Family pictures 11/2012

Thanksgiving is upon us

It's that time of year again so here goes my 30 reasons for thanks.

1. Jesus Christ is my personal Lord and saviour. Doesn't get any better than that!
2. I was lucky enough to be born in a 1st world country.
3. I have the most wonderful husband. No doubt God placed us together for a reason.
4. My kids are so amazing, and I am truly blessed to have them.
5. My family is for the most part healthy. I do not have to spend time worrying over any one's health anymore.
6. God provides a great job for my husband so that I am able to stay home and raise/teach the children.
7. We might not be rich, but we are blessed to have the money for all the essentials as well as some wonderful 'extras'.
8. Our church is an incredible Bible teaching church that I have learned so much from.
9. My homeschooling community is just such a wonderful part of our lives now, and I am very grateful for it.
10. My parents have always been there for me, and have been supportive of my family.
11. My siblings may not live close, but no doubt if I call one of them they will drop what they are doing to help me through anything I am going through.
12. I am thankful that I have an excellent public library to go to (and I often do) that I can find just about anything I am looking for in.
13. I have great resources through the city I live in. That has been one of the most amazing parts of living here.
14. I have a nice home to live in, and vehicles in the drive way.
15. In my pursuit to teach my children I have been able to buy all the things I find essential to their learning.
16. I am grateful for my countries military, and their families.
17. I do not have drama in my life.
18. I am not incredibly intelligent, but God has given me the ability to know where to look for answers.
19. Jesus is returning.
20. Things like electricity, and running water in which we take for granted every day.
21. My church family has been such a blessing to us. They have truly been our 'family' here.
22. I am thankful for all the workers out there that are giving their all for the Kingdom of Christ.
23. My ability to organize because without it my family would not get to do half the things we do now.
24. My husbands great talent for making me laugh. Laughter really is the best medicine for all things.
25. The fact that one of my biggest problems in life is that I have to much to eat...
26. Optimism. I believe that positivity is a huge part of a persons happiness.
27. Those little moments when my children do things that make me just fall in love with them even more.
28. Thrift stores, and good sales. Without them some of our luxuries in life that tend to get pricey like the kids sports, and things would not be possible.
29. Social media. Though I think it has been a major set back in some ways of life it has really helped me personally to stay in touch with family and friends since I have moved away from my home town.
30. Adrienne Miller the woman that gave me the most wonderful gift in the world. The belief in Jesus Christ. She does not know that she even gave me that awesome gift, and if I could find her I would surely let her know. Not only did she help win my soul for God, but my entire family through me also. I will forever be in her debt.

Here comes the holidays!

Oh so much going on in our lives right now! We have got into a pretty good routine lately with all the things going on. We don't see each other much right now since everyone is involved with so many different activities, but it should slow down some towards Thanksgiving. Julie has a job now working 2 days a week as a mother's helper. She had her first volleyball games this past Thursday, and she did a great job! I am so proud of that little girl watching her grow into a young woman. Her art is going really well also, and she will be working on some new techniques at home soon also. She moved up to the youth room at church this year, and she is really active in her group. Her school work has been awesome this year! She had a slight hiccup with math, but was back on track within a couple of days. She is over all doing really well, and growing up fast! Seth is about to start basketball again next month. He is enjoying park days every Friday, and is doing well in school. Church is his favorite place to be! He loves his Sunday classes as well as AWANA's on Wednesdays. He is doing great health wise right now also. Paige has one more dance class before she takes a 2 month break for the holidays. She will continue in dance at a new studio starting in January. She recently took an art class, and did just beautifully. Everyone double checks that we said that she was the one that painted the pumpkin hanging in the living room. She is doing well in her church classes, and has made many new friends this year. Interacting with her you can definitely see that she is the youngest child so we are working on that lately. Peter is going strong in school this semester. I have been really happy how he has been staying on top of all his work, and still being very involved with the family. Peter shared his testimony with our small group this Sunday. I am just so proud of him, and glad to be his wife and life partner. I have been playing chauffeur most of my time recently. Everyone has to be here there and the other place! Everyone is so busy so I spend a lot of time just trying to coordinate time as a family. All the kids are developing a strong personality, and becoming their own little person. I am just really happy with how life is going right now with my family. Our van however is not my favorite thing right now. The transmission has started slipping so we should find out this week how much it will cost to fix. Then its just the small matter of coming up with the money for it... I am sure it will all work out fine, but it sure gets stressful having issues with the car! I guess that is all for now.

Calm down

Well we are now moved to our cute new home. We ended up keeping the other place to mid next month so we had time to get everything moved, and get it cleaned up. Cleaning it is a job! I just don't understand how if I keep my house clean (most of the time, giggle) that it could be so filthy when it's time to move. The new place is much smaller than we are used to, but it is very cozy. We are all really enjoying it even with less space. The kids each have their own rooms which makes a huge difference in their interactions daily. I don't think I could ever go back to any of them sharing a room again! We still have scattered boxes of things looking for a new home, but we are mostly unpacked now. This move has been the worst in the history of moves! I did not pack or organize very well at all, and that resulted in serious ciaos. It was actually rather embarrassing how it all came about this move. I was not sure if we were moving or if so where. It created some issues with the get ready process! lol. Oh well whats done is done, and hopefully that will never be a problem again. I like this house enough that we are talking about possibly purchasing it in the future then I would never have to move again! haha. Julie is doing good with volleyball so far. She still has a lot of coughing, but the phnemonia seems to be long gone praise the Lord. Julie is taking an art class this semester which she is really enjoying. So glad that Wichita Falls has so many oppurtunities for homeschoolers. Paige is back in dance this month, and enjoying every minute of it. Seth is just waiting for basketball to start so he can get to it. Hopefully we can get back to park day this Friday. The kids have missed it the past few weeks between illness and the move. I suppose that is enough for now. I hope that you enjoy my updates. :)

Oh the stress

Well it has started out to be a really rough month for us. Julie is really sick with pneumonia, and as you probably know Julie does not get sick. If Julie is sick it is a cold day in.... well you get my point. She has been very scared also because she doesn't get sick usually, and she just doesn't understand why she did get sick this time. She seems to be doing better though so I am hopeful she will be good as new in a few days. We have until the end of the month to find a place to live, move everything, and clean this place. We thought we had it figured out, but we have decided at the last minute (to me) to find a home leased by a private investor rather than staying in military housing. We think we have found some where to go, but it's now a waiting game of if we will get a check in time to secure the home or not. Very VERY nerve racking! Just in the process of packing, and starting to clean what I can here. I am hoping that the actual physical act of moving will go smoothly since the leading up process has been a pain in the neck. School has been put on hold this past week due to illness in the house, but we plan to get back at it bright and early tomorrow morning. The good thing that is going to come with this move is I get to buy a new living room set. Ours is old and worn out to the point of holes. I am thinking a nice futon, and a couple of recliners. Also if we get the place we are hoping for the kids will all have their own room. It will be nice to decorate each child's room according to their own likes verses when they share and I have to cater to all. Peter is doing good with the start of the semester. He is taking a class on campus as well as one online. He is ahead of schedule so far so hopefully he can stay a step ahead this semester! Alrighty I am gonna go for now. Have a great month folks.

Wrapping Up

The summer is wrapping up, and the school year is quickly approaching. The kids have had a blast this summer with all their activities, but ready for the fall! I think it has more to do with wanting cooler weather than for the school year to start though. We are in the process of looking for a bigger place to live. We have loved this house with the amenities the neighborhood offers, but we just need something bigger. Nothing really new with the kids just living life enjoying the summer while it's left. I guess this will just be a short post this month since there is really nothing new. : )

Summer Time

Oh it has been a very busy summer this year! So many wonderful and exciting things going on to keep these kiddos super busy! I am so ready for the school year to start. After the way the school year ended it's an amazing thing to be excited about the up coming school year believe me! lol. Some awesome news... my best friend has decided she just can not live without me any more and has decided to move to Wichita Falls!! She has many reasons behind her decision, but hey don't spoil my fun in thinking it was all me. : ) We have been participating when we can with the home school group. Seth has made some friends, and Julie is getting more comfortable letting out that social butterfly she has always been. I am so very excited to get her into volleyball this year and hopefully also some art classes. Seth is wanting to do some basketball, and the home school picnic days each week. Paige will be doing dance again once she heals. She is a natural ballerina! She broke her clavicle in a bouncy house of all things. She is doing well, and healing up fast though. Paige will also be starting pre-k this year, but I am sure we will be diving into some kinder as well. If all goes well she may finish both in one school year. Not sure if I will just do reinforcement for the next year, or move on to 1st if she does get finished with kinder this year. She will be 4 in October so she would be a year ahead if we went on. I will have to access her abilities at the end of the year to decide. Peter is still going strong in school. He only has a few classes left before he can transfer to Midwestern. Not sure how we will afford that, but it is still exciting! As for me I am getting out a lot more with the kids, and it feels great! Life is just good all around!

It's been a while

It's been a while since I managed to make a post. So so busy these days with summer activities. Let's start with Sara and Lexie are here for the summer. Four kids in the house and three adults really keeps us all on our toes! Julie, Seth, and Lexie are all doing a track program as well as the boys and girls club this summer. Julie has a week of volleyball (next week), and Julie, Seth, and Lexie have camp for two weeks in July. It has just been so busy always on the go here lately. Paige is doing really well with her dance classes, and has her first recital in August. Planning a camping trip, and the boys are going fishing tomorrow. Can't wait to have some family fun since so far this summer has been some people here some people there no all together type of activities. We are also having a 'no tv summer' so if the kids want television or electronics of any kind they have to earn it with other activities. That has gone surprisingly well considering how much we were in to watching tv before. The summer reading program has been really fun so far, and so much more to come. They have seen a juggler, a magician, and an orphan choir. The kids are all reading for 30 minutes each day which is really difficult some days considering how on the go we are right now. Well I better get back to these kiddo's! See ya on the flip side peeps.

Nothing much

Don't really have anything new going on as of yet. Just the same old things saying in our typical routine. Peter is currently up for a job that we are praying about all the time. Not sure really where God wants us to be/do so we are just going with the flow and doing what feels right. If he gets this job it will mean a rather big move for our family which excites us as much as it scares us! We should know by the end of this month if he gets it or not. If he does get the position it will unfortunately mean we will have to cancel our trip to New Jersey this summer, but will provide a major opportunity for Peter's career to grow. So please pray for this situation for us! Seth is officially finished with his work books for the school year. He has a small reading series that he needs to finish to move on to 2nd grade, but he should be finished in the next couple of weeks with that. Julie has a few assignments left then she will complete her finals for the year. She has a mix of A's and B's for the school year so far. Paige is excited for her new unit studies we are starting this coming school year so she is all geared up and ready to start. I think she will change her mind when she realizes those studies mean actual thinking! OK well that is all for now I suppose. : )

Gearing up

It's been a long time since I have posted so here I am with the updates. We just returned home from our annual visit to Houston. We had the opportunity to visit with all the family on several occasions and had an over all really great time visiting with everyone. Glad to be home now and eager to finish up the school year now. We are planning a big trip to New Jersey to see family in June/July so that has been fun planning. Julie has decided she is interested in cake decorating so we are going to be signing her up for some classes after the summer. She will be 12 on July 4th and will get the chance to spend her birthday in New Jersey this year. She is very excited about that. She wants nothing more than a birthday cake made at Carlos Bakery. She is really growing up, and I am just so proud of her. She still struggles with her memory retention, but all in all school is going really well this year for her. Seth is going to be 7 on May 29th this year. When did that happen!?! He has such a sweet personality, and has really started to calm down. He is reading fairly well now, but still needs some practice to be at the recommended level for his grade. We are hoping that the long car ride to New Jersey this summer will help get him the practice he needs. He is really athletic, and we are planning to get him signed up for some sports this coming school year. Paige is 3, and will be 4 on October 22nd. She is finally out of the baby stage and is a full fledged kiddo now. She packs a serious punch with her attitude. She is a true little sister expecting big brother and sister to do everything for her. We have all been working hard on making her do things for herself so she can learn. She is still working on her pre-k curriculum and we plan to continue that for another school year. She is doing really well with her school work, and loves the fun activities that go along with it. Peter has remained in college working hard towards a degree in criminal justice. He has been training for some time now to go into the police academy so that is a continued prayer for our family. When he has spare time reading is still his favorite pass time. He has become more handy around the house lately and has been enjoying learning more about household repairs, and working with his hands. As for me I am perpetually in mommy mode. Kids school work, running the household, helping Peter with whatever he might need at the time, and trying to keep our family sane is surely a full time job. We had our trip to Houston now planning a camping trip and the trip to New Jersey this summer keeps me busy. I am also learning to sew with the machine I got for Christmas. It has been a slow process trying to find time to practice, but I am getting there. We are all doing really well and continue to thrive here is Wichita Falls.

Here again

Well since my last post we have all been sick (again!!) with strep throat. We have been working on being healthier as a family. We have been working on our financial situation. We have just been working. I will now officially be not babysitting any more after the 24th of this month (so much for May), and Peter is no longer working the second job. That being said we are actually doing pretty good financially for now. I pray it continues to go well so I will not have a need to work after school care again in the future. We are focused on Peter getting a new job and us moving from this area. He is currently training to become a police officer of some form. He has been looking into state trooper positions in Arkansas, and New Mexico. Hopefully we will be led to the right place, and can stay there as a permanent home. Wichita Falls has been a wonderful stepping stone for us, but we have known for a long time now that it was not our final destination. I am ready to make some more positive changes in our life between a generally healthy lifestyle and moving towards career goals for Peter. Life is good!

Oh no not again!

Well Paige has been very very ill the past week, and now it seems Seth and I are getting her bad cold. It's been a rough time for all of us dealing with this illness. Paige has not slept for most of it, and now we are all getting it. AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Between babysitting, home school, Peter's classes, Peter's second job, and Peter's regular job it has been very very busy around here. I hope that we can soon get back on track financially so that we can get back to me not working, and Peter only with one job. I have made the commitment to do after school care through May so I have some time to go still with that (counting down.... 19 wks left). I can not wait to be done with it, and if we are not doing well after the summer I will go back to after school care. We really need the summer for us to just be a family again. I miss my kids even though I am with them ALL THE TIME and I especially miss my husband. : (

Simply fabulous

We had a simply fabulous Christmas season as Sharpay would say. The kids got countless gifts, and we had wonderful family visits! It was a very busy season with Peter working two jobs and me homeschooling and babysitting. It was all worth it this year for sure. I completely forgot to pull my camera out, but I will hold all the memories in my heart for years to come. God really showed us this year that as long as you are faithful he will provide you with what you need most. This year that happened to be family time with our extended family members. We miss our family so much being so far away, but when we do get time with them it is the best! I personally have never felt closer to our extended family as I do right now. They are all such a blessing to me, and my family. Now we are back to the grind Peter working, school back into full swing, and babysitting after school. It was an awesome season, but I am glad to get back to the norm for a while. Hopefully this summer we will get the chance to go see more extended family, and make new memories!