Ultimate Blog Party 2013

It's time again for the Ultimate Blog Party hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom. I did a post several years ago for the UBP and it was great! I "met" a lot of bloggers whose blogs I still read to this day and consider them to be great "bloggy friends"! So here I am again hoping to meet some more like minded moms (and dads! We forget there are a lot of blogging dads too!) I'm hoping to find some more great blogs to follow and maybe get a few new followers myself! :-)

So, to all of you who are new here a big welcome! My name is Kari and this is my little corner of the world wide web. I am a child of the a '80s, a teenager of the'90s and a lover of life. I met my amazing husband Steven when I was 17. We married when I was 21. This year we celebrate 10 years as husband and wife, and 14 years as a couple. If you're good at math you can calculate my age from that! (If not, I'll just tell you that I turn 31 tomorrow, April 6th!) 

The first happiest day of our lives: October 18, 2003.

10 years later

 I have a degree in Middle Grades Education, with an emphasis in math and science but I've never used it. After graduating from Northern Kentucky University in 2008 (my mom, husband, and brother are also alums!) I already had 2 children and I was pregnant with my 3rd. We calculated how much daycare, gas, food, a professional wardrobe and money that would inevitably be spent on my classroom (since teachers get zip to use in their classrooms in most school districts!) and discovered there would be nothing left! So instead of choosing to work outside the home for bupkiss I decided to be a stay at home mom for the same salary! ;-)  Well, not exactly the same salary...I get paid with all the hugs, kisses and snuggles I can handle! I'll take that over hormonal teenagers any day! In 2012 (after loosing a baby in 2011) we welcomed our 4th and final child Eli into our world. He has brought more to our lives than we could imagine. Our family of 6 is complete!

Our blessings: Jonah (6), Micah (3), Brianna (8) and Elijah (who was 4 months when we took these pictures.)

When I'm not chasing around boys, fighting off temper tantrums and diva moments from our daughter, changing diapers, doing laundry, washing dishes, cooking another meal, cleaning up another mess, breastfeeding, changing a diaper, cleaning up another mess (wait! I repeated some of that!) I like to scrapbook (although I rarely have time to do that these days), surf Pinterest (you can follow me by clicking on the button on the sidebar.), watch old TV shows on Netflix (currently watching Brothers and Sisters again. Remember that show?!?! Love it!!), go on fun dates with my hubby and work towards creating an inviting and organized home.

We share our home with my mom, 3 generation living under 1 roof. You will hear about that here too, the struggles and joys of being a multigenerational home. It has been one of the biggest blessings of our lives. I come from a thoroughly modern family. My parents divorced when I was 14. My father is a gay man. He has been with his partner, Charles for 18 years. Both of my younger brothers are also gay. I feel very blessed to have all of them in my life. I know that the relationships with gay individuals and their families are not always easy. We try to be a picture of what tolerance and acceptance can look like if we can move beyond ourselves and learn to love each other unconditionally. We aren't perfect, there is always room for improvement, but we try to be the best we can be!

Our modern family, my mom and dad are in the middle. My dad's partner Charles is in the back next to Steven.

We are also a Catholic family. You will from time to time hear about our faith here. It is a big part of our lives, and we are very active in our parish. We love being Catholic (even if from time to time I tend to lean a little left in a few areas that the Church teaches...I'm sure you can guess which ones! lol) and we love to share what we are doing for holidays, Holy Days and regular days to incorporate our faith into our lives.

So there you have it! An introduction to us and our blog! I hope that you'll stay and browse around for a while! And hopefully you'll come back to visit again soon!

And if you are one of my regular readers (Hi guys!!) be sure to stop by 5 Minutes for Mom and check out some of the other blogs joining in on the Ultimate Blog Party 2013.