Important Stuff

Last night, over dinner, Carsten announced to us in a very serious tone that "God told me to not show anyone my privates." He was so serious and not at all joking that I just looked at Josh and we both said to him, "ok!" Then, he adds on, "especially not when dancing!" Where does this kid come up with this stuff?


I think I mentioned before that I was trying to come up with a way to get Tyrus to want to read and enjoy books? Well, I decided that for every 30 minutes he reads a non-school book, he will get to play on the computer the next day for that same amount of time. He's loving the new challenge and logged in an hour today.

My sister took Alexis to a Fancy Nancy Story Hour tonight. The kids got to dress up in all their fancy duds. While she was gone, I got to keep my nephew. He's cutie. It seems like the girls had fun.

A few items of note

We are beginning week #9 of homeschooling tomorrow. I am really loving it so far. I have found that it's brought a lot of calm and peace to our house. Not that stress doesn't still like to show it's nasty face sometimes, but we don't have the constant rant in the morning about "hurry, the bus is almost here!"


The kids seem to have settled into a routine as well. This past week was our best yet, and I think a lot of that was because we're all getting more accustomed to how this whole thing works. I am better prepared in all aspects, and have worked a lot of the kinks out. The kids seem to know what to expect more and are seeming to enjoy it.

Here's a few updates about each kid:

Alexis. She seems to be doing great in math, but gets annoyed with it every day. Actually, that's how she is with all subjects, except writing and art. She would write and paint all day if I let her, but she gets really testy with me when I have her work on reading, or math. She's doing just fine in both of those subjects though! She's actually ahead of where she needs to be with reading, but she still groans when we pull the books out. Oh well. Hopefully soon, she'll be over the hump of sounding out a lot of words and will just begin simply reading. That will be nice!

In other news, she was recently filled with the precious and awesome gift of the Holy Ghost! This is something she's wanted for a while but has been a bit nervous to get it! Finally, she pressed through and got to experience this wonderful gift. She got baptized on Halloween as well. Love that!

Tyrus. After a lot of review work, he's finally now working in his main 3rd grade math book. For a while at the beginning, it didn't seem like he was confident with basic facts for + /-, so we took a few weeks and just really zoned into those areas. Now, he's comfortably moving on to multiplication.

The kid is a whiz at reading. He's almost finished reading The Swiss Family Robinson, that he just started. He only reads when I ask him to though, he's not really reading just for pleasure yet. I'm trying to think of ways to get him to do that...?

He did something SO STUPID this week and I was so upset I couldn't even think straight. I was just shocked that he'd acted this way that I grounded him from the TV and computer for one week. (BTW, he asked that I promise him I wouldn't tell what he did...) This week has been nice, actually, and he's been very gracious about finding other things to do. I actually like it when he can't use those items.

We recently started Bible Quizzing and he and Alexis are doing a great job! So far, they've memorized the complete first chapter of 1 Thessalonians and are on verse 9 of the second chapter!

Carsten. This kid is a trip. He's really, really, really into letters and the sounds they make. The other day, at the doctor's office, he pointed out (unprompted) the entire word at the bottom of his new book - SCHOLASTIC. Just out of the blue he says "S. C. H. O. L. A. S. T. I. C." The doctor stops talking to me and looks at him and says, "can you do that again?!" And sure enough, he did. Little smarty pants.

Well, we lost little Samson on October 23rd. He was surrounded by his mother and father, who laid on the bed next to him, and lots of anties and uncles and grandparents. My family sang songs and prayed as he was unhooked from the breathing machine and left this world behind.


Being 1100 miles away I knew that we needed to go, but we had so many obsticles that it was looking like we weren't going to be able to. Thankfully, after a lot of effort, we were able to go. Me and my two sisters and my kids and one nephew took my ILs van and drove straight through to be there for the servies and to see all the family.

Funerals are hard, but they are especially hard when it's for a baby. Samson lived 111 short days and in that time, his life touched many. My uncle, who lives in CA, read the obituary. He read the official one, and then read the "real" one. He said things like, "although Samson didn't speak much, and was a Denver Broncos fan, he secretly rooted for the San Francisco Giants" and "because Samson knew he wouldn't be here on Election Day, he'd already put in his absentee ballot and voted for..." and then named some CO canidates. It was an amusing moment in the midst of such sadness.

I brought a few tissues with me to the service, and I didn't use one - because, Tyrus and Alexis used them all. Tyrus was litterally SOBBING at one point next to me. Not fun.

We did commemorate his life at the funeral by letting 111 blue balloons go at the same time. It was such a powerful representation of how brief his life really was. One moment he was here, and the next he was gone.

After the burial service, we went to my grandparents house and had a big dinner. That actually was my favorite part of the whole trip. It was SO nice to get and talk with my family (some of which I haven't seen since my wedding 10 years ago) and just relax and laugh about silly stuff that had happened years before. Carsten had never even been there once, and so it was neat for him to get to meet all these family members that he never knew before. That day was really healing for all of us, I think, and I really didn't want to see it end. But, we had to come back home, so toward evening, we packed the van and drove the 20 hours straight back to MI.

I did get to see him in his tiny white casket. He was heavily made up, but he still looked like such a sweet little "life like" doll. He had on a little hat and he just looked so very sweet. Rest in peace little prince. You will never be forgotten.

Despair

I have a lot to update about but I can't even wrap my brains around any sort of normalicy right now. My dear sweet aunt who is only 5 years older than me is losing her baby boy right now. Samson was born with Ds and a holey heart, and had surgery on Sept 7th to repair his heart. He's never recovered and is now trending downward... The doctors have told her there's nothing more they can do for him.


She's taking it all with grace and such resolve. I cannot even fathom the depths of dispair she must be feeling, because I know how I am feeling.

I've never met him. I live too far away. And now, if he does die, how on earth can I NOT go out to be with my family who lives 1100 miles away? You're supposed to vacation for fun reasons not tragic ones.

My heart hurts.

Nine? Or Ten?

Carsten said a funny thing to me tonight:


"Momma, the story said I have ten fingers and ten toes. That's not right! I counted and I only have nine!" Okay, then.

Dear Carsten

Carsten turned 4 yesterday!

Here is his birthday letter:

October 8th, 2010

Dear Carsten,

So today, you turn four. It’s amazing to me to think that you are the age now that Tyrus was when you were born. I am continually flabbergasted by how quickly time goes by, and the fact that you are now four years old just confirms that to me all the more.

This has been a big year for you! Last year, on your third birthday, you were still wearing diapers and had absolutely no interest in learning to use the big boy potty. But, I am happy to report that now, as a four year old, you are potty trained! Yay! We are still working to stay dry over night, and I am confident that will come soon, but in the mean time, you are doing a great job during the day! I am so proud of you!!! Yippee!

You are learning your ABCs and can count up really, really high! I don’t even know how high, but it seems higher than it should be for your age! You love to color and play with play-doh. Curious George, The Cat In The Hat and Tom & Jerry are still high on your list of loves, too. Reading stories is always a good thing and anything to do with Turtle Ninjas is great too. Recently, you’ve camped out in your big brother’s room a few times and you thought that was so cool! Aunt Stephanie got you a Turtle Pillow Pet for your birthday and you are hooked! Every night, you lay down and listen to a tape of stories – usually ones read by your Grandma Karen.

I do have to say that you are a feisty kid! You want things the way you want them, and you don’t like it when I tell you “no!” You say, “but momma, hear the whole thing!” when you are trying to convince me of something. You are still very picky with food, but I am excited to note that you tried pineapple the other day and, in your words, you “chewed up two pieces!” Yay! Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, bananas, peas, chicken nuggets, milk and yogurt are some favorites. Most things meaty you turn your nose up to, with the exception of ground meat. I’m not sure if you’re turning into a vegetarian on us or what?!

You also learned how to go into the pool with just your swimmies on your arms this summer! That was so cool when you realized you were tall enough to touch the bottom with your feet and stand up! You are getting so big!

I love you so much, Carsten. You bring light and life to our household. I cannot imagine what our life would have been like without you and I feel so very blessed and fortunate that God decided to have you come and be part of us. Your daddy and I love you so much.

Happy birthday, bud!

Love, Momma

Boo!

We had a fun day today. We got all of our school work done this morning and then headed over to our local greenhouse to go to a Kid Petting Zoo. There were all kinds of animals there, and the kids had a fun time petting them. Carsten was a bit skiddish with them at first, but warmed up after finally touching a soft bunny. After that, we made a scarecrow out of clothes we brought. It was cool.

Dear Journal

Here is Alexis' Journal Entry today, no corrections made.


P/23/10

IN WAN WEK

I AM GOING

TO THE DTROT

ZOO I AM VARE

IKSUTID MY FRIN

EMALE IS KAMING

TO AN MY

GRAM AN GRAPU

AER KAMING

TO LOVE ALEXIS

Ok, in case you couldn't translate -

In one week

I am going

to the Detroit

Zoo. I am very

excited. My friend

Emily is coming

too. And my

Grandma and Grandpa

are coming

too. Love, Alexis

Toads

HS is exhausting in some ways, but not in others. It is in that I have to go back and forth between each kid a lot and sometimes that gets a little crazy. However, I have found though that the house is staying cleaner because the kids aren't running through it all day long like they were when it was just summer break - so that's been easier.


Things have been going good. We're into week 2 now. Tyrus had a big meltdown today saying he felt like he couldn't do some things well any more. He said he always writes a '9' when he's trying to write a 'p'. I tried to give him an encouraging pep talk that he can do it, he just has to set his mind to it. He KNOWS the difference between a '9' and a 'p' he just needs to slow down a bit and write it correctly. I had him shout "I CAN DO IT!" That took the tears away, and the laughter came.

A few weeks ago, I went up to our laundry room only to realize that some how the washer had flooded the room! Now, know our laundry room is upstairs, so you know what that means - water damage came into the ceiling below in our livingroom. Yesterday, a plummer came to put some sort of back flow preventer deal into the drain pipe and now it seems to be working, thankfully. I was tired, I'll tell you, of hauling the clothes to the laundry mat! Today a drywaller came and repaired the messed up part in the ceiling. The kids thought both guys were really cool. I'm just thankful the drain is working now and the ceiling repair is done - all on our builder's dime.

Tyrus said something funny today in response to Alexis' rude comment to him: "I mean it! Don't make compliments!"

The kids are super hyped up about these crazy toads / frogs / whatever they are that they've found near our property. They've made up names for them: Hoppy, Toady and Sticky. They beg to bring them to their rooms as "pets", to which I've firmly said "NO!" And, the other day, they coerced me into taking them to the pet store to look at Frog Cages. Silly kids.

And we're off!

So school has started. Whew. The first day started out rough at first when I wanted to take a picture of the kids at the beginning to record the first day. We went outside into the sunshine and they complained and fussed SO MUCH about the sun shining in their eyes. Lots of tears and eye rubbing, etc made for not so great pictures. Anyway, once that was over, we went in and started our day.


It went very good. I felt a bit disorganized as there are lots of books, manuals, readers, etc between all of us that I need to find a better system to keep track of. But, we did accomplish everything I wanted to do, and the kids were very happy to do the stuff I asked.

Yesterday we worked on a Family Tree and the kids cut out pictures of all of the main people in their trees, all the way back to their great-great-grandmother. That was cool. We talked a lot about all the people. They didn't know that their great-great-grandmother had come over on a boat from Poland, for instance. While we were working on that, Tyrus announced to me: "I like homeschooling, mom." Well, I guess that's good, right?

After that, I read them a chapter out of Henry & Ribsy and when the chapter was over, I told them, "okay, that's all for today" and they begged me to read more! Gotta love that!

Tomorrow we have a Field Day for HS kids in our area. The kids are excited about it.

Bang, bang!

Samson made it through surgery just fine, but since then has had difficulty with recovery. His temp was off (cold in sections of his body and warm in other) and his platelets have also been off. We're still keeping up the prayers.


Last night we went to a local homeschool potluck to meet some new people. It was great fun. The people we were with were super nice and their house was great! The kids loved that they had two cows and chickens running all over. I loved sitting around the campfire singing songs and listening to the people much wiser than I about their stories and experiences with hs. It was cool.

Today, my dear mil kept our kids while Josh and I went out and did something we've never done before. We went gun shooting at his friends house. The guy has 5+ acres and a bunch of different types of pistols and rifles. It was crazy! I shot a .22 and a 9mm and a .45 - and I actually hit some of the targets! Some of those kick back quite a bit, so I had to work through that. It rained steadily the entire time, but thankfully they had a canopy set up and we had ponchos and umbrellas. I'm just now thawing out after a few hours outside.

School starts Monday. I got a ton of stuff ready for it on Friday - moving around books and rearranging things. The kids are geared up. We're ready to go!

Co-op

Tomorrow the kids have their first co-op class. We're doing Ancient History using the Story of the World curriculum. It's cool because the parents all rotate teaching one or two classes during the year for the kids, and then the weeks off we're free to hit the coffee shop or whatever else we want to do. I'm looking forward to having an hour and a half of time with only Carsten.


We've got all the supplies and stuff ready to go. They are excited!

We're starting actual school a week from today - the 13th. I just figure that's a good day to get started!

My cousin Samson who is 2 months old goes for open heart surgery tomorrow.

Carsten

Carsten will be doing K4 preschool at home with me this year. I'd thought about sending him to a regular preschool before we decided to homeschool, since he is showing many signs of being ready to learn more stuff. He likes to ask me all the time what "eyes" or "shirt" etc starts with. It's cute.


His nose seems to be doing much better. We've only had one major nose bleed since his cauterization in the spring. He just went back for a check-up last week and the doctor said it looks fantastic! Woot woot!

Hummm... What else?

Let's see? What else? The kids.


We've talked about Tyrus some, but here's a bit more. He's really grown this summer! I'm sure he's put on at least two or three inches and at least 5 pounds! He's in size 12 pants now! But, he's always been tall for his age, so this is no different now, I suppose.

Alexis is really figuring out reading. She loves it when I work with her. She does get frustrated some times, but I try and remind her that's she's doing great - and '"look at all the pages you HAVE read!" Her emotions are still very evident - good and bad.

We had an incident the other day that just really threw me. Unbeknownst to me, Tyrus took 5 quarters with us to Steak N Shake when we went for dinner. He then purchased 5 gumballs. He ate one and left the other 4 in his cupholder in the van. We went in to our company for a while. When we came out, he was looking all over for his gumballs and couldn't find any of them. He asked Alexis if she'd taken them and she said "no." I could tell she wasn't telling me the truth though, because she had that smirk on her face. I asked her again - "did you take his gumballs?" She again says "no" then pauses and says "well, I took one of them." Then Tyrus starts climbing under the seats looking for the other gumballs and Alexis pipes up that she did "take all four and eat all four."

I was flabbergasted. Not only has she lied multiple times, she's also stolen something she knew wasn't hers. Then, she started laughing. I called her father to ask what I should do because I was totally stunned at her behavior. He had the brilliant idea that when we got home, she was to empty her piggy bank and dump all of the money into Ty's piggy bank. When I told her that, she flipped out and cried and fussed and made a big racket. But, I think she learned her lesson!

Later, I asked her if she had it to do again would she take Ty's gumballs? And she said "no - I didn't know I'd have to give him all my money for it!"

A few days later, I noticed a pile of coins on her dresser. Now remember, she didn't have any money since she'd had to give it all to Ty. I asked her where she got it. She nonchalantly says "Ty's room." I said "Do you not remember the incident we had a few days ago with the gumballs?!" She said "Yes." I said "why did you do that again?!" She then says "because I wanted it." She then lost her cd player for 5 days... and the rest of the money she'd earned in commissions.

I hope she's learned. Gah.

I guess Carsten loves me?

A few weeks ago, we were in Bay City and Aunt Sherrie asked Carsten if he had a girlfriend, and he says "yes, I do have a gwirl fiend!  My momma!"  ♥  And then, tonight in the tub, I was talking to him about church tomorrow and that he'd get to see his friends.  He starts naming off all the little people in our church that he is friends with, and then he says, "and YOU mama!"

And this one's history...

Tomorrow is the last day of school for Tyrus and Alexis.  We will no longer have a 2nd grader and a Kindergartener in the house - at least for now.  :)  I can't believe the year is already over.  It's amazing how quickly time goes by.

Tyrus was voted "Most likely to be a NBA Superstar" today by his classmates.  That was pretty cool.  :)

Blueberries

Tonight was one of those nights when I felt like the kids were NOT listening and no matter what I said or did, they kept goofing off.  I finally got all of their attention and we had a family conference right then and there.  I told them that they needed to listen the first time, and do whatever it is that they were asked then, not later.  I said, "I don't want our house to be filled with fighting and yelling, but instead I wanted it to be peaceful and fun"... etc.  Carsten pipes up right in the middle of my rant about the things I didn't want in our house, and says "and no blueberries, right?"  Immediately all the kids burst into laughter and cracked up.

What's funny about this?  Carsten doesn't like blueberries, and I guess for him, having blueberries along with fighting in our house would be the worst of the worst!

Nothing like a kid to bring the seriousness of a situation around to laughter again.  Gotta love 'em.

Carstenisms

Tonight, Josh and I were trying to teach the kids their memory verse for church.  The verse is I Thess 5:17 "...pray without ceasing."  Tyrus and Alexis were saying it over and over trying to get it down pat when out of no where, Carsten pipes up in his little voice "pray without seasoning."  We laughed and laughed and laughed.  What a hoot!

He's getting it!

So Carsten really is getting the whole "potty in the toilet" thing!  I'm amazed!  I decided on Tuesday to take away the Pull-Ups, and wahlah, he's going on the potty!  Wahhhhhhhhh hoooooooo!

Test

Can't Wait...

So there are a few things I'm looking forward to... one of which is Mr. Carsten being toilet trained.  Anyone want to come over and teach the kid for me?  So far, he flatly refuses to go in the potty.  And to be honest??  I'm over buying diapers.  Maybe if he were buying them it would be less annoying to clean him up. 

Sigh... 

On a better note, I'm really looking forward to this coming weekend.  Me and my friend Rebecca (and my kids) are going up to Bay City for an All Day Scrapbooking Day.  The kids are going to hang with Grandpa K and Uncle Ron, while us ladies go over and make fun crafty stuff all day.  Josh has to stay back and do homework, but I'm guessing he's looking forward to having the house to himself, too. 

Kids Say Funny Stuff

Carsten loves to announce "Happy New Year" each day when Josh comes home from work!  It's so funny. He also tells me that things make him "busy" a lot.  I'll ask him to pick up his books or whatever, and he'll say, "momma, when I pick up my books, it makes me busy..."  I think he means tired, but I can't convince him of that!

Alexis announced to me the other night while I was eating a strawberry cheesecake shooter from Applebees, that she wanted some "graham crappers, too!"

Tonight, while I was working with Tyrus on his piano lessons, I say to him "how many beats does a quarter note get?"  His answer?  "Three thousand?"  (then he errupts with uncontrolable laughter...) 

Gah!

Knapp Buck$

We're trying something new around our house... Knapp Buck$.  The idea is, if you do what you're supposed to do, and don't throw a fit or cry or fight with your brother, you can earn some rewards.  (You know, like in real life.)  Tyrus was all hyped about the idea of earning a game night, or lunch with mom... Alexis, however, was quite upset about the whole thing.  You see, you can LOSE buck$ you already earned if you have an attitude or storm off, and since those are her favorite activities, she knows she's in for some big changes.  That very fact may or may not be why we started this whole thing!

After a while the idea had finally sunk in, and she seemed better with it.  She ran upstairs and brushed her teeth (1K$) and turned off the light in a room no one was in (1 extra credit K$), and as we were filling out the chart, she says to me:  "How about coloring?  Is coloring one of the options to earn bucks?"  hee  hee

Suckafating isn't so great

Today Alexis says to me, "Mom, is it true that you can suckafate if you put a bag over your head?"

Uh, yes, why I guess you can.  :)

Happy 8th Birthday, Tyrus!

Dear Tyrus,

It was on this day, 8 years ago that you were born, and in that instant, I became a mother and your dad became a father.  Since then, nothing has been the same.  :)  You've changed us forever and for that, I'll be forever grateful. 

You have changed drastically since that day.  You're much bigger and smarter now than you were then.  You have finally mastered reading and you can do many things now by yourself that used to require assistance from me.  You're smart and funny and intelligent.  You've got adult teeth now and are starting to look less and less like a boy and more and more like a young man.  When I think about that, my eyes well up with tears and I get choked up. 

Tyrus, I want you to know that I love you so very much.  I'm loving the young man you're turning into and I'm very proud to be your mother.  Thank you for all the sweet things you do, and thank you as well for letting me teach you the right thing to do when you aren't being very sweet.  Seeing your interest in different things grow is so cool, too.  I love watching you learn and "get" things.

Overall, I want you to know that you are so very special to me and your dad.  I truly wish you a very happy 8th year and a hundred more to come!  I love you Ty!  Happy birthday!

Love, Momma

Carsten, the smallest guy in our house

Carsten turned 3 in October and the kid is still in diapers.  Gah.  Anyone wanna come over and teach the kid how to use the potty?  Ty & Lex were already trained by this age, but each time I set him up there he just screams and cries and really it's exhausting for all involved.  :(  I've decided to give him a break for a while and revisit the issue in a month or two.  Maybe he'll be ready by then.  One can hope, right?

C's little life revolves around Tom & Jerry, or at least in a perfect world, he'd do nothing else but watch the cat chase the mouse on that old cartoon.  His grandpa and grandma K have picked up on this and bought him the entire series.  :)  I have to limit him each day and he gets upset, but eh, whatever, I'm taller so I win the battles. 

Puzzles are another thing that are high on his list of Important Things.  Most days there are oh, 4 or 5, sometimes more, puzzles on my kitchen floor in various stages of doneness.  He really gets them and loves the challenge they provide him.  I think it's time to move up a bit in the peice count since he's mastered the ones he's got. 

He is a little goof ball though, and enjoys taking my camera and making silly faces in it.  He knows when people are watching him and soaks it up for all it's worth.  Oh, he also likes to yell out during the quiet times at church too.  Fun stuff.

We're still dealing with chronic bloody noses with the poor kid.  We've been to the ENT several times and have tried all sorts of remedies.  Right now, the one that seems to be working somewhat is Sesame Oil spray, and a humidifier, and the vent in his room covered...  Maybe he'll outgrow this at some point before we have to resort to cauterizing it...  :(

Then came Alexis...

Alexis is 5, going on 16.  :)  She's full of life and isn't afraid to let you know how she feels - both good and bad.  The little lady seriously LOVES to color, draw, paint, write, etc... and I'm constantly telling her to put down the crayons and get her shoes on!  Her favorite gift this Christmas was from Grandpa Mark, and it's this huge Princess coloring book.  She spends hours on the thing each day.

She's very excited right now to have recently lost her first two teeth.  Her smile is very adorable and she likes to go sit on the counter in the bathroom (when she's supposed to be in bed) examining her smile.  I have to admit that her losing the first tooth really punched me in the gut... she's growing up.

Kindergarten has been a wonderful experience for her so far.  She adores her teacher and she has learned so very much.  I think that she was ready for more stimulation a long time ago, and so I'm happy that she finally has the outlet she needs and is being challenged each day.  Her reading sight words are coming right along and today she asked me to write out some math problems that she could solve.  She skips off happily each day to get on the bus and is nothing but smiles when she comes home...  Gotta love it.

Tyrus, my firstborn

Tyrus turns 8 on Sunday.  I'm not sure exactly how that happened.  He was just standing in his crib the other day, I promise, yelling "wan oooouuuuttt!"  And now he's this big kid who sometimes when I see him in the right light looks like a teenager.  Sigh.

When we moved earlier this year we had a hard time deciding if we should keep Ty and Alexis (since she was starting Kindergarten) in the same school or if we should move them to the neighborhood school.  It was a hard decision, and it took a lot of prayer and thought.  I think we finally made the right decison though, by sending him to the school close to home. 

The transition was tough on Tyrus.  He really missed his friends and teachers from Oakland.  It was hard for me to see him struggling...  We got him signed up to play basketball on Saturday mornings, and we're also allowing him to invite his friend from his old school to his birthday party this weekend.  He seems like he's coming along and is finally starting to mesh with the new school and the people there.  Thankfully, he's had a super awesome teacher and she's helped out a lot!

He's become a fabulous reader!  It's like he's finally realized that it's not work to read, but instead, he can be a lot of fun!  Most nights I have to go in and remind him 379845 times to put the book down and go to sleep!  :)

Hindsight is 20/20!

So in reading my post from last January, there are things we know now that we didn't then...  Thankfully, my mother's diagnose of cancer turned out to be false and she's now almost a year past surgery and doing great (minus a bit of numbness!)  We're so thankful for that!

Our game center, http://www.v2gc.com/ is up and running and we're rapidly approaching our 1st anniversary!  It's been a lot of work, some stress, lots of learning, but most of all - fun!  It's neat to be a small business owner and see how it all works, yet it's also freaky being the one that it all falls back on!

The coolest thing we did in '09 though, I think, was build our house.  It's such a lovely blessing and I thank God for it every single day.