Catchin' Up...

Hi Everyone,

I finally have a few minutes to get caught up on the blog.

First of all, by popular demand (!)....here is my gift on which Brennen spent his hard-earned AWANA $35.00: He knows how I love shower gels and lotions!! I know I need to use them some day, but right now they make me so happy in their little bag with the price tag still on it! :O)

Here are some pictures of Brennen's last soccer game. He's the one with the ball in the first picture. His team, the Cardinals, were the "home" team and did end up winning. I didn't get a shot of the scoreboard before they cleared it at the end but it was either 3 or 4 by then.

Having a celebrity in the house for a few weeks was pretty cool. Here is Flat Stanley about to autograph his book just before he travelled back to Illinois. :O)

Fort Caspar Academy had an alll-school, standing room only Christmas program. The entire second grade recited "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" by Clemet Clark Moore (aka...The Night Before Christmas) from memory. Brennen is top row, fifth from the right. Some wonderful folks at our church also worked very hard with the kids on a funny and meaningful Christmas program called "A Christmas County Spelling Bee." Here are some shots of the kids doing their thing. We had a fantastic, two-week long trip to Minnesota over the holidays. Todd drove out with us, flew back to Casper for a while to work, then flew back to MN, then drove back to Casper in our new-to-us Dodge Durango that we purchased from his folks. The kids and I caravaned with Todd's parents out to Casper a few days later. In MN we got to spend a lot of time with family and see a few friends -although never as many as we wish we could see. :O( We spent a lot of time with Kallie Jo - I even had the opportunity to get up with her in the night for feedings a few times. I loved those peaceful moments that brought back memories of my own babies' first few months. And getting up in the night with a baby is a much more fun ball game when one knows it's only for a few nights and not a few months!! :O) The kids also got to spend lots of time with their older cousins, Cierra and Rhiannan. During our time in MN, it was mostly WAY cold but we did have some great snowfalls and a few warmer days when the kids could play outside. Here are the cousins in my mom's old flowering crab tree.
It's been around 50 degrees here the last week or so...we sure don't miss the bitter cold the upper mid-west has been dealing with!

As I mentioned, my in-laws came back to Casper with us for an extended visit. A week after they came, Carrie and Matt came for a night so we could have Christmas with them. As my father in law was walking outside to help them carry in luggage, he slipped on some ice and cracked his head when he fell. A trip to the E.R., four staples, a few headaches and he is back to normal. He's getting the staples out as I type. Here's the most creative gift we received. Carrie made it for our upcoming trip with Matt and her to Vegas:

They are right. Money doesn't grow on trees. It grows on plants!! :O)

Kindrid and Mary....gone to the dogs, I'm afraid:

Finally, we have some news to announce. A few days before Christmas break, Brennen's teacher and principal approached us with the extraordinary offer to move Brennen up a grade. His school is very challenging with excellent curriculum and a year ahead in math (his second grade class is doing the third grade Saxon math curriculum.) Brennen had to learn an entire new approach to phonics and language and conquered that within the first weeks of school. We knew he was doing very well, but on the computer testing they do on a regular basis and in comparison to other students at the school, he is apparently doing exceedingly well, especially in math and reading. His name came up at a meeting, they took a closer look and decided to talk to us. We agreed to have him tested by a third grade teacher. Of course, we secretly hoped he would do a good job on the test, but they'd say he wasn't ready for third. However, he did wonderfully on the test. We agonized over this decision, telling Brennen we thought he should move up but we wouldn't force him. He was in so much pain over leaving his newly-made friends in second grade. He and I observed an entire afternoon in third grade last week. That helped him tremendously. The kids were super friendly, and he saw he was capable of the work. So, Friday was his "last day of school," he has a three-day long "summer vacation" and tomorrow marks his "first day of school" in the third grade. We pray we made the right choice to be good stewards of the fine mind with which God has blessed him. As his mommy and daddy though, we are struggling with the obvious...youngest kid in class (he won't be 8 until April), late to get his driver's license, youngest kid in college etc. We know he is going to be put in situations in junior high and high school now sooner than he would have before. So we aren't looking at this as carved in stone. We'll see how it goes and make adjustments as needed. Please pray for him to be able to get caught up and to make good friends quickly. And, please, supportive comments only!! :O)

That's news with us. I'll try to post more often in the next months so the entries don't take your whole morning cup to read through!! :O)

Love,

Christy