Looking Back on 2009

I haven't written down yet my goals for 2010. Some of the things I had planned in 2009 came out just like I had in mind and some things turned out completely different. Tomorrow my Dad and I will be picking Scott up from the airport. I also want to sit down and write out my plans for 2010. I like that I blogged about this past year, since sometimes it's hard to remember what all took place within a year. So much happens that it seems like it had to be several years in one sometimes.

I was about to write a month-by-month review of what all took place this past year, but I realized that just one month would take up to much space so I'll just write a few memorable highlights from this year.

At the beginning of the year, the older three children were able to take a few riding lessons from a friend of ours at church. That was a dream come true for Ruth.

Hannah celebrated her 4th Birthday in March. She has grown a lot this year, from wanting to be Bibleman, to wanting to be a football player, and even a rough tough cow girl.

Joshua turned 11 in June, he's grown a lot in this year as well. His biggest lesson I think he learned this past year was to be patient with Hannah. Their personalities were always clashing. I helped them resolve their problem by having them work together on things. They still have their squabbles but at least Joshua has learned to be patient with his sister.

Also in June we took a trip to Michigan and visited with Scott's family there. We had a great time and got to visit with a lot of his family there. The kids had a wonderful time over there. They got to go camping, fish, ride on a 4 wheeler, walk the dogs, ride on a motorcycle, and even got to eat birthday cake they had for Joshua's Birthday there.

Ruth turned 9 in July. She has grown as well in this year. The main trait she has worked on and is growing in, is not being too critical of others. She is a very smart and detailed young lady, but when things don't go her way, she can be very critical. I can tell she has been working on not being as vocal with her criticisms. She is a wonderful big sister and we all call her the second Mommy. Whenever I can't hold Jonathan, she's the one he'll go to for hugs and cuddles.

Jonathan turned 2 this year in November. When I look over previous pictures of him I think he has probably been the one to grow the most this past year. He is becoming so independent and vocal. I tell people, "We spend two years trying to get them to walk and talk and the rest of their life trying to get them to sit down and be quiet." He is definitely becoming his own person. He still has his moments copying Hannah but now he is throwing in his own ideas.

It was about the middle of July that we realized we were expecting our fifth child. We found out in October, that we are expecting a boy and we are naming him Elijah Scott.

I found out that two of my cousins are also expecting babies. I'm due in March, one of my cousins is due in April, and the other in May.

Scott took Joshua and Ruth hiking this year. I stayed home with Jonathan and Hannah. We set up an indoor tent, made from chairs and blankets. I even let them eat inside their tent.

I started coordinating the Contenders of the Faith class in a homeschool group in which we are a part. It's a Christian alternative to Boy Scouts. The Keepers of the Faith meet at the same time which is the Christian alternative to girl scouts.

Scott became a bus driver at the local school, and was offered a job in the tech department as well. We were blessed with a good price on a van, and we were able to get Scott a ticket for a trip to Paraguay to visit a Missionary there. Even though that meant having him away from us during Christmas, I was glad that he went and feel like it was good for him. I'm hoping it encouraged him as well as the Missionaries he visited.

Well, that was my brief overview for 2009. If you want a more detailed view of it you can always look over my past posts. I tried to post somewhat regularly although I tend to fall behind occasionally.

Well, it is now 2010 and I'm looking forward to seeing Scott in about 5 hours. I guess I should try to get a little sleep before then. I'm so excited to see him. My next post will be about my goals for 2010. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This is My Blog, Not Dad's...

Okay, I left my computer open beside my Dad. I had to change Jonathan's diaper. So here is what resulted.

"Blogging, yes, yes, Its so good to be blogging!!!!! I am blogging while changing a diaper!!!! I bet there are a lot of you who could not do that!!!! Did I mention that I am blindfolded also. You see mother's from Texas can do most anything. The picture is of me and my children talking to Scott on Skype. We watched "Calamity Jane" starring "Dorris Day" now my youngest daughter wants to be a cow girl. She watched "Facing the Giants and wanted to be a football player. We are going to watch "Yours Mine and Ours" next in hopes we will have more than a dozen grandchildren, who will play football for the Dallas Cow Girls. "

Hmm... I think I won't leave my blogger signed in while changing a diaper anymore.
Although some of what he said was true. No, I didn't change the diaper blindfolded (I'm not that good.) And for that matter I wasn't blogging while changing a diaper. I was about to.

Hmm... The Calamity Jane part was true. Hannah was inspired. You already heard about the football thing with Hannah from another post so that wasn't anything new.

Let's see, I'm not sure if my Dad was talking about me having a dozen grandchildren or him having a dozen grandchildren. But with 5 kids it won't be hard for me to have a dozen grandkids one day. So who knows I may have some football players in there. Oh, he said that was my grandchildren he was talking about.

And we were talking to Scott in that picture.

Okay, well, now you've heard it all. Not much more to write about, except that you won't have to worry about this duo-authorship anymore. At least as long as I can keep my password secret from my Dad. :) Hope everyone has a Happy New Year! You too, Dad!

Two More Days...

Only two more days and then on Friday we'll be picking Scott up from the airport. I sure do miss him. We got to skype with him a couple of times. That was nice getting to see him online. I also check my facebook to see if he or Bro. Barker post anything about what they are doing.

This is a picture of our kids sitting on my parents couch this past week. They've been having fun. They're missing Daddy too though.

Sunday we enjoyed the services at my Dad's church. It has been a long time since we've been able to go to his church on a Sunday. I enjoyed his Sunday School and his sermon during the Morning Worship. Sunday Night their church had business meeting.

There was one funny thing that happened Sunday Night. Before the evening worship service, I gave each of the kids some change to put in the offering plate. They were pretty excited about it. Well, the usher didn't see that my children had money to give and they walked right past them. When we looked behind us and saw that they were taking the offering a few pews behind us, the kids were a little panicky.

They are normally very quiet and proper during services but I knew they would be sad to not get to put their offering in the plate. I decided to "unleash" them. I told them, "Okay, go catch up with the usher and give him your money." There weren't as many people present in the evening as in the morning or I would have never done it. But everyone in the audience found it funny. They all know how still my kids normally are.

My Dad did ask me what happened all of a sudden he's up on the stage and all he sees is his four grandchildren running wildly up the isle. But once it was explained he understood completely.

Monday a couple at my Dad's church invited us all out to eat at McDonald's. We let the kids play in the play place. They had fun, except for Hannah who was only brave enough to go to about the first level of the play area. She just wouldn't go beyond the steps. She decided she would go in it when she's older.

How does a girl that is brave enough to talk to anyone in a room be scared to go inside a play place. Well, that's my Hannah. I asked her how she could be afraid of that when she says she isn't afraid of anything. She said, "Well, I'm afraid of some things."

Today, we were suppose to have Lady's Bible Study here at my parents house, but Dad was feeling sick last night and was running a fever most of the day today. I hope he starts feeling better tomorrow.

Tomorrow evening will be midweek service. I don't know what we will do Thursday, but Friday morning is the day we pick up Scott. That's not too far away. Please pray for him that he has an easy trip and makes it safely home to us.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to a blessed New Year.

The Night Before Chirstmas...

I let the kids open one present before bed tonight. I thought it would be nice for them to get to sleep in their new pajamas. They all love to dress alike and I was thrilled to find pajamas where they could be "twins".

The only problem with spending a couple of weeks with my parents is that my Dad beats me to all the pictures. So yes he has a picture of the kids in their pajamas on his blog as well.

We had a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at my Dad's church tonight. It was real nice. Couples went up and read through the Christmas Story from Luke 1 and 2. We sang carols between the readings. Then at the end we all had candles that we lit at the end. Jonathan was especially excited about the candle. I let him sit in my lap and hold the candle with me. He was really good and didn't touch the flame which I knew was incredibly tempting. Then I let him blow out the candle at the end.
We all had fun.

Well, it is now Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone! I guess I better get busy with a little bit of last minute wrapping.

Scott's in Paraguay

I took this picture of Scott right before he went through the security at the airport. My Dad took us over to the airport Monday and we watched as Scott went through the process of checking his luggage, and getting his tickets. Then we watched until we couldn't see him any more. We did see that he passed through the security line without any problems, so I was glad that it all went smoothly. He called me from his plane in Florida, before the plane took off. That was Monday night and he said that he wouldn't be able to call me on his cell phone after that. So I was glad he called and let me know he made it that far.

Then Tuesday evening he e'mailed me to let me know he had made it safely and would write more later. Which I also read a message that Bro. Barker, the missionary Scott is visiting wrote to say that Scott had arrived safely and they enjoyed him playing on his ukulele at a meeting in Paraguay. So I knew Scott was having a great time.

I talked to him on Skype this afternoon. He is doing well. He had preached at a prison in Paraguay and I think he attended another service. He will be preaching on the radio tomorrow. He will also be attending a Christmas Eve service in Paraguay. It will be a 4 hour long service. I can't picture any services here in America running that long. I'm looking forward to his getting back with pictures and telling us more about what he is doing. We have 3 hours time difference. When it was 8 o'clock here it was midnight there. Tomorrow sounds like it will be pretty busy for him. He is starting the morning by going to the airport to pick up the luggage that was lost in transit. Thankfully he had all his personal items as carry-on. We are hoping there won't be anything missing from his checked baggage. It was mostly items that we had bought for the missionary and his family.

The kids and I are doing well. My parents invited us to stay with them for the two weeks Scott is away. Monday night was the hardest for me. After I talked with him on the phone I felt sad, because I realized he really will be gone for two weeks and we hadn't been apart that long before. Normally I would have gone with him rather than have to miss him for two weeks, but since I'm close to my 7th month of pregnancy I didn't want to be that far away. I also knew Scott would have an easier time going from place to place without worrying about my health and keeping me comfortable. I guess if we keep busy enough maybe the time will pass quickly.

Tuesday night my parents took me and the kids to see the Christmas lights in Athens. They were really pretty. Then today we had Wednesday night service at my parents' church. My parents even brought refreshments for everyone to enjoy fellowship after service. Tomorrow we will be having a Christmas Eve candlelight service. Also my sister and brother-in-law will be coming to visit us on Christmas Eve. So tomorrow should be pretty busy. And then of course we will have Christmas on Friday at my parents house. I'm hoping maybe Scott will be able to join us on Skype. That would be nice. I'm not sure exactly what they have planned for him that day. So I guess we will see.

Well, I was going to try to post two more pictures but for some reason my browser isn't letting me. I guess I'll just have to blog again tomorrow with those pictures. Maybe Blogger will cooperate better then. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas Eve.

Our Texas Snowman...

My brother posted on his blog some beautiful snowy pictures in France. Sooo... I decided I would post our picture of the snowman Joshua made a couple of weeks ago. (Don't laugh all you Northern Folks. Okay, you can laugh a little.)

This is actually a handsome snowman for down here. I remember making a snowman when I was a kid, that was just a lump. Mainly because the snow didn't stick that year. So this snowman was actually quite nice, and he's even dressed in his own leaf apron. (He's a modest snowman.) And how many snowmen do you see able to stand in such green grass. :)

Joshua made this snowman on a Friday night and we took this picture the next day. The rest of the snow had melted around it. By Sunday our poor snoman had a shrunken head, and he was dearly departed by Monday. But at least we got this picture before he was completely gone.

Our colds are still lingering. Scott sounds the worst. I think it is because he has to use his voice a lot more than the rest of us. Hopefully he'll be feeling better over the weekend. He only has to work a half day tomorrow, so maybe his voice will be fine by Sunday.

Sunday, we have a Christmas Skit planned with the children. Hannah will be Mary, Jonathan will be Joseph. Ruth will be an Angel, and if there are any other girls present, they can be angels too. Joshua and Andrew (a boy at our church) will be shepherds. I'll be reading Luke 2 and they will sing Christmas Carols between each of the sections of the skit. We have a doll cradle that we are going to use as a manger and we will borrow some hay from someone at church. We would like to use their new baby goats for the cattle but I'm afraid that would be a little too messy. The goats would probably steal the show or at least the hay. I'll try to take pictures.

Then after the services, we plan to have a Birthday cake for Jesus. I am hoping to make the cake on Saturday. I'll try to get a picture of the cake as well.

Then Sunday night after our service we will head to my parents. We will be taking Scott to an airport on Monday. He'll be visiting Missionary Ted Barker and his family in Paraguay during the Christmas Holiday. Bro. Barker had invited him out a few months ago, and I encouraged him to go ahead and go. He loves helping Missionaries. He would have like for me to come with him, but I wasn't sure if I was quite ready to go with him on a trip that far away so soon, and also the fact that I'm entering my Third Tri-mester in my pregnancy. I would hate for something to happen while I was in another country. He understood and I told him that I would go with him another time, after the baby is born. I sure will miss him though.

The last mission trip we went on was to Ukraine in 2006. We spent 2 weeks over there with a group that was formed by Bro. David Smith and X-STREAM global missions. Before that we hadn't been on a trip since right before Joshua was born. Before we were married Scott had taken several Mission trips. I find that it is good for him. It gives him a chance to use his language skills that he doesn't get at home. He also enjoys being able to help and encourage missionaries.

Pray for him while he is on this trip. Also pray he doesn't have problems with the climate change. It's going to be in the heat of Summer there in Paraguay. We'll be cold here and he'll be melting there. Sure sounds odd.

The kids and I will be spending Christmas with my parents this next couple of weeks. We are all looking forward to it. I'll try to be a little more prompt at posting while we're there.

Dr. Hannah

Hannah caught a cold Friday evening. She had gone outside in the snow and got too cold while she was out there. I noticed her cough on Saturday. I asked her when she started coughing and she told me that it was while she was playing in the snow. "I'm allergic to snow," she explained.

Monday morning she still had a cough. She asked me if she could have oatmeal for breakfast. "I need some hot oatmeal. And I'm not going to blow on it because hot is good for your throat," she told me, "and I need some hot tea too."

I told her that I didn't mind her having some tea, and oatmeal as long as she didn't let it burn her mouth. So hot tea and oatmeal was the breakfast of choice yesterday morning.

Hannah is amazingly good at giving us all a good laugh. She turns into the little expert about everything.

I let her feel our baby kick. Babies are a facinating thing for 4 yr olds. She asked me, "Mommy, do I have a baby in my tummy?"

I explained that she did not. And that she had to grow up and get married before getting a baby in her tummy. Then she asked, "Does Daddy have a baby in his tummy?"

I guess in her mind Daddy is grown up and married. I did explain that Daddies don't have babies in their tummies only Mommies can have babies in their tummies. Thankfully that seemed to have cleared it all up for her.

Yesterday, I had a Doctor's appointment and had the kids all ready to go for my appointment. Hannah announced, "I'm going to be a Doctor when I grow up!"

Of course a sibling had to ask, "I thought you wanted to be a football player."

I came to her rescue though, "Ah, so are you going to be a football playing doctor?"

She just smiled. The picture above is one I took yesterday. Hannah wanted to wear her stethoscope to my Doctor's appointment. And I had to take a picture of her all dressed up to go.