Happenings

Well, I didn't realize it had been a year since I last posted anything. A lot has gone on, mostly good! Trying to think back as to what we did that long ago. I think the kids and I went to Dothan in March.In April we went on "Spring Break" to St. Simon's Island and met up with Dana and her kids. We had a blast!! We had a sunrise service with baptism at the beach in April for Easter. The end of May we went to Dothan to pick up a friend to intern at our  church down here, and ended up swinging over to Pensacola to attend a funeral for a friends baby-very sad. Leigh was able to go with us on that trip because was over the weekend and combined with Memorial Day! June was a super busy month. The church had four interns that went out door to door almost every day, and the last week we had VBS. After July 4th, the kids and I took Norian back to Dothan and spent a week there. In August, we went to Sanibel Island to celebrate our 10 year anniversary (which was in June). We took the kids with us and were beach bums for a day and a half. It was sooo much fun and I am looking forward to going back sometime!
Luke started school the end of July. We started him in the A Beka video streaming, and I have absolutely loved it!! He does his school mostly independently, which gives me more time to school Emily and Josiah. I started Emily and Josiah the beginning of August. Josiah's in K-4, so his doesn't require too much work. He's been doing a really good job and seems to enjoy it! We had a little bit of a problem with Luke not thinking I was his teacher, too and not wanting to do the work I assigned him, but we dealt with that and this second semester, he has really jumped in and been  doing an excellent job participating and getting his work done quickly. A lot of days he starts earlier than the rest of us, so he can get done and play! He started going to the orthodontist over the summer and in the Fall, we started a treatment plan due to the way his teeth and jaw are aligned. This past week they put in an expander on the top and bottom of his mouth. The top one is one that we turn twice a week with a special tool. It's to help the top of his mouth expand out because his upper jaw causes his upper teeth to sit slightly inside the lower teeth and jaw. The lower expander is expand the lower part a little so that his permanent teeth will have more room. All of his teeth are crowded and when the permanent ones have been coming they are awfully crooked. There would definitely be a problem later on, so they say the earlier the better to start fixing some of it. He has really been a trooper through all of it! I thought sure his teeth would be more sore and he would be complaining about it while eating and such, but he's only mentioned it a time or two. He has eaten a little bit slower, but it doesn't seem to bother him much at all. He's had tylenol once since getting all this new hardware in his mouth. I've been very pleased with how he's done!!
We bought a house!! Signed contract in October and moved in December. We're still getting moved in and settled. I should say we're settled fine, but we still have a ton of boxes to unpack. They're mostly in the garage. We've had the normal homeowners issues of having to fix random things that break, etc. The roof is older, so we had to get some estimates on it and a licensed roof inspector out to inspect it per our insurance, but it passed, so we have a couple years before we HAVE to get it replace, but we're so thankful it's not this month/year. There's a leak in the floor/wall in a bedroom on an outside wall that Leigh's been working on trying to find the cause and fix. He's pretty sure it's related to how the sprinkler system hits it or something. Then he got new tires on the car and was informed his brakes were bad, so he replaced those, then he changed the oil on the car and van and realized two or the motor mounts on the van, that he just replaced had cracked  clean through, so now he has to replace those again. He feels like it's never ending. I've been trying not to ask him to help me move things in the house cause he's so busy already. But maybe I will ask him to hang my two big pictures! :)
In October we got to go to Orlando and meet Dana and her kids and go to Sea World. That was a super fun treat! We were offered a place to stay for free and Dana was offered free tickets from a friend!! That doesn't happen very often, and we had so much fun!!
We went to Dothan for the Peanut Festival Parade in November, and Mom and Dad and I actually took the kids to the fair! It was a lot of fun, and the kids seemed to really enjoy it! We don't usually go to the fair, just the parade, so it was a fun treat! In December we went to Pensacola for Christmas and had a nice time. We got to see some friends and Leigh's brother and family a couple times and hang out with my sisters and parents. It wasn't too cold, just a little chilly a couple days, so that was nice. Came back home and finished moving everything out of the rental and cleaned it and got settled in our new home.
I think that about brings us up to now. Very thankful for how God has blessed us and the fun things we got to do last year and family and friends we got to see! So very thankful for our new house, too! It's so nice to finally have a little more space!
If you're on Facebook, you can see all the pictures that should go with all our trips, etc. I tried to find them and add a few, but I couldn't get them to work!

Differences

I am fascinated by the differences between little boys and little girls! It is at times interesting, fascinating, annoying and at other times, Hilarious!

The kids and I were packing today to go to Grandpa and Grandmommy's house in Dothan (a 2 1/2 hr drive) for the weekend (left P'cola on Thursday after lunch, and leave Dothan on Sunday after lunch). Well, when L and E find out we're going to "Grandmommy's" house, they both have to pack their own "suitcases" (bookbags). I always make sure I go through them and discuss things with them and try to guide their choices.

The Difference:

L (our son)

• pajamas
• 1 pair underwear
• slippers
• book
• coonskin hat
• favorite car
• favorite stuffed animal
• toothbrush/toothpaste
• new toy phone

E (our daughter)

• pajamas
• slippers
• 2 dresses
• 3 skirts with shirts (of which only one matched :) )
• 3 pairs panties
• 3 pairs socks
• 3 pairs shoes
• hairbrush and comb
• misc small toys
• 3 baby dolls
• two extra little bags of baby doll accessories (blankets mostly and 3 bottles)
• baby doll bed
• 2 barrettes
• toothbrush in toothbrush holder
• and she wanted another bag to put one of her babies in

It just makes me laugh. And yet it really shows their personalities. L would wear the same clothes all weekend and it not phase him in the least, whereas E enjoys changing her clothes a couple times a day (although as she's gotten older, she's gotten much better with that). (although there are still a few days when she goes down for a nap in one outfit and when she gets up from her "nap" she is in a completely different outfit)

L also keeps one pair of clothes on the floor of his bedroom and that's what he wears each day until I specifically tell him to put it in the hamper ( which is usually every day, sometimes he's allowed to wear it more than one day in a row if we didn't do anything that day). E has all of her outfits that she has worn recently and pajamas (which are different every day) strewn about her room. Most days look like a tornado has gone through her clothes and left them laying about (we're working on it) :)

Anyways, I just think it's fascinating and quite Hilarious! They're so funny about it, too. We did discuss their choices, and we added several clothing options to Luke's bag and weeded out a few from Emily's bag, although she did still have an extra bag for her baby's stuff (and a spare pair of shoes) and she was allowed to bring her baby's bed (because we had room, and it's just sooo cute to see her play with it).

I love my kiddos!!!!!