Time flies

My how time flies. It was ten years ago to the day that Mike and I found out we were going to parents for the first time. It was was about this time ( 6 pm-ish) that I think we were both still staring at dinner in a complete daze. Our lives were about to change.

For you see we had been told about a year before, that it would be impossible for us to conceive naturally. Obviously God had other plans. Three other plans to be exact. :)

Tim @ 9 years old

As I sit here tonight, I have my youngest on my lap trying to see what I am doing, my middle child is not feeling so hot; she is sprawled out on the couch. My son is laying on the floor playing with the dog. I am amazingly blessed to have such awesome kids. I am even more blessed to have a wonderfully, awesome husband to help me raise the kids. However, I realize how much my cup overflows when I think about how God granted my hearts desire. I had wanted to be a mother for so long. I had almost given up... But God knew.
He had plans. I will write more on all that later... For now just let me say God is good. Be patient. It really is God's timing. Really.

Tim @ 3 months old

I'm baaaacckkkk!

Ok I know all of last year I said I was going to blog more. I seriously had no idea how busy/crazy life was gonna get. Heh

However, it has been laid upon my hear that once again I need to start blogging. Not sure why and in what form it will take... Although I suspect it will be a little different than my facebook posts. I do play nice on FB, and I love it FB, but sometimes I really do find myself biting my tongue. I may let loose on here a bit more... LOL. This should be interesting. I am beginning to find my voice in this chaotic life, and although I know there are thousand other bloggers out there, I need to let loose too. :)
I will still blog and post pictures about family and my life too, I do still have some people (you know who you are...lol) that are still not on Facebook, so I am hoping to get a good mix going.
First thing first let me update the kids photos.

This last year has been amazing in so many ways... The kids are doing great. Tim did well in Archery, and is looking forward to starting back up in the fall. We are trying to save up to get him his own bow, and he is looking to compete competitively this next year. He has made some really great friends, and has been busy with his lego building. School for him is going well. People ask what grade he is in, and I have to stop and think. As a homeschooler, we do things a bit differently, so although technically he will be in 4th grade, he is reading at a 6th grade level and doing Math at a 4th grade level. Writing is one area we are still working on. I am hoping that once he learns to type it will be a bit easier... his brain moves faster than his hand, so he struggles a bit to get things on paper.
Alexa had a great year as well. We started a program called Keepers of the Faith, but had to drop it due scheduling. But we had made some really great friends, who also had scheduling issues, soooo we started our own co-op. We have three families and 5 girls that meet once a week. It has been fun. The girls have learned to cook, sew, make a budget and several other skills. We are planning on continuing this in the fall as well. She is technically going into 3rd grade, but is reading at a 5/6th grade level, she is on target for Math, and writing. Science is a weak point, so we may take some time this summer to work on that.
Erika, is the one who has shown the most growth school wise. She is 4, but we are planning on starting her on Kinder material in the fall. She can write pretty well, and she can read a few short words, but her understanding of things amazing me on a daily basis. Most of that comes from trying to keep up with her brother and sister. She also joined in the Keepers program this last year, and we also added a preschool co-op that we started with several families at our church.
Mike is doing great!! He has been with his current company 12 years, although they did get bought out recently, but it looks like things are settling down after the buyout. He has had lots of opportunities to teach both adult and youth Bible study at our church and he has been teaching a Greek class for almost a year now. They are almost done. Not sure what I will do with my Friday nights once I have him free again... LOL. He is, however, already looking to the future, as he has more people interested in another Greek class, and one of his students wants to move on to the next level. Lots of opportunities. I am amazed by him all the time. Almost eighteen years together and I am more in love now than every day before.
I am soooo amazingly blessed by my family and my cup truly overflows. (Even on the days they drive my crazy... LOL)
As for me, I am busy with life. I am park day coordinator for our homeschool group, and there are all kinds of activities going on in any given week. I cook for my hubby class on Fridays (to be fair, there are two students at the moment, so it does not add much to the food budget). We are now in prep mode for VBS at our church, which we are heading up. I keep thinking life will slow down... not sure when. July is pretty light right now, but I know my calendar tends to fill up fast. LOL. We will start back to school  in August and I know we are trying to plan a vacation of some sort in the next two months.
Wow, just writing all that out, is making me tired, and a bit hungry. It is dinner time here and then I am off for a time out with some friends, sans hubby and kids. ;)
Thanks for stopping by and I will post again soon... more pics to come too. :) Thanks!

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! :)

Update, lots of photos

Ok wow I seriously did not realize that it has been a month since I last posted. Wow time flies. Life just seemed to explode this past month and all that time just got away from me.
So I guess I will start from the beginning of the month:
We had been spending as much time as possible out doors before it got to hot. So I have lots of pictures from the park. (For more pictures click here) One of my good friends and I would go walk while the kids played. We also tried to get some more formal shots of the two little ones, but Erika was not happy being put down that day... it was actually pretty funny. I love the expression on Caleb's face.

Erika has had some firsts this last month: Her first graham cracker and her first time in a swing at the park. She seemed to like both a lot. We are beginning to think she is a lot like her sister in that she seems to have the same daredevil tendencies Alexa always possessed. Boy are we in trouble!

Mother's day was nice. We spent it with my family. My folks church had a Mother/Daughter tea. It was fun. My aunt and cousin also came down to spend some time with my grandma. My cousin is pregnant and expecting a boy the end of the summer, so she was getting in lots of practice holding Erika. We had 4 generations on both sides there so it was especially meaningful. My mom, mom-in-law and grandmothers are a tremendous example of what a good mother should be. They all set the standard high for the rest of us. "Thank you!"

No I did not forget about Erika's 7 month pictures either... I had just not got around to posting them. She would not cooperate and put both her legs down, so all we managed was this shot and some of her sitting with the bear. LOL She is now sitting up on her own, trying to feed herself, and just trying to be more independent in general. She is babbling, but all she says is dadadadada... I keep telling Mike it does not count if you don't know what you are saying. heh.

My (step) neice graduated from high school last night. So the night before they had a graduation/ birthday party for her. It was a lot of fun and a chance to reconnect with some family I had not seen in a very long time. We are so happy and proud that Katalena is part of our lives and that she is embarking on a new and wonderful phase in her life. We have no doubts she will do great things and go far in life.

While we had family here we spent some time at the aquarium/zoo. It was a lot of fun. The kids are always fascinated by the fish and they love being so closeup to the animals. (For more pics from the aquarium click here)

So wow we have had one busy month. June is starting to stack up as well with VBS at my folks church, several appointments and hopefully some time to play in the water as the weather is heating up fast here in the desert. Hopefully it will not take me another month to update, so make sure to check back soon!
Thanks for stopping by.

The clothes make the person

The shirt says it all:

Birthday party

We had the Tim and Lex's birthday party this past weekend. The kids originally decided they wanted separate parties, but ultimately settled for a joint party at Peter Piper Pizza. It was fun. There were lots of tokens and tickets, pizza and cake , and of course presents.
We had to wait til we got home to try out some presents:
Being that Tim is now 5 we thought would get him a (small)pet. He decided he wanted a guinea pig. He named it Lenny (for anyone interested Lenny is one of the Wonder Pets on a cable cartoon show). Even Lex really likes Lenny:
So all in all we had a really good time.
Make sure you check back tomorrow, as Alexa's actual birthday is tomorrow, and I will have more to post then. Thanks!

Birthday Presents

I think their Uncle Jesse has figured out what to get them as presents... He nailed both kids right on. Actually the gloves Tim is wearing were a Christmas present, but he finished off the look for his birthday with the mask. Lex is still walking around here this morning cuddling her new baby girl. LOL
I think we will all go to Jess for suggestions on what to get the kids from now on. :)