Saturday, January 12, 2008

Flowers in bloom


We have a few flowers that have bloomed on a bush outside our house. Does anyone know what kind of flower it is? I don't have a green thumb, I need help!

What I did with the leftover turkey. I made a Pampered Chef recipe, Turkey Cranberry Wreath. We had turkey on New Years Day. On Christmas Eve we had Spicy Citrus Chicken with Winter Vegetables and a side salad. For Christmas we had Perogies, Ham with my special coffee/kaula glaze, broiled green beans and Cranberry Plum Pudding with warm vanilla sauce for dessert. This year I made it a point to make everything simple. My Christmas Eve dish was something I threw into a pot and it cooked all day, for Christmas dinner I made my perogies in Nov. and froze them so I would not have to do much cooking the week of vacation:)

Monday, January 07, 2008

It's over 80 in here

Rex just turned on the air conditioner!
Yes today is Jan.7th!

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

2007 in review

Our family started out 2007 with making a big decision. After much prayer and seeking advice we decided to move south. Rex was offered a wonderful job working for a Christian friend. We had been praying for a couple years for a job change since the work he was doing did not have a future. It certainly seemed like an answer to our prayers. We put our house up for sale in February and it finally sold in August but not until we changed realtors. We moved in Oct. but first Rex had ACL reconstruction surgery. We are currently attending the Reformed Baptist Church here.

Rexford is still working for a major retail chain. He became a black belt in Taekwondo. Rexford is still playing chess and playing the keyboard. He loves video games and is a very generous brother. Rexford took the ACT in Dec and scored in the 99th percentile in the United States. He is still considering a career in law with the hopes of becoming a judge. One of our friends is trying to talk him into going into medicine We will be busy this month applying to colleges. He has already been offered a full scholarship from a college.

Ethan is also working for a major retail chain. He also became a black belt in Taekwondo last year. Ethan has his driver’s permit. He is studying for the ACT that he will be taking this year:) Ethan continues to sculpt with clay, he also is still working on his pastels. He is currently trying Chinese brush painting. Ethan got a book on bonsai and is looking into growing one. Ethan will study up a lot of the any subject he is interested in before jumping in to it.

Isaac became a black belt in Taekwondo last year. He grew so much last year that he literally grew out of his eye glasses. Isaac is dabbling in Wing Chun, another martial art. He continues to take care of his dog Wing Chun (Winnie) since we moved down here and she is an outside dog now. Isaac draws so much. One of his drawings I made into a t-shirt and have sold more of his design than any other t-shirts I have sold so far. He got a bamboo digital drawer for the computer for Christmas:) Isaac has shuriken and loves to throw them at targets.

Lilly has been a black belt since 2006:) She was part of a taekwondo demonstration team in 2007. She currently likes to skateboard and she loves to play tennis. Lilly also likes to knit. Lilly had her first babysitting job and certainly has a knack for it. She likes to play with spy gear and helps me out around the house. She is always trying to get her hands on soda.

Danielle became a black belt in Taekwondo this year. She loves to play on the keyboard and read as many books as she can get her hands on, especially Nancy Drew. She also loves to play video games. Danielle has started to cross stitch this year also. Danielle also likes to knit and play tennis. Danielle likes to help me in the kitchen and made Chocolate Italian Pitzels for Christmas!

Geneva misses Grand Master Kim from Taekwondo class, he was like her Grandpa to her. He played with her all the time. She loves to dance and do her taekwondo in front of an audience. Geneva is beginning to read and loves school. Geneva lost her bottom 2 teeth and looks as cute as can be. She also had her first hair cut, if you can call how much I cut off a haircut:)

Rex turned 40 this year! He broke his foot the day after we moved down here and the doctor told him last week that it is not healing. He is currently staying off his foot in hopes it will heal up and he can avoid surgery! He is taking to his new job very well and it looks like he will get his own truck and be on his own sooner than we expected…assuming his foot heals. Rex has taught S.S. a few times and recently he taught class sitting in the Pastor’s chair up in front of the church because he can’t put any weight on his foot. Rex lost his Grandmother in December and we were able to attend Margaret’s funeral in Iowa.

I am still homeschooling the children and can hardly believe Rexford will be graduating this year. I could not imagine sending him off to school when time flies by so fast and it feels like I haven’t had enough time with him as it is homeschooling him. I am enjoying the South and getting to know people down here. I am still struggling with my weight and determined to lose the rest of my fat in 2008.

All of the children except Geneva are professing believers in Jesus Christ. Praise God for His goodness to us. No black belt or academic award could ever be as important as Jesus Christ.