Get to Know Our Family Code!

1. We are a family of 6! Travis (Dad), Toni (Mom), Peyton (9), Charlotte (5), Thea (1) and Liam (newborn!)

2. Modern day love story: boy goes to college, girl goes to college → boy works as a DJ, the girl works as a club promoter → they meet at a bar → he thinks she’s cute, she thinks he’s cute = let’s make cute kids! And so it began!

3. We still aren’t married. It’s on the to-do list, but after all of this time, it seems like a silly thing to do considering we have been together for 10 years and have 4 kiddos. We will bite the bullet one day and schedule it into our busy lives. There’s probably a free slot of time in the next few years somewhere.

4. We’ve been talking about starting a blog for the last 6 years and are kicking ourselves for not doing this sooner since we like to think we are funny, creative, pretty relatable and also experts by now right?!?

5. We are awful at taking family pictures of the entire family. Our family Halloween costume picture is probably the only picture that we take annually of all of us! (Yes, we will also discuss our epic Halloween costumes and include some amazing tutorials as well! Spoiler Alert: Travis has some mad sewing game!)

Travis & Charlotte

6. Toni works full-time in retail management, which means she’s away about 70hrs a week on average. That’s crazy! We know! It also means that Travis spends 99% of his life chasing toddlers, being a Dance Dad and taxi driver for the girls (and soon baby boy too!)

7. Travis is passionate about developing video game applications and tries to squeak in some work when he can (though this has become increasingly harder while chasing a wild toddler). 

Sidenote: This good looking’ guy in the flannel is all mine ladies and gents. It’s no wonder we keep having babies though right!?

8. We still live in the same tiny duplex that we moved into for a “temporary home” more than 6 years ago when we made the move from Florida to Wisconsin and had a family half the size we do now. A new house is on the to-do list too located shortly after “Save up some money” and “Fix our credit reports”. 1200 sq ft with 6 peeps is not going to last long though. We live next door to Travis’ sister and her two kiddos, so it’s not too bad for now.

9. Our kids are growing into wonderful human beings (most days), but they are the #1 and #2 worst cleaners and chore list finishers ever. I also don’t remember what color carpet they have in their room or if they even have carpet at all.

10. Our playroom is referred to as Dad’s room because Dad snores and there always seems to be a kid (or two) in bed with mom (sleeping, nursing or just growing inside a belly) and mom also gets up at the crack of dawn to go to work most days. We need a bigger bed.

11. We celebrate holidays in big, messy ways. From decorations to crafts, to food and gifts, we go big. Honestly, we’ve probably been celebrating Christmas for 4 kids since 2008, when we only had 1 kid, which is extreme.

Thea

12. Sometimes we are too connected to our gadgets and part of this journey is to make sure we are more intentional with each other and our children.

13. We play Minecraft. All of us. On teeny tiny squares on the TV. It’s not as fun as it sounds.

14. We bribe our children. Once you are outnumbered this is the key to survival and affection.

15. Thea, our wild toddler, is a lot like the baby from Lemony Snickets. I don’t doubt this child could chew through a rock if we let her. She also likes to dance to 80s music and is a big fan of Stranger Things.

Charlotte

16. We binge watch Netflix (and other streaming services). Each one of us. On separate devices. Our fav shows are Stranger Things, Blacklist, Girl Meets World, Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, and Gotham.

17. We are super crafty Pinterest lovin’ maniacs who have tried and failed and tried and completed a TON of Pinspired projects.

18. Charlotte thinks she is speaking a different language when she says maniac as “mahn-e-ack” and potato as “pote-ta-to”. She’s a middle child we can’t blame her for her weirdness. She currently wants to be a Masterchef, singer, fashion designer with no kids.

19. Peyton is a loving, empathetic young lady who loves the magic of the world including Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. She also wants to be a YouTube star and a Fashion Designer.

20. We celebrate all of the weirdness (and awesomeness) that each of us brings to the family table. Not without a fair share of jokes about each other though.

Toni

Facts about Toni 

1. I am addicted to cheese curds and sour gummy candy.
2. I shop. A lot. I justify this by having more kids!
3. I am stubbornly passionate about a lot of things. I often refuse to budge from my opinion. ← I’m working on this ;-)
4. I’ll immediately correct someone without hesitation when it comes to the details. It’s a big flaw. Travis likes to call me Ted from How I Met Your Mother.