Hello dear friends. I have been wanting/needing to do an update for a while now. Thought I would take a few minutes and see how far I get... may have to do a few sessions before I can send.
Work has picked up considerably! We are keeping quite busy and considering putting a 3rd truck on the road. We are hiring another guy starting June 9 and looking for more office help once again. Tom is considering backing himself down to managing/doing estimates and selling jobs, though he hates the idea of not being in the field. It would be only for a while and then he hopes to go back out in the field when he can train a manager/estimator. He just can't stand to not be in the middle of all the work! :-) I am still in the office for 2-3 days a week and answering the phones pretty much every day. Our goal is to have someone trained to take over the basic office stuff by the end of June and all of it by the fall. The whole family is looking forward to mommy being "fired" and home more! :D We are thankful for God's provision in all things.
Tom has a few weeks here between his last helper and the next guy starting, so he decided to take the children with him one at a time for a week's worth of being daddy's helper. It has been wonderful for all of us. Heather just finished up her week and Rose had her first day today. It has been neat to see the way a missing child changes the dynamics of us at home/office and the way the child who is with daddy changes in that week's time. Heather came home saying "Oh, dude!" which cracked me up. I found out how much I relied on Heather to be my helper through the day, she is so good at following instructions and pulling together loose ends for me. With Rose gone today, I found that I really rely on her to keep Will occupied. They play together so well most of the time, and Heather and Will really don't interact nearly as much. Will really missed Rose and was happy to see her come home today. It was sweet. I can't imagine how Will is going to do on his week. I am praying that it goes smoothly for he and Tom - and trying to prepare myself for the quieter/slower pace for the girls and I!
We have started a summer break of sorts with
school. I wasn't really planning to, we've had plenty of breaks through the year. We will do a bit of grammar here and there to keep it fresh and of course lots of reading, summer reading program, etc... I hope to squeeze in some history/geography studies also. We'll see. :) The kids are doing great overall.
Heather is growing so fast, and maturing physically way faster than I was prepared for. She is still such a little girl in spirit most of the time though. Heather still loves to read best of all, it's her one passion. She also likes to sew and knit. She is working on making jewelry that she wants to sell for kids. She is designing her business cards and is going to ask daddy if she can put them on the front counter at the shop.
Rose is still my sweet, gentle beauty. She has become something of a tom-boy too though. She's tons of fun, but hard to harness sometimes. She still has a great imagination that can sometimes get her into trouble since she doesn't stay focused very well. She is reading more now and finally found some chapter books that she likes... Junie B series. Rose loves to ride bikes and dress up as a cowgirl or even dress in camo and run through the woods with our friend Dante. She has lots of fun and has become a bit less emotional and less sensitive to things that used to bother her (like being cold or hot, scratchy things, etc...). Rose does a great job with playing cars with her brother and helping keep him occupied.
Will is growing and changing too. More of a big boy everyday. He adores his daddy and has picked up quite a few of daddy's "slogans" which can be quite humorous. His arm is healing pretty well and he has been amazing to me in how he just takes things as they come, doesn't complain about what he can't do / is missing out on. He will go out with the rest of the kids and run alongside the bikes (doesn't quite have the mobility that I trust him to steer yet), or sit and contentedly watch everyone else jumping on the trampoline (though he wants to get back on there and has snuck up a couple times!). He will be back to normal soon I trust. I've been so proud of him. He still loves bugs and creepy crawly things, and his cars. He is reading simple words finally!!! It's been a combination of him being reluctant/resistant and me being busy... but he finally is doing it. :-) He doesn't like to read the beginning readers very much. He would much rather grab a library book of whatever level and I will read parts and point to words for him to read on each page. It works!
Tom is planning to build the children a play fort in the yard this summer. Will is most excited about the sand box. Elijah has one that they will sit in for hours and hours building things and digging out "sheds" for their cars. I look forward to having something more substantial for them to play on outside.
Let's see... my burns on my fingers have healed pretty nicely. I think there is very minimal scarring, though the fingers are still quite red but not at all painful. I assume that the redness will go away as the skin regenerates however many layers it needs to. We'll see.
I have been participating in the Acupuncture study for PCOS at the UVA Medical Center. It has been neat. I have actually enjoyed the drive there and back twice a week, the treatments have been simple and enjoyable - the Dr is nice and her office comfortable - I generally get a 20 minute nap in. :-) I have taken each of the children with me for some one-on-one time during the hour long drives and that has been very nice. I am not sure if I am getting the real acupuncture or the placebo, but I did have a very nice, painless, normal cycle a few weeks ago after 3 months without one!
I am feeling lots better in general. I finished the 4 month yeast-free diet and have moved on to low carb to see how I do. I have lost a total of 45 pounds and almost 6 sizes! I have been
T-Tapping so am losing the inches and sizes faster than I thought despite only being about half way through the pounds I want to lose. It is incredible how much better I feel, more energy, feeling stronger, getting some new clothes, it's been a great confidence booster!
We planted a small garden this spring, each of the kids picked out an heirloom tomato plant, Heather and Will planted a bush bean each, Rose planted three bush cucumber plants, I planted 12 pea plants and 2 pepper plants for Tom, we also have some surprise volunteer sqash plants growing strong. I have weeded, transplanted lots and edged new flower beds. I planted some new morning glories and 4 o'clocks and today Heather and Will worked together to plant some sunflower seeds too. The kids got me 2 new rose bushes for Mother's Day (after much hinting) and those will look nice once they've grown and filled in. The flower beds also have lots of iris, lilies, peonies, hostas, black-eyed susan, purple coneflower, ledum, tulips, daffodils, lilac and violets. Mostly perennials. My herb bed this year has chives, feverfew, bee balm, lavender, and comfrey. The yard is looking better and better gradually, and I am learning lots about how to care for things and how to be patient as things mature. Ack! Just heard a deer munching away right outside my bedroom window - so there may be less of all that there in the morning! :( My outside dog died several weeks ago so I am sure we will have more problems with that this year.
The weather this spring has been exceptionally mild and much more spring-like than we usually get in this area. We have been really, really enjoying having the windows open and fans blowing occasionally - haven't even thought about turning the a/c on yet this year and it's almost June! I LOVE the 70 degree weather and am thrilled it has lasted this long. We have also had some lovely rains and even a scattered thunderstorm or two which we don't get very often because of the mountains.
God has given our family some wonderful friends locally. It is so hard to find a family that has the same values/beliefs and the wives AND husbands get along, not to mention the children.
Amy is a wonderful, encouraging friend and Rich and Tom get along quite well. The children can play together for literally hours and even days in a row without bickering and fighting, it is really amazing. The best part is that Will has a best bud in their 5yo Elijah. I am so happy for that! Amy teaches the girls piano lessons, we've been doing a Nancy Campbell Bible study together, and we take turns watching children and grocery shopping each Friday. We also swap monthly date nights which is fabulous. It has been a blessing! Amy is due with their 5th child in the next couple weeks and this will be her second homebirth with the local midwife... and she has asked me to be there! I am very excited. She wants me to take pictures and help with her children and be another voice/perspective for advice if asked.
I also plan to leave the very end of June to go to MN for a few weeks. Angela and Joe will be having their third baby then and would like me to be there with the midwife also. I am SO looking forward to getting away for a bit and spending some time with their family and meeting the next member. They have lots going on right now so I am hoping I can help out some there too. We are praying about finding plane tickets since gas is so high and our vehicles aren't super reliable. The kids would LOVE to fly!
Well, I guess that is it. I'm sorry that I haven't kept up better and had to unload all at once, but thanks for reading! Love you all and appreciate your friendships and prayers more than you know.
outside room and drink our coffee 
in the morning and also enjoy the evening coolness, sometimes with a glass of wine.
