Let's see how this works....

Since everyone is into blogs nowadays, I thought I'd give it a try. I actually opened this blog like 2-3 yrs ago when a friend began blogging, but I never did anything with it after that. I'm not all that big into creative writing, so it may take me a while to get the hang of it.

I don't really think my life is all that interesting that people would want to read a blog about me and my life. Apparently, though, the fact that I have 11 children makes me an oddity enough that I am frequently told "You should write a book!" Well, maybe this is a step in that direction.

Speaking of children, I was just conversing with my daughter, Sally, about the baby (2 yr old Savannah) having recently chopped up her bangs really bad... not just once or twice, but now THREE TIMES within 2 weeks time! They are HORRIBLE looking! I contemplated chopping off all her hair to match, but I just could not bring myself to do it. I have an online friend who's daughter did the same thing, so she literally shaved the little girl's hair off. I think Scott would have a royal FIT if I did that!

Well, I guess a short bio would be good to include with my first post, so here goes:
Scott and I married in July 1987 . I was 19 and he was 25. We just celebrated our 21st anniversary this past summer. We were planning to wait a year or two before getting pregnant, but God had other plans and I got pregnant with our first baby when we were married for 8 months. Our son Roy Allan was born Dec. 30, 1988 (just in time to be a tax deduction for that year, as Scott likes to mention!) Roy is going to be 20 in a little over 2 months time. He has grown and matured into quite a handsome young man who loves the Lord and wants to serve him. He currently plays the trumpet in our church band and also runs the video ministry. Roy spent the whole summer in the Ukraine this year, serving with a mission group called Euro Team Outreach. He really enjoyed it and wants to go again next summer. He also works with Scott in our home business, he does a lot of graphic design work and answers the phones.

Our daughter Sally Ann, was born just 17 months after Roy, on June 3, 1990. She recently turned 18 and is such a blessing to have around. She is such a tremendous help around the house, keeping track of the kids while I am at work and has even been working with the little ones in homeschooling, helping them with their reading and math. She loves to cook and bake and will often whip up a batch of cookies or make a cake from scratch (assuming we actually have everything in stock when she's got the hankering to bake, that is!).

Jason Andrew was born another 17 months later, on Nov. 9, 1991. He will be 17 next month. My how time has flown! Jason has always been our clown, very funny guy. He is also very creative and loves to work with wood in our workshop. He is learning how to use the lathe and has made some really nice things. He also is a gun fanatic, a literal walking gun encyclopedia. He likes to draw guns and has design his own versions, too. He is making plans to go hunting with my sister's boyfriend this fall. He has never been hunting before, so I hope it works out. They are planning to hunt bear - if they get one, I guess I'll be trying bear meat for the first time. Jason is also helping Scott with the printing side of our home business and seems to enjoy it.

Jonathan David was born 16 months later, on March 27, 1993. Jonny was my smallest baby (not really all that small, though, at 7 lbs 8 oz) and has always been on the small side. He was born with the congenital anomaly called Clubfoot, and I believe that is the reason for his small stature. He wore casts and braces on the affected leg for a year and thankfully it was corrected enough without needing to resort to surgical correction. Jonny is 15½ right now and is quite the fireball. He is doing very well in homeschool and will probably be done in another year or two. He is working a lot on the computer learning graphic art skills and is doing really well with that.

There was a nice big gap between babies 4 and 5 - 27 months! Nathan Scott was born on June 16, 1995. He turned 13 this summer, making me the mother of 5 teens - yikes! Nathan is also doing well in homeschool and helps out around the house as needed. He hasn't shown a special skill in any particular area yet, so we're still not sure where to focus our extra-curricular training with him.

Abigail Suzanne was born Nov. 4, 1996, 17 months after Nathan. She will be turning 12 next month already. Abby is such a little mother to her younger siblings. They like to go to her for comfort when they are hurt or need a drink or something. She doesn't always like that they cling to her, though - lol! She is quite a creative writer when she sits down to write.

Kenneth Paul was born July 11, 1998 - 20 months after Abby - he turned 10 this summer. Kenny is a control freak and is learning that he can still be happy even if he is not controlling what goes on around him. School-wise, he is doing really well and has finally conquered reading, thanks in part to Sally working with him one-on-one several times a week. (Teaching reading has always been a down-side to schooling for me, I get so frustrated when they still don't "get it" after the 20th lesson, which in turns frustrates them and then they just don't want to try anymore - Sally has much more patience in that department, thankfully). We haven't been focusing Kenny toward any skills yet, just waiting for his natural talents to come forth in time.

Charles Matthew was born on April 26, 2000 - 21 months after Kenny. He is 8½ now. Charles is our quiet one of the bunch. He is always in the background, never right in the middle of the action unless we intentionally draw him in - he just likes to watch from the sidelines, I guess. He is doing so well in reading and math this year.

Reuben Leonard was born April 6, 2002, almost exactly 2 yrs after Charles. He is 6½ and getting reading down this year, too, thanks to Sally working with him and Charles together.

Jesse Daniel was born on Nov. 15, 2004 and will be 4 next month. Jesse is too busy for his own good! For instance, in July 2006, when he was 20 months old, he climbed up on the kitchen table while we were getting dinner ready and fell backward into a very large pot of scalding hot soup I'd just set out. He was severely burned over 14% of his body and spent a week at Harborview Medical Center recovering. He has some scarring as a result but nothing that requires any surgical correction. He's also picked up a box-cutter one of the older kids was using and carelessly left within reach and he made a nice slice in his leg with it! He is one to keep us on our toes, that's for sure!

Savannah Rose, my most longed-for baby girl, was born August 17, 2006 - 21 months after Jesse. It was almost 10 yrs since my previous girl and I was SO longing for a third daughter, I was just estatic when we found out it was girl. She turned 2 this summer. Except for the above story where she's desacrated her hair, she is just the sweetest thing since french toast!

People keep asking me if we're going to have more. Well, if it were up to me, the answer would be most emphatically YES! But so far, God has not blessed my womb again. It is so weird to me that it is not happening, too, after all the others with no effort whatsoever. I wonder if my working a full-time job outside the home since August 2007 has anything to do with it (I'm thinking it probably has everything to do with it). The job itself is not stressful, but the hrs I keep might interfere with my ability to conceive, since I get up at 4am. Its been over a year since I started the job, though, so you'd think my body would have adapted by now. It just goes to show that God does indeed open and close the womb. If I were to get pregnant this month, I would be due when Savannah turns 3, just WAY too big a gap!

More about my working outside the home... I was a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) since before we had our first baby, but in Oct 2006, we bought a bigger house and with it came a much bigger payment than we'd had previous. Shortly after we bought is when the economy started taking the big hits and our finances got tighter and tighter due to declining orders. Because Scott was (and still is) too busy to take on an outside job, we decided it was the next best thing for me to seek employment outside the home since our teens are old enough to watch the younger ones while I am at work. I work as a Sprint/Nextel customer service rep in an in-bound call center and it is not too far away from our house, only 2.2 miles! My hrs are 5am - 1:30, so I am home early enough in the afternoon to keep tabs of the kids schooling and still be able to keep up with my tasks in our home businesses.

Well, I guess my first post turned out to be a book in and of itself! I'll have to stop for now.