These are the things that raise the eyebrows...

Well, we can add one more thing to the list now...tell you what that is in a minute.
First thing: We homeschool. 
     Before I started homeschooling my own kids, I never had a negative view of people who chose to do that.  My dad taught public school, my siblings and I attended public school, and we never even knew anyone who homeschooled.  I went to college to become a teacher and even then I did not hear much about homeschooling as an option.  I only heard mention of homeschoolers winning spelling bees and getting into college early, and impressive little tidbits like that.
     Well, it turns out, there are a whole bunch of people who think homeschooling ruins kids.  People who think the children will sorely lack "socialization", and oddly enough, my own family members have bought into this notion.  (The family members without kids...so funny.)  So, when we attend family gatherings, my children are scrutinized mercilessly about how they are academically behind, they get quizzed on their multiplication facts, things are pointed out to me like "She wouldn't even sit still long enough for me to read her a story" or "He can't even tie his shoe"...OK, she doesn't like stories when the words are sounded out at her and there is a quiz every third page...she's in Kindergarten!  The shoe thing is bothering me, but not that much...  My question is...would you do this if they were in regular school? Probably not!
Second thing:  I am a stay at home mom.
     I guess this wouldn't be such a big deal if I didn't bother to go to college and get a BS in Elementary Education...and I put in some extra time and expense to go for an endorsement in Language Arts so I could teach middle school/jr. high students.  Hmmm....sounds like I invested in my children's education before I even had children.  They have their own private tutor, but I don't make any money so that makes me silly on some level.???
Third Thing:  We have 4 kids.
     My normally supportive family, my parents are still living and I have 3 older brothers, they seem to convey exasperation and incredulousness (is that a word) at the idea of having many children.  2 of my brothers do not have children and the other one has one son.  I have never and would never in my adult life say anything to the effect of....."Why don't you have more/any kids?  Who is going to take care of you when you are old?" 
Fourth Thing:  We are Christians and we tithe. 
     No, we don't have much money to devote to retirement, and yes we do intend to give the full ten percent to our church.  No college fund, no lavish vacations, no cable tv( not that I would pay for that rubbish even if we had the budget for it), and we don't even miss "the good life".  We have wireless internet!!! Yay...we are not neanderthals! Ha Ha.  We did have dial-up for years, though.  Nobody could beat 14.95 per month!
Latest Thing:  Baby #5
     I actually cried this morning as I realized how much I dread telling my family(of origin) the "good news".  Thankfully, we have good friends that are genuinely happy for us, and a church body that celebrates babies no matter how many you already have.  I am not going to apologize for it, though, because just the other day I almost cried (hormones of course) when my 14 year old thanked the cashier @ the Dollar Store for her patience while he was counting out the exact change.  A polite teenager...and he's mine.  Score.