I am in LOVE with these pictures!

So....my son is engaged to a wonderfully well-rounded young lady who just so happens to be a pretty talented photographer! First, I was just thrilled she was raised in the church; then I was beside myself with glee over the fact that she has wanted to be a stay-at-home mom her entire life and was "just waiting for the right guy to come along"; then it tickled me pink to learn that she pretty much homeschooled herself her senior year and now wants to homeschool whatever children God blesses them with (they're wanting six boys--hey, did I mention she's a glutton for punishment? LOL). I'm a very happy mother-in-law-to-be, and Chelsey and I do get along really well. GREAT! And then this.....
The girl has an artist's eye, and it's (as she'd put it) UBER talented, already at the tender age of 19! She set up this shot, handed the camera to Jon, and then popped her nose (and glasses) in the pic below:

Have I mentioned how much I just LOVE those pictures??? I've got them in black and white on my walls already.

Sigh....

The first "set" of birthdays

I'm terrible at this "keeping up" thing.

A whole month ago, our not-so-little Jamie turned five. That is HARD to believe, for some reason. I still can't wrap my mind around her being so OLD already! She plays the part well, though. Learning to tell time (she's got it down to the hour now, yay!), learning to read, learning to add, learning how to spell everything under the sun, coloring with detail that shocks us....she's not a baby or even a toddler anymore. I guess when you deal with potty training, bottles, and sippy cups all day, you just don't get to think about how quickly the older ones are growing up right under your nose! Jamie truly loved turning five and being the "same age" as Morgan for a whole 15 days!

Just two weeks and two days after Jamie's birthday, we celebrated another birthday (aside from Dani, who has her "own" birthday in October, our kids have birthdays in two's!) as Morgan turned six! Complete with the missing front tooth that she refused to show off in pictures, Morgan "defines" all that is six years old. She wants to do EVERYTHING that older people do. She even wants to do the dishes! This year, (FINALLY!!!!!) Morgan has a new "love" other than princesses--Hello Kitty! Better. I can deal with Hello Kitty; the princess thing made me a wee bit nauseous at times!

Next "set" of birthdays is next week! For the first time, we won't be with Jon on his birthday. Can we send a cake to Kandahar?

Christian Home Keeper's Journal 3/13

I'm trying a "something new" to break the monotony. More for me than anything else, really...but if folks get to know me better, I guess that's another perk? I found this journal over on the Christian HomeKeeper Network and it looked like a fun complement to what I've been studying and meditating on in real life...so here we are!

Here’s What’s happening …..

In My Kitchen …. Meatloaf tonight--mmm...., my not-so-favorite! One of those meals I learned to tolerate because Pete loves it. I'll make some roasted potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower to make it enjoyable for me. Scratch that. DIL2B Chelsey just told me it's her least fave too, so we're having French dip sandwiches and salads! Now THAT's yummy.

With Our Marriage …. It's a bit surreal (I've been using that word a lot over the last year and a half!) to see that our son and his fiancee actually WANT a relationship like ours, so with all the twists, turns, and upheavals, the realization that we must be doing something right--or at least that we have our foundation in the right place--is reassuring.

With The Children ….. While the little girls are learning to enjoy the benefits of living out of the city limits and being home more often than not, Kelsey is pulling further and further away. Natural, I guess, at this age and phase of life, but it's disconcerting nonetheless. She wants to grow up faster than she should, I'm afraid. I pray she doesn't regret leaving family in the dust as she speeds off into "real life". Causing even more internal conflict is the realization (for me) that my emotional constipation probably led to 90% of the problems we've got with her. And her brother. Ouch.

What I’m Reading … far too many curriculum catalogs and reviews. My brain hurts. I picked up the Duggars' book last night for some "lighter" reading and ended up being challenged more than I ever imagined.

What I Have Been Learning … that you never stop learning. It only gets deeper.

What I’ve Been Noticing …. that the children I used to think were "sheltered", abnormal, and didn't have the opportunities that other kids have had, have turned out to be probably the most mature young adults in the group. Not my kids, unfortunately. But it really makes me stop and think that if I want the younger girls to be as mature, well-adjusted, and as deeply connected to God and our family, I'd best start rethinking the way we've believed children "should" be raised.

Something that pleases me … second chances. And third chances. Do-overs in general. I'm very thankful that God gives them to us.

On The Back Burner of My Mind …. I've got so much to get "done" medically and through our dental insurance before Pete's officially retired and we have to switch insurances. Two things I despise...doctors' visits where I know I'll be lectured, and dentist offices. Dentists are my one MAJOR phobia...bet you didn't know THAT about me, did you?

In The Deepest Darkest Recesses …. fear that I can't change.

Okay, I certainly didn't expect something so "vanilla" as a home keeper's journal to open up my heart that much...I guess it's just been one of those weeks that I've had all this brewing in the back of my mind and needed the right outlet. Wow.

What just happened?

WhenI look at the date of my last blog entry and try to process everything that has gone on in that "short" amount of time, I get a headache. I'm dizzy from life spinning seemingly out of control, and it's just nuts! Quick run down....

Pete...enjoying his new job and military retirement, but now has ANOTHER job offer, from a bigger company, potentially paying a lot more and doing exactly what he wanted...but it requires a good deal of travel--overseas. He's pulling his newly-grown hair out over this one.

Kelsey...has finally ended the wishy-washy, what-to-do-after-graduation roller coaster and is enlisting. In the Army. I don't know if I'm thrilled that she's finally decided something or terrified that I'll have TWO children on active duty...I guess I'm just numb.

Jon...well, now, Jon is a great source of stress lately. Engaged by the end of January to someone he met on New Year's Eve, they planned an impromptu before-deployment wedding, then her family put the brakes on that and now they're "just" engaged...his fiancee (whom we love dearly) is now my right-hand girl and is staying with us about a third of the week. Jon deployed to Afghanistan on Monday, so my heart is on stand-still for a year. There really is nothing quite like seeing your only son leave for a year in a war zone. All those years I "trained" as an Army wife, plus all the deployments with Pete...they prepared me (albeit not very well) for this.

Morgan...lost her first tooth and learned how to tie her shoes all in one week.

Kasey...got her first TWO teeth, learned to sit up, started crawling, and started pulling up, all in two weeks!

Dani...still not potty trained.

Jamie...not enjoying being the "little" sister whose teeth aren't loose and whose shoes need to be tied by someone else. OH, the perils of being five.

Ty...last but not least, this silly cat had to go and get an injury that first looked like a broken tail but turned out to be just an abcess. That was one scary few days.

I'm tired. I need a serious Calgon month...or two...or three.