Where we are, January 2008

I am making this post so next year, I can come back here and read where we were and how far we have grown over the last year. I started this on the 2nd and haved edited it a few times. I may edit a few more times before I am done.

Where we are:

Gennifer: She is 15, approaching her 16th birthday in 3 months with apprehension. She is afraid of growing up. She has decided she wants to try to graduate when she is 17. I don't know what her rush is. She is working on writing two books and she has suddenly become infatuated with pirate history. I have heard more about Jolly Rogers than I ever thought I would. I even learned what a Jolly Roger is. :-) Gennifer started sponsoring a child from Poland through World Vision. This is something she has wanted to do since she was 7. She was working in a pecan orchard this past fall and most of her money went to world vision. Gennifer won first place in a home school geography bee and got her picture in the paper. She despises having her picture in the paper but mostly she despises that people still tell her that they saw her picture in the paper. That's why she wants to publish her books under a pen name.

Heather: She is 14. She insists that her baby brother hates her because he always fusses when she holds him. I keep telling her that is NOT true. He doesn't hate her. Probably. She is miss money bags. She was also working in the pecan orchard this fall and didn't blow her money. But I did. I currently owe her $121.50. Fortunately, she doesn't charge interest. much. Heather won second place in the home school geography bee but only because she and Gennifer had to have a tie-breaker. I think she feels like the winner because she didn't get her picture in the paper. ;) Heather finally got her Dr.pepper pants. She was supposed to get Dr. pepper sleep pants for Christmas but we couldn't find them anywhere so basically gave her and IOU.

Alizabeth: She is 12. She recently started wearing some make-up. I allow them to start wearing some make-up when there face starts breaking out and needs more care than they have given it in the past. There is no better incentive for washing your face everyday than wearing make-up. We use mineral make-up that doesn't cause more breakouts. Alizabeth recently got her hair cut shorter than she has ever had it before. It looks so becoming on her. She is very much a "lady" and loves all things lady. She is such a performer. Her favorite thing is ballet. Although we have lived in the country all of our lives, Alizabeth plans on moving to the city when she is grown. She wants to live in a small apartment and spend her days shopping. I have to get her help a lot when it comes to mathcing outfits for the other girls. Alizabeth is a giver. She loves to give things. She likes to make people feel good by giving them gifts. Maybe that is what she will do with all of things she will be shopping for. Alizabeth has a weakness for shoes. She admits that she would buy shoes just to look at if she thought they were cute.

Sharla: She is 9, If you ask her she will say 10. She insists that her Feb birthday is so close that she counts as a 10 year old. She is such a big helper. She loves holding her little brother and helping out with him. She told me before he was born that she wasn't sure she wanted a new baby in the family. She was afraid of changing the family she loved. I think she understands now that having a new baby added to the family instead of taking away from it. She has an insatiable hunger for God and spiritual learning. I am do blessed by that. She wants to share it with everyone. she wants to take art class and wants to be an artist. Right after she is finished being a firefighter and an angel. heehee (she wanted to be those when she was 4).

Danielle: (DJ) She is 7. She loves school and loves to learn. She is very capable. The girls have a "tree house" which is really a place on the roof of the barn where the tree limbs cover. I don't let the younger ones up there because it is made of sheet iron and has sharp edges. It is too easy for the younger kids to trip and fall. DJ hates not being allowed up there. I think she will feel like she has "arrived" when she will be allowed to be up there. She is such a big help with her baby brother. She loves helping with other people's babies and seems to gravitate to the boy babies. Because of this, she got a boy baby doll for Christmas. He is the most beautiful baby doll I have ever seen. Danielle has decided to let hair bangs grow out. It is already making her look older. She lost her first(and second)tooth this year. Bottom front. She likes to draw and is really good but I don't think she wants to be an artist. She says she wants to be a mom with 100 kids. That must mean I make it look too easy.


Sonja: She is 4. She is too smart for her own good. Mrs. Babs took the kids to see Frosty the Snowman at Casa Manana. The next day. Sonja told me that the snow wasn't real. Someone was in a box on the roof throwing snow that was Styrofoam. Thinking one of her sisters had dared to ruin the "magic" of theater for a 4 year old, I asked her "who told you that?". She responded with "Nobody told me. I just knew. I know everything". She is such a good big sister and accepted her little brother well. She seemed to understand all of it and never really need much explanation. But, I do remember her questioning one of the baby gifts we got. It was a pair of baby booties and baby cap. The cap had a semi-circle cardboard inside to keep the cap flat. Sonja couldn't understand why they put "baby shoes on a dustpan". :-)

Liam: He is 4 months old and has integrated well into our family. He is loved by all and loves his sisters very much, except Heather, ha, just kidding. The girls have been great about taking turns with Liam when he is up at night. He is scooting now and pulling up on his hands and knees on occasion. He will be crawling soon. He can sit on his own for a couple of minutes but then he will bow his back and fall backwards therefore we only let him do it on the bed. He loves his momma and is very much a mamma's boy. he likes to cuddle (which I love) and sometimes that is the only way he will go to sleep.

Misc: the girls are wanting to start an online business selling anything they can make. Aprons, table clothes, napkins, doll clothes, Christmas ornaments, and whatever else we can think of. To that end, Gennifer and Heather both got a new sewing machine for Christmas this year.

David started a job working for Ingean Construction in Nov. He still does his own work on the side as well. He has considered moving if the opportunity presents itself. We shall see. We have tried moving form this area so many times. I think we attached to it like a ball and chain.

I have great plans to launch my photography business this year. I have been dabbling for a year and half now and I think I am just about ready to go all the way and make it a business. Once I invest a bunch of money in equipment, that is. Who is ever ready to spend a bunch of money? I stretched myself way too thin this Christmas and was really stressed out. This was probably my least favorite Christmas ever except for one event. Instead of gifts from their grandparents this year, the girls each got $10. The past couple of months have been a really tough time financially for us and we struggled to get Christmas for the girls. We weren't able to do the extras like take the kids shopping for each other and us. The girls were really upset about not getting me anything for Christmas. So, I told them what I really wanted for Christmas was a shopping spree in mid-January when so much stuff would be on clearance (and $ would be easier to come by).
Well, come Christmas, they gave me a very large, heavy gift. It surprised me because, although we had run by wal-mart for something quick, I didn't think they had the time or the means to get me anything. I opened that large box and inside was lots of news paper and another, smaller, heavy wrapped box. I opened it and inside was more newspaper and another smaller, heavy wrapped box. I opened that box and inside was an old dumbbell and an envelope. In the envelope was $60 and a note telling me that it was for a shopping spree. All six of them had taken all of their $10 bills they had gotten for Christmas and given them to me. I just sat there and cried and cried. Here I was all of this time trying to make sure that my kids had a happy Christmas and what made them the happiest was for them to give me their money. I am crying again, now.