Our Family

Here’s the story of a lovely lady
Who was bringing up two very active boys,
Neither one had hair of gold like their mother
And they were full of noise

Here’s the store, of a man named Robbie,
Who was busy with three kids of his own,
They were four pals, living all together,
Yet they were all alone.

Till the one day when the lady met this fellow
And they knew it was much more than a hunch,
That this group would somehow form a family.
That’s the way we all became the CDF Bunch.

Cliché, I know, but it is probably the most common comment people make when they hear we are a blended/step family. “Ahh, like the Brady Bunch”.

Of course, The Brady Bunch comment usually follows the:
“Those all your kids”?
“Yup”.
“All of them”?
“Yes. We’re a blended family”
“Ohhhh…. Ahhhh” (the head nod and then the implication that our life is much easier now that the five kids aren’t “really” ours).

Then insert Brady Bunch comment here.

But you know what?

We are loving every single second of this amazing, incredible journey together! There are the highs and lows, some the same as “regular” families, some completely unique to step/blended families, and some our very own CDF variety!

Meet my awesome fam:

My flowers:

Zachary (Zach)

Joshua (Josh)

My Skids (step-kids):

Gabriel (Gabe)

Alexandra (Zandra)

Samuel (Sam)

My partner in crime, best friend, hero, love of my life (you get the point):
Rob (Robbie McHottie) (with me…)

Everyone is always asking, so I’ll answer up front.

1.Schedules:

We have Zach and Josh (“the boys”) every Sun, Mon, alternating Tues, Thurs, Sat night.

We have Gabe, Zandra and Sam (“the kids”) every Mon, Tues, and alternating Fri, Sat, Sun.

Sometimes we have all 5 kids, sometimes just 2, sometimes just 3, and yes, sometimes no kids! (Every Wednesday night and alternating Friday night, Saturday day).

We also get the added perk of having everyone come to our home before and after school every day – so we get to see everyone each day which is nice.

Sounds confusing? It’s not. We’re all used to it now. We’ve been doing it since June 2008. Must admit, vacations, holidays, and summers get pretty messed up and hard to keep up with.

2. Why “CDF”?

Rob and his kids had his last name (C), I have always kept my maiden name (which is also Zach and Josh’s middle name) (D) and Zach and Josh had their Dad’s last name (F) (their name means flower). We put it all together and created “CDF” (sounded best in that order). It’s our way of recognizing where we come from, but celebrating our new identity too.

3. Do the kids all get along?

We have been very very blessed. Our kids love each other (and hate each other) as all brothers and sisters do. They have formed a real bond and despite all openly admitting they wish their parents weren’t divorced (no insult to their step parents and absolutely none taken – no kid wishes for their parents to divorce) they all agree having each other was the biggest perk ever!! Because they also each get time away from each other, they miss each other and get to “reconnect” when they are all reunited on their overlap days.

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