The 'Fam' Breakdown

There are a lot of issues to take into consideration here, for privacy's sake, so for those of you who don't know me personally ... here is our family.

Haha! Aren't we cute? This is a family portrait I commissioned last Christmas from Jenn, a fantastic Etsy artist. Of course, it's an artistic representation of each of us for fun, but it will give us a starting point. Hubby and I have been married almost 4 years now. We met online if you can believe that. (I still can't believe that this is the story I get to tell my grandchildren) We were each married once before and had children of our own, who I'll call by number in their birth order.

-- Funny side note: When we started dating, we would have them count off by number to make sure we had everyone. They still do it for fun, mostly on our way home from Grandma's house. We change it up too, so at Christmastime they each have a reindeer name and when we're feeling silly they have dwarf names. #5 gets to choose either Happy or Grumpy depending on his mood. --

#1 (pink dress) is my oldest. She is 15 years old, a sophomore in high school, driving with a Learner's Permit and working her first job. She is a creative genius and has a flair for fashion. She's also the second mommy in the house, by choice.

#2 (basketball) is my baby, though he towers a good 7" over me now. He is 14 years old, a freshman at our junior high, student body officer and sports enthusiast. He also has an artistic hand and a super silly sense of humor.

#3 (book) is hubby's oldest. She's the bookworm of the house, 14 years old, 8th grader, on student council and writer extraordinaire. I'm always blown away by how she can pen a story. It's truly amazing for someone her age. Introductions are her specialty. She also has a knack for memorizing sheet music and the lyrics to every song played on the radio.

#4 (soccer ball) is hubby's first son. He's 10 years old, a Webelo, 5th grader, was chosen to be in the Cyber Corp at school and is learning to play the violin. He is an inventor at heart and also loves to draw. It's cute to watch him and #2 sketching together while we're at church.

#5 (cape) is hubby's baby. He's almost 7 now, in the first grade, has a slew of new too-big teeth to show off, and definitely the girl magnet of his class. He reads like a pro when he's having a good day and loves to build with Legos.

Whew! There you go. Us and ours. His and mine. In a nutshell. Full house. Full hearts.