Where Are You??? An Update

It has been a LONG time since I did a proper update.  Did anyone miss me?


There has been a LOT going on around here.


First, Steve and Karen are still here.  Still living in Dad's house next door.  And still working on getting their own place moved.   ...   First there was a delay while they prepped the land for the move, then it rained and the land turned into a bog.  The trailer finally got moved, but more rain slowed down the progress of getting water and sewer installed, they are still working on the electricity.   But as of last week, they do have everything off of the old property, much to the new owners delight.   So they have been here 4 1/2 months.   Not that I don't like having my best friend next door - but I know what it is to have everything you own in storage and be in temporary living space.


Second, Tim's reffing season is basically over.  So Tim has gone from being gone almost every afternoon and evening and not home until late at night, to home again most of the time.  He took nearly all of the far away games because he had time to travel those distances.  Of course, if he took a game at the school down the road, he was there and back much quicker.

  SO .. we are praying for a new source of income.

   ....   BUT  my hope is not in doctors, lawyers, or the government.   My hope is in Christ and him crucified, the author and finisher of my faith.   My Lord knows what we have needs of ... and those needs are often miraculously being met, and sometimes in the most unlikely of ways.


Third, our temporary, frantic, and unorganized move to bring our school necessary items back over to our house ... has resulted in a LOT of chaos.  We have reached a point where we are no longer sure where things are or who had them last.   We are looking forward to getting our school back next door - but that means getting Tim's office next door FIRST!   With only one internet available to us now, we have to take Tim's office next door so we can all use the same internet ... BUT where do we put Tim???   Dad will be cleaning out his office ... though he's been pretty busy too, too busy to go through things, and the house is very crowded (see the first thing up there).  ....  So we have to clean out Dad's office, move Tim, clean and fix up the office and move Joel into that room.  When we move Tim out, we have to also clean up the school room and move all of our school stuff back next door.  We HOPE we find all of the missing stuff.


4th, gearing up for choosing what to buy for school in the following year ... I've been checking sales and estimating where the kids are and where they might be come next year.  But I've still got to get next door and check my inventory.   I'm hopeful that we can get everything for under $100 - mostly because I try to buy as much reusable curriculum as I can.


5th, our weather has been unpredictable.  Days can be very cold in the upper 40's when we get dressed in the mornings, and up to 80 by 4pm.  This means I've had to go digging for more of our summer clothes, but we still need out lots of winter cloths for days that don't warm up.  We've not needed coats much - maybe that's a good thing, because the coat closet collapsed, and is now hiding behind boxes that are homeless.  See #3 for why things are in such a state of stack and stay.  Did I mention the piles of blankets that are on the beds one night and kicked off the next.


6th,  school.  We do it pretty much every single day of the week.  Weekends are hectic with trying to keep up with chores and errands.   Kendra is still creeping through 10th grade, but she is almost ready to publish her next book.  It's not the sequel to her first book.  Vannan is almost halfway through her 8th grade year.  Her writing via her blog and art work has really started to develop this year.  Joel is only 35 lessons from finishing 1st grade - though we'll still work on Health, States, and other odds and ends.  He went into 2nd grade math way back in January, and is doing pretty good with it.  He loves multiplication.   LaRue is learning her colors, shapes, letters, and numbers.  We've also started bringing home Signing Time videos from the library and she loves those!


7th, we are working on doubling or tripling our garden space this spring/summer.  Kendra will have a garden Birthday party in 2 weeks.  So we've been working hard at getting the spots ready for tilling and planting.  We had hoped to be farther along - but are delighted to be planting before May 1 this year.   We are hoping to have lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, and lots more for this summer.   At least ONE of my 3 blue berries is sprouting leaves, One is totally dead, and the third we are still waiting, two of it's stems are quite green - but I don't know if it will make leaves.  We planted sunflowers in the front yard - and I'm hoping that they all come up.  We also planted a ton of wild flowers, if the seeds are any good, we might have a pretty yard in a few weeks.


Tim's radio show celebrated its first full year - it is hard to believe everything that we have been through this year.


Other events ...

The car battery died and had to be replaced, the money for it was given to us.
A front tire went flat with a nail ... Tim stopped at a tire shop and they fixed it for free.
Toffee got her nose bitten by the neighbor dog when she visited our house - she was looking for her "boys".
I fell down the stairs and tried to break an arm.
LaRue is sleeping 2/3 of the time in the bed with the rest of the kids.
Joel has memorized several Donut Man videos - and sang a song in church.
I became and aunt for the 23rd? time.  I'm loosing track.
Joel is reading at a mid 2nd grade level.
Kendra turned 17.
Paul turned 2  - he's walking, signing, and very communicative.
Tim killed a 4+ foot Copperhead snake that killed 4 baby bunnies, and had eaten 2 of them.  One bunny survived.