Family Introduction

Welcome to my crazy family!  This is most of us, missing are my oldest son Austin, his wife Jessica and their daughter, Victoria.  Hoping to get a picture of the ENTIRE family this year.

Top Row (left to right): Sabrina, Hubbie, Me, Dustin and Billy

Bottom Row (left to right): Zakkary and Shalyn

Billy is 19, Sabrina 18, Dustin 16, Zakkary 9, and Shalyn is 8.  

I adopted Austin, pictured holding my first grandchild Victoria, when he was three.  I married his father who had full custody and his birth mother allowed me to adopt him.  Sabrina, Dustin and Zakk are my birth children.  I divorced their father and married my current hubbie who brought Billy and Shalyn into our family.  Hubbie and I have been together for almost six years, married for three.

Stitches holding Victoria this summer.

Now for the children that I nanny.  I've been with the family for about two years and they've definitely become a part of the family.  Sabrina attends high school online so she co-nannies with me affording me the opportunity to attend classes.

Surprisingly, I don't have a clear picture of all three of them together.  Gave them nicknames just so I don't have to worry about anything.  So first up is Ace, 7.  He's a first grader so I really only see him occasionally.

Then we have Flutterby, she just turned 5 and those are her absolute favorite pants in the whole wide world!

Lastly is Bullet, he's 2 1/2.  Nicknamed appropriately, this little guy keeps Sabrina and myself on our toes.

Besides the Basketball team of children, we also have two basset hound/lab mixes.  They're brothers from the same litter but they don't look like it.  Bo is Dustin's dog and he's about the size of a basset.  Harley is my dog and I swear he was mixed with a great dane!  I wanted dogs that we could keep in the house without destroying everything, it didn't quite work out.  Harley's tail takes out anything he walks by!

Bo (mostly white here but now mottled brown/white) and

Harley (mostly black) at three months old.

We also have two cats, both male as well.  We had a third, who my sister-in-law let out of the house accidentally one day and she came back with our oldest male,Tye, as a surprise.  She lucky only had the one kitten but she passed away soon afterwards.  Tye is solid black shorthair and is also Dustin's pet.  

Tye, Dustin's cat.

Bandit the day we found him being held by Shalyn after his bath.

Bandit is the newest addition, one I wasn't wanting but couldn't say no.  He's a black and white with medium fur which belongs to Sabrina.  She had been begging and begging for a kitten for months and I kept telling her we already had a full house.  Well, parked outside the grocery store with ALL the kids in the car on a cold, rainy night, we saw a tiny bundle of fur sitting in the middle of the parking lot.  He was dripping with both rain and blood.  Sabrina ran out of the car, put her hand out and called him over.  He came right to her and he became a part of the household.  Luckily, he just had a small cut on his nose that we were able to take care of easily.

Bandit a couple of days after he joined the household.

Well, that's us, we've definitely got a full house, but it makes for a full heart.