Giving thanks and getting ready for Christmas

Wow, November is gone and December is half over. Christmas will be here soon, so life is full of getting our house decorated, shopping, and planning get-togethers. This is one of my favorite times of year because it has such a special meaning.....Jesus' birth, which led to his death for our life. What a gift God gave us.

Tyler came home for several days to enjoy Thanksgiving and be home for his 18th birthday. We all had an enjoyable time. He was very happy and is really connecting with us more than he ever has. Since he turned 18 and is legally an adult, Rick and I had to go to Springfield and get guardianship of

him so we can continue to make decisions for him.

Grace, along with all the second graders sang in the schools' Christmas Concert and it was fantastic. We were  pleasantly surprised how many Christ based songs were included. Grace loved the attention, getting all "dolled up" and having her hair curled. She looked so cute!

Tyler will again, be home on the 23rd for Christmas for about a week, so I am busily preparing ahead of time what I can, because although I love having him home with us, daily life as we know it comes to a stop somewhat while he is here. He is a very happy boy here at home, but is definately a home body. I'm sure we will venture out to a friends house some evening with music and Barney tapes in tow and he'll settle in quietly on someones bed.....Unfortunately he will miss our big family Christmas at my Mom and Dad's because we had to schedule it for the Sunday before he arrives home, so that's sad, but we'll still have our Christmas time here at home. That week-end the ladies singing group I am in is singing 2 songs and Hannah, Grace and Maddie are all singing with the kids special, so it wouldn't work to have Tyler at church with us that day because he won't sit in the service and I have to be very hands on with him when we take him. That's one thing that I want God to change. I look forward to the day he will go to church with us and be content to sit through the service, but until then, we must work our schedules and his visits around it.

My, it's been awhile. Life was so full all summer with getting ready for the opening of the new building our church built. I spent hundreds of hours painting rooms and doing other tasks, but praise God, we are in! Then, school started. We put our girls in public school this year, mainly because I needed the break during the day, and we were really struggling with learning issues. I'll have to explain all that later. But for now, I'm back and hopefully, I can keep up with this blog, cause it's pretty fun, even if no one reads it :) !

Undefeated

Hannah's softball team has played 6 games and is undefeated. The girls are doing very well with running the bases and our 2 pitchers are great at throwing strikes. Hannah is enjoying being on the team and is making progress in her ability to catch the ball in outfield and then throw it to the right base. I'll have to try to get her team pic on here soon.

Who Am I?

I am a woman loved by God,living a blessed life with my amazing husband and five creative and unique kids! Because I am so loving adoringly by God,  it is my soul desire to love Him back through my life, seek out and live this life He has laid out for me every day and let His love shine through me. I love life, I love the friends God has given me and I love to laugh. And if truth be told, I'm also a self-proclaimed "Princess", although my husband says I am queen of this house.

Changes continued......

Well, I did it! I pulled out the entryway carpet and padding and exposed the home's original hardwood floors from 1928 or so.....it looks quite good and will be wonderful when we get it sanded down and refinished. Looks like our kitchen tile may get done soon also because the guy we want to do it has had a cancellation in his schedule. Goodie for us!

Ty is doing well in his new home so far. All his belongings were moved yesterday, so there's no turning back now. I think this will be a good change for him being with boys his own age and with more maturity on them. His last day of school is May 3oth, so we will most likely bring him home for a short summer break before his summer session of school begins.

Take me out to the ballgame!

Hannah's team won her first game of the season! They creamed the other team from the beginning...Hannah also got her first hit and made it to first. She stole 2nd, tagged the base, but then overran it, and was tagged out. A learning experience - she won't do that again hopefully! We are so proud of her! We celebrated by having custard at Culver's with her grandparents, Great Grandma, and two of her cousins.

Changes......

Well, we are finally getting serious about ripping out our lovely blue carpet (gag) from the kitchen and putting in tile flooring and also replacing our disgusting peach colored carpet(put in by the previous owners) in the dining room. The hardwood in our living room seems to be OK from what carpet I have peaked under, so we'll see, but I want to just refinish it. We ordered the tile and carpet today.....yeahhhh! I can finally see progress.

Tyler spent some time at his new home yesterday and today and one of the staff told me that he did well and seemed to fit in. He spends his first night tomorrow night, so we'll see how that goes. I'm sure he'll do great.

Hannah has her first minor league softball game tomorrow night. She is really excited and seems to be enjoying being part of the team. We have family coming to watch the game with us.