A New Decade.

Can you believe we are about to start a new decade? Is it me, or did the past 10 years fly by? Remember Y2K and the fear all computers would die, halting life as we know it? Where were you 10 years ago? I don't really remember what I did that New Year's Eve. That's sad. I'm sure I spent it with Noah and our crew of misfit college friends. No, now that I think of it, I believe I was in Maryland, with Noah and my brother & Denise? Oh, who knows. The years blend together after all this time.

And now Noah and I are well into our 9th year of marriage, and we have acquired 4 kids. Things sure can change over the course of 10 years!

I thought about posting some "resolutions" for the year. But who am I kidding. I never stick to resolutions. At least not for long. So, instead, I will list some goals I have for the coming decade, rather than the coming year. And if I remember to look back in 10 years at the start of 2020, I hope to find that many of my goals have been achieved... and I'll probably have a good chuckle too.

1. Kiss my husband when he comes home from work, even if I don't feel like it. I know this comes naturally for many married couples, but "touch" is at the bottom of my list of love languages. My children spend much of the day attached to me, which leaves me enjoying my personal space whenever possible. As I type this, Kristin is clinging to my arm with a death grip.

2. I'd love to have the house paid off, but I'll settle for being very close to having it paid in full come 2020.

3. I want to be fit. This is always my hope, but let's face it. I'm not doing so well at this right now. I'm trying to get motivated. Really, I am.

4. I want to adopt another son or daughter. I want to give birth to another child as well. Beyond that, I can't say much more. We will take it one kid at a time :-) Although, Noah knows I'd love to adopt several more... we'll see what God has in store. And I realize that we don't have to finish our family growth in this decade. So I won't worry too much about it right now.

5. I hope to have a closer relationship with my Lord. I would be a liar if I told you I always felt close to God. Much of my life is spent going through the motions. I have moments where I see God so clearly, His power, His love... but I am pitiful in my efforts to be the "good Christian." I rely on Jesus alone for the redemption of my soul, but at the same time I don't crave the Word (and I wish I did). I don't thirst for time in prayer. But HE is faithful. When I do pray, He hears me. His mercies are new each morning, and for that I am so thankful.

6. Patience. I wish I could buy some at Wal-mart. My temper flares, my flaws are obvious to my husband and children. I will be hanging this old British war propaganda poster in my kitchen, by the table which we do all our schoolwork... I am sure I will be staring at it regularly while taking deep breaths.



7. Organization. I'd love to have my house really organized. I'd love to have the homeschool in order, books on shelves, instead of stacked in hapless piles. And my photography business NEEDS to get more organized. Finances. Taxes. My closet. And all the other rooms of my house. Over the next ten years organizing will be a work in progress. Hopefully, I'll have it figured out sooner rather than later.

With that I will close. Seven goals for the decade. Seven hopes. I believe "Keep calm and carry on" is a fabulous motto for the next 10 years. Although, I may add "...for the glory of God," to make it complete.

Happy New Year!!!! Happy New Decade! May you be blessed greatly in the years to come.

Holy Toledo! I'm Caught UP!!!!!

I have spent the better part of the day catching my blog up!!! (Between making sure the kids are generally taken care of). This is a major item to check of my to do list, woohoo! I post dated all the posts so that Christmas appears at the top, so if you have any desire to see our lives summed up over the past few months, scroll down.

Now, on to cleaning my house. UGH.

Merry Christmas 2009

We had a blessed Christmas. Stress free... the very best way to spend a joyful holiday.



Coffee was brewed, presents were opened, Christmas morning Mimosas for the adults, and a yummy breakfast with quiche, breakfast casserole, banana bread, and cranberry bread, mmmmm.



Granny, Pop Pop, Nanut, Mr. Jesse, Miss Allison, and Mr. Wes (Nanet and Mr. Jesse's daughter and SIL) all joined us for the morning festivities. It is such a blessing to have loved ones just a short stroll from our front door.



Kristin received a Radio Flyer scooter.



Lauralyn got a V-Tech handheld game, lots of art supplies, and a "princess" Bible.



Isaac also received a Bible, complete with a Camo cover as requested, and a riffle that promptly broke. The day after Christmas we returned the riffle a bought a better one (Italian made, not Chinese made) at the Bass Pro Shop.



Daniel got a few new toys, too. Really, as we have more kids, our gift giving is based on two main things... will it get used for longer than 3 minutes, and will it annoy me?



Noah gave me a new fancy chair for my computer desk. I love it! He always does a great job on surprising me with thoughtful gifts.

I got him some dvds, and two new Wii games... Lego Star Wars, and Deer Drive (which Isaac especially likes).



After an afternoon of watching Kung Fu Panda (hilarious), and playing with new toys, we headed to Nanet's house for a yummy ham Christmas dinner. Granny made a birthday cake for Jesus... the true reason for our celebrating.



I hope your Christmas was filled with the love of family and the goodness of our Lord and Savior!

Christmas Eve

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a...puppy?

Our Christmas Eve was quiet. Church service, followed by a chili supper (my awesome vegetarian beer chili eaten at Granny and Pop Pop's house), a few presents, and the big kids started a tradition I have been looking forward to starting! Camping in the living room the night before Christmas. They watched Frosty and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, while I sat in my jammies, enjoying the incredibly organized preformance, but really soaking in the joy of Christmas and the excitement of the kids.



After the kids fell asleep, Noah and I put all the presents under the tree, and stuffed the stockings. While we don't practice the tradition of Santa Claus, I think it is extra exciting to wake up to presents under the tree. I vividly remember on Christmas as a child coming into the living room so thrilled to see stockings stuffed. I loved my stocking the most. One year, an umbrella was stuffed in my stocking and the handle looked kind of like a candy cane sticking out of the top.



I hope your Christmas Eve was full of happy memories. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight...

Playing Catch Up: A Ballerina Playdate

The day before Christmas Eve, Miss Abigail came over to the house for a playdate. It was the easiest afternoon ever. The girls were so happy to watch ballet movies and dance to their hearts content. Three precious little girls. :-)

Playing Catch Up: A Visit and Some Snow

Grandad and Aidan came for a visit the weekend of Kristin's Birthday and Daniel's baptism. I am ashamed I took NO pictures of the baptism. Sorry, Daniel. It was very special, though.

A blanket of snow (sleet and ice included) gave the kids a great morning of sledding. It was beautiful, until it melted away and turned to sludge the next day.

Isaac managed to be the only victim of the great hill, as his face got scraped on the ice. You can see it some in the last picture. Hopefully, this wasn't the first and last snow of the season. I'd love of foot of some fluffy powder before winter is over.

Playing Catch Up: Puppy Love

I went to Walmart one Sunday afternoon, as I typically do. Upon walking to my car, I passed a truck that had free puppies in the back. There were three left, all boys. Two were out going, and one was scared, cowering in the back. He didn't look well, and I couldn't stand the thought of what might happen to him. My heart raged with my brain, and my heart won.



I walked into the house with little brown puppy in my arms. The kids were thrilled. The husband was not. I hoped he wouldn't put ME in the doghouse!



The puppy has been ours for about 4 weeks now, and he is awesome as far as dogs go. Smart, cute, he doesn't try to escape our yard, he wants to be a lap dog. We are trying to find him a new home, and have somebody possibly taking him in January. But if it falls through, we know he'll be a permanent resident at the Haut House. The potential home is ideal though, and we know it would be easier for him to go. We'll have to wait and see what happens...



If it weren't for the early morning potty training of Puppy, I would have missed this beautiful sun rise. That is the only good thing that has come from potty training a puppy. Thankfully, he is getting much closer to being housebroken.

Playing Catch Up: Darius at the Petty's

As part of our Christmas gift from my Dad (aka Grandad), he bought two tickets to a Victory Junction Gang benefit concert at the Kyle Petty's farm in Trinity, just 15 minutes down the road from us. The concert featured Darius Rucker, you know, from Hootie and the Blowfish. In case you live under a rock, or north of the Mason Dixon Line, he sings county now, and does a great job of it.


This is Noah, being totally fake. You can never take him too seriously.


The grub was awesome. So awesome I took a picture.


There is a big room that showcases many of the Petty family's treasures, including Adam Petty's cars... Adam is the reason Victory Junction exists.


But honestly, I was very impressed with how down to earth the Pettys are, and how they live the example of giving back to others in need.


There was an artist who painted two portraits during the time we were there, AMAZING.


Kyle proved to be a pretty great singer/songwriter himself as he played the opening set.


Darius Rucker and his band was awesome as well. While I don't listen to his music much, he has a fantastic voice that is unlike anybody else.


Thanks, Dad, for an fantastic night out!

Playing Catch Up: Thanksgiving

What a great Thanksgiving! Nobody got sick, which in itself a vast improvement on last year when both Daniel and Grampa Don had a stomach bug. This year, my brother (Uncle David) and his family came for several days. The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE their cousins, so they were thrilled.

Here is a glimpse at our Thanksgiving...

Playing Catch Up: New Beds

A month before her third birthday, Kristin finally moved out of her crib and into Lauralyn's bed (which is a top to a bunk so it has rails all the way around). Lauralyn moved into a regular twin bed, and Daniel moved into Isaac's room.

Here is our double jointed princess peacefully sleeping in her crib days before her graduation to a twin bed. And, yes, she commonly sleeps in this position, crazy, huh?



Noah constructed a beautiful built in crib that can convert to a toddler bed or reading nook. There was a space between the two closets that had an old built in desk which we really didn't use. The space is the exact length of a crib mattress... so the plan was formed to make the space much more functional.



The end result is awesome, I couldn't be happier! The crib side lifts out for when I need to change the sheets, and when Daniel outgrows the crib, it can be used as a place to read... or a new baby brother perhaps? Maybe eventually. We'll see. But for now, Daniel is so petite that he should be able to sleep here another 2 years.

Playing Catch Up: Preacher Man

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the fact that my children are friends. They interact with each other all the time... they play and make-believe together. There is a sweet bond. Don't get me wrong, there are times I want to send them all to separate corners of the house to stop the quibbling, but the good out weighs the bad by far.

I walked past the girls room a couple of months ago to find them "playing church." I love how they are innovative, using the high chair as the pulpit and the bench as the pew.