Family Update Oct. 21

I find it extremely hard to believe that the year is so close to over.  This time last year, I was finally getting myself together and getting into a rhythm. ...  And then my best friend's family had a small crisis and by the time it was over, it was pushing June!  We restructured and headed off down our trail of goals, only to be pulled up short 6 weeks later and pointed into a whole new direction.  Now the end is in sight ... but I really feel like I've missed out on the whole last year.  Didn't we JUST have Rue's birthday and Christmas?

Oh well ... Kendra says my brain "doesn't process time properly".  I can believe it.  Coupled with an INTJ personality (http://typelogic.com/intj.html  or   http://www.16personalities.com/intj-personality), I can come across as being pessimistic and complaining about this ... when I'm merely stating where my year disappeared to.


I think most people by now know that my dad's sister, Aunt V, is moving in with us at the end of this week.  The moving van should be packed by now, and rolls out in the morning.  We are super excited and delighted to have her coming and staying with us.  She will be living in my Dad's trailer, so this isn't as big of a deal as it might appear ... but it does require cleaning, clearing, and repairing to get ready for her arrival, after all, Dad left most of his stuff here when he remarried.    Nothing like a deadline to get the "to do" list done!


School has been pushed to a back burner - we try to do some every morning, and most evenings, but not all days are successful.  Of course, they are learning some valuable life skills in organizing and cleaning and packing and the like - so I don't consider this completely time wasted.

Rue is now 3 years old.  I seemed to have blinked, because the last time I really thought about it, she had just turned 2.   I plan to start "officially" schooling her in January, but she already has her colors and shapes down pat, and can count up to 12 objects pretty consistently   So all I really plan to do is give her some structure and work on the alphabet and phonics.  She'll have fun.   She is so excited about having her own bed and her own bedroom - true, it is the middle of the living room, but it is her personal space and she is very pleased with it.   She is so excited about her birthday party this weekend - she talks about her cake and the games quite a bit ... once in a while she asks if she is going to get some snacks for her birthday.

Joel is doing 2nd grade workbooks and refining his reading skills.  When he buckles down, we are done in about 2 hours.  On the other hand, yesterday it took 2 hours to copy a sentence on his paper.  Oh well.  He's been doing a lot of computer educational games, and reading a lot of science and history books, so he's learning a lot in spite of it not quite being what is in my plan book.   He is enjoying having his own room as well - and loves bring Rue in to play games or work puzzles.  Now that all of his toys and "junk" are in one spot, it is more than obvious that I need to really go through his stuff and purge out the "baby toys".   He asked me if he could have "real tools" in his tool box, since I was taking away so many of his play tools.

V has been the most affected by our cleaning and the general fall weather.  Her allergies are threatening to blow up into a full asthma attack.  Keep her in your prayers.  She's holding her own, but she really needs a breather break for a week to get back into the swing of it all.  The only thing keeping her here is her rabbits and that all of her schoolwork is on her computer.  I'm hoping to send her to Grandma's house for a few days next month.   She's been my most diligent on her school work, and while she doesn't always move with speed - she does apply diligence and tenacity to her work.  Algebra has been a struggle, but she chews on each new concept until she's figured it out before moving along to the next one.   Recently, a friend loaned her a keyboard, and she tries to sneak in an hour of music practice every day between her keyboard and the violin.  She has been writing songs and even writing out notes to the songs.  She has been sitting out on WR the last few weeks, but can't wait to get back to it as soon as she is breathing fine again.   She is also starting a brand new blog for the "fun stuff" she wants to post.   http://singingmiownsong.blogspot.com/

Kendra has been spending most of her time writing books and blogging.  She has been a huge help on the lifting and cleaning around here.  I don't know what I would have done without the 2 girls to help get things done.  Her plans are to publish her next book in 5 weeks, so she  is in editing mode.  She also has been doing the last few sections of Algebra 2 on Kahns Academy  and chugging away on her reading list for school.

Tim has had some pretty "hard nibbles" recently ... but all of them "got away".  We are patiently waiting for God to lead the right job to us, or us to the right job.  In the meantime, status quo.


Such is our life.


Prayer Requests

Please keep V's asthma in your prayers.
Safety as my Aunt and her family (those who flew up to help her move) have safe travels.
Aunt V's son (K) is job hunting as well and has come in to help out.
Tim's job, and health as he works at reffing.
Uncle T - an interview
Aunt C - health with a cold and throat teaching
And that we get everything done that needs to be completed by Friday - and some helping hands would be wonderful.

And keep a baby "Seth" in your prayers - he was 12 weeks premature and while he is gaining weight, his lungs are beginning to fail.