Yet again, I sit here trying to figure out what this year has been for us. What is worth mentioning and what really sticks out. What we have been up to, and where we are going… and how fast time seems to be passing us by. Life keeps changing and we keep adapting, but we cling to those things that are truly important to us. For us that really boils down to relationships. God. Family. Friends. Love. With the economy acting bizarre and everyone feeling the strain, it reminds us again that our treasures are not here on earth and have never been. The only treasures stored here are the moments of love and giving that are planted in those we bless and cherish. Whether it is time or a hug or listening, uplifting or helping, trusting or restoring, forgiving or showing grace, I encourage you to be a blessing to someone this Christmas.
Jake is now 12 and seems to get taller each time he gets out of bed! He is gaining on mom quickly and she is starting to feel old knowing she will soon be shorter than her boys… possibly girls as well! He is a tinkerer and any broken gadget we let him at is quickly dismantled and cleaned out for parts. Jake is a wiz at video games and is the ‘go to guy’ for help if one is not able to get past a ‘level’ (that is video game lingo…)He is still very interested in robotics and claws and tries to invent what he can with the little motors and wires he finds. He loves to listen to podcasts with us of preachers we enjoy and loves audio books and stories. I often find him in his room with a gadget or book with another story playing on cd. Jake is now in the youth group at church (seriously!?! when did that happen!?) and is doing 6-7th grade work. Hard to believe we only have a few years left of him daily in our lives.
Isaac is 10, nearing 11 here in February. Isaac loves to create, build and design. He shares his mom’s love of drawing and coloring and he creates all sorts of cut out ‘people’ with colors and paper. He has an extensive collection of paper, cardboard, and wood ‘things’ he has made and painted or colored. If I empty a box he is usually there to ask for it, taking it back to his room. We have to go through his boxes every few months and throw away a garbage bag of paper and cardboard. He still loves cars and the color red, he is pretty steadfast that way. Isaac likes to have things in their place (again, like his mom!) and sharing a room with his brothers can often drive him nuts. We recently put his brother’s bed above his (bunked them) and now there is more room for each of them to have their own desk/space. Isaac’s desk is a sweet, red, tool box dad had in the garage…he loves it! Isaac is in the 5th grade and is doing well. He is looking forward to heading into the youth group himself in the next year.
Eli is 8 now and he is slowly growing into a grown up kid and not my lil’ curly headed child. Elijah is creative, like his brothers and has recently been trying to find his own ‘gadget scraps’ to create things. I showed him how to draw out what he wanted to create and then draw the parts he was so excited to have his own creation. He has a great imagination and plays so well with his sisters. After the desks were put in he and Aliyah immediately set up office as lawyers. He was a lawyer for a couple days, she was his assistant. It was sweet. Eli’s passions are baseball, sports, swords and star wars. He loves to run and play ball. He is our only ‘sports’ kid, although the other kids love playing baseball with dad and shooting hoops. We unfortunately lost our dog, Hoyt last month, he was hit by a car. It was very tough on Eli as Hoyt was his baseball bud. He would hit the ball into the field and Hoyt would always bring it back. In fact, baseball at the Nelson household entailed the 5 kids vs. dad and Hoyt. Chris was the pitcher and Hoyt the fielder and the games were close! He will be missed. Eli is now in the 3rd grade and despite his ‘ants in the pants’ he is a great student.
The ‘Girls’ are in Kindergarten and now 5! We celebrated as we have with the boys, with a big 5th birthday bash. The theme was princess/knights with crowns and swords. We were able to have horses and a cotton candy machine, games and goodies. We were able to make it through the party outside and the rain held off until gift opening in the garage, at which time it down poured. Later that evening there were severe storms and a tornado…so we just stayed indoors with those who wanted to stay.
Aliyah
Saylah, saylah, saylah…she is quite the girl. Saylah is a girly girl, she loves dressing up and changes several times a day. She loves love and cuddling. Saylah has a tendency to scream or cry when things aren’t going her way or someone is teasing her, she has a ‘flair for the dramatics’ as some would say. Saylah loves to dance in the kitchen with her daddy and it makes him melt. Aliyah enjoys it too if it is her idea and she isn’t in the ‘playing hard to get’ moment. But Saylah flings her arms around her daddy’s neck and holds on tight. She loves to dance and really likes ballerina outfits. She enjoys coloring and bringing color into the world and I have noticed recently she has become everyone’s cheerleader, encouraging them, at times even with clapping hands, it is darling. Saylah seems to have quite the guilty conscience, and i can tell when she isn’t being truthful, it seems to torment her until the truth comes out. It was evident the night she thought she would die after eating tomato leaves off my plant. I mentioned them being poisonous not knowing she had tried a couple. Getting ready for bed she broke down “I’m scared, I don’t want to die!!” It was heartbreakingly sweet. And no, she did not die, she didn’t even get a tummy ache.
Our year has been full and crazy like every other, but in many ways more of a time of rest and catching up. We have spent most of the summer catching up from the winter and getting ready for the next. Our summer was quite mellow. We snatched Grandma Nelson’s old pool, that had been left to the garbage pile, and tried to patch it up. It wasn’t the nicest looking thing, with a deflating ring and leaks that caused the sides to sag, but the kids loved it and spent hours outside trying to knock each other off of anything they could get to float on the water.
Chris was able to find a wood boiler this summer. He and the boys have been keeping busy cutting, hauling and stacking wood to keep us in warmth this winter. It is a tremendous savings compared to what we paid last year and a ‘character building’ experience for the kids. For some reason every time dad says ‘it is wood time!!’ the kids get quiet and scatter! (they are fast little buggers when they want to be!) If caught, they moan and sigh loudly dramatically dragging their bodies to their coats and the door. It has taken up a lot of Chris’ time, working on the boiler, the heat inside, and all the fun things that it entails, but we are thankful to have such a warm house this winter!
The last couple months have been a time of projects that have been on our minds for awhile. We opened up the kitchen by tearing out some cabinets and rearranging things. Chris decided to start it one Saturday morning and by the next Saturday he was about wrapped up. What a guy! After several more projects (albeit smaller), I am ready to pause the construction mess and continuous clean up for a couple months. The quiet of winter has hit and we have found ourselves home at nights, enjoying more family games, movies and such. We attempted our first larger puzzle last night and it keptthe kids interests for, oh, about ten minutes. They slowly tapered from helping to a spectator and from spectator to either vanishing to do something else or laying back with a glazed over look. It was interesting how quickly the help came back when there were only a few more pieces left to place!
Chris is still working with his dad, and they continue to have work! A large blessing we know, with the way things are and the job market upside down. Melinda(thats me), is continuing to home school the kids, and manages to stay pretty sane, for the most part. I have been baking more this holiday season and making treats. It has been fun but I need to learn to not eat so much dough (yes, raw eggs and all! yum!) I also taste test the finished products a little too much! I actually heard the words “I’m kinda ‘treated’ out” from my husband when mentioning another recipe i had in mind!
We are looking forward to the New Year with great anticipation and hope. We realize things in our country and on earth are not leaning in a very positive way, but our Hope isn’t in things here. Our Faith isn’t in a man or men, in a bank or institution. Our Future was wrapped in swaddling clothes and lain in a manger so many years ago. Our Hope is in Him, our Trust is in Him and our Future is in His hands. There is no safer or more peaceful a place to be. May you feel that same Peace and Comfort this Christmas as well as this next year.
Our prayers are with you and yours…
is the oldest by that whole minute, but sometimes it seems years. It is interesting, their personalities fit which one was brought into the world first, without them knowing a thing about ’birth order’. Aliyah is smart, funny, and constantly bouncing, jumping or dancing. She loves music and singing but if you catch her in the act she gets embarrassed and stops (just like her mom!). She is often in her room playing with her toys and singing to her music at the top of her lungs. It is so cute, and I keep trying to capture it on video! Aliyah is a ‘button pusher’ at times and knows just what to do or say to get her sister worked up. She gets a twinkle in her eye as she does it. She is a complete tomboy who occasionally wants to be a princess. She also loves to write and has notes all over the house, her penmanship is already better than all three of her brothers.
aweee…love those mispronounciations kids make…and she did help out with some clean up, and at the same time made me wonder…have i been organsizing too much lately? hehe
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