The cast of characters

If you're a reader who has followed me over from my HSB page, then skip right over this post. If not, well then ... introductions are in order. Below you'll find a quick snapshot of my family. And, don't worry. All names have been changed to protect the less-than-innocent!

First of all, there's me. I'm encroaching on my mid-thirties, live in the green and drizzly Pacific Northwest, am losing my Southern accent at an alarming rate and spend my free time reading, writing (both fiction and nonfiction), knitting, cross stitching and taking really long, really hot baths. As a matter of fact, the latter hobby has become so much a part of who I am that anyone who knows me very well makes it a point not to call me between the hours of 8 and 9 p.m. because chances are good that I am enjoying my nightly hydrotherapy.

My dh is firmly in the mid-thirties, something he is a little shocked at, I think. He is a massive football fan. No, not the kind of football with the oblong-shaped ball and the men patting one another's rears. The other football--we Yanks call it "soccer." My husband is a journalist who is actively involved in our homeschool and who manages not only a full-time job but two kids' soccer teams and a recreational team of his own. In addition, he is the (unpaid) Outreach Pastor is the church we are helping to plant.

To rid myself of the pesky labels that go along with blogs, I have given each of my children code names. It's just too much stress on my brain to remember things like "dd9" and "9g." Plus, it's really impersonal and well, I hate that. So, allow me to introduce the stars of the show:

Jo is our 9 year-old daughter. I picked this particular moniker because my little girl has a fascination with "Little Women." She is definitely a "Jo"; she is spunky, she is frightfully intelligent and she strains under the burden of becoming, someday, a lady. Jo is one of those kids who needs very little direction in schooling beyond a rich environment. Left to her own devices, she has learned an encyclopedia's worth of information about anything that catches her fancy. She is currently focusing those passions on raising and showing her 4H project rabbit and writing family newspapers.

Our oldest son reminds me of the character of Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird," so I call him Atticus. At just-shy of 7 years old, he is an intense little man with a strong, innate sense of justice and an inner drive to do the right thing. Atticus, too, is a strongly self-directed learner, though his interests are mostly in scientific fields. He loves astronomy and ornithology, especially. His biggest challenge is remaining an individual amidst the two very strong personalities that sandwich him in the birth order; Atticus is amazingly smart and sensitive, but lets his sister and brother have the spotlight most of the time.

If you know anything about Wolverine in the X-Men comics, then the next name will make total sense to you. I call my youngest son Logan. Logan's dominating characteristics are his fierce individualism, his passionate, artistic nature and his almost inhuman pain tolerance. At almost-5 years old, Logan doesn't care too awful much for book learnin'-- though he reads and does difficult mental calculations with ease. Logan is far happier with a paint brush in his hands, or chunks of cut wood that he can assemble into a complex fort structure.

In addition to the three children we have already been blessed with, we are currently awaiting placement in the foster/adoption process. As soon as we know who we'll be adding to the family, I'm sure I'll start picking their personalities apart so that I can give them code names, too. It's a tradition, you know. :-)