Wednesday, January 14, 2015

When Life Is Loud - Family Update

Wow, this blog has been quiet lately! I suppose that is because real life has been rather loud. We have a lot going on these days, and it has been a very busy season of life for us. Here`s just a short update on our life. (More for my memory`s sake than yours!)

Elianna  - LOVES to draw pictures and tell stories to go along with her pictures. Her pictures are just the best and really crack me up. She definitely seems like an artistic, imaginative, free-spirited type of kid. She loves animals. She is very social and outgoing...definitely NOT shy. Her favourite subject right now is math. She is also starting to enjoy reading a bit more, so reading lessons are also a fun time for her rather than a chore. I have been quite laid back about the reading and not pushing her too much, which I think has been a good idea. My goal is to finish our phonics book this year (Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons). I have about a third or so left of the book to go through. Some weeks we do a few lessons, some weeks we skip a lesson. I`ve been pretty unorganized this year, which I hope to change soon. Still, she is learning all the basic Kindergarten-type stuff she needs to learn. She recently learned how to write her first and last name with proper upper-case and lower-case letters. She has workbooks for printing that we are also going through, and she has really improved her printing lately.

Nathanael - He is almost 3 and is quite the character. He loves to build things with blocks...especially towers. He is a bit of a goof-ball and a jokester. He wants rice crispies for breakfast every single day. He can eat 3-4 pieces of pizza already! His age brings its own set of challenges... One of his favourite things to do is play in the bathtub. He loves to surprise me. For example, he will build a tower or draw a picture and then come find me with a twinkle in his eyes...close your eyes, Mom. Close your eyes. SURPRISE! It`s super cute. We are still working on potty training him...oy.

Brielle - Still doesn`t sleep at night. Started taking her first steps at 9 months old. She is walking like a champ at 10 and a half months old and prefers to walk instead of crawl now. She can even stand up on her own from the middle of a room and start walking without any help. Earliest walker....worst sleeper. Favourite word these days is Mum. Trying to get her into her high chair or car seat is like wrestling a wet fish. Her stubbornness and get-er-done attitude is interesting and a bit frightening. Loves to drink out of a straw. Eating mostly table food these days. Favourite baby food is peaches. Loves to clap and play peek-a-boo.

We have struggled with a lot of illness this year. Colds, flus, and stomach bugs have seemed to plague our family ever since I gave birth to Brielle. We were sick over Christmas and then sick again 2 weeks later with a stomach bug. We were also sick with a stomach bug the week after Thanksgiving. (No, it`s not food poisoning! Haha). Now, my kids just got over some other sort of flu that included sore throats and a fever for Brielle. All this sickness has been frustrating, but we try to count our blessings that it is not worse.

It has been a hard year for many people in our circle of friends, church, and family who have gone through tremendous hardships this year. Accidents, loss of infants, heartbreaking diagnoses, tough decisions. It has been a really difficult year for many people we know. It has also been a difficult year for us in many ways. Being an adult changes your perspective, for sure. You realize how much difficulty and heartache there is in life. All this just makes me long even more for my heavenly home and reminds me to try to live my life for the Lord while still here. This is the theme of my life and blog....homemaking pilgrim. Pilgrim...one who journeys in a foreign land. This world is feeling more foreign all the time. We just can`t get too comfortable here. Life can`t be taken for granted. Make each day count for the Lord. This world is not our forever home.

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim though this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy powerful hand;


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