So it has been awhile.....

Funny how I can have a running list of things that I think, "oh that would be fun or interesting to blog about," but I rarely seem to get to it.

Well, my formerly technologically challenged honey has gained a lot of ground and is blogging away (see his link below) so I thought I best update mine also.

2009 has been a far better year than 2008 so far:

* Jalissa is thriving in her Freshman year of high school and anxiously anticipating September when she will be 16 and can get a driver's license. She is enjoying a successful soccer season this Spring and even scored the first goal of the year (and the only, winning goal for that game)! I think she was the most surprised!

* Caleb has been on a tremendous growing spurt - adding 4 inches and 30 pounds just since September...and not a lick of it is fat! He surpassed by Jalissa and I and now matches Jeff. He just started baseball season (at the high school!), and while he is not sure he has the passion for it that he used to, I am very excited to see him play with his increased size and strength this year!

* Cole is finishing up his last year of elementary school and has made some good progress. He has found a very good friend in Jordan, for which I am very thankful.

* Jalayna is as fiery as ever. We celebrated her turning 10 and moving into the double digits. Our experience has always been that there is a great deal of maturity that comes in their tenth year. So I am am anxious to watch my sunshine grow. She decided to forgo softball this year so she could focus on track.

* Jaden Joy is having a wonderful year in second grade. The biggest event for her was when she had 11 inches of hair cut off to donate for Locks of Love. Her bob sure is cute but OH MY what a change! It did not seem to bother her a bit (even though she says she is going to grow it out again and not sure she will cut it short ever again) and I am very proud of her.

* Chloe had some challenges at the beginning of the shool year but has worked hard and done great! She gave us a good fright the end of February when she awoke Saturday morning with a temp of 104.8. Strep throat had been going around, but I checked and was sure she did not have that. There was also a virus of fever going around so I thought that was what we were up against. Well, finally at 4am Monday morning I checked and she was burning up and her temp had hit 105 and her right side hurt so bad she could not get out of bed alone to go to the bathroom. That was it for me, we headed to the ER with what appeard to be a classic case of appendicitis. Even the ER doctor thought so. But we were all fooled when 'pictures' came back showing a baseball size lump of pneummonia in her right lung! So we spend until Tuesday morning admitted to the hospital then two more days of running to the hospital for IV meds and it was not until the following Wednesday we even considered letting her try a full day of school. She was quite a trooper - never fussing for even a blood draw!

* Jarah just turned 4 this week and Mommy is glad to be free of 3yo's for a few months =) She has some trouble with some of her speech so we have been seeing Miss Patty once a week since the first of the year. Jarah enjoys it - especially since it is at school like the big kids.

* Johnson continues to ALWAYS keep me (and all of us) on our toes. It is nothing to find him on top the counters, on top the refrigerator, or running out the back door around to the front to bang and the door and say, "Let me in!" He knows how to un-lock ALL the locks, so it is going to be a trying Summer because he LOVEs to be outside. He shocked me when the first week of March (the week of production of the 8th grade play I direct and Caleb was starring in and Jaden Joy acting in) he got up one morning and said, "I want undies, I go pee in the potty." I looked and him ans jokingly said, "Can you wait til next week?" GEEZ, when it's your 8th kid you kind of want it to be on yoru time table a little bit. But he was serious! He has had very few accidents (and lately those are intentional, not accidents). Who woulda thunk potty training a boy could be so easy? Certainly not me!

* And yes, we are expecting again. I was not really surprised as I have been saying since Johnson was born I believe there is one more for us. My instinct has not been wrong with the first 8, but I never take it to the bank so we will see. We are 'officially' due October 31. My grandmother turns 91 on October 17 and I think nothing could be better than to have a little girl on her birthday....but not my plans, the Lord's plans and whatever He sees fit we will gladly welcome into our family (well, except maybe Jalissa who says, "I REFUSE for it to be a boy!" LOL).

Jeff is still busy keeping our grade school in tip top shape. This year he has opted to umpire baseball and softball games instead of coaching. He seems to really enjoy it...not to mention he makes a little money at it too :0)

Because of my pregnancy, the doctor has said "no running" so I am a bit bummed about that, but it's temporary, but Thanksgiving I should be back at it. I still do tons of pictures and photo editing and my latest passion is SendOutCards. There is a link below if you want to check it out, our you can contact me and I will walk you through it.

Well, this is a long update....maybe, just maybe, it will boot me to post more often (with more inspiring thoughts than just family updates).

Until next time.....

In HIS great Love,
~lisa