Almost February!!???

I honestly have no idea how time goes by so quickly!! In a couple of days February will be here. Kimberly has a nasty snot nose again and a cough, but what's new?! Jordan will turn 5 in a couple of weeks--now that blows me away! How can my baby boy be almost ready for kindergarten? Where did his preschool years go? He was going to be our last, but God was so good to us in sending Kimberly, so our baby days would not be over. Still, unless another one comes, they are just about over, now. February also means Valentines Day (not a big day at our house) and the start of Friday School ( a very big deal around here). And all that means a busy family! But as long as we are together I cannot complain. These days will be gone LONG before I am ready for it. So we will sit back, enjoy the ride, and count our many blessings!

Emily's Birthday

Emily--our second child, first daughter. So sweet and smiley, loves girly things and her family. Very nurturing. I can't believe you are half grown!! Hope you had a great birthday! Love the swimming pool cake you chose! Turned out great!

In keeping with your creative side, you chose decorations and made your pinata and planned your own games. Everyone had such fun!

All your friends that came, singing to you!

And now it is time for that candy-filled pinata! That is always fun, especially when it is 38 degrees!!

And here is your gift. A new scooter! Since Jordan wanted one, too, and his birthday is in 2 weeks, he got one just like it. My good luck, they were on clearance at Walgreens for $9.99!!

Just want to say how much we love having you for a daughter and how much we love homeschooling you! It is so great to be building close family bonds with parents and siblings. It is a true joy! And we are proud of the spiritual, loving person you are becoming!

It is Monday

We made it through another week. Yesterday we skipped church, at least part of us did, because Jordan had fever. I took the opportunity to declutter and throw out all kinds of stuff. I get into these moods sometimes and just must declutter. Anyway, I went through the attic stash of clothing and the kids outgrown stuff. Today I have a huge bag of clothes for the CHEFS clothing swap and 2 huge bags for Women in Need. Plus a bag full of toys! Shhh..don't tell the kids!
And I went through my academic things. Since we are going with KONOS, I will not need a bunch of the stuff I had so it is all ready for the CHEFS book sale-don't know and don't care if it is lead free. Still selling it! Since it is almost all relatively new, i figure it is perfectly safe. After cleaning that stuff out, Clay cut through the garage wall to install a dryer vent and we realized our old free shelves were in danger of crashing so now I have 3 new steel shleves from Lowe's ready to organize the items I kept! Love the feeling of having less and being organized!!! Love, love, love it!
Then I called an orthodontist for a consult on Emily. Boy is that going to pack a financial punch. She lost me at "arrange a monthly payment". If I could handle another monthly payment, the kids would still be taking gymnastics. But I suppose we can cut the home phone and cut the cable if necessary. I don't want her front teeth to break off! The Lord always provides for these messy life situations, and I know He will this time, too!
Well, I am being called for US bingo so I must go play, I mean, teach history!

More illness, and other things...

Well, I probably have some pics to post but I am on the wrong computer for that. Anyway, after Kimberly was on her augmentin about 5 days she had a relapse of the RSV and spiked a fever and couldn't breathe. She had to return to the doctor and got a shot of rocefin and was put back on twice a day breathing treatments.
On another subject, I have been rethinking a lot concerning our curriculum. Decided to go with KONOS unit studies and have been shopping ebay for deals. The rest will have to wait until income tax return arrives. Probably won't start it fully until fall.
Also Emily has begun rehearsals for Annie, Jr. Boy is that going to be grueling on the family life! I should have given it more thought before saying yes. I suppose we will see how it goes and evaluate whether we do this again next year.
Lastly the big two are in LTC so we have stuff going on for that, and competition will take up most of Easter weekend for us!
Still, life is good....

News from Home

Started the year off with Kimberly getting a double ear infection and RSV. She was really sick for several days and when she wasn't being held, she laid at my feet and looked just like this. But now after a few days of breathing treatments and antibiotics she is looking much better. I just have to break her of the spoiled streak from being catered to during her illness! Ha ha!

Today she and sister Emily are wearing their bathrobes and enjoying the day. Doesn't she look much better! Don't know where Elizabeth was. She had her robe on too.

And this is Jacob, looking quite handsome....He is a budding artist and loves drawing things from Star Wars and Spiderwick. He also loves to make stop-motion videos and published to the web. He is working on one for LTC, too. Currently he and his best friend are developing ideas for comics/adventure shows. Below is some of his artwork.

Here are a few of Jacob's drawings from the Spiderwick field guide.

New Year's Dinner

I wasn't feeling so great New Year's Day, but this meal sure made me feel better:

pork Loin with Mushroom Sauce

Black-eyed peas

cornbread

crunchy cabbage salad