Catching Up!

In my life as a mom, it is always interesting when life brings changes to our house because it is never on a small scale we usually do things much larger and this summer and fall has brought us many changes.

Nicole has wanted to come live with me for some time now and this fall she’s gotten her chance. She’s now attending Royal Middle School as an 8th grader, playing volleyball, and generally being a teenage girl. For those of you who know Dewayne and Carolyn Winder, their daughter and her family moved in next door in August and have a daughter Nicole’s age. McKenna and Nicole have become attached at the hip along with their friend Brea and a few others from school, so my house is now full of teenage girls and all the fun that brings.


Andrew loves the 4th grade but is finding it much harder than he thought it would be because he has to be RESPONSIBLE for his homework now. For a kid whose brains would get lost if they weren’t inside his head this has been a rude awakening but for mom it’s been wonderful. He’s enjoying playing football, well after he quit complaining that his head hurting from hitting people. He’s also finding he’s one of the biggest guys on the team. Cub Scouts and the Bear den are also joys in his life, but he’s a little concerned because I’m not his leader this year.


Lyra is our kindergartner and I’m so glad that she’s finally in school. The most important thing in her life right now is that she is learning to read. Every night she comes home and finds homework to do, even if she doesn’t have any, because she’s convinced that if she doesn’t do homework she’s going to fail kindergarten. She told me the other day that she was going to practice her alphabet until she got it perfect. Hopefully we can keep that attitude up until she graduates from high school! Our other big news is a missing tooth, which Lyra is very proud of.



Dawniella started at the first “real” daycare she’s attended since she was born. Up until now, I’ve had her with a friend of the family so she was only with one or two other kids at a time and usually one of those was her sister. She’s loving the daycare and when we get there, I have to be careful where I park because as soon as I get her out of her car seat she runs to the door of the daycare. Her favorite new words are go, now, play, and truck (which sounds a lot like duck). She’s figured out that daddy is driving a truck and every semi we see she asks about daddy. We’ve also sort of started potty training, which mommy is thrilled about, Dawniella not so much.



Brandt is still driving potato truck, while it isn’t a job he wants long term because of the dirt and long hours, he is enjoying the change of being out of the house. He has been stuck a few times and has decided if he’s going to be driving as a career it is going to be on pavement instead of in the fields. I’m spending my time dealing with kids, being the webelos leader, homework, genealogy, and a whole lot of substitute teaching. Life all round is good and we’re keeping busy. Both Brandt and I are praying that he’ll find a full time job soon, but the Lord has blessed us and we appreciate all he’s done for us these past few months.