Ho, ho, hallelujah, it's over!

Another year down, another year with an obscene amount of toys. Oh the joys of having three kids 5 and under. This is my official Christmas newsletter with a cute picture (note the kids in their Xmas pjs on the blog). The photo places are packed this time of year, and trust me. You need peace, quiet, and time to get 3 kids to look even halfway decent in a picture! So, I'll probably do the usual and take Xmas pics in late January! Don't knock it till you try it. It's sooooooooooo much less stressful.

Where to start? Shawn is still working for Beryl. He's also working for the church in charge of all IT/tech, both for services and behind the scenes. Needless to say, that made for a very busy Dec. 23rd, as we had 3 services that day, and we were all there for all 3. By the 3rd service, the kids were looking a bit confused. "Haven't we already done this?" But they did great, and our services were terrific. We ended up having nearly 700 people attend that day. If you live in the area, stop by for a service. I can't say enough nice things about the church and the people at Creekside (the website's on the right column of my blog--Creekside Church of Christ, Midlothian).

Me--I'm teaching homeschoolers writing, babysitting Ella (3 yrs), and being Caitlin's Kindergarten room mom, along with doing praise & worship at church. We stay busy around here. Most days I feel like I live in my car, but most moms feel that way so don't think I'm complaining. I am very blessed and love my life!

I am seriously considering going back to work next year. Shawn & I found a new development we want to live in so to build the house we'd like to be in for the next 15-20 years or so, it would be better if we had a little more cash floating around. Might as well build it the way we want it, aye? Difficult to change things later. Better to begin as we mean to go on and all that. I'm hoping to find a library job, but if that doesn't pan out, a teaching job will be fine. Of course, that blows childcare issues sky-high. I'm not worrying about it too much right now, mainly b/c there's nothing concrete enough to focus on. I'm dumping it on God and seeing how things pan out.

Caitlin is loving kindergarten. She's smart as a whip. She's reading up a storm and enjoys it all--reading, writing, math, science, computer, music, and gym. She's settled in well--we all know she's never had any problems socially! (That's a nice way of saying she never shuts up and manages to meet/greet all within a 10 mile radius, LOL.) That caused a few yellow days where she had to move her clip, but we think she's finally getting the hang of how to function in school and have fun but still manage to stay out of trouble! She's still taking Art, but that's been her only extra-curricular this year. She wants to start horseback riding lessons, but we're undecided. She's a bit young. We're going to meet and talk with the teacher over the Xmas break and make a decision then.

JD is apparently an angel child who listens quietly and shares with others in all places except at home and with his siblings/family/Ella. With us, he is the most hard-headed, obstinate messpot. Okay, not always, but we would really like some of the cooperative JD to show his face at home! He is a very active little boy--jumping, kicking, running, tackling and so on and so forth. He's very coordinated for his age--and surprisingly quite verbal. He keeps us laughing. :)

Quinn will be 11 months old next week. Oh, how the time has flown. I can't believe my last baby is so big. All of you whose babies are 20+, I don't want to hear how fast it goes. Shhhhhhhhhh. He's crawling, pulling up on everything, and starting to let go some, but he's not really cruising yet. We'll celebrate his 1st b-day on January 30th. He's waving bye-bye and vocalizing quite a bit, but he's still mostly focused on major motor skills--not as into the fine motor skills or the verbal skills. Additionally, I think we all get so busy that we sometimes forget to encourage his verbal attempts or work on baby sign. Yet another resolution for the new year.

That's about it from us. We're currently getting the house ready to sell. Hopefully, we'll put it on the market late Spring 2008. Lots of little things to do and a few major (new carpet, some landscaping). Don't worry--I'll let you know when we do put it on the market so you all can do some heavy duty praying!

Lots of love to you and yours in this holiday season. I look forward to hearing from you.