Update On Us

It remains winter in the Northwest. Hopefully will run from winter to summer and skip spring altogether. The children are getting antsy to be outside, so are the dogs. Poor Sophie can hardly stand it! I love this picture of her gazing longingly out the window.

Our orders to Germany were cancelled so Nick has turned in his retirement papers to the Air Force, his final work day will be the end of December '08 or the beginning of Jan. '09. He has a great job offer in Northern AL, so we look forward to packing up soon and listing the house. It'll be difficult to leave family and friends here in Washington, but we'll be 6 hours from Nick's family... we look forward to getting to know them better!! The kids are very excited.

I'm still dealing with back issues, but I'm starting to have hope that I'll get some pain relief soon. Meanwhile I am continuing to try out a mostly fruitarian/ some veggie diet. Not really a "diet" persay, but a change in my eating habits. So far, so good. I have so much more energy, and am able to keep tabs on my weight while my mobility is down. The kids are enjoying eating this way, and I'm finding they are eating things they wouldn't have touched a month ago! We drink lots of fruit smoothies, and all feel pretty good. I'm also trying a new loose tea mixture for the inflamation in my back, I much prefer my peppermint tea. Blech.

Around the homestead: Trey's grandpa made him the coolest horses, exactly the way Trey asked him to. The other kids are now asking for their own herd! Sara made a super cool purse out of playdoh, I think she should list it on Ebay. :o) Raggedy Ann, the older kids' Ragdoll kitty is halfway through her pregnancy. I don't think we'll do this again, we all worry too much! Looking forward to those baby kitties though. Hayden has been doing some work around the house to help prepare it for sale. We still have so much to do. He is also working on some of the neighbor's yards for extra money. Trey and Sara started on a soccer team, Trey is very athletic, and Sara is quite the go-getter for such a tiny thing! Linnea has a piano recital coming up soon, Kristianna and Kori continue to be so helpful to me. Kori has been taking creative charge of the little ones, painting with them and making rock candy. Both of the girls have almost taken over the cooking and are so much better than I ever was!

I'm looking forward to packing up most of the house for listing, and living simply for a few months. Who knows? Maybe we'll enjoy more of our summer without all that extra cleaning. ;o)