i know.... i know..... it's been a while again

Sorry to everyone, I've heard about it from several people that I need to update my blog. I have had PLENTY of things to write, and probably could of squeezed in the time to do it, but I wasn't motivated to sit and write. But now, the end of the year is fastly approaching, and the in-laws are off on their few month stay in warmer weather, so I better keep them updated too, along with the rest of you.

Where to begin..... we'll start with the kiddos first.... they always come first.....

Cailyn is doing great!! Smart, loves life and being home with Mom and Dad still. I see little peaks of her coming out of her shell, but that doesn't last long, always depends on who we are with. My best friend and her husband, we've been lucky enough to spend a few evenings with them over the last couple months, and Cailyn is just now starting to warm up to them and will talk and play with them. It's so cute and funny!! Cailyn is VERY excited about christmas. She is counting down, and keeps talking about her surprises she is going to get. She just wants to open the presents, doesn't care so much about what's in them. Christmas should be fun... we get to have all the girls on Christmas morn this year, so that will make it extra special.

Josie is doing awesome in school. She still loves it!! She is really working on reading and sounding out words and figuring out how to spell them. That's awesome!! My Josie Posie has really enjoyed watching Rachel's ball games.... she has been quite the character. Long story short..... 7/8th graders didn't end up having cheerleaders this year, so Josie found it necessary to represent the Falcon cheerleaders at a couple of Rachel's games (she was a Falcon cheerleader for halloween). It was quite embarrassing and cute on my part..... not sure why it embarrassed me so, but it was funny and cute. She would get up in front of the crowd just the same as other cheerleaders when it was half time and do her only cheer she knew for the crowd. Josie definitely has the voice for it, and isn't shy, and the Wonderful school we attend, the parents were more than encouraging and supportive of her cheers. They would clap along and cheer right with her. It was so nice!!! -- and the best part, Big Sister Rachel didn't care, she wasn't embarrassed by her, she thought she was pretty cute too.

Amberlea is still a ball of fire!! She keeps us busy working on homework, and listening to her funny stories, and just going, going all the time. She is SO good with Josie and Cailyn and they all just play and play when they are together, but I see glimmers of Amberlea's maturity shining thru. Some things she used to 'go along' with, now she is starting to see how annoying some things can be. It's always funny when you remind them that not so long ago, they were doing that too... and you just love the look on their faces, like "i don't think so.... and please don't remind me"...... Amberlea is getting ready to play the part of Mary in the annual 4th grade skit of the Birth of Jesus. She is SO excited, she could bust!!

And then to Rachel.... she has kept us on the run!! She has finished with Volleyball and Basketball. We were VERY proud of her!! She worked really hard and being one of the few 7th grade girls that got to play all the games. She didn't make a whole lot of points (even with her dad's bribe of $1 basket) but her defense skills are great!! She keeps this up, we're going to have an awesome ball player to be cheering for in Highschool. Rachel is keeping us entertained in her own ways, she is definitely growing up. She is definitely very social, (her bff... has now been adopted by our family), they are inseparable these days, between the texts or just hangin out talking about boys, geez. - Tim is REALLY stressin' he's just getting a tiny glimpse of the future, here within the last few weeks, and it's not good....lol... no, really, we trust Rachel and hope and pray the close relationship we have with her continues and it won't be so bad. Tim just needs to invest in a good shotgun, cause the boys are already trying to break down the door. lol...

-- a few weeks back I hit a deer on the way home. That put a kink into our thanksgiving week. It was a mess, but thankfully we have great support of family that helped us out while we were without the family car. I know there are tons of things I am missing from the last few weeks I've been absent. Some good, some not so good. But we are still here, all together, and that's what matters.

We are really looking forward to Christmas with the kids. And I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas too!!!

I will do better at keeping up over the next few weeks...... until then.......stay warm, safe, and healthy!!!