I live in a Southern California suburb.  In this land of perfect weather my husband and I have had to make huge sacrifices to retain our family goal of keeping me at home and able to home school our children.  This is not a place where it is easy to live on a single income.

We live in a guest house, downstairs from Nana and Papa.  It has been a joyful experience living with my in-laws for the past seven years and one that comes with plenty of benefits, wonderful memories, and lots of laughs.  We couldn’t do what we do without them.

And ohhh the FUN we have!

I’m Rachymommy – a stay-at-home- / home schooling / soccer Mom.  If you want to learn more about me, check out my detailed profile here.

I refer to my husband as Einstein, and in posts about him in his younger years before we were married, I refer to him as “the boy next door.”

He’s a software engineer who writes code and is a whiz with all things electronic and technological.  He and I grew up in this town and had secret crushes on each other from a distance.  In college we ended up at the same bible study and finally started hanging out.  After six months of a blossoming friendship we began a courtship, and after six months of that, Einstein proposed and we were married a month and a half later.

We have three AMAZING children… so far!

Leo is our gifted firstborn.  He began reading at age two.  He is the reason I started home schooling.  At age four when I was considering the idea of starting him in kindergarten early, he tested into the second grade.

Though he is brilliant he is also a typical boy; he plays soccer and baseball and is obsessed with video games, Legos, and all things Star Wars.

His nickname is a reference to Leonardo da Vinci, one of the many inventors that fascinate him. Leo devours books and is constantly jotting down ideas for songs, stories, and inventions.

Rembrandt is our second-born.  She is a true girly-girl with the exception of her love for Lightning McQueen. Yes that racecar is on her sheets and comforter… No we are not NASCAR fans, just Pixar fans.

Remy is preschool age and is an entirely different creature than Leo.  She just began reading this year at age three and is interested in reading at least one “BOB book” (available in the teaching reading section of my store) each day, as long as she gets a piece of candy for it. She flits from one activity to the next at a mind boggling pace and nearly everything she spends her time doing has some kind of connection with art.

She is a lefty who began drawing little characters like this one at age two.

We find scribbles and doodles like this on notebooks, bills, mail, and any type of paper that lays around our house unclaimed.  Her nickname is a reference to her love for drawing, painting, coloring, sculpting (play-doh of course) and all things artistic.

Magellan is the newest addition to our bunch.  He is our toddling explorer who is still trying to get his sea legs. He is busy discovering this new world and trying to get a grasp on what everything is and of course what everything tastes like.

Llany LOVES his freedom during those short daily moments when I release him from the confines of his playpen or high chair and just let him roam.

Papa was born in Norway and has taught all his children and grandchildren to proudly boast about their Viking blood. Grrrrrrrr!!! He runs a construction company and builds office buildings, custom homes, churches and such.  He is a no nonsense hard working guy who knows nothing about pop culture… and that’s the way he likes it.  He loves to laugh and have fun and throw a line in the stream every chance he gets.  He has a deep wisdom that he keeps to himself unless one of us comes seeking.  He doesn’t watch movies and he doesn’t read books but he does love a good old fashioned game of darts or a day out in the hot sun on a boat or Seadoo.

Nana is an encourager.  She is the dearest, sweetest spirit you’ll ever meet who can’t stand to see our little ones without a tasty treat in their hands.  In her younger years she was an actress and a model and her face still shines with a beauty worthy of the silver screen.  Now she is the matriarch of this ever growing family and her prayers and spoken blessings cover all of us as we come and go.

We have one other member here at the commune (We used to have four other members until the spring of 09 when Einstein’s sister, her husband, and their two kids moved out of state to start their own business. Yes – if you’re doing the math – at one time there were twelve of us all under one roof.  But now there are only a mere eight.)

The Professor is Einstein’s younger brother who is living here while working on his Master’s degree in education… and ladies… this one is single. (And we are trying to get him married so we can have more cousins for our kids… shhhhhh)

He loves our little munchkins and they see him not just as an uncle but like a fun big brother.  He’s not really a professor stereo-type at all. He surfs and snowboards and just about every night of the week he is off playing some kind of sport… soccer, baseball, basketball, tennis, football, etc.  He does love to read though and he is working towards becoming a teacher of math and science.

Yep… we’re quite a clan!

If you stick around and visit often, you can look forward to many more posts about our jolly lives together.