Half a Dozen Braxtons

There are half a dozen people in our immediate family- one man nearing the half-century mark, his much younger wife (that would be me!) and our four children ranging in age from teenager to toddler!  As you can imagine, our home is full of people, stuff, and noise but most of all our home is filled with love.

Randy is my 48 year old husband.  We have been happily (at least most of the time) married for 13+ years and commited to each other for an even longer period of time.  Randy works hard to provide for our family.  He is a Heavy Equipment Operator (backhoe, bulldozer, etc.).  Though he previously worked for several other companies, he has been with his present employer for more than 21 years.

I am Mary, a 30-something year old Christian, wife, mother, homeschool teacher, volunteer- the list goes on and on.  As is the premise of this blog, for someone called a stay-at-HOME mom who HOME-schools her children, it seems we spend less and less time there.  Through this blog you can follow our excursions both at home and on the go and learn about what we like, do not like, where we go, what we do, the products we use, etc.

Our oldest child is Miranda and we have now entered the teen years.  Now, the moment Miranda was born I was sleeping (under general anesthesia) so maybe they DID announce "It's a Tomboy!" instead of "It's a Girl!".  A beautiful young lady she is, but she is more into horses than dolls and would rather have a summer job picking blueberries rather than babysitting and she certainly prefers baseball and basketball to dance or cheer. 

Our oldest son is named after his father and affectionately called Little Randy or Little Man.   He is 11 years old now and is always doing something.  He enjoys taking things apart rebuilding things, creating new uses for things making improvements on things (that were perfectly fine the way they were- he reminds me of Tim Taylor from Home Improvement) and has always been fascinated with cars and wheels, even as a toddler.  Little Randy also plays baseball and basketball. 

Our youngest daughter is Gwendalyn Rose, but we usually call her Gwendy.  Gwendy is 3 years old and is the most imaginative of my children.  From her imaginary friend to seeing shapes in the clouds to picking blueberries (in our living room) to catching invisible balloons (also in our living room) she keeps us amused, entertained and feeling young. 

Our youngest child is Russel.  For a long time, he was Baby Russel but since his first birthday came several months ago I am trying to get out of the habit of calling him Baby, though he always will be my baby.  Russel's hobbies are streaking through the house, hiding things in places we would never think to look for them and clearing all flat surfaces for us (and, as of lately, trying to climb on top and jump off  of said surfaces).

We live near Charleston, SC on a mini farm that gives us just enough room to do the things we like to do- gardening, raising chickens, fishing in our pond, and of course riding dirt bikes and go carts and other things of the sort.