How long have you been blogging?

I’ve had various websites since 1999, although they were all deleted in fits of frustration or depression. I’ve been here at kristyk.org since November of 2003.

Do your friends and family know about your blog?

Yes. My husband reads my blog several times a day, although he rarely comments. My friends and family know about it but I don’t know whether they read it on a regular basis.

What blogging tools do you use/recommend?

I use WordPress because it is simple and easy to customize. It also has a variety of great plugins . For photo sharing and hosting, I use flickr. I use my phone [sidekickII] both to write and send pictures.

How many kids DO you have?

We have eight nine. I often say that we have seven kids when what I mean to say is that I am raising seven. The oldest, Justin, is all grown up with a family of his own.
Are they all yours?

Yes and no. I gave birth to five of them: Mia, Bleu, Butterfly, Jonathan and Echo. Mike had Justin, Mica and Mikal with his ex-wife, Julie. However, we have custody of Mica and Mikal and they live with us full time. Mica has been with us since 1998 and Mikal since 2000. There really isn’t much of a distinction between the kids because they have grown up together.

Why do you blog?

I do it because this blog is a reflection of who I am, and sometimes I lose that. I am constantly being bombarded from all sides. I am too busy for play dates and coffee with friends. I am lucky to make it to all the school functions, doctor’s appointments and practices. My husband works a lot, so I spend almost all of my time with children. I love my children, but they don’t care much about my ‘inner self’. I am mom. Period.

Someday, these kids are going to grow up and move out. I don’t want to be sitting in an empty house all by myself and realize that I don’t know who I am. This blog helps me to evaluate myself as a person and examine my life as it happens. It brings me a great deal of joy to take my camera with me and take pictures. I like sitting down and writing about what I am going through. I am also able to connect with a wide variety of people from all over the world.

How do you do it?

Do what? Just kidding. I get this one a lot and my answer is you do what you have to do to get through the day. Days turn into weeks. Weeks turn into months. Months turn into years. I try to live each day to the fullest and hope that in the end, my best will be good enough.

I’m confused?

You’re not the only one! Visit my Who’s Who page for the long version. Here is a quick recap of the family, for new readers or those just trying to sort everything out.

MIKE and JULIE have three children together: JUSTIN (boy), MICA, and MIKAL (girl).

KRISTAL and BEN have one child together: MIA (girl).

Both couples divorce and MIKE and KRISTAL fall in love. They get married and have BLEU (boy), BUTTERFLY (girl), JONATHAN (boy), and ECHO (boy).

All the kids, with the exception of JUSTIN, live with us [that would be MIKE and KRISTAL]. JUSTIN is married to MICHELE and they have one daughter, Madison!

Got it? Good.

P.S. JULIE has two more children by different fathers, a boy (2) and a girl (15). This makes a total of 10 children, but for the purpose of this blog I am limiting discussion to our eight.

I love your site and want to contribute something!

Of course you do! The best way to give a little back is to participate. Leave a comment. Email me with your feedback. You can always donate via paypal  or buy me a present. You can also shop my cafe press store for fun stuff.

Where are your links?I read too many blogs to have them all listed. I use Bloglines and also bookmarks. I try to include links in my post, so if you check back often chances are good you’ll find something worth clicking.