Today’s date – February 29th – isn’t on the calendar every year. If not for this extra day every four years, the year as we know it would cease to exist. This leap year shift keeps the calendar in line with our seasons.

In honor of the extra day this month our blogging friend, Jessica, created a fun little meme with a list of questions for a group of us to answer on our own blogs. It was fun to join in, and super easy, too! (Find out how you can join us below.)

Here’s a peak in to my head…

1. My childhood nicknames, coined ever so lovingly by my Dad, were Chrissy Pissy, Christiney Weeny Bambini and Chriserella. No, I am not joking. Yup… lot’s o’ love!

2. If you want to spoil me rotten, buy me anything that shows me how much you care. Seriously, it’s THAT easy.

3. The television character I most identify with is Debra Baron from Everybody Loves Raymond. If you’ve seen the show and know me, even a little, you’ll know why!

4. If I had a whole day to go shopping and money to spend, I would go to Ikea. Oh, how I would love to decorate my home and make it warm and cozy.

5. The most wild and crazy thing I have ever done (that I can admit to publicly) is have seven children. I’m told that’s wild and crazy… But, really? It’s just my life.

6. The one thing on my bucket list that I am most eager to do is spend a significant amount of time in Italy. Exploring, learning, enjoying, living.

7. My family will always be loyal to each other.

8. If I could spend a day with a celebrity I would choose to hang with Duff Goldman from Charm City Cakes and Ace of Cakes. What could be better than creating beautiful works of art that you can EAT with a master pastry chef?

9. In my opinion, the best invention in the history of the world is the washing machine. I mean, could you even imagine washing nine people’s dirty laundry by hand? No, thanks!

10. When life hands me lemons, I make Lemon Drops! Mmmm!!

Would you like to join us for this special Leap Day Blog Hop? It’s easy – just copy the questions above (in brown) and swap out my answers for yours. Be funny or serious, reader or pr friendly, one word or full story answers and kept in line with your blog’s theme. Anything goes!

Fill in the linky below with a direct link to your post and hop around to learn more about your fellow bloggers. We even have a hashtag for this little meme! Use #leapblog when you blog out your post

Link up!

WELCOME TO MY CORNER OF THE 5 MINUTES FOR MOM ULTIMATE BLOG PARTY…
Grab yourself a cupcake!!

Ray and I have been best friends for thirteen years. Last August we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary and look forward to growing old together. We are Bible-believing followers of Christ, who have responded to the call to teach and train our kiddos at home. Our kiddos keep us busy, and we are far from perfect parents, as you’ll see as you get to know us.

Ethan and Zach are our mischievous twin boys. I’m sure you’ve heard about the special bond that twins have, right? Well, as their Mom I could swear that they share a brain. They will finish each other’s sentences, they compliment each other like bread and butter, and very seldom will you see them apart.

Julia is our only daughter, sandwiched between a gaggle of brothers. She is the only one who has yet had a broken bone and a gash deep enough to require stitches. She’s a tough little princess, though, so don’t you dare feel sorry for her! {Maybe in a few years when her brothers are screening her dates, you can feel sorry for her. I know I will!}

Next in our brood do we have Josh, who will be six years old tomorrow. {Will you help me wish him a Happy Birthday?} Josh looks up to his older brothers, but is the one in charge when it comes to his younger brothers. He loves math, is a great listener, and loves my tacos!

Our only blondie, Ben, is generally quiet and loves to just observe. Every night Ben asks me to pray for his hands. I have a feeling his hands were created to do some amazing things, even if he remains somewhat reserved.

Then comes Noah, who is the life of the party. At almost three years old he is everyone’s best friend and quite the clown. His facial expressions and body language always has us laughing. He is also our little trouble-maker… You can’t take your eyes off that kid, even for a second!

And, last but not least, is the little baby I have dancing in my womb. Next week we’ll know more about him {or her, or them}, so stay tuned.

Whew, I’m tired! So… I’m going to do some party hopping and meet some of YOU. Feel free to make yourself at home, join us on some of our adventures, enter my latest giveaway, or read the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions.

Throughout the next week I will be giving some Twitter shout-outs to some of my new #UPB10 friends, so be sure you leave me a comment with your Twitter handle.

I’ve never participated in one of these MckLinky Blog Hops, but this one looks like fun! So, here we go… Three things you may not know about us:

ONE::
Through World Vision, we sponsor 5 children in as many different countries in Africa, as well as one from Vietnam. Ray and I led a short-term mission trip to Africa in 2003, where we ministered in unsuspecting ways to the natives in Zambia. Since then Ethan, our oldest, talks almost daily about being a missionary, even as he witnesses to the neighbor kids. Someday Ray and I plan to take all of our children to walk the soil of this torn nation, and learn from the Africans as we seek to show Christ through us.

While Ray and I were debriefing with our team in Africa, we went on a safari. The following shows the unexpected…