My Family.

In years past, when I started a journal or diary of some kind, inevitably I felt the need to write about each member of my family in there, giving a summarized synopsis of their characters. Well as a blog is pretty much an online journal that I am willing to share, and my family is so essential to my values and character, writing a similar synopsis on this "journal" seems like a good idea at the present moment.(My earlier post Many Hands Make Light Work introduces some of my family members, but under different "names").

Dad: Yes, at our house, Dad seems like the inevitable name for the father character. "Father" is only used when annoyed with said person, and "Daddy" only as a fond endearment or as a title that only the smallest of the children use with regular frequency. My father is an incredible man, and one that has guided, taught, and loved on me since the day I was born. About 5'11'', he is of regular height with dark brown hair that is slowly loosing some of its natural thickness, and deep blue eyes that often twinkle with mischief or darken with feeling. He is a man with passion, vision, and an uncanny ability to make those he's close too feel very loved. He is a writer, author, movie critic, and gifted speaker and teacher. I am so incredibly blessed to have Dad as my earthly father.

Mom: Mom does go by a more variety of names, as she often says something embarrassing enough to merit a "Mother,"and many of us still call her "Mommy." Mom is a fun, lively, outgoing, creative, and practical woman that we all love very much. She has been gifted with much wisdom, and a wonderful ability to teach. (Yes, it is interesting having two parents who love to teach). She loves people, has new ideas quite often, and is a wonderfully supporting wife to Dad. She often convicts me with the respect and honor that she has for him. God gave me exactly the Mom that I need, even if some days I don't feel that way.

Miss Twitterpated: Twitterpated is my 20-year-old sister. As the oldest, she has often shown many tendencies towards that personality. Gifted at housework, cooking, and other domestic tasks, she set an example for those that came after her. She is a lively personality, especially after she started courting The Preacher, a young man only a few months older than herself. The two are quite twitterpated, and often sappy. But their love is fun to see. Twitterpated is gifted in the piano, photography, and is currently working as a live-in help for an elderly lady.

Me: I am 18 years of age, and I hope in reading my blog that you get some glimpses into my personality and character.

Mr. Tender Heart: Tender Heart is my 17-year-old brother, and a very good friend of a brother. A shorter man with a large heart and great personality, Tender Heart has enough love and fun for all those around him. He is especially gifted with small children, football, and other sports. His interests include football, geography, and statistics of any kind.

The Artist: The Artist is my 15-year-old brother, with an incredible gift in arts of many kinds. He draws everything from nature to cartoons, plays music quite well, and is also quite accomplished in Drama and other arts of it's kind. He is a funny character, with a personality you won't likely forget. His favorite pastime is playing the piano, or attempting his hand at writing novels with quite interesting characters.

Miss Domestic: Domestic is my 14-year-old sister, and is very gifted in the domestic arts. Whether cooking, cleaning, childcare, laundry, or sewing, she just seems to have knack for it all. She even wears skirts most of the time to complete the picture.We are close, although it can be annoying when people mistake us for each other as we look SO much alike, and she looks older for her age, and I look younger. She loves horses, Doctor Who, and chatting with friends.

The Dramatic One: As my parents met in a high school play we all have a flare for the dramatic, but 13-year-old Dramatic takes the cake. Since he was little, he entertained us all with his antics, and kept us hopping. He has always had a gift for prayer, although as a small child this was displayed in very long prayers before every meal. He has been involved in many plays that Dad has directed, and has always had an incredible role. He is very responsible when it comes to his schoolwork, and in the past few months has really grown into a young man of character. He loves football, Spider Man, taking care of his rabbits, and reading.

The Gangly Colt: Gangly is my 11-year-old sister, and the word describes her well. She is tall, with very long blond hair, and a contagious smile. She loves to laugh, and her antics can be quite feisty, causing the rest of us to laugh along with her. She is already quite helpful in the kitchen and with the laundry, and can also entertain the small children for quite some time. She enjoys making and giving presents, baking, any kind of craft or scrapbooking, playing board games, and making up her own board games to share with the family.

Mr. Stud-muffin: Stud-muffin is my 10-year-old brother. He has the snarky comment for every moment, and a joke for every occasion. He is studly and goofy, a little man who is still a definite boy. He loves to play sports and video games with the rest of the boys, but will choose reading more than you would expect. He loves to help cook, and is slowly but surely learning how to use knives and other kitchen utensils. He is wonderful with the youngest, and the baby's face always lights when Stud-muffin walks into the room.

Strong-Willed and Lefty: These two crazy little men are my fraternal 8-year-old twin brothers. Since the day they were born, they looked and acted completely different. Lefty, though 3 hours younger, is the taller and the bigger of the two. He is extremely athletically gifted, and can throw a left handed throw as far as Tender Heart can with his right. He loves football, and can tell you the name of any 49ers player of all time and their corresponding number. Strong-Willed is very melodramatic and feels everything stronger than most boys his age. He is really enjoying learning to read more fully, and follows his other brothers in a love for football. He is an especially big fan of the controversial player, Tim Tebow.

Little Mommy: Little Mommy is my 6-year-old sister, who as the first girl in 5 years, has the personality of an oldest child. She always seems to have a baby in her arms, or a toddler in hand. She watches the little ones well, is helpful around the house, and is already showing signs of worry when a small one gets injured, or a pot of rice boils over. She is taller than Strong-Willed, has long hair, and has the build of an athlete. She loves to color, work on reading, and do crafts of any kind.

Miss Snuggles: Snuggles is my 5-year-old sister, who just loves to get really close to people. Not only does she love to climb up in your lap, but she loves to wiggle there as well. She is funny, rambunctious, way too smart, and has some of the cutest giggles. Snuggles loves puzzles, coloring, playing outside, and pulling/pushing a wagon or stroller.

Cutey and Curly: Cutey and Curly are my identical 3-year-old twin sisters.They are short little blonds with lively personalities. Although they are identical, and the terms cutey and curly could be interchangeable, they still have their own personalities. Cutey is the elder of the two, by a mere 2 minutes, and loves her teddy bear quilt blanket. She loves to tell stories, jump on the trampoline, and giggle with the baby. Curly is the younger, and more dramatic of the two. She is the kind to burst into instantaneous fake tears when provoked, and 2 minutes later explode into real giggles. Curly has fleece blankets and loves to jump on the trampoline, or toss around a ball with the arm of a girl.

Baby Girl: Though not the youngest, 1-year-old Baby Girl still thinks of herself as the baby. She loves to snuggle or be read to while she holds her fuzzy blanket and velveteen rabbit(named "Polly" as it is actually made with Polyester, not velveteen). She is quickly learning to talk and makes us all laugh with statements of "I need Coffee" or exclamations of "Tadah!" and "Shampoo." (which means aw shucks). Her favorite activities always include other people, unless she finds a good enough book to look at.

Mr. Raspberry: Raspberry is the youngest, and loves to raspberry quite frequently. He is now crawling and scootching around on the floor, and is fully fed, is often content to navigate his away around the house and find things of interest such as shoes, books, crinkly paper, and plastic dishware. He is already good at trying very hard to escape our watchful eyes. He also loves being held, talked to, playing outside, or taking a bath.

So there you have it, my family. I love them all so much, and wish that you could all know them as well as I do so that you too could fall in love with each and everyone of them. We have our fights, differences, pet peeves, and annoying tendencies, but we are large enough and close enough to forgive and love anyway. If you read this whole post, thanks so much for taking the time to get to know my family!