It is almost 2009!

Wow, this year has gone by pretty fast. Summer didn't seem long enough. Before I knew it Thanksgiving was here and now Christmas just got over. Three more days and it will be 2009. I am looking forward to the new year. We made it through Christmas without charging anything so no new bills. Yeah! Also, the baby will be born in April. I can't wait to meet her. I am still getting used the idea of another girl. Right now Saira brought all of her stuffed animals to the living room to 'have' a wedding with them. Oh boy.

Christmas was nice again this year. It was laid back and everybody woke up on their own for the most part. Although, I think Saira woke a couple of the boys up because she couldn't wait. She woke up at five and I made her get in bed with me because there was no way I was getting up that early. Next year I think I will let her stay up late for 2 or 3 nights prior to Christmas so that she can sleep in on Christmas Day. ;o)

The weather has been bizarre. We got 4 feet of snow over about a week and a half. Then the day after Christmas it was about 25 degrees. The day after that it got up to 60 degrees! All of the snow left, our basement got wet. Now it is just cold out, but no snow or rain. Yeah.

Saira played piano at church on Christmas Eve. Alec was a wise man in the program. It was nice.
Yeah! it worked. I loaded the video of Saira playing. It is dark but you can still hear her play.

This Wednesday will be about 14 weeks before the baby will be here. So, I am trying to make sure that I have everything ready. I have been trying to make plans in my head for the hospital and everything else. Well, thank you all for being in my life. I hold each and every one of you dear to my heart. God Bless.

Wow - ultrasound results today.....

The ultrasound says it is another little girl. Wow - 2 daughters. I still can't comprehend. I have always thought of myself as a boy mom. Saira is exstatic! The boys are a little bit bummed. I think they will come around though. Marty has a grin that won't wipe off of his face. He can't believe he is having another girl.

Ewww another winter...

Well, it is here again. We have our official first snow of the year. I like the way it looks the very first time. After that - I have no need for snow and winter. Luckily, I got all of my leaves mulched just in time - except for the ones still in the trees. :oP Well, with being pregnant this winter I will probably hibernate unless I need to go out for something. At least when I hibernate - I won't spend much money. That is good because Marty's hours have been cut back.
I don't have a lot to say. I know, that is a shocker. I have nine days until my ultrasound. I found out that my doctors office doesn't offer video or dvd of the baby's ultrasound. SO, I called Holland Hospital and they don't either. However, HH used to because I have videos of my first 4 kids ultrasounds. Now I won't have one for this baby. That kind of sucks.
What are you doing for Thanksgiving? I think we go to Marty's sister in the morning for breakfast and then I will just make dinner for my family that afternoon. Not too exciting. But that is okay. I am thankful for my family. I love spending time with them. So, it will be a good day.
praise God for all things (including snow)
Kathi

It is November 7th!

We made it into the next month. Yeah. November brought about a few new changes. We have a new president voted into the White House. Obama is 1/2 African American. It is our first black president. We will see what this change has in store for America.

I went to the doctor and my big ultrasound is scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving. We will find out all the good stuff then. We will find out if the baby is healthy and if it is a boy or girl. My sister in law dreamt I was having twins. It would be so cool, but I don't think so.

It was in the 70's for the last 5 days and now it is taking a dive into the 40's. Welcome back fall! Winter is getting too close. As I have said before, I am not too fond of winter. It is beautiful for about 3 hours.

That is it for now....
God Bless!

It is almost November!

Well, let's see. Mido is doing great in his new home. They have renamed him Mr. Bean. They love him very much. I am happy he has a good home.

I am officially 16 weeks along now. I only have about 5 1/2 months to go. It will be sometime before April 19th. I should have an ultrasound around the end of November. Please pray that everything looks good. We might even be able to find out if it is boy #4 or girl #2. I am still feeling kind of like it is a dream. I am still wearing my own jeans - no maternity pants .... yet. I don't think it will be long though. My pants are starting to get snug. I think about having a baby in the house again, and I can't wait. I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that this will be the last baby for us. We have talked about adoption. So, that may be our next endeavor - a little later of course.

I should update on Justin. He is 16 now. We aren't looking at anymore surgeries in the near future. He is doing good and getting stronger every day. He is pretty much walking full time now. He is finally out of the wheelchair for awhile. He has decided to wait until he is 18 to get his license. We gave our kids the option that if they wanted to take drivers ed and get their license earlier than 18 then they would have to pay for it themselves. As far as I know, all 3 boys have chosen to wait. I think it will help ensure a little more maturity as well.

We did testing this year to kind of see where everyone is with homeschool.Justin did exceptionally well. His average tested at the end of 11th grade. He is technically the beginning of 11th grade right now. I told him that if he wanted to change his course of study to the GED, then he could do that now and possibly take the GED yet this year in the spring and be done with high school. He is thinking about it. (I am being a little selfish - it would be nice to have one less to homeschool with a new baby coming.) Marcus and Alec tested a little behind. With Marcus, I think he knows the stuff - he is just not good at taking tests. He sits there telling himself he can't do it. The two tests that he said that the most on was the two he did worst on. I started catching on and when it came to the science portion - he started saying that, and I stopped him. I told him that science was based on the power of deductive reasoning and we all have that skill. I told him that 'I knew' he could do it. He did better on that test than all of the rest. So, I think that he defeats himself when taking tests. But I have always known that he is a hands on learner, and that tests are tough for him. Alec, I was a little more dissappointed in. I know he could do better if he tried. He really didn't have motivation or try very hard. We talked about it and hopefully he will start to try a little harder. I didn't have Saira tested this year because her reading isn't real strong yet. Because of her speech issues, I have not pushed reading at all. Her speech has been steadily improving and along with that so has her reading. I think she went from about beginning kindergarten level to near end of second grade level just this year alone, already. She is motivated and eager to learn. That is so refreshing after dealing with boys attitudes the last couple of years.

I think that is about it as far as updates for us. We are currently down to one vehicle. That is hard. I am stuck at home a lot more. I have been getting a lot more in depth cleaning done. But I can't wait until we get another vehicle, hopefully a mini-van.

Take care and God Bless,
Kathi

Well, I thought maybe I should update a little.

We found Mido a new home. I just wasn't able to bond to him after losing Zodiac. He is in a home where they all love him dearly and are so happy to have him there. I think he will be much better off. He was cute pup. I am about 14 weeks pregnant now. That is about 3 1/2 months. I should be able to get an ultrasound around the end of November or first of December. We will be able to find out the gender then. I am kind of hoping for a boy, but 'feel' like it is a girl. So, we will see what God has in store for us. I also found new homes for our bunnies and our leopard geckos. I just felt like it was time to be done with so many things that are time consuming. I have a lot of things that I am dealing with that take up enough time. This includes homeschooling. Well, I have to go scoop ice cream for some kids I am babysitting. I will try to write more later.

Since this is safe.....

None of my family or friends read my blog. It is a good thing right now. I want to announce to the world that I am pregnant with baby #5! I am excited. I think my husband is too. I know my family will be excited, but my husbands family is a whole different story. My kids that I have now are three sons 13, 15, and 16, and a daughter that is 9. My husband has 2 kids from his first marriage. They are 36 and 38 this year. Between them they have 8 kids. So we are grandparents to 8 kids. I will be 43 when this baby is born and my husband will be 54. He wants me to get my tubes tied after this baby. I agreed to it half heartedly. I don't know if I really want to but.....So we will see. Maybe I should just because of my age and the fact that I have had 4 c-sections already. I will be having my fifth c-section with this one.

I thought I would add a few new photos ....

There is Alec, Saira and Marcus in the first pictures. Then there is Rolex, Mido and my hubby with both dogs. Then the last one is Justin on our bike ride.

We have been trying to do a lot of things as a family this year - well at least me and the kids. We have been going swimming and bike riding a lot.

Our new puppy - Mido!

Hi there! Well, I decided that I couldn't get another boxer so soon after Zodi. My husband wanted a black pug, but at $600 there was no way that was going to happen. So I found this little guy. He is half pug and half shih tzu - a pug-zu. He is about 10 weeks old now, and he weighed a whole 3.5 lbs when I took him to the vet. He has a great personality. He is doing really well with the housebreaking. Take care.....
Kathi

R.I.P. Zodiac.....

Well, with everywhere that I put our name and number out - I did hear about Zodi. It wasn't a call I wanted and I never want to get a call like that again. It is like a punch in your gut. A gentleman called and said that he worked on I-80 where we lost Zodi, he had taken her body off the interstate a few days before. He knew it was her from her 2 collars that she was wearing. I pray that she went quick. It is bad enough knowing that she was out there alone, but it keeps going through my mind that she suffered. I feel like a real heal! I should have spent more time looking for her.....or something.........

bye bye Zodi - you were a beautiful dog and I do miss you!

Well, Iowa was quite the trip......

My grandma with my dad.
My grandma Sarah with my daughter Saira.
Bye bye Zodi. My mom and dad and aunt and uncle with my grandma.

We left Friday and went to Iowa. We took both dogs with us. When we stopped at a rest area in Iowa about an hour or so from Des Moines, Zodiac decided to bolt. She took off and we couldn't find her. We looked and hollered for over an hour and then it started getting dark so we had to get going. We went on to see my grandma. She is holding her own medically. Mentally she isn't remembering a lot of things. She is very small and frail now. On Sunday on our way home we stopped at the same rest area to try to find her, but still no luck. So, please pray that she found a home or someone that took her in. We did contact a lot of the farms and homes in the area and left her name and our number and name. I even contacted the humane society in that county and the surrounding ones. So, bye bye Zodi - we miss you.

Prayer request please....

Hi there. We are on our way to Iowa to see my grandmother. She is 92 and has pneumonia. We will be back on Sunday. So, pray for safe travels. Marty's friend Stan passed away this last weekend. So, it has been one of those weeks! We found a hotel in Iowa that allows dogs - so we are taking them with us. The only highlight - the hotel also has a pool. I will try to get a couple of pictures and post when we get back.

Blessings,
Kathi

Beautiful Pictures......

I took these pictures from my back yard. You can see Graafschap Church in the distance. I really can't stand the cold and winter so much anymore, but it is beautiful! God does awesome work! I love the sunshine! I hope you enjoy these pictures.

BRRRRRR! Winter is not letting up!

Today is cold. And there is still no sun! I need sun. I really get depressed when there is no sunlight. I am sooooo ready for Spring. I filed our income tax papers yesterday. Hopefully, we will get it back soon. I am waiting to pay off some bills and get caught up on others. This is the most depressing time of year. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head.

My parents leave in April. Then Saira will get her old room back. I want to make it pretty neat for her. I am going to move all of her toys to the basement. Alec moved up to the attic with Marcus. They each have half of it. Marty will have a watch room. Hopefully, all of the watch stuff that is filtering through the whole house will get limited to that one room!!!!!! We will see. I will post all of my ideas here for the house. Then I will let you know how much I actually accomplish.

Better go for now,
Kathi

Here are some awesome pictures of the snow that we have gotten. Like I said, I don't like winter much or snow, but even I can't deny how beautiful it is. The picture with the pine trees looks cool because you can see Graafschap Church behind there. It is just a cool looking picture with the sun shining. God is an awesome artist! The other picture is of our house in the winter. My Zodiac loves playing in the snow. She jumps around like a little puppy.

My baby boy turns 13 tomorrow! Today I am making homemade pizza for his birthday. I am making gluten free crust for me and him. I am making regular crust for everyone else. Just making the regular crust made me 'headachy' and made my sinus' act up. I am also making 2 different cakes today (one gluten free). He is having a friend over. I think they plan on staying up and watching movies all night. It works because they are both homeschooled. So after they sleep on Monday they can do school, or make it up on Tuesday.

Saira is taking piano lessons now. She had her first lesson and so far she loves it. Hopefully, this is something she will stick with. It would be nice to have at least one kid in the family that can play an instrument. Although, Alec and Marcus play around with the piano too.

Well, I have to get going so that I can get ready for church.

God Bless and have a great day.

Snow, snow, snow.......

Well, we woke up today to a driveway full of snow, probably about six inches. Snow is not one of my favorite things. Don't get me wrong, I think it is beautiful. It all looks so fresh and clean - until the plows go through ~ then it loses its appeal.

I am on the 6th day of no pop. Boy do I think about it and want it. I miss that taste. But I am determined to beat this stuff. I made some gluten free cornbread tonight to go with bean soup. It tasted really good. It didn't look as good as the regular cornbread I made for everyone except Alec and me. Right now I am getting ready to take a loaf of gluten free bread out of the oven. Alec has been doing gluten free for about 2 weeks now and he says he is feeling better than ever. It is funny because I have noticed that our tastes are changing. For example, Alec never used to like chili, or bean soup, or ham and now he is enjoying eating those things. He is eating stuff with more chopped up veggies in it. It is strange how things just taste better now. I did find out that I have to make chili from scratch. If you buy canned chili beans, there is wheat in them. So, I make it from scratch now and I put 3-4 types of beans in it. It is so good! My first clue about getting wheat is a headache. After that, the regular allergy stuff sets in.

One of the side effects is that I think I am losing weight, but I am afraid to get on scales to find out. I hope I am, I have tried for so long. But with my thyroid, aspartame, and wheat all fighting me, I think that is why it was so hard. I will see where I end up. Pray for me!

Bits and pieces

Well, I usually end up writing because I feel strongly about something. This time I can't say that. I wanted to write - so I decided to see where it took me. I have been fighting a cold/bronchitis for about 3-4 weeks now. I just can't shake it. Even so, I feel better than I have in a long time. I haven't eaten wheat/gluten for about 3 months now. It is weird how much better I feel without eating it. It isn't that easy either. There are quite a few substitutes out there which is awesome, but it doesn't help when you walk through the grocery store seeing donuts and rolls. Oh do they look good! I am going strong on day 2 1/2 without pop or soda or whatever you want to call it. I was one of those diet coke addicts. I loved the taste of it. I even liked diet sprite or diet 7 up. But I think the aspartame isn't good for me. So, no more diet pop for me. Since I don't like regular pop then it is going to have to be no pop at all for me. The biggest side effect that I have noticed besides craving it - is how tired I am. I hope this will pass as my body becomes accustomed to no carbonation and caffeine and aspartame.

Okay, I am going to go for now. I will write again in a few days and see how I am doing with the whole pop thing.

Good night and God bless!

Here's to a great ~ 2008!

Wow, did 2007 ever fly by. It seemed like a very short year to me. Of course, each year seems to be just a little shorter. (Is that an age thing? The older you get the faster time seems to go by?) I hope not. I know a week seems like forever to my daughter. We only have one birthday this month. My baby boy officially becomes a teenager. 13!?!?! That hardly seems possible. I remember when he was this cute little peanut. My puppy. That is what I used to call him. He made little whimpering puppy sounds when he was a baby. Now he has braces on his teeth ~ and it isn't such cute little noises that come out of him now. lol He has a quiet subtle sense of humor that gets me every time. He told me that his friends say we laugh too much. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. Being able to laugh at everything - including ourselves is what keeps us real.

Talk about getting off track. 2007 wasn't anything like I intended it to be. I had plans but found out along the journey that God had different plans in mind for me. I was going to get a lot of yard work done and help my dad finish the attic. Instead I broke my foot. There were 2 months shot - doing only what I could. I did get my fire pit dug out and and blocks around it. It is nice to sit around that. My foot healed in time to get fall trimming done. My mom and dad were moving to Texas at the end of the summer. Instead they moved into my house. There was a chance that my mom had breast cancer. Praise God that it just turned out to be a cyst. Their move, instead of being canceled now is postponed until April. I love my parents but it is like having 2 more kids in the house. My mom can't get along with my middle son, (who incidentally has adhd, dyslexia, and who knows what else?)

I developed a deeper love for my husband this past year. We began to connect on a different level than we ever did before.

Both of my older boys got their braces off this year, one in March and one in December. My younger son got his on. My daughter doesn't need them yet.

We got another boxer - Zodiac, to go with our pug - Rolex, and our siamese kitty - Omega. Yes, there is a theme there. My husband collects watches. So, all of our pets end up with watch names.

2007 wasn't bad - it just wasn't what I had planned. Is it ever? So, here's to a great 2008 - whether it turns out how we have it planned or not.