I know, I know, it's about time

The bad part about waiting so long to write is because there is so much to talk about that I can never get it all out. Chris was home for a couple of weeks, and we unfortunately now are having to share a computer. Since his homework is a wee bit more important than me blogging, he trump me at time at the computer.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We certainly did and had a wonderful time spending time together as a family once more. While Chris still had things to work on for school, we still had him here. During the school week he is gone all day at school, then comes home and spends the rest of the night on school work and we only see him during dinner. It was hard having him go back to school after the New Year but we know he just 5 months away from being done. We still have no word on the job we are both really hoping he gets. Well, that's not entirely true. We hear back from one of the elders every few weeks, but the word is always the same. The are still working on getting the preachers expectations set. It has been 2 months since the elder first told us their preacher was leaving and it doesn't feel like we are any closer to being set to interview. Although, I'm still not sure WHY they need to interview him. They have known us for a couple of years and they heard Chris preach this summer. All schematics I suppose. I just wish we would know something. Otherwise, there has not been much at all posted for a job up north. Everything I have seen has been for the south.

Elijah, as of Wednesday, is 10 months old. It's hard to imagine just where the time has gone. It is so hard to believe I am having to think about his 1st birthday already. He had an appointment in the middle of December and he was 29 1/4 inches long (75th percentile) and weighed 19 lbs 8 oz (25th percentile). I was shocked at the weight and thought he was much heavier. I weighed him a few days before that and he was almost 21 pounds. He is growing amazingly though. He will walk if you are holding onto his hands, and has started letting go of items and standing but just won't take that first unassisted step.

Faith and Samantha are both doing good as well. They finished up their skating in Dec and we have been on a much needed break for a month. They will both be starting up next week. I put them both on the same day this time though. It will be a lot of work for me to get them both ready to be on the ice at the same time, but it will be so much better on me not having another day to run around. They are both so very good with their brother and have really started including him whenever the can. I'm so proud to see how they take care of him. We have been really working on being consistent, particularly when it came to cleaning. I would always start having them help, but then just get too impatient and do it myself. Well, I finally slowed down and had them do things from start to finish. While it took more time in the beginning, it has been a huge help to me as I am no longer picking up their things all day long.

I am still working with Faith on reading and she is really coming along. She is so happy when she sounds out the words and gets them right. Some days she will ask to get her phonics book out and work on it herself. I say absolutely and am always listening to hear how she does. Samantha sees Faith working on her phonics book and has also wanted to start. I'm just working with her right now on her vowels as she gets tired of it all pretty quickly and wants to go play.

I am in the middle of reading the Charolette Mason Companion and have found it to be a wonderful resource. A lot of what is taught is who I envisioned teaching the kids. It won't be exactly the same, but I have gleaned some great ideas and will definitely be using it as a resource. Right now we are still just working on Faith's phonics, a little bit of writing, and daily devotional. Otherwise all we do right now is just in play. I am always on the lookout though for books at the used book store that we will eventually be able to use. With Samantha I am just still working with her on her alphabet sounds and what the numbers look like. She can count to 20 on her own, I'm just helping her to recognize the numbers by sight.

So, I guess that get's us caught up a bit. Really though, I need to get so much better at this!