A Month of Updates

 

I am sorry to have neglected my blog for the last month.  There has been a whole lot of nothing going on around here.  We have a beautiful, snowy day today.  This is the view from my back door this morning.  It actually is very beautiful, but not really what we are wanting the end of March.  Come on spring-time!

 
 Nate celebrated his fourteenth Birthday in March!  What in the world???? How is this happening?  How are we getting so old??  Nate is a joy to our home.  He is a great big brother, and a huge help to me.  He makes breakfast most mornings, not just himself but for all the kids.  He does fantastic with his school work. He is a strait A student.  He just finished up a long research paper on the Delaware Indians.  I think he knows more math than me now!  That isn't saying a whole lot, but still.  Joel and I are pouring over the catalogs to find the high school curriculum choices for Nate that we feel will be a good fit.  Again, how did this happen?  Didn't I just buy him K-5??  Nate loves his family.  He loves to play board games.  Chess, Apples to Apples and Life are a few we find him playing often with Rachael and Benny, and when he can be persuaded, Jeremiah.  He also still loves legos and used his Birthday money to get a Lord of the Rings set, which all the children have been enjoying with him.

Happy Birthday Nate, we love you so much and are so proud of the young man of God that you are becoming. 

 Baby Timmy is ten months old now.  He is adorable and loved by everyone.  He is not the best baby, and still wakes up at night to eat, sometimes twice.  It is a bad habit that is really wearing us down, but a hard one to break when the house is full of other children waking up with his screaming.  He is constantly cutting teeth too, which adds to the fun.  Timothy has decided to eat table foods, and pretty much refuses to eat his baby purees.  He has eaten chicken, macaroni and cheese, all kinds of cooked veggies, hot dogs, eggs, pancakes, pizza, pretty much whatever we are having.  It seems as if Timmy does not have the allergy problems of a few of our other children.  Hooray!!!  So much for formula feeding being the source of all allergies.  My breastfed babies are the ones with the crazy allergies!

 March 14 is Pi day the kids reminded me.  So I decided to use the day to teach Rachael how to make a home made apple pie.  She did a great job and the crust was pretty good.  I think we all enjoyed this pie better than the pi that occupies a lot of the children's mornings each day :)  Good job, Rachael!

Nate's third birthday celebration.  My parents took him out for dinner with Jeremiah and when they returned we had mixed berry cobbler for dessert.  Nate also went on a fun bowling date with Joel the Saturday before his birthday.  They went out for lunch and bowling to spend some guy time together.  We spent the Sunday before his birthday at Joel's parents' home.  The kids kind of suprised me by really enjoying cabbage and corned beef!  Luke loved it.  We had a yummy cake there there (lemon, Nate's favorite)  and had a nice time visiting with family. 

  The kids have been passing a cold/sore throat around for a few weeks, and I finally succumbed to the germs last Wednesday.  I haven't been that sick in a few years.  I could not get out of bed for a few days, the fevers would not go away.  I finally felt "better" yesterday, Sunday.  Thanking God for my mommy who came and held down the fort for me Thursday and Friday, cooking dinner and doing school with them so I wouldn't be behind.  And Joel picking up the huge slack here, even making a meal that I had promised to make for a friend from church who is injured so I wouldn't have to cancel out on her.  Thank you Joel!   I am blessed.  I got beautiful flowers, a funny card, a new gallon of gatorade and a milk shake (I can't swallow real food my throat is so swollen).  I should get sick more often :)  Joel and I also attending a marriage conference done by Paul Tripp.  It was good and gave us some fodder for good, productive conversations on our commute back and forth the two day we went.  We were able to finally enjoy a date with our good friends, the Smiths and get introduced to gourmet burgers.  I think I am partial to good ol' fashioned normal burgers even though these were pretty yummy.  I am just a traditionalist :).