How many kids do you have?????

When asked that question, I often reply, "none, baby goats are hard on the upholsetry."

But I know, they really mean, "how many children do you have?"
And the answer varies. I, personally, have given birth to two babies. My first: She's beautiful, sensitive, funny....... and a girl, through & through

Because her father & I divorced when she was 3, the amount of time, and consequently number of photos, I have with & of my daughter are fewer than those I have of my second born.... my boy child...  and he's ALL boy.... he's also a ham, has his daddy's easily frustrated nature, and LOVES to snuggle:

Brother & Sister..... what more can you say?

Along with second marriages often come step children. Step children can be challenging... and when they become teenagers...... well, you finally understand why some animals eat their young.

My life as a step parent was VERY challenging. I tried to always look out for what my boys needed. And I tried hard to balance that with what my daughter and then son needed as well. I tried to be fair, and I tried to make sure that EVERY child in my home knew I loved them. Sometimes I succeeded. Sometimes I didn't. I made note of the successes, and the failures, committed them to memory, and learned from them.

My step sons are 18 and 16 now. Ryan is off doing his own thing. Devin is back with his mom, because that's what he needed. Decisions we made, right or wrong, led us to where we are today. And whenever I wonder if we did right by these boys, here's a few "memory lane" items...... I look and them and I know exactly what it was that we were thinking:

This was the last picture we had taken of ALL of them together... 

Don't they look like they're up to something?

And the last of the three boys together... at lest in a studio....

Ryan enrolled in Grizzly Youth Academy. It's a federally funded program, run by the National Guard, for at-risk youth. It's an AMAZING program. 

Dale and his boys (minus LD cause he was too tiny to do this) spent an afternoon hiking around Upper Bidwell Park

Kids, Children, Offspring, Parasites, Punks, Ankle-Biters... call them what you will. 

We love them, even if they do ruin the upholstery.