Update

Waiting is just a gift of time in disguise — a time to pray wrapped up in a ribbon of patience — because is the Lord ever late?
We have had to do a lot of waiting this year. I don't like waiting. It's frustrating, but I am learning patience these days. LOTS of patience.
We have had a pretty good and busy summer. Playing at the pool, get togethers with family and friends, field trips, VBS, our 16th anniversary, we even celebrated our Pastor's 50th Anniversary, but we have not managed to take a real vacation. So this upcoming Saturday we are headed up north. Even if it's just over night, it will get us out of the record heat for a bit.  I am soooo looking forward to that.  (I am sure I will come home with a camera full of pics to post.)
Things are starting to pick up for the next few months already... birthday's (Mike will be 40 in Sept. and Erika turns 3 in Oct.) we have lots to do for school, getting back with a homeschool group, field trips, family time, as the weather turns nice (hopefully sooner rather than later) we will be out doors more.  Lots to do.... holidays are not to far off now. I am sure there will be lots of waiting too. I hate waiting. But God is good and all things come to those who wait patiently on Him. So I will wait.
Kids are growing. I just looked at the last post and it hit me how much they have changed since then. Tim has lost 1 more tooth since then and now has 2 more about to come out. He seems like he has grown a foot... he is sooo very tall and lanky. Lex has her first loose tooth and is so excited to be visited by the tooth fairy. :) She has also grown taller and is starting to fill out a bit. She seems to waiver between being a tom boy and girly girl... but she loves to have her picture taken.  Erika is the most changed I think. She is taller and her features are more refined now. She is a full fledged preschooler. She loves to learn and is in the business of annoying her brother and sister. :)
Anyway here are some random shots from our summer. Enjoy!

 

For even more pics you can check out my photo blog here :)

Thanks so much for checking in... take care!

Sigh

Ok well so much for blogging on a regular basis. Wow, did things ever get nuts after the first of the year. It seems like things have finally started slowing down some. That may be in part due to our car situation and the fact that Mike is now working an earlier shift at work. To be honest I am hoping it does not last long. I really don't like feeling like I am stuck at the house all day. UGH!
We are well... just really busy. All three kids have been on a high learning curve the last few months, so we have ramped up school on all levels. The two older ones are both reading, so we take full advantage of that and they are both reading chapter books to Mike most evenings. Erika is coming along as well, she knows her ABC's and can count to 13... after that it gets a little fuzzy as she starts skipping around until she says "20!" so proudly. LOL
We have also added Greek to their languages. That is Mike's area, as learning languages is not my forte... but it seems to come naturally for Mike and the kids. The kids have been able to pick up on the Greek and Latin fairly quickly. The Greek is set to music, so even Erika is now walking around singing the songs her siblings are learning. (Now if they would all just stop squabbling over every little thing, things would be great all around...heh)
We have also added more responsibilities for the older kids now. On top of normal chores, both kids are learning how to cook. Come to find out Tim likes it and seems to have a good sense for what seasonings work together. (If I could just get the girls to try veggies I would be happy)
As far as Mike and I go, we are well. Mike started working an earlier shift at work. It is nice to have him home earlier in the day and he seems a less stressed. I am sure less traffic plays a role in that. :) We are looking for a new vehicle. UGH I really do hate car shopping, but with Mike's new shift and the declining state of our current car, it is a necessity. Hopefully we will find something in our price/mileage range soon (I am hoping by this weekend to have something, but we will see.) It seems like we have lots of decisions to make about our future, but I am not sure when the future got so expensive. LOL it seems like the older we get the more everything costs. Housing, schooling, cars, ugh... it all adds up and fast. Sigh... so we are taking things one by one and keeping our eyes open for opportunities in the other areas. (However, donations are being accepted, make checks payable to me... just kidding.)

God is good and we are happy... learning to be content with where we are and with what we have. <3
We pray that all who read this are well and enjoying life.

Anyway, so now for the best part... PICTURES! :)

Christmas and New Year

Happy 2011....
We had a pretty busy December. Mike was off for a week ,then there was my birthday, Christmas and New Years. We also had to fit in some school (admittedly it was spotty at best...lol) and other Christmas activities (we even rode a double decker London bus to look at lights!), church and visits to and from friends and family. There was lots to do; decorating the house, making cookies and goodie baskets, shopping, wrapping gifts, the kids made ornaments for their homeschool group. Then there was the really fun stuff... cuddling on the couch reading the Christmas story, drinking hot coco (when it finally decided to get cold...lol), looking at Christmas lights, watching Erika and her wonder at everything and best of all going to church and hearing about the birth of Christ.
Fireworks are now legal here so we set some off to bring in 2011. Yay! (4th of July is gonna be soooo muuch fuuuunnn!) :)
Yesterday was our first time in over 2 weeks to see some of our homeschool buddies, so we met up at the zoo.
I do have lots and lots of pictures, but I will just pick a few of the better one's to post here below. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, I know we did. We are certainly looking forward to a great 2011.

If you want to see more pics of the fireworks, or the crazy weather we have been having here you can check out my photo blog here. Thanks!