Large Family of the Week – The Gully Family!

Rachel lives in England with her husband Paul and their four children ranging in age from 8-years-old down to 13 months. Here they are…!

Introduce us to your family (names and ages & tell us a bit about yourselves):

Well first off, I’m Rachel or as the kids call me “Muuuuuuuuummmmmm”. I own my own small business running an online retail store. I am also a blogger and do the odd writing piece. Writing is my passion and I’m currently trying to decide if that’s the path I want to take.

Next up is my husband Paul, 37. We have been together for nearly 11 years and married 5 and a half. He runs his own Freight Forwarding business – but Music is his passion. He writes and produces it when he has any spare time.

The children are:

Jake who is 8. He has ADHD, ODD and traits of Aspergers Syndrome. His passion is tennis and he wants to be the next Andy Murray.

Kyla is “nearly” 7 (the nearly is very important!). She is also known as Prancer because she likes dancing around the house. She is theatrical, enjoys Performing Arts and is a bit of a ditsy blond.

Abigail is 3 and a bit of a Tomboy. She is loving and so affectionate but a bit temperamental. She’s very independent and a bit of a bossy boots.

Zachary is our baby at 13 months old. He is small for his age and has just started crawling. He is also Lactose Intolerant and not yet sleeping through the night – when do they start doing that?

Do you consider your family to be large? If not, what do you think is the magic number which turns an average sized family into a large one?

No, I wouldn’t think that we are a large family, I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I am one of 4 and I know a lot of families with 4 children that it really doesn’t seem a large number. I personally would consider 6 or more children to be large.

Did you ever think you would have a large family?

Yes. I always said from a child that I wanted 4 children. I also wanted them all by the time I was 30 – which I have accomplished.

What is your best moneysaving tip?

Reusable nappies and wipes – I WISH I had found them when I had my older 3!

What is your best tip for organisation?

Organisation? HA! I am trying my best to get organised at home. Believe it or not, when I worked full time I was very organised! We do however; have a “Family Wall” in our Kitchen with a big calendar, blackboard and the children’s chore chart.

What is your favourite recipe?

Anything that has “CAKE” in the title.

Do you cook the same meal for everyone or cater for different tastes?

Oh yes! I cannot be doing with cooking several different meals.

What is the best thing about having a large family?

The children always have someone to play with and although they fight, they protect each other.

And what is the most difficult?

All of it. Raising children is difficult – but it is also the most rewarding!

If you could offer one piece of advice to parents, what would it be?

Just roll with it!

Don’t you have a television?

We do – 2 actually

Do you know what causes it?

No, but please let me know if you ever find out. I think it’s contagious.

And finally, will you have any more children?!

Unfortunately, we cannot have any more biological children, but we really hope to Foster and/or Adopt one day. It’s something we both we would love to do and feel we have enough love for more children, regardless of whether they are biological or not.

 You can read more about Rachel and her beautiful family over at Confessions of a SAHM.

If you would like your to see your family featured as our Large Family of the Week email family@largerfamilylife.com with ‘Large Family of the Week’ in the subject line. Click here to find out more.