As this is our first blog post we will start with the typical introductions – why we are creating this blog, a little bit about each of our family members, and what we hope to achieve in the process.

Why are we creating this blog?

To say we live busy lives would be an understatement. I am what you would call a planner, and some days are difficult for even I to keep track of. My kids are growing up on me faster than I like to admit. I’m in a constant state of denial that they are no longer my babies. Unfortunately the older they get, the less I seem to remember. Not to say I have a bad memory (which, to be honest, my wife will tell you I do), but there is so much going on in our lives that it’s hard to keep track. The days literally blur together. My memory of my 6 year old daughter actually happened when she was 4. Things like that. So this will be a way for us to document our lives, the good and the bad. This is not a Facebook. We will not sugarcoat our lives and only post the good things. That’s not how the real world works.

Another reason for starting this blog is that I fully intend for this to be a bonding experience for our family. This will be a shared account with 5 authors (although one is too young to read and write at the moment). Most of the posts will more than likely be by me, but I hope one day to have separate pages on this blog for each member to post.

We are dreamers. We set goals and we work hard to achieve them. We make a lot of plans, big and small. Traveling is a goal of ours and this will be an outlet to plan and share our experiences. Baking and cooking is a new goal for ourselves. We will be sharing our recipes, tips and experiences. This will be a creative outlet as well. I really enjoy writing, so this will be a place for me to share some bits and pieces, and one day help me to write an actual book.

So let’s start with the heart and soul of our family – the kids. While we are sharing our family we would like to create some level of confidentiality. Family and friends will know who everyone is.

Our oldest, “M” is an old soul compared to the rest of our children. She has a personality unlike any you will ever find, and we absolutely love her for it. We will call her “Red” to match her fiery personality, and her hair. While she DOES care what people think of her deep down, she really doesn’t. She is a lover of things that many kids would find unusual. She is incredibly creative and loves to draw and color. You can usually find her with her nose in a book, drawing in her notepads, or watching TV. She is a protector and will not allow any harm to come to her siblings. She’s the only one allowed to bully them. She is extremely intelligent and you can typically have conversations with her that you would with an adult. She is way beyond her years, and very much a dreamer.

Our middle child, our youngest girl, “S” is a stereotypical girly-girl. For now she will go by “Diva”. Her favorite color is pink, she would wear dresses every day if she were allowed, and she very much cares about what people think. She is also our most emotional child. The smallest things will set her off, even if they were done or said with the best of intentions. She is 8 years old and still loves her baby dolls. She is our little cuddle bug and always seems to know when we need a hug or an “I love you”. She also has a pretty big attitude. She doesn’t like to do things in other people’s time and this gets her in trouble. A lot. She is also extremely shy. Typically if you are just meeting her you will find her hiding behind us.

Our youngest child, “B” is our challenging child. For the time being we will call him “Bud”, our nickname for him, short for Buddy of course. He is very shy in public, but knows he runs the household. Things don’t typically happen without his approval. Just being honest. Why? Because he is the baby, the only grandson. He has everyone wrapped around his finger with his big, contagious smile. With that also comes a serious temper. Not a violent temper, just brief moments of the-world-is-ending chaos. He does not like the word no, and sometimes it is way easier to just give in. But he also is incredibly lovable. He loves big squeeze hugs, crawling in bed in the mornings to cuddle (and a lot of times at night to kick us off the bed), and just sitting on your lap watching a movie.

My wife is the glue that holds this family together. While I do most of the planning, she is the one working behind the scenes to make sure everything is running smoothly and keeping them on schedule. Speaking of schedules, she is the one who makes all the appointments and everything for our kids and is usually the one to take them. She keeps the chaos to a minimum, and I assure you there is a lot of chaos. She always puts everyone else before herself and a lot of times will be throwing stuff on at the last minute to head out the door after everyone else is ready to go. She has a lot of little ticks that drive me crazy, but I love her through all of them. Diva gets her emotions from her mom for sure. She loves to read, listen to music, and spend any free time she has with the kids and I. She always knows how to make a bad good and always has the right words to say. Granted, she also knows how push buttons, she doesn’t do it often. She shall go by “A”.

And then there is me. If you were to compare me to any of our children I would be most similar to Red. I am an old soul. Many people would call me an overachiever. I over analyze everything. I am the biggest planner. In fact, spontaneity throws me off. I have a 10 year financial budget that I update almost every day. I love to read, listen to music (although I have pretty unusual tastes in music), watch movies with my kids, and learn. I am a big dreamer as well. Always looking forward, not always being present. Which is one of the big reasons for this blog. I’m not a big people person, a major introvert. If I could avoid people all day (except my family) I probably would. I love video games, photography, and fine art. I’m a self-proclaimed nerd. I can be hard to like, but I have an incredibly giving heart. But at the same time I speak my mind freely, often times to the point where people are cautious to ask me my opinion. You can call me “K”.

So what do we want to get out of this blog? I want to remember the little things, the day-to-day activities that ultimately create the “big picture”.

We are going to document our food journey. Learning the bake and cook wholesome, real, mostly healthy foods.

We are going to share our passions. Our favorite books, movies, music, dreams, plans, etc.

We are going to plan for the future. Like I said, we are dreamers and we have big goals.

We are going to share the smiles, the tears, and heartbreaks, the milestones and the pitfalls.

This will be a safe environment for us to share our lives.

We are excited to start this journey!

A Few Things About Our Family

We have a few rules in this family.

#1 – Try to buy wholesome and healthier food for our family. – We have actually been doing this one for going on three years now. We now only buy our meats from the local butchers. The better part of the start of our marriage was spent eating meals from the drive-thru or out of a box. This, obviously, came with a lot of health problems (mostly lots of excess weight). No more. We make a conscious effort to substitute anything we can.

#2 – Similar to #1, but no more snacks in our house. If we want a snack we physically have to make it first. This has led to our new desire to learn how to bake. And thank goodness for that because our family loves to bake together!

#3 – This is a new one for me, but no more “disconnections” from each other. I recently (as in just the past few weeks) deleted all of my personal social media outlets including Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit, etc. *side note, we do have a family Pinterest account, but it is private and we don’t share it with anyone. It’s just a hodge-podge of “us”* They were empty gestures, false connections with people, and a distraction from my family. While this may sound hypocritical as I turned around and created a blog, the intent is for this to bring our family together.

The goal is to post at least once a week, maybe more depending on the chaos that is our lives. Hopefully you will hear from all of us and get to learn some things you never knew.

Welcome to Our Little Infinity!

K~