Christmas letter 2007

Ok, so I cheated this year when it came to my letter. My cards were a little heavier than I had intended and I just had to have a picture. If I had added just one more thing I do not think my envelope would of closed. So I decided this year I would post my letter here. I try to keep this pretty up-to-date. I love the fact that my family and friends can stop by anytime and see what we have been up to.

Well, Kaleb will be 17 in February. He takes his test for his license next week. I so pray he passes as I could really use a break from being chauffeur! He is in the 11th grade and doing well. He loves sports (alas the sports score widget on the right hand lower side of this blog.) He plays basketball one way or another every day, either on the court or on the X-box. He is so tall I do not like him standing by me because I feel so short...and old. Last I checked he is 6' 1".
*Edited to add that Kaleb is now a licensed driver!

Garrett just turned 12 in September. He is in the 6th grade. He and Kaleb discuss sports all of the time. I just remind them that it is fine as long as they know more about the people in God's Word than the sports guys. Garrett finished his last year of Pee-Wee football in October. His team went undefeated. He played football for 3 years and was undefeated 2 of those years. Not too bad! He will miss it but Home-schoolers cannot play after 6th grade. He is still playing his trombone and has really improved this year! He loves to play specials and practices all the time. He is hoping for a great wrestling season.

Levi also had a birthday in September. It is hard to believe he is 8 already and in the 2nd grade. He still loves math, which makes his mother very happy. His reading is improving and he is starting to enjoy that too. He loves to be dressed in camouflage and usually has some weapon (plastic of course) hidden somewhere on his body. We usually have to pat him down before leaving the house. :)

Seth turned 6 in June. He has had a rough year. We have seen soooooo many doctors this year. It turns out he has stopped growing. He has only grown 1" in 2 years. They have run so many tests on him and found nothing. It is neither genetic, medical or diet. You should see him eat! He will out eat Garrett any day. School is going better than it started out. He has a very short memory. One day we spent 5 hours on one letter and by the end of writing 2 rows he had no idea what it was or what sound it made. So we changed curriculum 2 more times and went a whole other way. He is now starting to pick things up. He can even write his name pretty well now.

Shelby turned 5 in May. She loves kindergarten. She zips right through math and always asks if she can do an extra chapter. She is growing so tall. Where is my baby girl going? She is a great help around the house, as are all of her brothers. She is always asking what she can help with. All my kids love to be in the kitchen cooking and Shelby is right there cooking and cleaning too. She loves carrying a purse and we have a content check quite often. She loves to take every thing with her. She will not leave the house without paper and an pen. If she is sitting she has to be writing or drawing. We say she is five-teen as she loves shoes, purses, and cell phones.

Steve is still at Walkers and running his computer business on the side. It seems the poor man is always on the run. I tease that I get to talk to him more on his cell phone than face to face. He coached Garrett's football team this year too. It is rough running every weekend to another game but at least we got to spend time together.

Debbi, well all is the same here. I obviously am still home-schooling and loving it. This is the first year I've had all of my kids in school. I also, obviously started blogging and am addicted to that too. I am still a demonstrator for Stampin Up! I even started a Stampin blog. I manage our church web-site and my Dad's web-site and enjoy learning while working with that. So I spend a lot of time on the computer. Thankfully my dear husband keeps me up on all of the gadgets to make my life easier.

Well, we pray you are all celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. I am so thankful that Jesus left heaven and came to earth as a little baby. Can you just imagine leaving heaven and coming to earth knowing He was coming to die for us? Coming to take the punishment we so greatly deserve. He took it all on himself. If you do not know Him personally please feel free to contact us. We would more than love to share with you how He has touched our lives.

*Edited to add that Heath and Lois live in Nebraska.
We hear from them often and miss them dearly.

So Grandpa and Grandma K. had a floor level room with a pond in the back yard on Thanksgiving. The kids loved to feed them Cheerios. I was teasing them that we should have Duck instead of Turkey since they were already stuffed. The ducks spent their time running from room to pond to room being fed. They would be swimming and would hear a deck door open and head straight for that room. They were sure there had to be food there for them, and there usually was.

Heath & Lois' Car

Well, Heath called on Thursday night and told me Lois had been in a car accident and he was on his way to get her. She was banged up but was ok. The car on the other hand did not make it.

So here are the pictures of what Casey now looks like. Heath told me that Casey was now dead. For those of you who do not know the real Casey. She is our un-daughter now very close friend. She kind of joined our family when she was about 13 and I was expecting Garrett. How did the car get named after her you ask? Well, when she was in college someone gave her a car. It needed some repair. Steve offered to work on it for her. One night we came home from church and there was a white car in our driveway. We live back in the woods so to have a car here kind of freaked me out. So we rushed in the house, locked the doors, grabbed a gun and called the police. Well, he came and ran the #'s and said the car belongs to a Casey -----. It became a standing joke in our house.

So a short time later, after Steve took Heath's truck into a tree, we had to go car shopping for Heath. We found a nice little white car (pictured above but in much better shape). It had some slight issues. Now Heath was about 10 when Casey came into our lives, so they grew up like brother/sister. Since the white car/police situation and what he called his new car with an attitude he decided to name his car Casey. This car took him back and forth to Camp Chetek, College and many trips to Wyoming to visit his now wife Lois plus their first 1 1/2 years of married life.

So this is the end of Casey, the car. Many memories! Keep Lois in your prayers as she is hurting pretty bad still! We are sooo very thankful she did not get hurt any worse. We love her way too much!!!

Seth's Palms

I just finished making Seth a weighted vest. The pressure of the weight is suppose to calm him when his anxiety rises. I put it on him and he said "Oh, Mom! I like the way this feels!" I am always after him about the way he holds his shoulders. Most people when they are standing put their hands at their sides. His hands are always in his front which makes his shoulder blades pop out like chicken wings. Right after I put the vest on him I noticed he holds his hands at his side! Whoo Hoo!! I am at this time (took the time to post this)working on a weighted blanket for him. It is suppose to comfort him to help him sleep more secure. I read of many Aspies who sleep under their mattresses. He has tried that numerous times, no more!!!!

We had a Doc appointment on Tuesday with the endocrinologist. His GHD levels are low but not low enough to be stopping his growth. His bone age was 5 yrs when he was 6.27, not a concern unless it was under 4.34 yrs. So they are now checking him for Celiac Disease. It would stop his body from absorbing the nutrients he needs from the foods he eats (and he eats plenty!). We should get the results from that sometime this week. He has only gained 5 lbs in 4 years.

Another thing the doc was shocked at was the lines in his hands. The right hand had both lines across where the left hand just has one straight line across. The doctor did not know what it meant, if anything, just found it interesting. He said he has never seen it before.

Yard day

So today was yard day. With football every Saturday for the last 2 months not much has gotten done around here. So I made sure no one made any plans except mine! They worked hard!!! Kaleb put up the gazebo by the pond while everyone picked up sticks and mowed. Right before we stopped for lunch I mentioned that sometime in the future I would love the shed moved. I went in and made lunch and then sat down to read some e-mails. By the time I got back outside, they had the shed emptied and ready to move. Steve fell asleep and by the time he got outside it was moved and we had started putting the cans etc. back in. Then it was repair the wood holder. I'm so very pleased with what was accomplished. But it is not finished yet.....

Band Concert

Beautiful Sky

We had been praying for a nice day for Levi's party. It had been cold and rainy all week. Well, God gave us so much more than we expected. It was a beautiful day and actually got quite warm. At the end of the day Garrett came and asked me where my camera was. He just had to get a picture of the sky. It was as wonderful as he said. Even nature shows glory to it's Creator!