Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me...

I'm notorious for letting kids take my phone and play games, during church, at restaurants, wherever really. I had become so accustomed to it, that now I stopped really watching them while they would play on it. Well, sometimes you can't trust a two year old as much as you originally thought. Above is a screenshot from my phone I took after letting Mady play games on my phone. I had her all set up to play the game Canon Cat, but because of her attention span and ability to press a button, the sneaky youngin' crept into my messaging app and decided to send what you see above. Since this incident I have found myself guiding little fingers across the screen of my iPhone. But who can blame me, really? 

Call me cruel, but one of the best parts about being an aunt (or in my case a [not]aunt) is getting to mess with the kids but not having to deal with the consequences. Not that every time you play around with the kids you want them to end up crying but in the case that you do, well...they go home with Mommy & Daddy. You don't have to take care of them full time, and you surely don't have to deal with what these parents dealt with:

Note that these gifts are from Uncle Tim, who is conveniently not around.

Introductions!

There are multiple children in my life that I am an aunt-like figure to, but who are these mysterious kids I consider my own?

Meet Tia Franks.
I've known Tia for 7 years now, she was adopted by a couple of my parents' best friends, Burt and Lisa Franks, when she was just under a year old. I've watched this girl grow up right in front of my eyes, and I have to say, it is the weirdest thing to watch.  I now know how the older people in my life feel about me. 

Meet Emily (7) and Ethan (4) (and Tia again)!
I've known Emily and Ethan (and their family) since my dad got his pastoring job back home in Virginia. They have attended the church for a while and over the years I have become best friends with these two. In fact, Ethan and I have actually made multiple lists as to why we are best friends!

Next up is Kaylynn (4)!
Kaylynn is the daughter of my former foster brother, Eric. Through the years,  Eric has kept in touch with my family and even calls my parents Mom and Dad. When Kaylynn was born there was no hesitation, and although there is no legitimate blood relation, I fully consider her my niece. Eric and Alison also have a son, Kamryn, that I consider to be my nephew (I just don't have any photos of him)!

Meet Brianna (4) and Mady (3).
These two are technically my cousins, but they are little so I just consider them to be my nieces, really. I spend most of my time with them fixing their hair so it looks like mine for the day, watching Disney movies,  and dancing around the living room to whatever music we can find to play.

Malachi (5), Alexia (3), and Zoe (3)!
These three are the children of my youth pastor and his wife. Over the past two or two and a half years, I've been able to connect with their family and even begin to consider them my own.

Last, but definitely not least is the youngest one of the bunch, Robert Davis (8 mo.)!
Robert Davis is the son of my best friend's older sister. I've known this family literally all of my life, and this precious little thing is the newest edition. Though he is the youngest of my pretend nieces and nephews, he is the one that originally gave me the title of [Not]Aunt. One could say he started it all. 

Well, I think that's everyone! I'm not sure why, but these kids have been placed in my life and whether I like it or not, I am influencing them every time I interact with the; I'm not perfect and I have many personality flaws they needn't pick up on. Every moment spent with them I am teaching them, but more than that, they are teaching me. 

Welcome!

Down South, it is common to have quite the extended family, and because of this trend I consider myself to be an aunt to roughly nine children even though my brothers have no kids yet. With this, I want to document my adventures caring for these kids and sowing seeds into their lives as if they were my own nieces and nephews.