My Life Monday...or is it EVERYDAY??

Our topic for this week was to tell about the family we grew up in. (Rachelle, HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH THESE??) So, here goes nothing.
I am the oldest of 6 quite obnoxious and sometimes hilarious kids. My mom and dad got married when they were just out of high school (after my dad had proposed like 6 different times!) I was born 10 months after their wedding. My dad was always working hard while we were growing up, and so I really didn't know much about him. Our favorite times with dad were after he got home from work. Usually two of us would straddle his legs and untie his boots and pull them off. We were always rewarded with a grunt of satisfaction and maybe a tickle fight where we'd cry out in pain from laughing so hard. I really had a great childhood. I don't think I was denied in anyway!
I have 4 brothers, which was cause for NO survivors when it came to Barbies. I think every Barbie I EVER had became decapitated within minutes of being out of the box. But, thanks to these brothers, I have lots of funny memories.
My oldest, younger brother is Shad. He was always a sweetheart, if not a bit gullible. He really couldn't help himself though. He has Asperger Syndrome which is a VERY mild form of autism. The sad thing, is that we didn't get his diagnosis of this until he was in high school. For years they thought the boy had ADD. He is brilliant in any sciences and an AMAZING artist. He was always tender-hearted and had difficulties making GOOD friends, but he's now the "black sheep" of my family. After coming home from his mission, he joined the Marines, attempted suicide to get out of boot camp, and now has some drug, alcohol, and smoking issues. I love the boy, he's my brother, how could I not? I just hope that he goes back to being the sweet boy I remember growing up.
My second oldest, younger brother is Daren. Daren and I were so close in personality growing up that we COULD NOT stand to be around one another. For years and years I would beat on him (I'm the oldest, it's my perogative!) And my mom always told me that he would grow up to be bigger than me and would turn around and beat ME up. Eventually, it happened like she said. After a rough couple of teen-age years, he left home for the summer and we learned that we really do love one another and we have been good friends since. Daren was hit by a car when he was 2 years old, and we always teased him that it flipped a switch in his head. He went from being all BOY to loving My Little Ponies and playing with girls. Despite his love of "girlie" toys, he's a funny and amazing young man. He was always the more responsible sibling in our family, and it's carried through to adulthood. People would ALWAYS think that Daren was older than Shad, they still do! He was my childhood nemesis!
My only sister is Michelle. Whatever I'm not, woman-wise, she is. She's the complete perfectionist. (I'm only aspiring!) She's picky, I'm relaxed...she's got a GORGEOUS complexion, I'm always breaking out....She's girlie, I'm kinda boyish....The list goes on and on. Living in a smaller home, the girls had to share a bedroom. So, Michelle was my constant roomie. We shared a bed for a while, and eventually we ended up with similar bedroom habits. We were both fairly cluttered bedroom keepers. Her bedroom NOW is spotless (I'm thinking it's more her husband than her, but who knows!) And my bedroom has piles of stuff all over the place. See, we're still polar opposites!! About nine years ago, my beautiful sister was burned very severely and had to have skin grafts. She still has bumpy arms from where she had the surgeries, but she's become a better person thanks to this experience. There are many times we don't see eye to eye, but we will ALWAYS be close!

My next brother is Doug. Doug has always been a LARGE child. He was 11 pounds 7 ounces when he was born...(my mom DID NOT have a C-section...he was all natural!) I remember the day he was born too. My mom's water had broken and she was standing over a towel in our bathroom. I was confused (I was only 7 years old!) And I told her that the toilet was right there. She laughed at me and told me that it wasn't what I thought it was. When my aunt came to tell us the news that we had a brother she said, holding her arms out as far as they'd go, "You have a brother, and he's this big!" My thought was "Whoa!!" Fortunately, he wasn't THAT big, but he's a large guy! Doug was always the diffuser/peacemaker in our home. When there were disagreements, or whenever I got punished, he'd be right there, arms out wide ready to give a hug! He STILL comes to us when we seem upset, arms open and ready to give comfort! He's like a giant teddy bear!

My youngest brother is Braiden (aka BJ). Braiden is 2 weeks shy of being exactly 10 years younger than me. He was often the butt of our jokes. We'd do things to him that I'm not really proud of. There was the time we convinced him we were all vampires, pointing out our very sharp eye teeth! Then there was the time we fed him a baby worm out of the sand box. The poor kid was always doing things that he really didn't want to do. And since he was the baby of the family he was spoiled...rotten! He wasn't just spoiled by my parents though, I was guilty as well! If he had a choice of who he got to sit with, he'd pick me. We had a special bond, that some days can be fun, and can also be annoying! He is notorious for licking people! Yes, he licks us! (He just licked my mom a few weeks ago!) He's a very good looking kid and he knows it!

Growing up in this brood was fun at times, and down-right hard at others. We'd stick up for each other, and we'd also be the cause of one another's pain. Some of my favorite memories come from times when it was late at night and we'd pile on my mom's bed and listen to her tell stories about when she was younger. We'd laugh or have some sweet heart-to-heart talks there. We were at times each other's best friends, at others, our worst enemies. I think it was a very typical large family life. I learned so much from this family (I still learn from them now!) And I wouldn't change anything.

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I didn't post what I was going to do today for Primary, and now I'm thinking I should have planned things out a bit more! It's a new month, meaning we learn a new song today! I don't know what it was about Junior Primary, but they were all wound higher than a kite. ACK! I attempted to teach the song, "Tell Me, Dear Lord," but it did not sink in. We're going to be reviewing this one again in a few weeks...whether they like it or not!