Ashley is now 8 years old, actively involved in her 3rd grade school year. She is a thriving young artist as well, taking some new classes at a local art house. She's super-tall (of course) and with a new short hairdo--she's as beautiful as it gets. Yep, that's the mommy in me talking, but I think I'm spot on in that judgment.
Hannah is now 6 yrs old and in her 1st grade year at public school, attending at the same school as Ashley since last year. It's nice to see her walk into the school building in the morning with her big sister by her side. Hannah used to have such a hard time focusing and being a part of socially structured activities unless it was entirely her idea. Now, she's a social butterfly. Affectionate. Never meets a stranger. She has a giggle that sparks joy in your heart. With freckles lightly spotting her cheeks and a gap in her front teeth (she lost'em both this summer), she's as cute as it gets. Again, I'm biased but right nonetheless. Right?! :)
My baby Ellie is 4 now and growing like a weed. Just like Ashley and Hannah, Ellie's at the top of her growth chart for height. Stand her beside her precious little best friend Ry and she looks like a giant. With blonde hair and blue eyes, she regularly gets compliments for being such a pretty little girl. She's certainly an angel but oh--she can be a little spit fire, too. The girl knows how to push til' she gets her way. Ellie has started to our church preschool this fall for two days a week. She loves it. She begs to go when she's not there. I think she likes being busy, to tell you the truth. When she's home with me, she plays and watches a movie or t.v. show. She even helps me out when I'm doing projects, but I think she's just plain bored most of the time. School's been a great new activity for her. She's growing so very quickly. It's hard to see your baby growing before your eyes.
Ron's staying busy at work as usual and having some challenging days that help him with personal character development as well as managerial skills. Of course, you notice that I never said his recent days have been easy. He's learning to pray his way through the days and enjoy them as the moments arise. It's always a wonderful thing to pray for your spouse--I'm taking those opportunities and making sure I'm faithful to do just that. Ron still enjoys his online gaming. League of Legends is his current passion. He needs something to keep his mind busy so gaming and reading are his regular hobbies. I'm still regularly awed at how intelligent he is.
My life as a stay-home mother and wife is still always a work in progress. Some days I feel like I've accomplished great feats just getting one or two things marked off my to-do list. Other days it looks like I've moved mountains and gotten the hang of this whole balancing act of mom/wife down pat. Don't ever be fooled into thinking I'm on top of it, though. I push through each day with a decent amount of prayer and reflection on scripture as well as trying to hold myself together with a little coffee and some good music while I work around the house. Since I have no children at home two days a week, I now go the grocery store and walk on those days. I also run errands that are easier when I'm alone. Can I tell you what a HUGE blessing that is???! I used to dread going to the grocery store. Hated it, actually. In reality, I still do, but it's been so much easier to do without having to drag the kids with me or go after everyone's in bed at nighttime. Sometimes the biggest blessings are such simple things in the course of a day, eh?
Lately, with a little extra time on my hands, I've finally started painting the house again. The walls (for the most part) have been untouched since we moved into the house in November 2006. We'll have been here for 6 years in a matter of a couple months. I can't believe how it's flown. With that said, the front room became my test palette. I tried a rich vintage yellow color as my reds, greens, browns, and oranges tend to run a little old world-European in nature. It works--the yellow color, I mean. It's not my favorite, but it works. One thing about picking out colors: you want to be able to live with it once it's done. Otherwise, it becomes an expensive mistake. Two cans of paint: $60. So, as my husband says, I'm "living with the color for a while before I decide if I like it or not".
My other passion (beside fixing up our home with multiple ongoing projects) is still photography. I've never quite gotten out of the box yet with it. I mean, it takes time and mental energy to move my camera off auto-everything. While I still look around at other photographers' compositions and ideas on a regular basis, I've not quite taken off with my own desire to get a WHOLE lot better. Ron set up a website for me to start working on. Splendorography.com. I bought the domain name. Guess I better come up with what I'm going to put on it now, right? Ideas are sketchy and random right now. I like being creative, though. So...we'll see what becomes of it.
Blessings to you, sweet family...
Love,
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