The Fam

Below are those people in my life who make this blog. I don't make it up folks. I only blog what I live.

Xavier - My oldest and probably the most complex out of my 3 children. Xavier is currently 11 and is scary intelligent. In the fourth grade he was deemed academically gifted, and is now on course in school with AG classes.  He also deals with severe ADHD, which can be extremely difficult for him and for us as a family. However, over the past couple of years, with a lot of advocating, hard work, and a fantastic IEP, Xavier has gone from struggling in school to acing anything he puts his hands on. For years he had bandied around the idea of being a Marine Biologist when he grew up, but has recently changed his mind to a career as a software engineer (like his dad)  but for gaming companies.

Xavier will be starting middle school this year at a STEM school, something that fits him perfectly. He is excited to start. I, on the other hand, am stocking up on alcohol for the new roller coaster ride I know we just got on.

Xavier is a gaming addict, just like his parents. His favorite ones are Minecraft, Team Fortress 2, and Roblox.

Ashe - My middle child, enjoying the fact he is the only one out of his brothers to have the title of both "Little Brother" and "Big Brother". Ashe is 6 going on emo 16. I joke sometimes that he is our drama queen. There is no half way with him. Everything is extreme. He has given me the most blog fodder out of all 3 kids so far, but his younger brother is starting to catch up. I sometimes wonder in awe at the way his mind works. Ashe's logic is definitely a logic all on its own. He is our accident prone child. This is the child that will fall just standing. It's become so common that anytime he gets hurt, or does something that may result in getting hurt, we call them "Ashe-idents". Last year, we found out that his eye sight was 20/150 and he had no depth perception; finally a reason to understand why this child could fall standing up. With his new set of glasses the tumbles have lessened, but he can still trip at any given time. It's a wonder that we haven't ended up in ER for a broken bone yet.

Aside from keeping us on our toes, Ashe is our artist. His love of coloring, drawing, and doodling knows no bounds. Give him some markers and a blank notebook, and he'll happily putter for hours making 4 yr old fridge art creations. He is also a lover of anything Zelda. For the past two years, he has dressed as Link for Halloween, and constantly wears the costume around the house. 

Soren - Soren is the youngest of the crew, but don't let that fool you into thinking he is the innocent one. He may look cute and cuddly (oh hell let's face it, he really freaking is!) but this kid can wrestle his oldest brother to the floor and sit on his face until mercy is cried out. While Ashe may have given me the most blog fodder up until now, Soren is definitely catching up and may take the lead.

Soren is 4, and can not wait to be 5 so that he too, can join his brothers in this awesome thing called school. His cute little voice juxtaposed with his bursting vocabulary makes almost anything he says adorable. Which I feel is a survival mode aspect, since I am too busy dying of laughter instead of chasing him around the house when he randomly says stuff like "where is that fucking cat".

Soren is hugely into Plants vs. Zombies, Angry Birds, and Mario Bros. He is a plush fan, and has accumulated approximately 55 plushies from each game. His goal is to get me to give in, and purchase him the Mighty Eagle, which runs $100. Fat chance kiddo. You have an allowance, save up.

J (Jody) - My Other Half. The Yin to my Yang, the Hobbes to Calvin. My sanity for 95% of the time. J and I met when I was 16 and he was dating one of my best friends (who then set us up after they decided they were better as friends). I believe our first conversation was about the shirt he was wearing, which had a logo of the band Bad Religion. Having just left religion myself, but still having those loyal tendencies, I told him off that his shirt sucked. Or something to that effect. He of course, didn't appreciate that. A year later we were a couple and we have been together ever since. We celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary in September.

J has a very dry sense of humor that, more often than not, will go right over peoples head. And he has a way of saying it that you don't realize he's joking until 6 hours later. Sometimes, even I find myself waking up at 2AM when realization dawns on me, and then I fall back asleep chuckling. Unless I'm the butt of his joke.

J and I work very hard to make sure we're on the same page with parenting. We are a team, and our kids know it.

SRM - I am a SAHM who gets to watch the fun fly by. I like reading (a lot), fantasy MMORPGs, sarcasm, coffee, chocolate, and wine.  I writhe against the confined stereotype that society places upon moms, and rebel with my own brand of humor; anything from blue streaks in my hair, to placing sarcastic bumper stickers on my car that state my children sold your honor student the answers to the tests. I loathe narrow minded parental units who believe there is only one way to parent. Because that is just bull shit. There are as many ways to parent as there are children in the world.  And this is my platform to rebel against that concept. I am not the best mom. I am not even close to it. But I am the best mom that I can be, and my kids are thriving. So nyah.