It's 2015!

This poor  blog has been very, very neglected in 2014. 

I'm going to remedy that this year.  I have several years of blog posts that have been printed into books, and we have the books here at home to look at.  I'm really disappointed in myself that I didn't keep up with our blog.  I don't like scrap booking, so this is a convenient way to store our memories.  But it only works if you actually write blog posts!

I'll give you a quick update our on family: 

We're still living in Michigan and Brooks is still pastoring a church.  We've been serving with this congregation for 2 1/2 years.  We're living in the parsonage, which wasn't really the plan when we moved here. The house is a bit small for our family....it has two bedrooms and a loft area that is open to the stairs (we use it as another bedroom) and one bathroom. But the living area (kitchen, dining room, and living room) are pretty good sized, so we're making it work. 

We would love to buy a house, but we live in a pretty rural area--our church is in a village of 700 people--so finding a house that meets our needs that is close to our church has proved to be almost impossible.

I feel like God is calling me to contentment in many areas, so I'm trying hard to be content with the beautiful house we are currently blessed with.  It definitely has good things about it:  2 blocks from the church, great neighbors, a big yard, 2 blocks from the twins' school.

The twins are in kindergarten.  It's hard to believe!  I feel like it was yesterday that they were these little, tiny, helpless humans.  Now they're big kindergartners, learning to read and add and spell. 

The first day of Kindergarten:

They have been excelling in school.  They have learned a ton of sight words and can't wait to be able to read more.  Gianna is a whiz with numbers and math, Maya is great at expressing herself and art. Oh, and the question everyone asks:  YES, they are in the same class.  We decided to put them in the same class and they've been fine. 

Olivia Joy is 3 1/2 years old.  She is now fully potty trained, although we still have the occasional accidents at night.  She is my independent little sweetie, who can really give me a run for my money.  But she can also be such a loving girl. She's a great snuggler.

These pictures are from our kid's Christmas program at church...she sang 'Happy Birthday, Jesus' and I had to miss it because the other girls were sick :( 

Jorja Hope is now 18 months old.  Where has the time gone!?!  She is such a cutie and so smart...and she loves to keep up with her big sisters.  She insists on doing everything that they do.  She loves to color, read, slide down the stairs, and build things.  She's such a joy.

I'm loving having 'big girls' in our household.  5 years olds are wonderful!  The twins are such great helpers and it's so much fun to see them blossom and grow into the person God designed them to be. 

I'm still a stay at home mom, which is definitely something I've struggled with.  I love being home with the girls, I love not having to drive to work each morning (especially in the winter), and I love not having the stress of figuring out childcare.  I can go to parent-teacher conferences, concerts, church activities without having to work around my work schedule.  

But it's not all fun and games...I miss working, I miss being something other than a mommy and wife.  But, once again, I feel like this is an area that God is asking for my contentment.  I know this time is fleeting.  I can be a nurse for the rest of my life...I only have a few years to enjoy these little ones.

I'm currently leading our local MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group...which has been a huge blessing. I've loved getting to know other moms in our community and helping to provide a place for encouragement and friendship for moms of little ones.   I'm also helping to lead the women's ministry at church, I sing on the worship team, and teach 4th -6th grade occasionally.

I've also been working a few hours a week for our neighbor--she has a home based bakery business, so I help answer messages, manage her facebook page, and organize orders and her calendar.  It's not much money, but I figure every little bit helps. 

Let's see...Brooks is busy with the church.  He's the only pastor...and our church is around 150-200 people (if everyone came!).  It's a lot to manage and a lot of fires to put out. Since we've been here over 2 years, it feels like our 'honeymoon phase' is over.  Now the real stuff starts...people start being authentic and showing us who they really are.  Which leads to more drama and situations for him to deal with.  God is working in our church, though....and growing pains are hard.  I think he's pruning us and breaking us so we can serve him more.

Whew...I think that's all for now.
We had a great 2014 and I'm looking forward to 2015...especially a kid-free trip to Florida that is coming up!