New Year Letter

Well, it's been a while since I have blogged...and there wasn't even a Christmas letter this year, either! Hey, folks, I was doing good just to get those cards addressed, stamped, and in the mail. Here's a summary of the family and the goings-on of 2006.

Keely is now 8 1/2 (the half is so important!), and is growing up so fast, it seems. She loves to read, draw, write, and sew. Thanks to Nana, she now has her very own sewing machine and can really turn out those pillows. She has grown and matured in the Lord over the past year, and Kevin and I are overjoyed to see her heart become increasingly sensitive to the Lord and to obedience to Him in her attitudes and actions. Keely spends her days schooling, helping me out around here, reading, and playing with her siblings or her best friend Mia, who lives down the street.

Noah is 6 1/2, and is the family clown. (Wonder where he got his funny bone?) Noah is very much a busy and rambunctious boy, but he also reads (when I make him :) ), builds all manner of symmetrical creations with his legos, and loves to play with (and scare people with) his hermit crabs. He also loves his sisters (usually) and brother (unless he is in Noah's room), and his best bud Liam, who is the brother of the aforementioned Mia. Noah is doing great in the first grade. The only problem I have with him is when he won't stop cracking jokes and being silly!

Lily is 4, and has rightfully earned her nickname, "Spicy Peanut". She is full of mischief and persistence, and is alternately hilarious and exasperating. Lily is 'doing school' with me for a few minutes a day, learning the regular preschool things, and it has been so much fun to have that time with her and hear what is in her little brain. Lily is a social being and basically spends her days following me around or irritating--I mean playing with her siblings. She's enjoying her first year of Kids' Praise and Kids' Prayer at our church.

Rowan is 2 1/2 and is a cuddly yet independent enigma, as all toddlers are. She loves princesses and girly things and wants to do everything that Mommy does. Including being Mommy to Joseph! She cracks us up because she baby talks to Joe just exactly like we do. Rowan loves her biggest sister and brother, and her baby brother, but the jury is out on how she feels about Lily. :)

Joseph just turned one, and he is truly a delight and a blessing. He has finally started walking and is becoming the dinnertime entertainment around here, mimicking things the kids do. He loves to be held and to snuggle with his blankie, and he strongly dislikes vegetables. That's what multivitamins are for, right?

Kevin is still with Sprint (7 years now), and enjoys his job. He has become more involved in leadership at our church this year, which is wonderful because he has so much godly wisdom to apply. He enjoys working on web design, and as a matter of fact will be re-doing our church's this year. Kevin spends his time playing with the kids, teaching and training them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, watching the Chiefs/Aggies on t.v., or helping me. He's a hard-working guy. I love him more every year, and every year I wonder how I landed such a wonderful guy.

I turned the big 3-0 this year, and in many ways I feel it! Very strange to be getting older and see how amazingly fast life flies. I feel privileged to be able to stay home and teach the kids and "home-make" for my family. The Lord has blessed me so abundantly, and He has given me contentment and even joy in my work. His grace is so beautiful to me; that He chose me to be His child and will never let me go, and also that He will use my many failures for my growth, or for the growth of someone else. I am earnestly praying that 2007 will be a year that I will be an instrument for His Righteousness. I pray that your goal will be the same.

Happy New Year!