A Family Update

I used to list our family one by one and say what is going on with them. I haven't done a post like that  in a while, so I believe I shall now.

(Life is exhausting.)

Father and Mother are enjoying life's adventures. Daddy's health was poor for several months, but now he's doing much better. God had been good in allowing him to get his work done. He keeps us laughing constantly and is in the midst of scheming about a landscaping project right now. He's also Craigslist-shopping for some kind of large farm equipment... like a backhoe or tractor or something. Oh, and a new car for us. (Ours only has heat after you've been driving for 3 hours!)

Mommy has been a great teacher this school year. She's introduced us to new recipes, made trips to the laundromat (washer's broke!), kept the house clean, majorly multitasked while we were all working outside,  has been teaching a writing class, done loads of research on loads of subjects and is staying cheerful through it all! She has some organization projects up her sleeve- like conquering our monster of a basement and planning for Christmas decorations!

I (Olivia) have been enjoying every part of this never-ending busyness. I've been sewing (obbbviously...), cooking, and doing school. This is my senior year, so the urgency of getting my studies done has been setting in. :) I'm also so close to getting the SLR I've been saving for!

 Emma is a darling as always. Her cheerful, never-failing, Christ-glorifying countenance keeps the whole family going. Her singing skills have been getting better and better as she belts hymns out while she's doing dishes. Seth and Elsia are spoiled by her story-telling hobby. She started highschool this year, so her school load is also taking up most of her time. She's dreaming of a dairy cow and is the caretaker of the cat and dog.

Willa loves to write. She's been writing on average half an hour a day for many, many months and has a natural gift for it. I'll try to get her permission to post some of her writings here- they are excellent! She takes care of Josiah the most out of all of us and always does it cheerfully. Right now she's dealing with a bout of poison ivy that's lasting longer than it should. She's our resident cookie-dough maker and fixes breakfast every morning. 

Seth is growing so fast! He's LOVING his first year of school. I was given a picture the other day that had numbers and letters written all over it with "Seth" signed in the corner.  He's a fantastic story teller. My favorite sight these days is to see him come bounding out of his room on a horse, with a bow and arrow slung around him, either a viking or cowboy hat on his head, singing "dun dun dunnn! da da da dadadada!" to his own theme music. He usually rides from his room straight out the front door to the deck. :)

(Photo credits to Elsie ;)

It seems that Elsia couldn't get any cuter if she tried. We love her curly locks and sweet smile. She says the funniest things. In one of their daily discussions on important matters, Emma was trying to explain to Elsia that there was a time when she didn't exist.  Emma: "There was a time when you weren't anywhere."
Seth: "She was in heaven!"
Emma: "No, she wasn't anywhere!"
Elsia: "Was I dead?"
Emma: "No, you have to be alive before you can be dead, and you weren't alive yet"
Elsia: "I was hiding." *little nod*
Emma: "No, you weren't anywhere"
Elsia: "I was hiding behind the calendar!"

We're pretty sure Elsie eats the most of anyone in our family. Last night at dinner she ate a bowl of soup, 3 pieces of corn bread, a grilled cheese, and several tablespoons of sour cream. :P She also loves to eat hard boiled eggs. ;)

This cutey pie is getting so big! Can you believe its less than a month before he's a YEAR old?? We squeeze him dozens of times a day and ask him if its possible. He's a walking maniac now and doesn't like to be held for long if there's something of interest to walk to! He says "Da!" whenever he sees Tinkerbell or another dog. His head's shaping up beautifully under his helmet and hopefully he only has a few more weeks till he no longer can be called "Captain Blue Helmet!" Keeping things out of his mouth is a 24/7 job.

God is good to us. We're all learning and growing in grace (hopefully!) and taking things one day at a time. We recently returned from a trip up north, so hopefully some pictures will be posted within a few weeks. ;)