Jamie

Recently, Jamie (17), came for a month-long visit.  We had a good time together.  A few of the things we enjoyed this month were Moe's, coffee, BBQ, pizza, church, music, and friends.  Jamie really brightens up my life when he's around.  Here are some pictures from his visit...

Goofing around with big brother

6 of my great kids!

Jamie on Dylan's shoulders trying to get a picture of the group.

Pizza with Joshua (& Mom) at Villaggio's

I will miss you over the next 5 months...  And I love you, Jamie!

My Seven from Heaven...

On the Home Front

Just a little catch-up on the home front here...

We just started our 11th year of homeschooling. My students this year are Dan (6th grade), Max (4th grade), Tommy (1st grade), and Eden (K4). Joshua is 2 and just doot-doots around. We joined a Co-op that meets once a week. I am teaching history to the 3rd-4th graders. The kids are getting a lot of out it so far.

Celeste (19) is taking classes at Sante Fe College. Her proposed major is secondary education. She is very interested in teaching high school history. Currently, she is volunteering in a 2nd grade classroom. Next month she will have been working for Publix for 2 years. She is a cashier and a bagger for them. Celeste is involved with RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) and loves it! This college youth is sponsored by the Presbyterian Church and they have chapters on many campuses. Celeste is living at home right now, so we have 7 children at home.

Jamie (16) is a junior at the local, rural high school. He finished last year with a 4.2 GPA and has just been inducted into the National Honor Society. He is taking very challenging classes this year which include: AP U.S. History, AP Language, Chemistry Honors, Pre-calculus, Spanish 2, and Culinary 3. He's very active in church youth and is going to be playing guitar for them during youth group. Also, he works as a ref at the local paint ball park.

My husband, Stuart, has his federal firearms license and owns a gun shop. Also, he makes custom holsters. It has gotten a bit busier, of late, which is good! We are attending a new church and loving it. The ladies are meeting tonight for a coffee house and I am really looking forward to it. It's nice to recharge my batteries. Being a mother and wife is so demanding--even more so when you homeschool and have a large family.

A couple of extra thoughts--Eden is taking ballet and loving it! She is a girlie girl for sure. Joshua is just a riot. He finally says "yes" when he means "yes" now. It comes out, "Zess." He LOVES the garbage man! Mondays and Thursdays he is quite excited when they come in the morning and back down our street. His delight in this simple thing is precious!

We are still mourning our precious daughter, Kara Faith. Today I am thinking on her quite a bit. I want to order her heart-shaped headstone, but we haven't don that yet. I remember being pregnant this time last year and how that felt. She was safely tucked inside. Things have settled down now. Less people respond. It's that time where her death is still SO REAL to us, but life goes on and others forget. It is okay with me for my friends and family to mention her, to say her name, to ask about how we are. I love to share about my daughter. It's all I have. I covet your prayers...

Recents

Eden recently started taking ballet lessons from a local studio. It has been SO FUN to watch her enjoy this activity! Celeste is taking ballet at the college, too. It's so sweet to see my two girls dressed up for dance. (I don't have a pic of Celeste, though.)

The first picture is of Jamie hugging Eden before her first ballet class. Jamie turned 16 last month and he is such a sweet big brother. Jamie is gone for the summer and I am really missing him. There's six more weeks to go until he comes home... Also, Jamie got straight A's again and due to his honors classes his GPA is 4.2! He has quite a heavy schedule next year with 2 AP classes, an honors course in Chemistry, Pre-calc, Spanish 2, and Culinary 3. I am proud of his hard work!

Splash Park Fun

We went to the "splash park" yesterday and they had so much fun! It was good for me to get out and enjoy my kids. To watch Max, Tommy, Eden, & Joshua laugh and have fun was wonderful. I'm trying to get back to life after Kara Faith. I love all of my children dearly. Some days it's just hard to get going. I feel very blessed by them!

Dan went to Sea World with his class from school yesterday and was quite worn out when he got home. He kept talking about riding the Kracken--a big rollercoaster. Jamie turns 16 next week on June 2nd. I can't believe that. He's about to finish out his 10th grade year and he has a 4.2 GPA currently. I am so proud of him! I miss Celeste most days. I popped in on her today. I just so desperately wanted to see her. Since she moved out I don't spend as much time with her as I'd like. Celeste took Jamie and I out to dinner last weekend and that was quite a treat! I am trying to think of fun things to do with the children this summer to keep us busy. Any ideas are appreciated!

Happy 15th Birthday, Jamie!

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Rarely seen here...

Here is Jamie. He rarely lets me photograph him now, but here is evidence that he still is around! His hair is getting quite long. (Shhh, he uses his sister's Chi, but don't tell anyone...) Jamie is always eating. He pointed out to me that he was putting groceries away in this photo; not eating them!

Arachniphobia

My son, Jamie (14), made this spider cake in his culinary class at high school. His group of 5 students made it early in the week last week. All the students from the culinary classes judged the cakes and this spider cake won. It's really cool! (Then they ate it!) Jamie came home with his first report card today from high school--5 A's and 1 C+ in honors geometry. Great job, Jamie!

Homeschooling is going better than expected. Life is busy. Right now Celeste is at work at the local grocery, we've got Eden in bed, the boys are getting ready for bed, and Stu is rocking the baby. There's also loads of laundry going. I'll be folding while I watch 17 Kids and Counting tonight!

School Days

Jamie started high school on Monday... That was an interesting day for me. I watched him get on a school bus for the first time EVER to go to school. (The bus picks up at the end of our driveway--how convenient. He is the last stop to get on and the first stop dropped off, too!) There is SO much preparation and paper to sign, etc. I have spent the past two evenings just working with him on his syllabuses and organizing. We went to buy shoes, shorts, shirts for PE last night and couldn't find anything. He wears a size 12 men's shoe and he is 14!!! It's crazy. We'll have to go somewhere else this evening. Also, he still needs school supplies. With everything I think it will run around $200. Please pray the Lord will provide for these expenses. Things are VERY tight. Jamie has signed up for JV football. I feel like I will never see him. That I've lost him to the "world." I didn't have this with his big sister. Even though she's taking college classes, she is still very active with the family. Jamie will be busy with school, homework, and athletics. It's just weird for us. Pray for my mommy heart on this... That's all I know to say.

Jamie turns 14

Clifford James "Jamie"

June 2nd, 1994

9 pounds, 2 ounces

Interests: guitar, skateboarding, paintball...14 yo boy stuff!

They had fun out to dinner at Macaroni Grill. We got a sitter for Tommy & Eden. Jamie has really grown since the new year and is now taller than Celeste and I. It will be interesting to see how much he changes while he's gone for summer. He leaves in a week. I will miss you SO much~I love you, Jamie!

Tuesday

Woo hoo, I just looked at my baby ticker up there. Getting close, I am. I'm thinking about 2 1/2 more weeks (hoping less). I still have a very small belly button, so there's a little more room.

Tonight the boys are at baseball practice. Stu is an Asst. Coach for their league this year. Dan and Max are on the same team--thank goodness. They have 2 practices and 2 games this week. Busy! I'll probably make only 1 game. They have a 7:00 game on Friday and I just don't feel the greatest by the end of the day. I'll have to go on Saturday to their game!

Anyway, just checking in. Celeste is overnight at her best friend's house. She's working on a research paper for ENC1101. She's doing very well in the class, yay! Jamie has guitar tomorrow. They have a recital in April. There is so much in April that my mind in swimming...AND I'm having a baby. Aaahhh!

I'm Still Here

Yes, I'm still around...literally, ha! We actually had a pretty packed weekend. It started with Max's 7th birthday (on Friday, February 1st!), then we had dinner at my brother's yesterday, and we went to church today for service and a Superbowl/fellowship night. Tonight I dropped off my truck for new brakes--gotta have those! I'm hoping it will be done quickly and I can get it back by early tomorrow afternoon.

We're doing school tomorrow, of course. I'm adding a writing program for Jamie. We decided on Jensen's Format Writing. Check out the link for more info and a review. Also, Celeste is doing American Government from A Beka. We'll see how we like that. It's a senior course, but we'll start it now and maybe finish it early next year. It's only a semester, but we're getting a late start. In addition, we'll do an Economics course next year.

Dan and Max start baseball very soon. This was a very busy time for us last year. I'm hoping the season is over before baby comes. Max didn't play last year, but his Daddy wanted him to this year. They wil be on the same team together with a wonderful coach we know. I think it will be lots of fun! I enjoy watching the games and all the practices are close to home.

We're still really working with Tommy on potty training. He is wearing pull-ups. He is now 3 1/2 and I am quite frustrated with his lack of interest. All of my other boys were trained by now and wearing big boy underwear. I'll keep on it, though. I don't relish the thought of 3 in diapers! Eden is growing by leaps and bounds. She is such a cutie. Her newest word is "Guys!" She yells it at the boys sometimes from her crib. I must say it a lot. She got a new stroller and rolls it around the house constantly with her dolly in it.

Today it's off for a little Christmas shopping. I feel like I have done a lot, but when you have 6 children to buy for it can be overwhelming. Each child will receive 3 gifts and some stocking stuffers, so that's 18 gifts + a few little ones. It's interesting, because a couple of them haven't been able to give me many ideas. It's nice that they're not so caught up in the stuff (I only have 1 who is, really). I love giving and receiving gifts. This makes Christmas fun, but I don't like how commercialized it is. Jesus is the real reason we are to celebrate this season. Let us not forget to focus on that!

Jamie and Celeste will be leaving for St. Louis in just over a week. They will be gone 19 days. Please pray for me as I am pregnant and not used to caring for 4 children under 8 all by myself. I'm having a hard time carrying the baby (Eden). My right hip has been giving me trouble, so I'm trying not to pick her up. She is only walking about 20% of the time, so that makes this difficult. It's hard for the rest of us when our whole family isn't together during Christmas. The little boys really miss their big brother and sister. I am praying for safe travels and that Jamie and Celeste enjoy their family in St. Louis.

Monday has been a migraine disaster. I awoke with a very achy neck and quite of bit of nausea. Being pregnant, I chalked it up to that. Wrong! It will be all better soon...cornbread is in the oven courtesy of Jamie. Yay! Celeste is doing a parking lesson with Stu because we're finally going to take her to get her license soon--cost of insurance aside. I'm tired of Celeste or Jamie getting stuck places because they don't have the car keys. Enough said and now it's time to go lay down again.

Just a quick note to let you know that I've been getting ready to send my older children off for the summer. They go to spend time with their father in the St. Louis, MO area. Celeste and Jamie will be leaving on Friday around noon. Their family is taking a Disney vacation, so for the first time they will be picked up here in North FL. Things have been crazy (as usual). Maybe I'll have more time to blog late at night after my littles go to sleep--or early in the morning! Please pray for me. Life changes dramatically overnight when my teens (Wow, I have 2 now!) are not here and the adjustment is not always smooth. Dan, Max, and Tommy miss their big sister and brother a lot. It's hard for them. I need ideas to keep a toddler busy. Anything would be appreciated!

Happy 13th Birthday, Jamie!

Today is my oldest son's 13th birthday! I can't believe it! Now I have 2 teenagers in the house. We had a party for him last night. We cooked out and the boys (14 of them) shot off water balloons, played football Frisbee, and ran around with squirt guns.

Stats:

Clifford James

Born June 2nd, 1994

9 lbs., 2 oz.

21 inches

We named him C.J., but in 2nd grade he changed his name to Jamie. Also, I was induced 5 days early because my first baby was 9 1/2 pounds. I love you, Jamie!

Bully Bully

Here are a couple pics Jamie took of Eden yesterday. He just loves her to bits! She turned 8 months old on Monday. I can't believe it. It's going too fast! She makes a cute little "bully" face frequently. He caught her doing it. Blessings!

Some pictures

Little Road Trip

On Friday, Celeste and Jamie performed at the Lake City Relay for Life with Mimetime. Mimetime is a group of kids from our church that does Mime and some signing to Christian music. I drove up with Celeste, Jamie, Eden, Tommy, Lettie (a good friend from church), Isaac (mimer and her son), and Katie (Lettie's daughter). We had a good time! All of the Mimes and company went to Moe's for dinner afterwards with everyone. YUM!

Big kids come home tonight

Hi all! It's been a busy week here without Celeste and Jamie. I have gotten a lot more organized and we're functioning rather well without them, BUT they fly in tonight late. All of us can't wait to see them. Celeste is feeling under the weather. I think she has a bad cold/flu. Please pray for her. Jamie, Celeste, and Dan all have testing on Thursday and Friday, so I am hoping all are well at that time. 2 days! Then we're all going to Sarasota to visit my parents for Easter. It should be a great time! We haven't been down since last May. We like to go to the beach in May. Hope to do it again this year, too!

In other news, I've been using the cloth diapers on Eden. I think I finally figured out how to get the smells out of them with my very hard water and high efficiency (silly) washer. I am using baking soda in the wash and vinegar in the rinse. BTW, don't buy a Fisher & Paykel washing machine. They don't get your clothes clean. I may be purchasing something else here soon. I ordered more Chinese Prefolds (rainbow short) from Green Mountain Diapers. I also got some toddler diapers to try on Tommy. We'll see how that goes. I hope to get him potty trained one of these days. I am looking forward to my order arriving tomorrow. I also LOVE Motherease products. They have the absolute best covers. No leaks ever!