The Family

Sportsguy

Sportsguy is my fantastic husband of 14 years.  We’ve been through all kinds of ups and downs together…unemployment, infertility, the birth of our children, buying a house…Life with him is always an adventure, and a good one!

Sportsguy loves all things sports, which is good, because he’s a sportscaster for our local Christian radio station.  He does the morning show, which means early, early mornings for him.  But it also means he’s off work early enough to spend the afternoons with the rest of the family.  In his spare time, he announces football and basketball games for our local Christian high school, watches NASCAR races, and writes a NASCAR blog.  He was even recognized by NASCAR.com as a citizen journalist!  I’m so proud of him!

Stargirl

Stargirl is my 11 year old daughter.  She’s strong willed, determined, and keeps me on my toes.  She’s also sweet, musically talented, and quite responsible.  She got her nickname last year when her 5th grade class in public school read Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli.  The class decided she was a lot like Stargirl, so that’s what they called her.  And the name stuck.

When we decided to homeschool, Stargirl was adamantly against the idea.  But after a week of homeschooling, she decided she never wanted to go back to public school.  Fiercly independent, she likes studying on her own and getting out of school “early.”  She wants to be either a singer or a veterinarian when she grows up.  To further her interests, she’s going to sing in the local youth chorus, participate in public school band, and train our dog through 4-H this year.

Currently she’s working on Sonlight Core 5, plus Math-U-See (Epsilon), Sequential Spelling, Sonlight Language Arts 5, and Sonlight Science 5.

Bug

Bug is all boy.  He’s 6 years old, has tons of energy, an engaging smile, and has no trouble making friends with those around him.  He’s also my sensitive child.  When we watched Marley and Me, he cried and cried at the end.

Bug got his name the night he was born.  The night nurse came in to check on him and called him “Bugaboo.”  Within weeks, the name was shortened to “Bug.”  And the name fits him well.

He loves soccer and is looking forward to playing basketball for the first time this winter.  He insists he’s going to sign up for football in 2nd grade, the year he’s eligible for Pop Warner League.  He also says he’s going to be a NASCAR driver when he grows up.  Yes, he takes after Sportsguy in all ways.

Currently Bug is studying Sonlight Core K, Math-U-See (Alpha), Sonlight Language Arts 2, Sonlight Science K, and Sequential Spelling.  He says he likes homeschooling better than public school, but he’d rather be playing the Wii.

Boo

Boo is our toddler. She’s full of sunshine and sweetness. We hope to adopt her soon. Until then, Boo will remain mostly a mystery to you, my readers.

Mittens

We adopted Mittens in October 2008, when a friend found a litter of stray kittens.  He loves people, and instantly seeks the attention of any guests that arrive in our home.  He’s notorious for waking us up in the middle of the night by purring in our faces.  He also has a bad habit of chewing on electrical cords.

Mittens thinks he’s the king of the house and lets everyone know when he feels put out.  The worst day of his life was the day we brought the dog home.  Since then they’ve been fighting for the supreme ruler of the house position.  As to who’s winning?  We may never know.

Patches

Patches is Mittens’ brother.  We joke that he chose Bug, as he ran right between Bug’s legs on the day our friend brought the kittens over for us to see.  Patches is the shy cat and immediately hides under the bed when guests come over.  He puts up with Bug schleping him all over the house, and loves it so much, in fact, that he sleeps with Bug almost every night.

Patches’ only downfall is that he likes feet.  He likes to claw feet.  He will sneak up on us and pounce on our feet or swat at them while we walk by.

He adjusted to the dog rather quickly and doesn’t seem to care that there is another animal fighting for the head pet position.  As long as he has his boy, he’s happy.

Chloe

Chloe is the newest addition to our family.  She’s a 1 year old mutt that we adopted from the pound this past July.  We think she’s part Border Collie, but we’re not sure.

She’s a great dog that is glad to have found a forever home.  Even when we accidently leave our gate open, she stays in the yard.  She loves to take walks so much that she will bring us her leashe when she feels neglected.  She also tries to prove her worth as a watchdog by barking at anyone who comes in sight of our house.

Her nemisis is Mittens, the cat.  Chloe believes that dogs are superior to cats, and gives Mittens a hard time by trying to herd him.

Chloe is most famous for the dance she does when we arrive home, running around the yard at a high rate of speed.  We’ve named this dance the “Cloe Express.”