So Much to Say

I have not blogged in weeks.  I keep thinking about it, but the time and opportunity just hasn't come up.  I've spent much of my free time reading The Hunger Games trilogy, which was fantastic.  I thoroughly enjoyed the series.

I planned out the first six weeks of school for my kiddos.  That was hard, but I'm glad I got it taken care of.  We started school last Monday, and the kids are doing so great.  I will blog about what we're doing homeschool-wise later.

Dave and I have been using one car since May.  We didn't intend for that to happen, but it has, and we're doing fine with it.  We went out one day and looked at trucks, thinking we might get one for Dave and just trade in our old Acura.  But, I didn't have peace about it, and it all felt very rushed, so we stepped back.  We are getting VERY close to paying off the last 1/5 of our student loan debt.  We just didn't want to lose any momentum by adding car debt to the pile.  We decided to fix the Acura.  So, since May, we have been waiting for a good, used engine to present itself so the mechanic can use parts from it to fix the car.  Evidently, they're not getting many leads.  And we wait.

I don't really have anywhere to go anyway, so it hasn't been a big deal.  But, people think we're crazy.  And that's okay.  We're getting closer and closer to our goal.

My twins are 7 months old and getting more and more mobile.  Milo is crawling, sitting up occasionally, and pulling up on things.  He is my earliest mobile child.  Felix is army-crawling and rocking on his hands and knees.  He has FOUR teeth and two more trying to break through.

Sam and Maryn are so stinking smart.  They're crazy good readers and constantly wowing me.  They've been pretty busy making things and playing pretty hard.

Lucy is less destructive these days.  She still occasionally puts things in the toilet, but not nearly as much.  She hasn't colored on the walls in a couple of months.  Progress!!!  I see pottytraining in our future, and I am already ready for it to be over!  :)  She's getting closer to being really ready.  Her speech is improving all the time, and we're starting to communicate better.  She still has melt-downs when I don't understand her, but they are fewer.

Lucy has also taken a liking to grand-daddy longlegs.  Here's one of her buddies:

There is another beautiful garden spider at our house this year.  This one is out by the deck so I don't get to see her as much as I did the one by the window last year.  I think she is amazing.   I don't want to touch her, but I enjoy watching her.

My dear househelp is on vacation in the Philippines.  She will be back at the end of the month.  Thankfully, my friend, Nicole, was able to come help this week.  Last week, I cleaned everything except the hardwoods (I swept but didn't mop).  It was nice to know I could do it, but made me thankful that I don't have to try to do it all regularly.

I am exhausted these days.  I am ready to figure out a way to get more breaks so I can breathe and be refreshed.  Feel free to pray for this in my life.  God knows what I need, and I think He will provide even this.

So, this is my update.  I wish I could keep up better, but I haven't been able to.  I hope to be able to blog about homeschooling very soon.  I am LOVING what we are doing this year, and I look forward to sharing that with you.