself.  The kids love him...probably more than they love me...and the more they love him, the more I love him.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that he takes his turn with the dishes every now and then, knows how to fold clothes and run a vacuum, and can whip up a brownie mix or puppy chow better than me.

The three Princes -
"A" -Our first-born joined our family in 2003.  He is the spittin' image of his father and has been since birth.  He has a great sense of humor (although sometimes he needs to learn that not all times are good times for jokes), is a great artist, and has shown quite a lot of talent on the baseball diamond and the soccer field.  More than anything though he is an outdoorsman.  His goal is to be a mountainman and live in a cabin in the woods.  And someday when he is a teen (I can't believe that will even happen) and I can't find him...I will go to the pond where I bet he will be sitting with a fishin pole in his hand and his feet danglin' in the water.

"M" - Our second son was born in 2005.  And he looked like he been in some kind of serious brawl.  Then we discovered WHY he looked like he got beat up before he was even born...he was mouthy and loud and very hard to live with as an infant.  He wasn't much better as a toddler.  Then I started reading and learning and I discovered the problem.  He is why we have roamed into the world of more natural eating (and all reaped the benefits).  He is very sensitive to artificial dyes in food...they make him angry.  Now he is growing and getting smarter all the time.  He is a reader although he hates writing.  And has declared he wants to be a chemist when he grows up.  I think science is a good match for him....we shall see.

"G" -  Our youngest son joined us in 2007.  When we told our family we were expecting again, they were shocked!  But G is an amazing little boy.  Like all little brothers, he wants to be just like his big brothers.  There are times (farting at the table) that his training is a bit subpar...but he follows the lead of the A and M with unswerving dedication...unless they take his toy or punch him (and lets be honest, with 3 boys punching happens.  He is getting big enough to really hold his own.   I haven't figured out what his interest is but we will as he grows.

The Princess -
"L" - We added a princess to our family through domestic adoption.   Gotcha day was October 22, 2012.  Her birthday is in Jan of 2011 though.  She is sweet and strong willed and everything a two year old (who is almost 3) should be.  :)  Adoption was a wild ride and it isn't over yet.  We still run into things that make us go "hmmmm" since she has joined our family.  It is odd to me that others see her as different from us (although she doesn't "match") because to me, she is just one of us.  And she completes our family.

Although the life we have here is not at all how I would have described my "castle in the sky" as a teen, I cannot fathom living any other life.  My dreams were lofty, grandiose...but God's plans were loftier, grandiose-r (?).  They were just delivered in a much less flashy package.  In the words of Max Lucado, "what could be better than this?"  I will likely never be famous, but I will leave a legacy behind in the minds of my children.  I will try be the wife that my husband deserves.  THAT is a life worth living!