2011...where has time gone?

So here I sit, Dec. 31, 6:30 in the am. Looking back over my blog I kind of have to chuckle. I mean I would really and truely love to write on here every day, but for anyone with kids ages 2,4,and 6 ya know what I'm saying here. That just ain't gonna happen. There are just so many other things going on that blog update just aren't top on the totem pole. And with FB, I am able to get all of my pictures up there that putting some on here almost seems redundant. Maybe I need to find a purpose for my blog. Right now it is my ramblings, and our goings-on, my inner most deepest thoughts..ya ok, maybe not that. But you get it, I just sit down and basically thought-throw-up all over the screen. Maybe if I purposed it...eh. ANYWAYS back to this year...
It sure was an eventful one!
We have taken some fun trips this year had a good time visiting with family. The kids have been making such huge changes this year. Henry is in first grade and I think the change of him going all day from half day was actually harder on me than him. It is weird at first to have your kid gone all day long. I found myself looking at the clock waiting for school to get out. I have seen him grow so much this year in school and we have learned so much about him. We have learned he has a love and a gift for math. We are also grateful that since his surgery he can now hear everything completely clear. I think it was eye opening when we were in the kitchen and he said "mom what is that noise is sounds like sssshhhh," it was the dishwasher. THe poor kid had never heard the dishwasher before! Finally we have learned from Henry's teacher, that he has a love for the Lord and he is unafraid to share that even when his Momma and Daddy aren't around. This has been one of my greatest joys. Before sending him to school I did honestly struggle because I felt slightle alone in the public school area. It seemed everyone I knew was doing homeschool or private school to protect their kids. But Nash and I prayed about it and there was always this still small voice-and sometimes not so small- that said we are to raise our children so that they can tell others about the Lord. If we can tell someone about God, so can our children and we should present that oportunity to them. We are all God's little lights that need to shine. And if problems arrise, as they have and will, it isn't a setback or an attack but an opportunity to teach how you take a wordly problem and deal with it in a Godly way. -ok, I deviated slightly, but just after Christmas break started I got another note from Henry's teacher saying that when they were asking what Christmas meant kids were saying presents, toys, family, and HN said It's Jesus' birthday!! I am just so joyful for him and continue to pray that he get Christian teachers, especially in his younger years.

Now to my middle man, Hudson. This boy has done much growing this year. I remember last year when he was at preschool. Yes, we are doing two years of preschool with him. He is a wild monkey at home. Funny, telling jokes, comedy beyond his years, I mean really. And honestly it probably has gotten him out of trouble a time or two because when you are laughing you can't really discipline now can you. But anyway, when he would be at school I noticed the kid didn't move! He just sat there. No talking, no singing, just moved from one thing to the next and only talked when he was talked to! I was shocked. I mean, this was not my son. So this year I have been talking with his teachers asking if he is coming out of his shell a little, both at preschool and at sunday school and he is. I am happy for that. Also, this little stinker is smarat as a whip but not motivated. Nash just had an idea to base his letter learning and everything all around mighty machines. Oh how I love that man sometimes. So here is where I click save. and finish this post late. time to work on HW's new thing now!

Well I am back, a whole year later... ok how could I resist that one haha. Onto Little Sister, she is mischievious, sweet, girly, yet has no problem getting in there with her brothers, or bossing them around. She has obviously grown so much this year two, at this age any child does. She has always been a talker from early on and now it is fun to watch her as she is mothering her babies, or pretending to put on makeup with me in the bathroom. And just a week before her 2nd birthday she moved to a big girl bed. She was just so much more comfortable once we did that. More room to roll around and sleep sideways the way she likes:)

What have Nash and I done. Well I am going to start subbing again soon, that will be fun. But I think the thing that I have enjoyed the most this year is in the mornings before I make breakfast Nash and I have been doing a bible study together. I have just loved that so much. We are just about through with our devotional book and we are currently reading Isaiah.

This almost feels like a Christmas letter, but at the end of the year it is kind of fun to sit down and just think about everything that has happened. Now there has been things that have not been so great this year as well...
My Auntie was diagnosed with Melanoma and had to recieve radiation treatments but ya know through all of that there is a praise, I think she might be finding some strength in the Lord so for that I am so very thankful. And after the last treatment things are looking good!
My Uncle also has been fighting cancer, but has been perserving, this I KNOW has been through the power of prayer. You can just see God's hand in this surgery guiding these Dr.'s. Are all of these things horrible and do I wish they weren't so, yes, but it is God's plan and not mine and He will use it for His glory. And finally my Grandma died. And while that sounds horribly tragic, I am actually relieved for her. She has had several strokes and things over the past few years and in all honesty how could I want to keep her here when there is something better.

So this year has been a wild and crazy one, but what year really isn't. I am already looking forward to what 2012 will hold!