Merry Christmas!

Yeah! I love Christmas, all the great music, the smell of baking in the house, the beautiful lights inside and outside and the anticipation in the air from the kids about their gifts. I really love the atmosphere.

We are ready! The presents are bought, the food is bought and the cards are out. Good thing too, we are expected to get between 1 foot at 20 inches of snow between Christmas eve and C. Day. They say it could be the snowyest Christmas ever-wow! Good thing we are not traveling anywhere this year, it could be tough going. Blessings to all of you who are going to be traveling-take it slow and carefully and be safe.

Here is an updated belly pic of me at 7 months. (this was 2 weeks ago). Little Emily is about 4 1/2 pounds now and 17 inches, approx. She's sure getting big and will be meeting here in a little over a month now, can't wait! She's doing a lot of kicking and punching mom and gets the hiccups several times every day. Her lungs will be nice and strong for loud crying! :) We are ready for baby, all the supplies are on hand now, thanks to a little Christmas angel :). It's enjoyable to bless and it is wonderful to be blessed too.

Merry Christmas and have a safe and Happy New Year!

6 months, here we come 3rd trimester!

As of the middle of November nearly, we are heading into the final 3 months. They will fly just because of the time of year it is. As much as I want to meet this little lady, I will be sad when it is over. It goes much too fast, that's for sure.

But boy, am I thankful for the opportunity! Much prayer and waiting has gone into this and I am going to enjoy every minute of it. :)

Beautiful fall time

It's been a while and by now my tummy is MUCH bigger than the previous picture. :)
I'll post another picture in a short while, just not right now. It's probably about 3 times the size as before. But that is good, we are 6 months along now! Our baby girl (yes, it's a GIRL!!!!) is about 2 pounds now and has opened her eyes this month. Her glands are working and she has eyelashes and eyebrows too. Cool huh! She is responding a lot to the voices and wonderful play noises that her brothers make and also to my rubbing my belly and to daddy's voice.
We can't wait to meet her. We are almost ready, just a few things more to get.
Our school year is going great, we are enjoying spending time learning together.
Our activities are fun: Jeremy is taking a programming class and Ryan is taking a medival knight class as well as co-op, soccer, and drum lessons.
Pictures will come soon!

As I promised...

I shot of the growing belly! Enjoy! We are 17 weeks as of this picture. Feeling great too!

All ready to start a new school year with the boys tomorrow too. I now have a 3rd and a 6th grader. I realized tonight that this was Jeremy's last year of elementary school. So sad!

All is well on the homefront

A high of 70 at the end of August? It has been an especially cool month, lows into the 40's even!
For a cold one like me it is a tad bit disappointing but it is beautiful in its own way as well.
Things are well, almost ready to start school next week. We went to Indiana to a Jesus Culture conference and although Ryan and I didn't attend the conference, Jeff and Jeremy thought it was awesome. We just got back from Iowa to golf and see my mom/family and now we have one more week before hitting the books and the familiar routine of the school year. I have picked out some new curriculum that I am excited about and hope the kids will really enjoy it too. As far as the baby goes, we are at week 17 now! Can you believe it? I am feeling litter kicks like flutters and tickles now, that is a really fun experience. I am really thankful to be experiencing this again, it is better than gold. I am showing now which is really fun and am feeling wonderful and trying to eat healthy. It's better for all of us if I choose good healthy food so that is quite a motiviator. A friend of mine once told me "eat for nutrition, not for taste". I think that is a very wise saying. Hard to do a lot of the time but wise, none the less. So, things are well. I will post a belly pic soon. Can't wait to show you!
Tata for now!

Facebook

Oh, some of you might be wondering why I have not been back on facebook.
Well, when we put net nanny on our computer to be safe if also blocks me
from facebook even if I disable it. So, I am trying to play around with filters to see
if I can get back on there. I miss seeing the pictures and keeping up to date
with things on there. Hopefully I'll be back on there soon.

We have a heartbeat!

I went to the doctor's this week and yes, we heard a beautiful heartbeat!
It sounded so beautiful! The boys heard it too, what an experience for them!
I am officially in my 11th week, so will be 3 months along next week.
Feeling better, been nauseated for the last month straight, yuck!
A bit better now though, yeah!!
Summer's going great-Jeremy is working on the sound for a drama
production of Willy Wonka and Ryan and I are continuing to seive through
the house getting ready for a major garage sale. Nothing like thinning
the entire house out! Feels good.

A lot has changed

Well, it has been a while since I have posted and in a few months one can expect there to be small changes
in one's life. Yes, the kids finished their school year, we traveled to Iowa for a graduation, been to 2 more here in MN recently, went camping, planted the garden, are in full summer swing with camp/classes/biking etc.
But that is not all. We have discovered that we are expecting a baby! We are due in February so we are 2 months along this month. Yes folks, our lives have changed quite a bit and
we couldn't be happier or feel more blessed. :)

Thomas Jefferson

I am a homeschooling mom and so I am always seeking good, quality types of educating my kids.
One such way I have found is the Thomas Jefferson Education. It is based on the mentoring system that Thomas Jefferson learned from. Mentoring kids is more effective way to get kids to apply themselves to learning and to get excited about it.

If you want to know more, browse this website: http://www.tjed.org/, then pick up a classic book such as The Chosen by Chaim Potak, Little Britches by Ralph Moody, and cozy up with a soft blanket and enjoy reading some good books. Good mentoring starts with educating yourself!

Hodgepodge of thoughts

Since last time my cutie-pie cat Spike has gotten 5 teeth pulled, we have friends living in our basement now, Ryan has given a science presentation of Galileo's law of gravity, Jeremy
has decided he wants to join boy scouts, and it has warmed up to a mild 20-30 degrees outside.
Also, we are all working on either learning the guitar or learning it better and Jeremy is learning how to play the drums. Life is good! Life is so good, it's like eating all the cookie dough your heart desires and not worrying about how many calories you ate. I wish you a wonderful week and remember, there is always something good to find in every situation. Sometimes you just need to get creative to find it. :)

Birthdays!

Well I am the proud parent of an 11 year old now folks! My eldest son just turned 11 yesterday, on ground hog's day. It was a fun weekend celebrating with a birthday/super bowl party (GO STEELERS!) Boy kids grow up fast. I never thought that was true until not too long ago.
You know, when you are in the midst of crying kids, temper tantrums, bathroom accidents, etc. you think it is going to last forever. Then all of a sudden those days are years behind you and you actually miss them in a way! I do. I miss the dirty diapers, the words that you can't understand,
the playing with toddler toys, etc. But you know, these days are good in their own way too.
We have such awesome, in depth conversations about life, God, relationships, etc. The boys are creating their own identities and that is a fun process to watch. I wouldn't trade parenting for anything else in the whole world. Happy Birthday Jeremy! Mommy loves you. :)

Crazy kids/pets

Don't you just love the silly pictures that you take? I want to share with you a couple pictures that I have taken that just can't keep a smile from popping onto my face. The one on the left is a picture of our turtles. They love to sit on the filter. Isn't that cute! The other one is of Ryan sleeping. He must have fallen asleep like that during the night after a trip to the bathroom.
I love these pictures and I hope you do too. :)

Is this the tundra?

Well, when you wake up and it is -15 below zero outside you start to wonder if you have moved to Antarctica. Things are sooooo frozen outside it is incredible. There is actually some beauty in it though. The way smoke pours out of smoke stacks and lingers in the air for longer than normal because it can't disperse as fast as it usually does. I look at that, and at the sun just poking up from the edge of the horizon and think about how warm our houses are and how hot the sun is even though the air is so frigid.

It isn't that hard to manage in weather like this if you have a dependable car and let it warm up before you head out. I have a great vehicle and for that I feel very blessed.

Yeah, you bundle up and go about your business like normal. What else can you do? Hibernate??

Did you know that in California the temps there are averaging 20 degrees warmer than normal? It is in the 80's there today. Poor people, they can't learn to be hardy in that kind of weather! :)

I feel fortunate that my character is being shaped by the challenge of exhaust fumes turning to ice and making the roads slippery. Of getting frostbite within a matter of minutes. Of snow crackling when you walk on it and making it awkward to walk. Of learning how to breathe when the cold air freezes your throat and lungs upon inhale.

My character is being shaped by this and for that I say "thank you".

Meet the family

Here is my family:


Yeah, he's my man. What a guy! He is one in a million, what a gem. He's so supportive and loving, and he sure makes it a point to take premium care of us. I love this man to pieces. :)






This is my mom. Isn't she cute with a pirate hat on?
She is a very good sport and sure gets into kid's pirate birthday parties. She is great to drive quite a ways to be here for my kids' birthdays. She's been a wonderful mom
to me, I love her.












This is Ryan, my youngest son. He's a great cub scout. He will teach you to have fun no matter what you are doing.
He is a very good singer and loves tell everyone about God.
There is a heart the size of a grapefruit in this boy, he's sweet.












Here is my oldest son Jeremy. Yeah, he's pretty tough football player so watch out! He's a real sweetie. You should hear him on the piano! And he's also a budding computer whiz too. He's great. :)

Kitty love

Here are our two youngest kitties: Shadow (1) and Slippers (2). They are such best friends even though they did not come from the same family.
Sweet huh!

Life with cats

Man, isn't it a ride living with cats? They just live to be petted don't they. And the strange things they do? The other day one of ours pottied in their water dish. Ewwww! What was THAT all about???? They are so much fun though. I mean, watching their expressions when you do things and wanting to smell everything you are holding. How about the totally wrapped up ways that they sleep! All curled up, makes me want to 1. kiss them 2. take a nap too.
Sigh.....to be a cat, huh?

Getting started

So, I did it! I have been thinking about doing this for quite some time and getting on the blogging wagon. I am a stay-at-home homeschooling mother in the mid west to 2 young strapping boys. I hope that you check in often to hear what is going on in our family. I am going to love sharing what's going on and what's new.