The Homemaker

"The thing that is so important for us to keep before us is that if we choose not to do this very special job, it will simply not get done. The mothering, the nurturing, the comforting and caring that fills the committed homemaker's day will simply be lost, and society will be impoverished..."

"Women can give up their jobs as clerks, engineers, salespeople, doctors-other people will step in and the world will go on as smoothly as before...Not so with homemaking. We are the people into whose hands the homes of the country and the world have been entrusted. When we leave this job the world does not go on as before. It falters and begins to lose its way. "

"Homemaking is much more than a job-it is a profession: a profession which is venerable, honorable, and of the highest benefit to mankind. We must not forget this."

~Mary LaGrand Bouma~

Is winter over yet?

So, is anyone else ready for spring? This time Ken has whiplash, a bright red eye and a cold, and I have a sore throat and sniffles. So far, none of the kids are sick. Ken is convinced that his red eye came from his car accident the other day when he got rear-ended at a stop light...but I'm not really sure about that! It's been an interesting week. Ken got crashed into on Wednesday night on the way home from work in the middle of a rain storm. Then he got sick and went to the dr....got some xrays and found out that his accident tore a ligament in his neck. Of course, he's being super tough about it, but he did go see a chiropractor. I'm hoping that getting treatment right away will prevent it from getting any worse.
Anyways, on the good side of things, Kendan only got up once last night. Anyone that's had a tiny baby can understand why that is a big deal! Wooohooo! We are trying to have a nice V-day despite our little problems, and are enjoying being together. That's what makes life enjoyable, isn't it? The little hugs, the little "I love you's" and just sitting around the table together having a nice warm meal. We had to put our plans on hold this weekend, but we are still thankful for our little family! Kids make it alot easier to look on the bright side, don't they?

My new computer is here!

Well, I am back in the computer world. Not that I was ever completely gone, but I was definately online less for a few weeks. I have been using Ken's laptop in the evenings as our old desktop hasn't been "plugged in" to the cable. Now we have our new computer, built my brother Matt. I am really enjoying it! It seems soo much faster than our old one. That one is going to be the kids' for their keyboarding lessons and their games. This one is for household finances, internet, blogging..:-) and oh...Guitar Hero! So, maybe I will keep up with the blogging now. See you soon!

Oops

Well, I just looked at my blog and noticed that it has been over a month since my last post! Sorry about that. For some reason, I have a hard time posting because it seems like I never really get to post a cute little story or just the right thing....so, I guess we will have to settle for quick updates again.
We've been busy lately. Imagine that! Bradyn has been playing on a basketball team every Saturday. It's pretty neat, since it is for anyone to join, not just kids who attend a certain school. Since we're homeschoolers, we thought that would work out well. The games are at a local church gymnasium, and there are over 500 kids enrolled in the program. There are around 8 -10 kindergarten teams of 8 or so kids each. They arrive Saturday afternoon and practice for about 30 minutes and then play a game against one of the other K teams. The rules are great because they don't keep score at that age, although they are still thrilled when they get a basket! They are not allowed to steal the ball away from another player when they are dribbling down the court, so they are learning good control of the ball and the basic skills needed for the game. It's a good way to learn and keeps everyone positive. Ok, not EVERYONE. There are a couple dads that like to tell their boys to get it right...and that's not something I enjoy seeing, but over all the experience is a good one.
Last week my mom and brother came to stay for a week. It was really nice to have them here, if a bit crazy. Our 2 older boys seem to think that the rules don't apply when grandparents are here. :-) Over the weekend Dad came out and Mom, Kendan, and I went to scrapbook for a few days in Brown County. It was a nice little get away. Although, next year I think maybe I would get more actual scrapbooking done if I didn't bring my sweet little baby along. :-) I only managed to make 5 pages of the scrapbook I was working on. Not exactly a record.
This weekend we are going over to my brother Matt's place in Waterville, OH. He just finished building us a new computer which should be much "faster" than our current desktop. Right now I'm using Ken's laptop, so there aren't any pics available to post. I could upload to it, but I think I will just wait.
SO....now you know that we are here, and still alright. :-) I'm sorry for the lengthy pause between posts, and also for the rambling nature of this one! I have been updating my freebie blog a little more often, but I intend to do "better" at keeping up on both of them in the near future.

Posing

I wanted to share a few pics of our little "hams" taken 2 Sundays ago. We had just come home from meeting, and we talked them into sitting still long enough for a quick click or two. Aren't they sweet? :-)

Getting Better

Well, we are finally on the mend. Everyone except for Ken, that is. He came down with the cold stuff that we have been passing around- he started feeling bad last night and is snortin' around here today. I'm sure he would appreciate my terminology. Anyways, I am over my cold (almost anyways) and the two older boys are just fighting lingering congestion. Sweet baby K has seemed to elude the bug thus far, and we are all sanitizing our hands constantly in hopes that he doesn't get it at all.
I spent the day today making several kinds of cookies to take with us when we go home for the holidays. I love to bake...it's my favorite hobby here lately. I ended up with peanut butter blossoms, russian teacakes, split second cookies(shortbread and jam type), sugar cookies, some choc ones,chocolate covered pretzels, and a yule log....and a rather messy kitchen! I didn't get to the cut-out butter cookies, but it's more fun to make them with Mom, anyways! We will head over there tomorrow afternoon (weather & health permitting, of course) and stay in OH til Sunday afternoon. We are planning a busy holiday with Christmas in the morning at Mom and Dad's , then out to my grandparents for dinner. Saturday we want to go visit my other grandpa and then go to Ken's parents' for the night. I'm really looking forward to being home. I haven't seen my extended family since July, so it will be nice to spend some time with them!!
I hope everyone has a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Down for the count

Did you ever feel like winter is just like someone pushed a "pause" button and everything (like the sunshine, playing outside, and spending time with friends without worrying how many days it will be until your kids are sick) just hangs there until spring? I am feeling like that today. My two older boys are sick this week. Bradyn has had sniffles, but they seem to be getting worse instead of better-maybe slightly better this morning than yesterday. Sunday afternoon Hunter woke up from his nap with a fever and now he has the cold symptoms, too. It's no fun for them, although they do an admirable job of keeping on playing with a snort every now and then. It's also no fun to try and keep them away from their little brother. That means constantly telling them to step back from his play area and to wash their hands, to cover their mouths when they sneeze...yada yada. We have tried our best to keep the kids at home , but they still seem to pick up viruses every time we do go somewhere. Do people knowingly visit public places while sick? Last week we went to a really nice italian restaurant and were enjoying our meal when someone came in and sat in the booth behind us and started coughing, sneezing, blowing her nose, etc. right behind us. We knew it would be a matter of days. Now, I know that on the scale of illnesses, a cold bug is a pretty mild one. It could be a LOT worse. The thing that gets me is that some of these bugs can be alot worse for a tiny baby than they are for adults or older children, and it seems like people just don't realize that. SO, I guess we will continue to be hermits for the remainder of the winter season(except for the commitments we already have)...and hope my poor boys don't go stir crazy. Only....3 more months to go. Bleh.