We are all healthy and happy this last day of 2012.
My husband is on the way to the airport to pick up our oldest daughter. She spent the last week with my mother-in-law in FL. This was a big thing for us. In the past we have not let our children spend the night with anyone unless it was a whole family thing; visiting friends or family. She turned 15 on Dec 11th and my mil has wanted her to visit for a while now. So it was time. :)
Now for some updates on our family:
M.D. our oldest like I said turned 15 this year. She started high school in the fall and that was fun. We are branching out into multiple curriculum choices to meet the high school requirements. Our core curriculum wasn't meeting our needs for all of the classes she has to take in high school.
She has an interest in horses and anything Native American. She has been playing a flute (Native American style) that she picked up a thrift store. When we went to the TN Valley Fair in Sept. she found out about a Flute Circle that took place once a month near our home. So we started taking her to that. One of the men in charge gave her a better flute made of PVC pipe. We didn't know you could make one of that material, but it's durable and sounds pretty good. Her goal was a nice wooden flute. She got one for Christmas. It is a drone flute (one side plays the notes and one side plays a continuous note for a very beautiful, melodious sound). She got her picture in the local paper last month. See that here. She is still saving her money for a horse and I got her a book on horse training that she wanted. She is also writing a book with her sister.
Our second oldest D.R. is excelling at school. She turned 13 this last October and has finished her 7th grade math. She is finishing up the rest of her 7th grade and will be starting 8th grade early this year. One of the benefits of homeschooling is that we can go at their pace and not hold them back. She is the one writing the book with M.D. They have almost finished it.
She is very interested in spy technology and law enforcement. She loves Sherlock Holmes and got the complete set for Christmas. She also got a violin for Christmas and will start learning to play that.
She also has an interest in video. She has been doing short movies of her brothers and sisters for a while now.
Our oldest son, ST3 is now 11 and will be 12 in Feb. I measured all the kids in April and again in November and honestly he grew 3 inches in that time. In fact, I think he has grown since than too! He is a great help with the younger boys and our 2 year old just loves him. He is very interested in weapons (isn't every boy?) and he likes parrots. He wants a Golden Conure parrot. He recently had the opportunity to visit Parrot Mountain here in Pigeon Forge and had a wonderful time. He also has wanted to play the saxophone and so got one for Christmas that he can learn on.
Our 4th child second boy, M.J. is our family entertainment. :) He is very funny and quite the little actor. He turned 10 in September and is so full of energy. He loves Calvin and Hobbes. He wants to play the guitar and got a red one for Christmas.
Our 5th child, third boy, M.E. is a very serious child and yet can be quite a clown himself. He sometimes acts older than his age, which is, as of yesterday, 9. He is very generous and always has something to give to a sibling or parent on their birthday and Christmas. He loves tigers and has a large collection of stuffed tigers, plastic tigers, tiger clothes, tiger pictures, tiger books, if it has a tiger on it he likes it. :)
A.M. is our third girl, sixth child. She is our little princess and likes all things girly. She is 7 and will be 8 on March 1st. She is a very big help to me, especially with her baby sister.
N.D. is our 6 year old ball of energy. He is very smart, very curious, and gets into a lot of trouble because of those two things. He is also very loving and is quick to give a hug. He is also our 2nd left-handed child (D.R. being the first).
A.L. is 5 and our other little princess. She likes to do everything her older sister does, but also loves to play with her younger brother, who is only 13 months younger than her. :)
A.Z. is our 4 year old superhero. He likes Spiderman and his favorite Christmas present was a Spiderman costume that his older sister got him. When he's not Spiderman he's Hulk. Or he's watching Cars or Cars 2. Those are his favorite things. :)
B.V. is 2 and he is NOT going through the Terrible Twos. We don't believe in them. He is however, very curious, clingy to Mama, loving, learning to talk, and just all around cute.
C.D. is our 10 month old babydoll. She is crawling, eating, smiling, standing up to stuff, still nursing, and has 5 teeth. lol She is everyone's favorite toy.
So far, there are no more additions on the way, but that doesn't mean we don't want more. We would love more children. We are just in the waiting period now. As you can tell by their ages, they are pretty close together. But I have had a couple of longer breaks in between and suppose that this is what is happening now.
My husband and I have learned a lot this past year and are hoping to apply what we've learned to our lives this coming year. We are looking forward to exciting things happening soon.
Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!
Until next time...
JenT
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