Andrews The “Brady Bunch” has nothing on the Ellison bunch, as Hope and Robbie Ellison have a total of 11 children, three who are grown. The remaining eight kids range in age from 4-17. The phrase “home is where the heart is” seems like a perfect fit for this local family.
All of their children were born at home with the help of a midwife. And all the Ellison children are home-schooled and they draw attention wherever they go as a group.
Hope Ellison is a stay-at-home mom. Her husband, Robbie, is a trooper with the N.C. Highway Patrol.
After their first child was born, the Ellisons knew they wanted to do something outside of the societal norms. After watching one of Hope’s friends homeschool her own children, the Ellisons decided to do the same.
Over the years, their convictions regarding homeschooling grew, and they became more passionate about it.
“We love having our children at home with us so we can teach them more of the things they’ll need to know aside from just the academics,” Hope said. “We do book work, but also teach our children to interact with each other, how to settle disagreements and how to learn forgiveness. We also teach them home skills.”
They encourage their kids to explore and enjoy the wonders of God’s creation and want them to be excited about their experiences.
“We call our homeschool Pathkeepers, and we want our children to not just follow the crowd or the culture, but to stand and ask and make their own decisions based off what they know the truth to be,” Hope said. “Our truth is based on God’s word, and we teach them to walk in it.”
Raising one child is daunting enough, but with this group one may wonder how they do it.
“We call ourselves Team Ellison, and everyone has their chores to do. Even my little ones clean,” Hope said.
The children have plenty of animal interactions, too, as their pets include dogs, goats and chickens.
Robbie and his boys do lawn care from spring to fall. A couple of his sons take boxing and the girls enjoy sewing and will be learning how to spin wool into yarn from a neighbor. The children also enjoy piano lessons.
When asked what they all do for fun, Hope said, “We play games, go hiking, biking and swimming. We love anything outdoors.”
As if the Ellisons weren’t busy enough, they also have a small business selling Elderberry syrup and recently purchased an Elderberry farm. It all started when a friend of Hope’s suggested she sell her syrup.
At first Hope didn’t think it would sell, as she said, “People were always making fun of us for our natural stuff.”
However, they are doing well selling their products.
Their days are filled with schooling, activities, animals, Elderberries and love, and for that they give God all of the glory.
Their other three sons are grown and out of the house. Wyatt is a U.S. Navy veteran, Tucker is still in the Army and Eli works in Murphy.
For details on the family’s Elderberry syrup, call 336-429-1665.